This is unequivocally the best piece of animated media of all time. Completely perfect from start to finish, topped off by a god-tier soundtrack by Kensuke Ushio.
Sublime.
β Edit: I spent two years making custom subtitles & typesetting for this show. Please check them out!
Gentle, mild, and lovingly whimsical throughout, The Taste of Tea is a wandering film about the directionlessness of life. The film's explorations and small stories of joy are told through its characters, giving a sense freedom where any semblance of plot seems to just barely slip through the cracks. Faintly surreal, comical, relaxing, and absolutely fantastic.
I CAN'T BELIEVE I GOT TO SEE THIS IN MY LIFETIME πππ
So good. And so, so devastating that it didn't ever really get released. Tomcat's would have been absolutely seminal.
Full review (with pictures) & a play-by-play plot summary is on my blog here!!! japan.elifessler.com/2023/12/01/tomcats-big-adventure/
I'M LOGGING THIS TO COMMEMORATE ME FINDING OUT ABOUT THE HIFF SHOWING 30 MINUTES BEFORE IT STARTED AND IMMEDIATELY UBERING OVER AND THEN THEY SOLD THEY LAST TICKET TO THE PERSON LITERALLY RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME
and i'm moving to japan this weekend so now i'll never get to see it in theaters or probably at all for a long time lmao i'm crying so hard actually devastated and sick to my stomach i have clinical depression now
