Setting expectations:

• This review is being written under a subjective lens and mainly for enjoyment.

• The number of spoilers will be as minimal as possible to none.

• If you come to expect opinions from a very critical sense, sorry, but I’m not your guy as we may have different tastes.

• I’ll try my best to explain what are the things that worked for me and what doesn’t in this review. Then you’ll hopefully be able to understand my point of view and maybe come to your own conclusion about what this will be like for you.

I preface because a lot of people online come to expect reviews to fit a mold of what they want which isn’t always realistic. For me, I just like to talk about anime I enjoy. And so this review is about such things. Sorry if this ain't what you're looking for.

Defining Iyashikei

Before I talk about this anime, I feel like I have to define Iyashikei because this is the core/crux of the anime.

It’s described by AniList as “primarily aims to heal the audience through serene depictions of characters’ daily lives. Then the question becomes: “What is the appeal of this genre/tag?”

Here’s my attempt to answer it in a general sense.

Life can get tiring. This fatigue can be attributed to a lot of factors - school work, individuals, interactions, paying taxes, survival, work, drama, mental health, etc. How this fatigue affects people will differ on a per person basis but the same state of fatigue is common amongst all. To remove this fatigue, people have different methodologies.

What makes this Iyashikei purpose unique is that it attempts to ‘heal’ the audience. In other words, it essentially creates a comfy environment where partaking in it is like a break from the busy and energetic reality of the world. It feels like a vacation. Sometimes these storylines expand beyond being slow and offer differing storylines or incorporate other elements such as comedy, drama, philosophy, etc. Regardless, that comfy atmosphere is present and that appeals to certain people.

For those who dislike the genre, I tend to find that they’re not looking for a slow-paced show. It doesn’t fit their needs in the kind of story that they’re in the mood for - energetic, heavy drama, etc. Essentially, Iyashikei shows are for those looking for the mood to relax a bit. This relaxation again can differ from person to person but for those who appreciate slow-paced, tranquil, and slice of life stories - this genre is for them.

Will you as a viewer be able to enjoy this genre? It depends on your mood and openness to this style of storytelling.

Verdict

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou / Yokohama Shopping Trip is a 2 episode OVA released in Spring 1998. It was animated by Studio Ajiado and directed by Takashi Anno. The anime’s source material is based on a manga by Hitoshi Ashinano.

The main appeal of this anime is its slow and chill approach to presenting its world and story to the viewers. We see their daily lives unfold on the screen and with only 2 episodes, this OVA can only cover so much. Despite the short run-time, it offers a nice preview of what this genre can offer to people. Apparently, the adaptation isn’t the greatest and so it’s recommended to read the manga for the full experience that this property can offer.

This show does a lot of show-don’t tell and it allows a lot of speculation regarding how this world came to be as well as who these people are. To me, I have seen a lot of resemblances in other modern works that took inspiration and elements from the focus on the tranquil backgrounds to its science fiction world such as Non Non Biyori, ARIA, Yuru Camp, and others.

Given the focus of it being slow-paced, the OVA can’t explore a lot beyond setting up the world and its characters. Sometimes the slow-pace might be too slow for others but for me, I was completely happy with its pacing.

I recommend this show for all that are in the chill mood to explore a new world and experience a slice of life.

Based on the other Iyashikei shows I’ve seen and on the anime adaptations themselves, I’ll give this a 7.5/10. It’s pretty good at what it does but it’s not exactly the best that this genre can offer to people in respect to just anime.

Explaining my Rating Scale

I think the common mistake with ratings is that we all tend to judge and associate each review rating on our own personal scale. When people see an average anime - they see that as a 5, some see that as a 6, and others as a 7. As you all know, we all have different tastes hence different rating scales and this is why I’ll post my scale below.

My Personal Rating Scale (Anime):

4 and below = I would've dropped this show already but made myself suffer through it for some reason. Regardless, this is the drop zone generally.
5 = This was really meh and I wouldn't take the time to rewatch.
6 = This was meh and I wouldn't watch it again unless I was forced to.

**7 = It was okay and acceptable, it was good entertainment and you enjoyed the ride.
8 = This was a great story and you enjoyed the show/movie but it wasn't considered one of the best experiences. Just a great time overall!**

9 = If you watched this show/movie for the first time, you'll love this a lot. It ain't life-changing but god damn you'll have one of the best experiences.
10 = This show resonated with me so hard - chills and intense emotional catharsis.

Background

I’m a big fan of Iyashikei shows. It’s my jam and when I experience something good, it gives me a comfy atmosphere. This affects my rating above majorly because I’m rating it based on stories in relation to other comfy stories like Flying Witch.

While watching this show, I was using km fansubs and watched it in Japanese Audio, with English subtitles.

The Review

Now the review. I’ll be talking about the anime in the following categories:

1) Story / Plot / Characters

The story follows the main protagonist and some fellow side-characters along the way. Story is structured as multiple short stories like Girls Last Tour. Characters are quite interesting despite the short run-time with them. Since it felt like this was all mainly an introduction, it doesn’t feel like there was enough time to explore more of their backgrounds. The problem is that rushing through the story would defeat the purpose of the atmosphere it tries to create. Regardless, the characters feel interesting and fresh from generic characters you may encounter in some modern anime.

2) Visuals / Animation

Visually, it looks really great in many shots. I can’t recall any bad looking scenes and that helps the show a lot.

Animation-wise, there’s a lot more animation than I expected. Maybe this is the power of OVAs without crunch deadlines. It was refreshing to see the amount of animation in the show versus the typical slideshow I would generally expect.

3) Audio / Soundtrack / Voice Acting

Audio-wise they put a lot of effort into capturing the sounds of nature and the like. Pretty well-done on that front. As for the soundtrack, it was tranquil and chill which helps the show go for what it’s trying to do. For the voice-acting, it felt satisfactory for what it is. Nothing stood out and so I see it as serviceable.

Opening and Endings are quite great with it being upbeat to energize the viewers before having them enter the world. The usage of narration during these sequences was interesting and adds onto it versus general songs.

4) Overall

I liked this OVA series, it piqued my interest in the manga and what it has to offer. I’ll watch the sequel OVA to see what that’s about and then move onto the mango.

Hopefully, you learned something useful from the review. Thanks for reading. :)