Tada Never Falls in Love: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Tada Never Falls in Love: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

A sweet romantic anime series

Tada Never Falls in Love is a charming anime production which wears its heart on its sleeve. The series is based on the original manga by creator Yoshitaka Hayanami. An anime for photography lovers of all ages, the charming slice-of-life romance has plenty to offer.

Mitsuyoshi Tada (Yūichi Nakamura) is determined to become the next great photographer. As Tada explores the world around him through photography, there is nary a moment where the click of a camera isn't far behind him. Though love is usually out of his reach, lonely Tada soon meets the beautiful Teresa Wagner (Manaka Iwami) and finds that love might not be so far out of reach. Determined to get to know Teresa better, Tada finds success when the girl decides to join the photography club. As romance lingers, a prince-meets-princess story starts to unfold.

One of the elements of the series which made it so charming was the characters themselves. The dynamic between Tada and Teresa was at the heart of the series and why it worked so well. With uninteresting characters, the program would have been a harder sell. Yet these are sweet, kind, and charming characters that are easy to resonate with. Anyone who has ever taken an interest in making striking photographs will find the passion of Tada something that is compelling. Likewise, there is just something compelling about Teresa. By the time the series is over viewers will find that the two unique characters went on a journey. While some of the supporting characters in Tada Never Falls in Love could have been better developed, the lead characters were compelling.

The animation is exquisite. Tada Never Falls in Love is a beautiful looking production on every level. It all begins with the art direction by Chieko Nakamura (Baku Tech! Bakugan Gachi, Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle). The background artwork looks nuanced and sophisticated. Little details in the animation (like the beautiful intricacies of outdoor trees and the blowing winds) make a solid impression. This is certainly one of the finest strengths of the series.

Perhaps Tada can find love.

The anime features chief animation direction by a dedicated group: Chisato Kikunaga (A Bridge to the Starry Skies), Hitomi Kaiho (The Everyday Tales of a Cat God), Junichirō Taniguchi (Big Windup!), and Masayoshi Kikuchi (Aria the Scarlet Ammo AA). The animation was consistently charming and original throughout the program. There is no doubt that these animation supervisors helped the great animation team to put together something special episode-to-episode.

The fantastic character designs by Junichirō Taniguchi (Natsuyuki Rendezvous, Lovely Movie: Itoshi no Muco) are also commendable. The characters looks unique and are beautifully animated from the very beginning. Each character seems distinct. The art work explores the characters well. While there are sometimes anime series with unoriginal or uninteresting character designs, Tada Never Falls in Love showcases the strengths a quality production can have when the character designs are done the right way.

The original music score by Yukari Hashimoto (Toradora!, If Her Flag Breaks) is one of my favorite elements of the production. The music is lighthearted, breezy, and entertaining. The score makes the production more impressive. There is a sense that Hashimoto wanted to give the series a serene sense of style. The end results can be felt in each and every episode. A quality score.

Featuring direction by Mitsue Yamazaki (Bleach, Durarara!!), the filmmaker worked with the screenplays Yoshiko Nakamura (Gekijōban Meiji Tokyo Renka: Yumihari no Serenade, Meiji Tokyo Renka Movie 2: Hanakagami no Fantasia) crafted to create a compelling anime. While Tada Never Falls in Love is not a perfect anime series, it has a lot of impressive elements. The beginning of the series took a while to take flight but once the characters were more developed the conclusion was ultimately more satisfying than expected. Tada Never Falls in Love is worth a look.

Tada Never Falls in Love: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber, Tada Never Falls in Love is presented in1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The release preserves the original television broadcast aspect ratio in all of its glory. The animation is quite splendid to see unfold. The highly creative visuals are brought to life with stunning clarity and detail. The series is predominantly a slice-of-life production, so the series is never too action-packed or oriented but the slick visuals of the series are still well preserved with a top-notch encoding that never allows for there to be egregious compression artifacts and the like. The animators creation is quite effective and helps bring the creative anime storyline to life. Fans will be pleased.

Tada Never Falls in Love: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Blu-ray release includes two unique lossless audio options: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with English subtitles). The audio tracks are impressive to listen to. Throughout the entire presentation, the tracks demonstrate a subtlety which is nuanced and enjoyable. Dialogue reproduction remains crisp, clear, and easy to understand from beginning to end. The music is well rendered and adds to the atmosphere of the soundstage. The presentation is a good match for the exceptional video-quality. There were never any moments were the audio suffered from egregious hiss, crackle, warps, or clicks. The subtitles were also well done and were free from glaring grammatical or spelling errors.

Tada Never Falls in Love: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Clean Opening Animation (HD, 1:32)

Cleaning Closing Animation (HD, 1:32)

The release also includes a selection of trailers promoting other releases available from distributor Sentai Filmworks: My Teen Romantic Comedy ~ SNAFU (HD, 1:32), Cutie Honey Universe (HD, 1:33), Haikyu!! Season 3 (HD, 1:34), and Waiting in the Summer (HD, 1:33).

Tada Never Falls in Love: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Tada Never Falls in Love is a charming anime series that explores young love in a sweet way. The series also explores the importance of photography and how meaningful it can be in life. The art work is fantastic. The music score is compelling. The Blu-ray release by Sentai Filmworks features a strong video-audio presentation. Worth a watch.