And Yet the Town Moves (Japanese: それでも町は廻っている, Hepburn: Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru), abbreviated as Soremachi (それ町), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masakazu Ishiguro. It was serialized in the monthly magazine Young King OURs from March 2005 to October 2016, and was collected into 16 bound volumes. The series follows the exploits of whiny Hotori Arashiyama, her friends, family, neighbors, shopkeepers and colleagues at the local maid café. The slice of life format is occasionally interspersed with stories dealing with aliens, ghosts, and the paranormal.
An anime television series adaptation by Shaft was broadcast from October to December 2010. The manga was first licensed by
JManga, then Crunchyroll; in 2020 it was also licensed by Manga Planet with the name SoreMachi: And Yet the Town Moves.
In 2018, And Yet the Town Moves won the 49th Seiun Award for the Best Comic category, as well as the Excellence Award at the 17th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2013.
Plot
Hotori Arashiyama is a high school girl who works part-time as a waitress at Seaside coffee shop in the Maruko shopping district. One day, the owner, Uki Isobata, comes up with a secret plan to make the restaurant prosperous. It was to turn Seaside into a popular maid café. However, none of the people involved knew about maid cafes, and under the simple idea that if the waitresses wore maid clothes, it would be a maid cafe, and Seaside restarted as a maid cafe.
Hotori is the clumsy, whiny and happy-go-lucky but mostly good-natured and well-meaning main protagonist of the series. Arguably the most well-known girl in town, she is very knowledgeable of all there is worth knowing about in their community. Possessing a face of childlike innocence, older townsfolk treat Hotori as a granddaughter while toddlers are effortlessly amused much to her annoyance. She is a huge fan of detective fiction and mystery novels; her deep dislike of mathematics stems from her belief that it offers little value for aspiring detectives such as herself. These unusual interests put her at odds against her math teacher (she has good grades in all her other subjects) and the town's patrolling police officer (she has vigilante tendencies). After being reminded by the Maid Seaside Café owner of all the free curry meals she enjoyed there as a child, Hotori began working part-time in the restaurant. Having almost non-existent cooking skills coupled with her lack of female charisma, Hotori is relegated into cleaning duties and running errands. Despite her limitations, she is very earnest in her work and genuinely wants to help not only the elderly proprietress but also the shopping district as a whole.
Toshiko is the pretty and well-endowed friend of Hotori. She decided to work in the same café when she discovered that her crush, their classmate Hiroyuki Sanada, is the lone regular customer. Her superb culinary talents and irresistible feminine charm instantly make her an indispensable asset for Maid Seaside Cafe; she has the desirable qualities of a maid that proprietress Uki Isohata has not found in Hotori. Toshiko's only failing is that her lack of humility more often than not manifests into arrogance. Even if her brutally frank personality often clashes against Hotori's immature antics, they are still very close friends. She disapproves of Hotori's childish habit of nicknaming her "Tattsun" (sometimes extended even further into "Tattsun-tsun"), but later relents when the moniker catches on and everyone else begins using it.
Hotori's childhood friend and classmate. As the only child of a widowed fish merchant, Hiroyuki helps out often at their shop; he is quite skilled in preparing and cooking seafood. Being raised alone by a rarely affectionate father who was also known as a local troublemaker, they act more like siblings in a love-hate relationship. With his teen-idol good looks and congeniality, Toshiko is very enamored of him. But Hiroyuki hardly notices her advances because of his longtime secret crush on his childhood friend. Whenever he is alone with Hotori, he often fantasizes scenarios wherein he is able to muster enough courage to finally confess his feelings for her.
Proprietress and head maid of the Maid Seaside Café, Uki took over the ownership of the restaurant after her husband died more than a decade earlier. To keep up with the current trend of the present generation, she converted her curry shop into a maid-themed cafe. Business started slow because the restaurant was severely understaffed with just her doing the cooking and Hotori waiting on the tables. Though they are unrelated, Hotori has known her for a long time and lovingly calls her "Granny". Although somewhat tyrannical at times, Uki genuinely cares for the well-being of others and is a well-respected elder in their community. Aside from her troublesome spine, she appears to be in good health and is still quite outgoing for someone her age.
Oya High School mathematics teacher. He is also Hotori's homeroom teacher and sees her as one of his two nemeses (the other being his own math teacher from childhood). Hotori has a crush on him.
Initially mistaken as a younger boy by Hotori due to her short hair and slight build, she is in fact an upperclassman at Oya High School and the most laid-back member of its ping-pong club. Despite her seemingly uncaring personality and non-conformist nature, she is unexpectedly devoted to her parents and a good friend especially towards Hotori. Futaba plays bass guitar and is a cat-lover.
Hotori's sister and youngest member of the family. 3 years younger than Takeru. Also likes detective stories and has good investigative skills herself.
It was originally published in English through JManga from its launch on August 17, 2011,[15] until its shutdown on May 30, 2013,[16] but it was later simultaneously published online by Crunchyroll since February 28, 2014.[17][18]BookWalker also released the first ten English digital book volumes for purchase on November 17, 2015.[19][20] In 2020, it was also licensed by Manga Planet under the name SoreMachi: And Yet the Town Moves,[21] who released it digitally from May 20, 2020, to May 26, 2021.[22]
125. "Kon-Senpai Special" (紺先輩 スペシャル, Kon Senpai Supesharu)
126. "Evil" (悪, Aku)
127. "The Blessed Café (Forever)" (至福の店 フォーエバー, Shifuku no Mise Fōebā)
128. "Gone with the Wind" (嵐と共に去りぬ, Arashi to Tomo ni Sarinu)
129. "Girl A" (少女A, Shōjo Ē)
"Epilogue" (エピローグ, Epirōgu)
Chapters not in volume format
These chapters have not been collected into volumes. They were published in issues of Young King Ours in May 2009 and November 2015. They can be found in the Soremachi Official Guide Book which was released on the same date as the final volume.[37]
53. "Lock" (ロック, Rokku)
128. "Time Bomb" (時限爆弾, Jigen Bakudan)
Anime
The manga has been adapted into a 12-episode anime series that started airing on October 8, 2010. The anime is chief directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, with assistant direction by Naoyuki Tatsuwa, and produced by Shaft.[2]J-pop band Round Table composed the music, Katsuhiko Takayama acted as series composition writer, and Hiroki Yamamura (Studio Pastoral) designed the characters. Yamamura, Yasutoshi Iwasaki, and Miyako Nishida (NEOX) served as chief animation directors. Half of the series was outsourced outside of Shaft: episodes 3 and 6 to Magic Bus; episodes 4 and 10 to Studio Pastoral; episode 8 to Doga Kobo; and episode 11 to Diomedéa.[b]
The opening theme is Down Town by Maaya Sakamoto and the ending theme is Maids Sanjou! (メイズ参上！) by Maids (the main female cast) and arranged by Round Table, both released by Victor Entertainment.[2] The CD of Down Town was released in Japan on October 20, 2010, and the CD of Maids Sanjou! was released on November 24, 2010.[38] The first Blu-ray/DVD of the series was released in Japan on December 24, 2010, and the sixth and last on June 15, 2011.[39] At Anime Weekend Atlanta 2011, Sentai Filmworks announced that they have licensed the anime,[40] and they released it on DVD on January 3, 2012,[41] and on Blu-ray on June 21, 2016.[42]Anime Network streamed the series in North America from June 15 to August 31, 2012.[43][44]
At the Seaside maid café, Hotori Arashiyama is copying Hiroyuki Sanada's math homework. For Hiroyuki, being this close to Hotori is a dream come true.
The next morning at Oya High School, teacher Natsuhiko Moriaki castigates Hotori for copying. She complains to friends Toshiko Tatsuno and Harue Haribara that the stern lecture she will receive after school will make her late for her new part time job at the café. Toshiko has a certain ideal of what a maid café should be and asks if she can visit. Upon arrival, she is severely disappointed with the welcome and level of service she receives. She demonstrates how a real café maid would welcome a customer. Proprietress Uki Isohata is so impressed with Toshiko's performance that she offers her a job on the spot. Toshiko cannot accept due to her school club commitments, but does offer to train Hotori.
The next customer to enter the café gets the full "Welcome home, master" treatment from Hotori, but he misinterprets the greeting and makes a pass at her. Hotori strikes him. Toshiko's lesson continues with her teaching Hotori to use clumsiness as a charm point, with disastrous results. Customer number two is Hiroyuki. After learning that he is a regular, smitten Toshiko reconsiders Uki's offer and accepts the maid job.
The following day, Hotori and Toshiko are caught heading to work by Mr Moriaki. Despite trying to escape, he manages to follow them to the café. He insists that they both obtain parental and school permission to work. Using their maid charms the two girls have a battle of wills with their teacher. Only when he is lecturing Hotori about her absentmindedness does Toshiko realize that Mr. Moriaki has forgotten about their getting permission to work.
2
"The Most Popular Sexual Harassment Trial" "Sekuhara Saiban ga Dai Ninki" (Japanese: セクハラ裁判が大人気[45])
Toshiko Tatsuno has a ticket for an advance film screening and desperately wants to ask Hiroyuki Sanada on a date. Unfortunately, she is a little shy and despite her best efforts, is unable to summon the courage to ask him out. Hotori gets the tickets instead and Toshiko waits for Hiroyuki to come to the cafe for his usual homework session.
In part two, Hotori's brother Takeru and his friends are getting hassled at school by tsundere classmate Eri Isezaki, who complains that they're constantly playing a trading card game, which is against school rules. One day during class, a note from Eri lands on his desk asking to 'hang out'. Takeru is surprised when she actually carries out her threat and turns up on his doorstep. With a ¥1000 note donated by Hotori, the two wander around town eating ice cream, visit a sweet shop and narrowly avoid Takeru's friends. The next time they meet at school, Eri punishes Takeru for using her nickname "Ebi-chan", indicating that, for now, their friendship should remain a secret.
Meanwhile, Hotori challenges her younger sister Yukiko to prove her worth as a detective by finding out as much 'dirt' on her as she can. Yukiko spies on Hotori and discovers her diary.
While searching for a birthday present for Tatsuno, Hotori visits clumsy Shizuka Kameidō's antiques store. Shizuka offers Hotori an African mask that grants the wearer the ability to locate anyone and anything (including lovers). At Tatsuno's early birthday party, Hotori presents her gift: a strange locked box, missing its key. Hotori tries to discover everyone else's birth-dates, but Futaba changes the subject each time she is asked. When Hotori extracts Futaba's student ID card from her bag, she discovers that today is also her birthday, causing much consternation. Hotori meekly offers Futaba the love mask, but she and Tatsuno decide to swap presents. Futaba picks the box's lock and finds love charms inside. After discovering that the mask only finds lovers of African origin, Tatsuno returns it to Shizuka's antique store.
In part two, the students are tasked with creating and uploading a website. Hotori decides to build one for the café. Using photos of Tatsuno in maid costume as payment, Hotori purchases from a classmate a cute illustration for the home page. In order to complete the site, she and Tatsuno head over to Hiroyuki's house. With little warning of their arrival, Hiroyuki has just minutes to clean up and hide his porn collection, which includes deleting hundreds of images from his computer. After discovering that he does not have a scanner, the girls leave… but not before discovering his porn magazines on top of a bookshelf. The pair next head over to Futaba's apartment in order to care for their sick friend. A delirious Futaba attacks after accidentally calling them "Mommy". After calming her down and putting her back to bed, Hotori discovers an electric bass guitar and wakes the neighborhood by strumming it. The next day, everyone seems to have caught the cold virus, except Hotori (because "only idiots don't catch cold").
7
"Lovers Night Escape" "Ai no Naitō Hikou" (Japanese: 愛のナイトウ避行[45])
Hiroyuki leaves home in a bad mood after a disappointing breakfast, only to meet a tired looking Hotori at the bus stop. She explains that the previous day she arrived late at school and was made to stand in the corridor until homeroom was over. Not wanting to repeat the experience she woke up extra early, despite staying up late reading. Unfortunately, she falls asleep on Hiroyuki who, not wanting to disturb her and aching to fulfill today's blood horoscope prophecy, allows the bus to pass school and proceed to the next town. Due to the nice weather, Hiroyuki proposes taking the entire day off. Hotori agrees and takes his hand.
In part two, it is past 11pm and Hotori's younger brother Takeru cannot sleep. A visit to his big sister's room finds her still awake. To help him sleep, Hotori suggests a night-time walk around the neighborhood. Spotting that Sanada's bedroom light is still on, the two try to attract his attention with a slingshot and acorns, with disastrous effect. After escaping they head out for ramen, but have to dodge the district's police officer. In a convenience store, Takeru witnesses the change of day for the first time. Back home the siblings share a hot bath together, and Takeru realizes that his sister knows too much about the night and must be sneaking out often.
Hotori, Futaba and Toshiko are sheltering from heavy rain under the laundromat awning and complaining about the weather forecasters. Hotori suggests using the dryers inside to dry their clothing. While objecting on the grounds that they do not have anything else to wear, Toshiko pulls at the awning, soaking them all thoroughly. With little alternative, they head inside. After a liberating wait the three are back in warm clothes and Hotori decides to warm her insides with udon from an astonishing vending machine. Futaba follows suit and Toshiko plumps for a vending machine burger with dodgy ingredients. Later that night, hunger pangs bring Hotori back to the laundromat where she discovers Futaba.
During an interlude, Toshiko has to ask Hiroyuki to open a pot of honey, which he does. Pleased at having a conversation opener, she scours the café kitchen for more jars with sticky lids. Hotori notices Uki's laddered stockings causing Hiroyuki to be caught out looking at Uki's legs.
In part two, the school Cultural Festival approaches, but Hotori's class is not doing anything for it. Futaba bursts into the café with a stage ticket she has won and suggests forming a band. Hotori says she can play something keyboard-like, and Toshiko something guitar-ish. Harue has already been roped in as drummer. Accordions and violins are not what Futaba had in mind, but they proceed anyway. Toshiko has some luck with Hiroyuki when he agrees to watch her perform. "The Maids" folk song goes down well with the festival crowd.
At Shizuka's antiques store, a woman with green hair brings in a vase and seems to be in a hurry to sell it. The next day her husband sees his vase in the window and buys it back, only for it to be returned the following day by the wife. The process continues many times with Shizuka making a huge profit.
Toshiko enjoys watching Hiroyuki playing basketball while Hotori fails at vaulting and table tennis. Hotori learns that among the table tennis squad, Futaba's name is revered and feared. Harue issues a match challenge to Toshiko, who not wanting to look bad in front of her love interest, plays a fantastic game but ultimately loses to her friend. The game had an effect on Hiroyuki, but for the wrong reasons.
In part two, at Mouri's confectionery shop, a customer learns that the shop will be closing at the end of the month. He buys everything in the store and hands the sweets out on the street. Shizuka samples one of the Rainbow Delights and is enamored. Her quest to find more is thwarted at every turn, but she learns that others seek the maker. The girls in the café try to re-create the snack from the packet ingredients list but are unsuccessful. Hotori theorizes that the snack comes from the future. Strangely, she is not far off. In the year 2310, the woman with green hair asks the returned time-traveller what's the first thing he wants to do. Eat a Rainbow Delight he replies.
Hiroyuki prays at a shrine for him and Hotori to become closer.
The television news channel reports that mysterious, perfectly circular holes have appeared in the neighborhood. At the breakfast table, Hotori watches sheepishly. Later at school, an excited Futaba questions her about the holes and asks to be taken to them. Hotori breaks down and admits that she caused them to appear. She recalls that on her way home from buying ice-cream the previous night, she came across a raygun lying in the road. Thinking it to be a child's toy she takes aim and triggers it, disintegrating a nearby sign. A huge metallic alien lands behind her and asks for the weapon. A second insectoid alien also appears demanding the gun and in the ensuing fight is disintegrated. The metallic alien grabs the raygun and departs. Fearing arrest for causing the damage, Hotori sobs. Futaba produces something she'd found from her pocket that can repair anything broken, and because of this believes Hotori's story. Back at the scene of the holes, Futaba repairs the damage, and unknowingly restores the insectoid alien.
In part two, two old men sit on a bench. As one departs, it becomes clear that the other is a ghost. He tells the story of his death to Futaba's passing cat. Ignored by the collection angels, he is left to wander the town, tormenting dogs and waving his ghostly cane through the residents. The ghost is revealed to be Uki's late husband.
Back at the shine, it appears that Hiroyuki's wish was overheard by the ghostly gentleman.
11
"Kon's Summer Crying" "Kon Senpai Gōkyū no Natsu" (Japanese: 紺先輩号泣の夏[45])
At the beach Hotori's exuberance results in her bursting a new inflatable ring, leaving her despondent. A storm rises up and takes away her new bikini top. Futaba tries to buy her a curry to cheer her up, but the kitchen has just closed. It is the worst summer break ever.
Hotori's father, Ayumu Arashiyama awakes to take Josephine for her walk. He relishes the quiet of the morning, but keeps getting interrupted by shopkeepers warning of an approaching typhoon. Takeru and Yukiko beg their father to take them to the beach, but as he does not have a vacation, suggests Hotori take them to the pool instead. Unfortunately, she cannot go, as she has to attend remedial math class. Upon arrival she discovers that she is the only one there, much to the chagrin of her teacher. Mr. Moriaki tries to make Hotori understand math by comparing it to detective work. She is not convinced but tries anyway.
Back home, Hotori takes Josephine for a walk and meets up with Harue and Futaba who point out that she resembles a tanuki, just like her dog. In a later dream, Josephine says goodbye and departs for the mountains, believing she really is a tanuki. Upon waking to the storm outside, Hotori finds Josephine's kennel empty and despairs. The dog is actually inside with the rest of the family.
Futaba returns home to find a showered Hotori sleeping in her bed, the air conditioning set to cold and a bottle of water removed from her fridge. To make matters worse, she has a stupid look on her face, an inflated rubber ring next to her, and has left the cat locked outside. In Hotori's dream, a race of Josephines attend to her every whim, but as Futaba snaps and opens the window to the hot air outside, Hotori's dream turns into a nightmare where she is burning.
At the café, Toshiko is daydreaming. When Hiroyuki arrives, she tries to invite him to the beach, but instead mistakenly gives him the impression that Hotori has gone there with another man. A rain storm dampens everyone's spirits and steals Hotori's bikini top.
At the café, Futaba and Toshiko are not on close speaking terms because of latter's refusal to join the high school table tennis club. To cheer everyone up, Hotori produces her new invention, a magnifying pendant, which she has altered to include a pen in its handle. Unfortunately the pen she chose to use is an expensive Montblanc pen, given to her as a gift by her uncle. Hotori goes home in a dazed state after learning how much they cost. Unable to repair the pen, her spirits are lifted when she sees a writing competition in one of her detective magazines. The first prize is ¥5million, the deadline three months away; just before she goes on holiday to her uncle's house. Hotori's Jelly Island Mystery is not very good and is dismissed early from the competition. She collapses in shock from the rejection letter and is promptly run over by a garbage truck.
After a brief moment looking down at her body, she ascends (kicking and screaming) to heaven to stand before Anubis in the Hall of Two Truths, where her heart will be weighed against the feather of truth and justice. She is quickly dragged off to the Japanese line to learn her fate.
A wise-cracking guide is assigned to her to show her around. Heaven is run-down and not at all what Hotori imagined it to be. She has fun using an afterlife photo booth to add spirit shadows to Futaba's photographs back on Earth. Using special binoculars to view her home, Hotori learns that she is not actually dead, but in a coma. She also sees how her absence has affected her family, friends and café patrons. Saddened, she sheds tears and expresses deep regret at having to leave early.
The public-address system calls Hotori to the Heaven Immigration Bureau, where she learns that because her body survived the accident, she can return to Earth. Losing her memories of heaven, Hotori wakes up in the hospital. Later, Futaba shows her the photo of the two of them, in which a ghostly hand rests on Hotori's shoulder. She freaks out.
And Yet the Town Moves was awarded the Excellence Award at the 17th Japan Media Arts Festival in the Manga Division in 2013; where the jury described the manga as one that can convey drama, happy daily lives and connection with people without depicting any dramatic or personal traumatic incidents. The jury members highly valued the work's realization of the “pursuit of cheerfulness”, which they described as heliotropism, comparing it to works by Fujiko F. Fujio and Tetsuya Chiba, providing entertaining episodes with "high level contents every installment".[48][49] The manga won the 49th Seiun Award for the Best Comic category in 2018.[50] It was nominated for the 22nd Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2018.[51]
Notes
^It debuted in the magazine's May 2005 issue,[9] released on March 30 of that same year.[10]
^Outsourcing studios credited as Production Assistance (制作協力) on their respective episodes.
^ abcInformation is taken from the ending credits of each episode.
^"CD page". Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru website. Tokyo Broadcasting System. Archived from the original on October 20, 2010. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
^"Blu-ray/DVD page". Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru website. Tokyo Broadcasting System. Archived from the original on October 20, 2010. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
