Moyashimon follows
Tadayasu Sawaki and a small cast of misfits enrolled at the Tokyo Agricultural
University in a specialized fermentation program under Professor Itsuki. Tadayasu was encouraged to attend the
college and apply under Itsuki by his grandfather, who is friends with the
Professor. Tadayasu has a peculiar
ability to see microbes with the naked eye and to some extent interact with
them. To him the microbes look like
cartoon shapes and have distinct personalities.
In the second series we see the members of Itsukis group working hard to
produce a variety of soy based fermented food products. As their plans commence a linchpin of the
group, Itsuki’s assistant Haruka Hasegawa, disappears. They must figure out where she disappeared too
and how to get her back to make the group complete again.
I was really happy
to see Moyashimon get a second series.
This was a fun and light hearted show.
Unlike the original series, Returns does have an underlying central plot
throughout, that of Hasegawa’s sudden disappearance from the school and the
search to bring her back. This plot sits
in the background until the second half, with the first half being more focused
on the group preparing for the upcoming Harvest Festival. Also with this series, at least in the first
half, we see a greater emphasis on trying to explain the process of making the
soy based products the group begins fermenting.
I learned a bit I hadn’t know about how to produce sake and soy sauce,
it was quite educational. Aside from the
central plot line though, there really is no difference between this and the original
series; it’s just more adventures of this loveable group of misfits. After the credits of each episode they have
small vignettes featuring the microbes. If
memory serves correct they did this with the original series as well. The microbes are my favorite part of the show
so it’s a great bonus. In the final one
they also strongly suggest the idea of a future series as well, which would be
more than welcome.
This is a fun,
easy going story with likeable characters.
The animation is nothing worth writing about, some of the character
designs are weird and interesting but the heart is in the right place, classic
anime comedy at its best. It’s nice to
see there is still a place for something like this in the world.
As far as I am
aware both series’ have never been released on disc in North America, but both
are available for streaming on Crunchyroll.
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