Acknowledging it here, the first four episodes are a recap of the first 3 seasons, which even if I may not like, isn’t something I’m going to really focus on in this review, but I did want to mention it

▶ Video

Yama no Susume’s fourth season in many ways is a culmination and celebration of everything before it. What started first as 4 minute shorts, then became 12 minute half episodes, then a full length special, has now come around to a full length regularly scheduled series. This culmination of accumulated time since its 2013 beginnings has allowed the story to blossom, and for its characters to really show how far they’ve come, just as the length of episodes have grown, so too have the characters.

▶ Video Encouragement of Growth
Yama no Susume is a culmination and celebration of everything before it, even from the people working on the show, having past members of the team come back around, having previous artists and fans of Yama no Susume come to work for the show, and the exceptional scheduling and production leading to cases like an episode having finished 2 years prior to this season’s airing. A lot of this information is documented across various sources, from sakugabooru’s main writer (kVin on twitter) to informed reddit posters (yes, reddit) who have direct links to their sources. In fact many of the reddit discussion threads are a goldmine of information with detailed staff information and work notes, showing the absolute effort that goes into making the show, through location scouting, climbing mountains themselves, and even well documented production of the music from the channel YamazoJP, where you can see them making music for the show.

Does this celebration of the show, of the art and creation of anime, matter so much to the story of Yama no Susume? Some may not see it at so, and to the literal story, maybe not, but to me it’s greatly important. Knowing that the passions are there go a long way.

It’s now not only a solitary journey of seeing the characters grow, a very important theme to the series as whole, but a journey of seeing the team behind the show grow, of seeing how far they’ve come since its 4 minute origins. In a growing age where people debate AI generation as art, I find a great deal of importance and humanity in the people behind these projects showing that love in such outward ways. It’s one part of why a show like Healer Girl is so important to me, or Bocchi the Rock, in that the creators are so open to the love of their work, to the passion that oozes off of these stories and how palpable that is in the production.

▶ Video Encouragement of Equipment But, to move beyond discussion of the backend passion of artistry, I don’t want to take away from the actual show and story we got from Yama no Susume season 4. One of the best parts of this fourth season is getting closure for a lot of growth and development from Aoi. Her journey has come a long way, from failing to climb Mt Fuji in season 2 and starting to make new friends in season 3. But at the end of the day, she’s still the awkward, often reclusive, and often quick to think about quitting person, as she had been since season 1. What this fourth season does is expand on that and give us even more development on those previous points.

We see this in the recursion of certain plot points, such as Aoi having to go shopping for new mountain climbing equipment. Each successive trip expands to reflect the state of her journey. She first has to buy a backpack, which will allow her to actually carry gear and necessities to climb. Then she needs a jacket, which will allow her to brave the weather and conditions after now being able to go on those journeys in the first place. Later on she even has to find a job, her character going from lounging around to actively funding her own hobbies shows how much she’s matured. Season 3 has her buying shoes, now that she has more experience, she can start making upgrades to her equipment, having proper footwear is quite important, but it wasn’t something the show had given much consideration.

Season 4 is no different, expanding on yet another shopping trip, which, spoilers, is another backpack. The very first thing she had to get when she first started has now come all the way around and she’s picking one out for herself. The arc of her journey has met itself, but this time, she’s far outgrown who she used to be. She’s gone through various failures, learned lessons from those failures and hasn’t stopped climbing despite the allure of quitting constantly following her.

It’s awesome seeing this along with other plot threads expanded on in this season, such as giving us yet another mini arc where she has to climb a smaller mountain for training, and seeing how her mindset changes and deals with these familiar situations. Yama no Susume season 4 doesn’t simply take old plot threads and reuses them, but takes them, complicates them, and shows just how far the characters have gone.

▶ Video Encouragement of Friends Another big factor of the show isn’t just Aoi, and it’s of course the breadth of friends surrounding her. We get more Hinata, we get more Kokona, and we even get more Honoka, a relatively newer character, who prior, had been slowly integrated throughout season 3 but has now even more specific moments dedicated to her. A lot of the cast gets more moments like this, even if the reach of them all aren’t always as explicit as Aoi.

We get to see Hinata seeing Aoi make strides to have more friends and not feel jealous but it’s not like we get a whole dedicated episode to her. We even get a whole new character that while very fun, is just that, a fun addition to the cast, that fleshes out a bit more of their school life, but we don’t get the same breadth of emotional threading from her.

Regardless, just like with the prior seasons, season 4 allows the exterior cast more chances to shine. Some of them get some really well needed attention, like Aoi’s co-worker, and others are just vibing with the gang, like Aoi’s new suite of friends who still aren’t as fleshed out but add a nice colour and flavor to Aoi’s life regardless.

▶ Video Encouragement of Climb Four seasons in, and the main formula of Yama no Susume still remains strong, the formula that you might expect having watched the prior seasons, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

We have episodes showcasing the characters in a more light hearted way, this is still a slice of life, but in those moments we can get a great deal of growth and characterization.

We have episodes where we go through these smaller arcs, mountain climbing, the main “action,” and these episodes similar to prior seasons do a great deal of expanding on the hobby aspect of the show and having the characters grow and learn with it.

And, as is the hallmark of this series, it does not skimp out on the production, from the beautiful vistas, the well animated character acting, to the serene pieces of music that trace the emotions within a scene.

Yama no Susume season 4 expands on, gives us more of, and absolutely celebrates everything before it. It is the next summit. And it’s here.