Tamayura is a Japanese anime series written and directed by Junichi Sato. The initial four-episode original video animation series was produced by Hal Film Maker and released over two Blu-ray Disc and DVD volumes in November and December 2010. A 12-episode anime television series produced by TYO Animations, titled Tamayura: Hitotose, aired in Japan between October and December 2011. A second TV anime season, Tamayura: More Aggressive, aired between July and September 2013. A four-part animated film series, Tamayura: Sotsugyō Shashin, was released between April 4, 2015 and April 6, 2016. Two manga adaptations illustrated by Momo have been published by Mag Garden.
Plot
Tamayura centers around a young girl named Fū Sawatari who moves to Takehara, Hiroshima to begin her first year of high school. Her late father grew up in Takehara and this is her first time back in the town in five years. Fū enjoys photography and is often engrossed with taking pictures with her father's old Rollei 35 S film camera. A shy girl, Fū tries her best to make friends early on, spurred on by her childhood friend Kaoru Hanawa. She quickly becomes friends with two other girls, Maon Sakurada and Norie Okazaki. After a year has passed, Fū forms a photography club and meets fellow photographer Kanae Mitani.
A manga adaptation titled Tamayura, illustrated by Momo, was serialized in Mag Garden's online Eden magazine between October 8, 2010 and March 11, 2011. A single tankōbon volume was released on May 14, 2011. A second manga adaptation titled Tamayura: Hitotose, again illustrated by Momo, was serialized in Eden between October 5, 2011 and January 20, 2013. Three volumes were released between February 14, 2012 and February 14, 2013.
Anime
Tamayura was first produced as a four-episode original video animation series produced by Hal Film Maker and directed by Junichi Sato. The episodes were released over two Blu-ray Disc and DVD volumes on November 26 and December 23, 2010. Each episode is about 15 minutes long and is combined in a single video in two parts: the first two episodes in volume one, and the latter two episodes in volume two. The episodes had previously aired on AT-X between September 6 and December 6, 2010. A 12-episode anime television series based on the OVAs titled Tamayura: Hitotose aired in Japan between October 3 and December 19, 2011. The TV series is produced by TYO Animations and directed by Junichi Sato. The TV series is being released on seven BD/DVD compilation volumes between December 21, 2011 and June 27, 2012. A 13th episode for Tamayura: Hitotose, which takes place between episodes five and six, was released on the final BD/DVD volume. Nozomi Entertainment released both the OVA series and Hitotose in North America on October 6, 2015 via distributor Right Stuf Inc.. A 12-episode second season, titled Tamayura: More Aggressive, aired on AT-X between July 3 and September 18, 2013. An OVA episode was released on June 14, 2014. A four-part animated film series, titled Tamayura: Sotsugyō Shashin, covers the final year of the story. The first of these films was released in Japanese theaters on April 4, 2015, with the second film released on August 29, 2015, the third film released on November 28, 2015, and the fourth and final film released on April 2, 2016.
