Tabi to Michizure

タビと道づれ

Company: Frontier Works
Based on: Manga
Released: 2009.06.24


Tabi to Michizure is a story about Tabi (CV: Kugimira Rie) who wants to see her childhood friend 'Kou-chan' (CV: Sakurai Takahiro). One day she suddenly decides to visit the town where they lived, and instead of taking the train to school she takes the train there. When the conductor comes to check hee ticket she panics at first because she doesn't have one, but he gives her a stamp on her hand saying that it is "a ticket is a way to get where you want" and that the shape doesn't matter.

When Tabi arrives at the town where she lived before she is immediately ambushed by Yukita (CV: Minagawa Junko) and Nishimura (CV: Nakamura Yuuichi) who seem completely surprised that a train has arrived and start to question her about how she got here. Tabi first runs away but is nearly 'swallowed' by a large hole in the road that suddenly opens when she tries to take a shortcut to Kou-chan his house. Yukita saves her, and the two of them explain that this town has been repeating the same day over and over again.

Yukita his childhood friend Kanako (CV: Asumi Kana) comes by every day on exactly the same moment, begging him not to leave for Tokyo, using exactly the same words every day. Other people in the town repeat exactly the same pattern every day as well. No trains and arrive or leave, and each day is the same as the one before. Tabi is the first one to arrive in a long time, and along with Yukita and Nishimura the only one that notices that every day is the same, the other people forget this.

Yukita and Nishimura think that Tabi might be the key to solve the mystery of the town, and so Tabi and Yukita start searching for clues while checking which roads they can and can't cross. And so the days keep repeating.

This is a cute story, and for some reason it made me feel very nostalgic. I don't know, the idea of a rural town repeating the same summer day over and over again just seems so... peaceful. Throughout the story bits and pieces of the characters their past are told, especially about Tabi, Yukita, and Nanako, and some of them are quite surprising to.

Tabi has some problems with making friends, which leads to some hilarious moments as well. Yukita likes making strange metaphors, and is entirely too energetic and loud, but it is exactly this personality that gives him so much charm (along with Minagawa Junko her amazing voice work). Nishimura is like the one sane person, but still interesting.

The CD doesn't cover the entire manga, and some of the events have been shuffled, but overall I feel like this version is easier to understand (some things are explained better here). This also means that the CD ends about halfway through the story, but this isn't a bad thing at all. Although it does leave you with a couple of questions (I am mostly wondering about why Nishimura also keeps his memories).

In the free talk everyone talks about where they want to travel, or a story that has something to do with 'travel'. I am once again amazed by how annoying Kaneda Tomoko her voice is, it sounds like she is on helium 24/7. And for some reason Sakurai introduces himself as "Taka-chan" (probably because his role only has Kou-chan as his name).


Conclusion:
This is a really sweet story. It isn't all fluff and rainbows, but in the end it made me feel like plain everyday life can be happiness as well. And it made me feel like travelling. Though I'd prefer to do that during summer.