TsumaSho

I started hearing buzz about this when it was announced, with people saying it was good but the title might drive people away. However, I think we’ve all learned to not judge something by its title by now, right? It does seem the marketing team thought about it, as they opted to instead have the title as TsumaSho, a shorted version of the Japanese title, instead. So let me start off by saying that the title is no reason to be driven away, and in fact this was an enjoyable show.

Now the premise is simple: 10 years ago Keisuke’s wife Takae died, and now she has returned in the body of an elementary schooler. This miracle fills Keisuke and his daughter Mai with new life. Keisuke begins socializing more at work and having a generally happy appearance, leading to a connection with coworker Moriya. Mai changes jobs and meets fishing enthusiast Renji. The body that Takae inhabits belongs to a girl named Marika, whose mother Chika is divorced and generally is not very kind. However, much like how her family changes, Takae changes Chika.

The moments these characters have and how they change are a good, generally wholesome watch. The story does wrap up in one season, and while I don’t think it’s winning any awards the story is pretty decent. It is perhaps a little quick, another victim of the 12 episode format. In particular I think it would have been nice to get a little more time with Chika, as she somewhat disappears in the later episodes, but her little arc is wrapped up at that point.