When I was an adolescent, I absolutely loved hearing witty quotes. I used to set my alarm in the morning a few minutes early to catch a little interlude on the radio that included such quotes. I listened intently to Wilson’s advice on Home Improvement. And I kept a treasured paper on which I recorded and numbered my favorites.
Among them, was this famed proverb:
Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.
As I watched the second episode of Tari Tari, it was the above quote that came to me.
At this point, we viewers are unsure of the true nature of the school vice principal. So far, she’s presented as a witch – a horrible woman who again and again tries to crush Konatsu’s dreams. And since Konatsu is so cute, we’re particularly incensed at the older lady!
But we felt the same way about Sui of Hanasaku Iroha at first. By the end of the first season, she’d become one of the 2011’s favorite characters.
I could be way off, but my guess is that the mean Vice Principal won’t come across as so mean after a few more episodes. In fact, her “dragon parent” ways might be meant to entice Konatsu into becoming a better singer and stronger person.
Give a moe character a place in the choir, let her perform for a day. Teach her to overcome, let her perform for a lifetime.
Jesus, strangely enough, gave a similar lesson. Do you remember the story of the woman and the well? A Samaritan woman approaches the well, where Jesus is, and He asks her for a drink. She’s surprised, as Jews didn’t associate with Samaritans.
Their conversation immediately turns interesting, as Jesus says, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
The woman wants to this water so that she won’t be physically thirsty anymore. Of course, Jesus is talking about spiritual sustenance – He is the living water for our souls.
Give a person water, their thirst will be quenched for a day. Teach a person to drink of the living water, their thirst will be quenched for…forever.
It’s hard to accept the longer payoff by giving up the short term reward. But sometimes, what we receive in the long run is far greater than we can imagine. I’ve found that temporary pleasures don’t fulfill me the way the living water of Jesus can and does when I’m abiding by the Spirit.
And now having faced her fears, Konatsu will feel a similar way about the route she had to take.
Now, to wait and see if the VP is playing Jesus…or if she’s just a big ol’ meanie after all. 😛
Maybe. Right now she’s just ruuuddddee. Although, I have this feeling that soon enough all this cuteness is gonna turn into a really really sad story.
Could be – the second episode really seemed almost like the END of the series. I have no idea which way it’s going to go from here…
Yeah I thought we were gonna get 11 episodes leading up to the recital, but I guess not. I’m actually okay with that though because just about every other high school anime follows that structure.
One of my favorite anime. It’s pretty rare to see an anime so real, so … without exaggerated goofiness and the exotic supernatural. Tari Tari is a very real experience; it is literally a slice of life, with good character arcs, involving their families and their struggles.
It had a great, happy ending. Again, this is a rare one among the rest of them, and I recommend this one as acceptable to anyone. (Admittedly, it did have very, very few scenes which will startle some viewers, but even those were in good fun, and not very offensive if seen in a comedic light, which they cannot be otherwise.)