Tabi Machi Late Show is a collection of four short stories around seven minutes in length with each story being different in narrative but are woven together in central theme. Each episode has its own section to separate my thoughts accordingly.

Episode One: 8/10
A great introduction to the collection of narratives presenting a story about Azuma a chef who has been teaching Nagi a chef in training for three years. Nagi truly looked up to Azuma as a chef and was a massive role-model for him. When making pomodoro for Azuma he asks what's the secret that makes her pomodoro better than his but the funny thing about it is there is no secret to making Azuma's a better dish. Azuma was the same way as Nagi when she was around his age and also looked up to her mentor when learning how to cook and wondered the same thing of what her mentor's secret was. But ultimately the true secret was that putting someone on a pedestal is selfish as you automatically believe them to be better than you and in someway could even be looked at as cowardly as you're putting so much responsibility on that mentors shoulders. Nagi leaves afterwards to continue studying cooking just like how she once did and how her mentor once did too, a cycle if you will. And as I'll mention later in the review, the central theme starts here saying farewell. Episode one is a great introduction to this short series and I appreciate how well written it is. One could argue that the animation is lackluster but I believe it adds charm plus the art-style in general stands out almost looking like its from a picture book so it fits the theme.

Episode 2: 7/10
"Maybe you only realize who you should have been friends with after it's already too late." - Akemi Kumeno
High school is awkward and rough around the edges and that's how this episode felt. It's a short story about two high school girls with the first being one who's of few words, Koizumi, and another girl with a fake smile playing a phony game Akemi, and how they reminisce about how they could've been friends. After high school Akemi looks back at her time in school and realizes what could have been and also that Koizumi's words were right. Her fake smile shattered and the world around her fell apart. Only when she became older and she changed as a person did she realize her mistakes. But Koizumi was also in the same boat, she deep under her unsocial shell she wanted to be friends as well, both of them should have been more honest with themselves. I respected how the story made me feel so annoyed in the moment when Akemi and Koizumi were fighting, I knew that things could be different if they were honest with themselves! Regret is a feeling that lingers and persists into adulthood making always question what could have been. It's sad to think that many of our lives could be entirely different if we simply apologized which would have given Akemi and Koizumi a real chance at friendship. A pretty good episode but felt round around the edges.

Third episode: 9/10
That plot-twist at the end left me SPEECHLESS, a beautiful short story about the festival in which one can see those who've past. The twist being at the very beginning we see it from the perspective of the dead girl and her family making it seem that they are the ones who are alive and the boy she meets is the one who is dead. The overall vibe and art style in this one is so damn comfy, it left me feeling really melancholic. That reveal at the very end put the whole story into perspective and made the boys actions throughout the short story make much more sense and left me gut punched. Who knew a seven minute story could be so good?

Fourth episode: 7/10
4th ep: The fourth episode is about bringing the core message, the integral theme between each of the four short stories. Saying goodbye, not being able to see those people you care about you once more, or not being able to form a relationship and never seeing them again, to wave goodbye to those you love just like those in the past did for you, a goodbye is simply the ending of one part of your life. With that goodbye you transition into another and it could mean becoming a better person than you were before or it could mean regretting those past choices making you wonder what could have been like in episode two, but by saying goodbye you're moving on forward. All these stories were intertwined to such a high level, I adore all of these short seven minute episodes.