Series Review – Yama no Susume S2
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Ahhhh Yama no Susume. A slice of life, feel-good show about mountain climbing and budding friendships. I think it’s a show that’s been ignored (and needs more love) because it’s the second season of something most people skipped over since it was only a short. But that just means it’s all the easier to marathon, download without killing your bandwidth, and enjoy! |
Yama no Susume is one of those anime that relaxes me instantly, no matter what I’m feeling before I click the play button. I’ve really been impressed at how they took such a simple concept and managed to run with it for 24 episodes (even if they were shorter than the standard anime episode). Part of what impressed me is how the show doesn’t drop in quality when there isn’t a mountain involved. Some episodes are spent developing characters, and they’re actually just as good as the “regular” episodes where they scale a mountain. This allows for the show to pace itself and let us get to know everyone without just rushing from one activity to the next. It’s all about the friendships and life lessons they learn along the way. And sometimes you learn lessons just chilling on the ground that are as important as the ones you learn climbing to the top of Mount Fuji.
Going back to my review of season 1, I noted that the characters felt a little static. So it’s really great that season 2 gives them room to grow into people I could really care about and start to feel fond of. Otherwise, the solo episodes spent just faffing about in everyday, non-mountain-climbing life would have just been annoying filler. It’s impressive that they managed to efficiently utilize their time to get us to know everyone and still go through exciting mountain adventures.
Climbing mountains while looking cute
In particular, I really enjoyed the solo episodes for Kokona and Kaede. At times, they’ve felt almost like add-ons just to round out the cast so we have more than just two girls to focus on. They had development, of course, but were never given a chance in the spotlight. But when they were given the chance to shine here, it really paid off. Kaede has always been a bit hard to read because she’s so independent and always looking after others instead of talking about herself. Seeing some of her insecurities went a long way in making me come around and have her go from an “eh” character to potentially my favourite of the bunch. Her childhood spent going on hikes all alone while everyone labelled her as the oddball (except her one close friend) was adorable. It also was a perfect way to dovetail into the episode where she gives an old jacket she bought with her best friend to Aoi. It wouldn’t have worked if we didn’t understand why it was such a big deal for Kaede to give away this jacket.
Likewise, Kokona’s episode let us know about her birthday, her relationship with her mom…and how much of a hippie child she really is. This girl seriously just wanders around and daydreams about fairies all the time. She’s a total weirdo but she fits in perfectly with her mountain climbing friends, and they don’t suspect a thing about how dedicated she is to being a flower child. Anyways, it was nice to see more of Kokona being Kokona and reinforcing why she’s so damn good at climbing mountains. With all that practice just going on hikes on a whim, it’s no wonder she was able to climb Mt. Fuji with Hinata while Aoi was left behind. It wasn’t as good as Kaede’s episode, but it was still adorable. This is one of those shows that actually highlights relationships between children and parents instead of having them mysteriously disappear for “work” or “vacation” all the time.
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There are also a lot of side stories with Aoi and Hinata bickering over petty things then inevitably making up, but that’s always been a big part of the series. Their friendship is the driving force that provoked Aoi to try mountain climbing and get over he fear of heights. It’s been quite a fun ride seeing the ups and downs here. Their friendship has gone off and on in between fights, but in the end it’s alright. It’s a nice parallel to Aoi – an amateur – trying to climb mountains. For the most part, she overcomes everything that comes her way. She’s gotten over her crippling fear of heights and climbed many mountains with her friends. However, she completely fails to climb Mt. Fuji. It’s not surprising that a beginner would get altitude sickness in her first attempt ever at such a beastly mountain, but it’s surprising for an anime to do that.
The entire Mt. Fuji arc was one of my favourite parts of the series because Hinata was training nonstop and making leaps and bounds in her mountaineering skills. But sometimes it takes more than just hard work. Sometimes you try your hardest and still don’t end up on top. I appreciate that Yama no Susume isn’t afraid to dust off the typical sugarcoating you see in slice of life shows. Sometimes you need a real conflict to make the resolution afterwards feel that much more relieving and relaxing.
It’s combination of trials everyone faces on and off the slopes that makes Yama no Susume such a gem to watch. Sometimes the fights between Aoi and Hinata make you want to bang your head against a wall because they’re so dumb, but the drama is always resolved in the most pleasant, feel-good way. It’s never too much for too long. It injects just the right amount of drama for you to take it seriously. There’s a lot of depth in there despite the fact each episode is half the length of a traditional anime. Just thinking about how Fate/Stay Night wastes so much time and has double the length in an episode is mind-blowing. So, essentially what I’m saying is…Yama no Susume is better than Fate/Stay Night.
Nyama no Susume
About Overcooled
A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
This was one of my favorite shows in 2014. And it got me to hike 3 times up a mountain nearby that I had last done in 1999 and had thought that would be my last time. There was some good advice on mountaineering in this series or just hiking in general.
I liked all the girls, especially Kaede, and their friendship and the way it grew between them throughout the series.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I learned so many facts about mountain climbing from this show. It’s amazing how much educational stuff they pack in there without it being boring. Even I’m tempted to go on a real hike now!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I just finished downloading the remaining episode for the second season. Now what’s left is to decide when to marathon the entire lot. Because there are a number of things that are more up front. Like whether or not to read a manga that’s having a split cour adaptation with the first half scheduled for Spring. From what’s being read based on my interpretation, Yama no Susume, where friendship is concerned is almost like Tamayura. Though I only caught that series’ second season, it was a decent watch.
That, I’m going to have to see with my own eyes.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
I dropped Fate/Stay Night just over halfway through. Yama no Susume I stayed with until the end and wish for more. So you can see which one I thought was better.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
That’s based on preferences. Such a conclusion rides on what series appeals to what audience. I’m into animes like Fate/Stay Night, Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis, Akame ga Kill!, Hitsugi no Chaika, Attack on Titan, Jormungand, Zankyou no Terror, Zetsuen no Tempest, Psycho-Pass, Shiki, Index/Railgun, Tokyo Ghoul. Examples to my preferences. They immediately catch my attention so I watch them with 95% chance of seeing to the end whereas “Slice of Life” shows hardly get my notice.
Even on the off chance a “Slice of Life” anime does, well, little hope of it lasting long. For example, Glasslip got a shot and I axed and buried it halfway through the first episode because it had nothing to entertain any of my interests. Very rare that such shows are on my list and though saying this is premature, Yama no Susume might make the cut.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Yeah, it depends on which genres you like. Even the best romance anime won’t get the time of day from me because I know I’ll hate it. :B
Although if it makes you feel better, I dropped Glasslip too because it made me want to watch paint dry instead. This is much, much better.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Don’t be so worried. I heard a considerable amount of people dropped Glasslip like a hot potato. Some did it within the first ten minutes.
Here’s the ranking of anime that came along with it after it finished airing Summer 2014.
1. Barakamon
2. Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun
3. Akame ga KILL!
4. Futsū no Joshikōsei ga Locodol Yattemita
5. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders
6. Tokyo Ghoul
7. Aldnoah.Zero
8. The irregular at magic high school
9. Survival Game Club!
10. Hanayamata
11. Psycho-Pass Extended Edition
12. Invaders of the Rokujyōma!?
13. Sword Art Online II
14. Magimoji Rurumo
15. Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya 2wei!
16. La Bonne Vie
17. Space Dandy Season 2
18. Nobunaga Concerto
19. Love Stage!!
20. Terror in Resonance
21. Black Butler: Book of Circus
22. Free! Eternal Summer
23. Blue Spring Ride
24. Persona 4 the Golden Animation
25. Momo Kyun Sword
26. Re:␣Hamatora
27. Bladedance of Elementalers
28. Shirogane no Ishi Argevollen
29. Rail Wars!
30. Captain Earth
31. Tokyo ESP
32. Bakumatsu Rock
33. M3 the dark metal
34. Shōnen Hollywood – Holly Stage for 49
35. DRAMAtical Murder
36. GLASSLIP
37. Sengoku Basara: Judge End
Despite all the reproaches, I’m surprised Tokyo Ghoul made the top 10 on the list.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Philistines. Glasslip was the best anime of the year, and probably the best one that PA Works has made. And this is not me being reactionary or just counter to popular opinion. It was a wonderful exploration of the confusion of being a teenager, and told a wonderful story in a respectful and reserved way.
If there was one thing that I wish people would do, it’s watch the show without thinking of “When am I going to see what I want to see in this anime?” and “When is this show going to do something?” It was doing something from the beginning, and continued doing it, excellently, throughout.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
11/10 Would recommend….
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
What a person thinks is better is based on personal preferences. I’ve also watched Bahamut, Akame ga Kill, Chaika, and Index/Railgun and am watching Parasite and have enjoyed them all. Fate/Stay Night has too many plot holes for me and a hero I don’t like.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Ah, lovely. Folks, I had agreed to Tag this with OC. But when she sent me this draft, I was so taken by it, I felt adding anything, would take away. That and I ran out of time!
Thanks, OC. This was a lovely post, and I hope it gets lots of comments, and gets folks to put it on the backlog.
Yesssss….better than Fate. It’s awesome cause it’s true.
For me, I adored both the firefly sequence and indeed Kokona’s birthday. I actually looked up the Children’s Park on Google Maps!
And nothing can ever beat the Fuji story. Good, elegant simple storytelling at it’s best.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Yep, this was going to be a post with skylion but sometimes real life just gets in the way. Next time!!!
Thanks though, skylion! My fellow Yama no Susume fan =w=. I really liked season 2 and I probably missed a lot of the best parts of the show like the firefly episode, taking the mom mountain climbing…I even skipped over how they introduced an entirely new character at the end! I’m surprised so much happened that I can barely talk about it all….
Children’s Park is a real place????
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yes, it is a place!
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I had no clue…I want to go!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
IKR! I wanna ride the butt warming slide!
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Hmm, maybe I should pick s1 back up. I only got through 2-3 episodes before I dropped it. I really like slice-of-life shows, but I remember at the time of airing it just didn’t do the trick for me.
I liked Tamayura, so maybe… hmmm…
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I thought season 1 was alright. It’s season 2 that really picks up and becomes something I’m now pretty passionate about. It’s very similar to Tamayura if you do end up continuing it.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Would you recommend finishing s1 before starting s2? Or I could start with s2? I got introduced to the main two girls and I vaguely remember the megane.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I only saw the second season of Tamayura and found it was alright.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Well, it was missing vampires ^_^
Simple slice-of-life vampire show? I wonder if such a combination exists.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
If a show with that combination ever presents itself, I’ll take it into consideration.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
You mean there’s a genre mash-up that Japan hasn’t exploited yet??? Color me surprised.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I’m sure there are still a few mash-ups that still have yet to be created.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Point her to Fuji-san!