Impression:

Have you been looking for an oddly realistic anime? One that shows you the struggles of life that quite a few people have to face? Well, this series jumped from just talking about the science of farming to something much more than that. Get ready for an emotional ride.

Hachiken will not back down.

It is Golden Week, so we will not be seeing a good portion of the cast. A lot of people have gone home to tend for the family farms, so only a few stragglers remain. You can bet that the people here are going to be important. After the stables were tended to, which we never got to see, Aki takes Hachiken to watch a special kind of horse race. Ichiro is there, so Hachiken gets a little jealous of how close the childhood friends are. The race type in question involves horses clearing obstacles while towing a load. The big ones are supposed to drag a ton. This is a very interesting kind of race because it adds power to the equation. Afterwards, we get to see a bit of what drove Hachiken to join the farming school. I guess he spent all of his time studying and still didn’t get to be the top of his class. Also, his parents are very distant and they don’t seem to care much for him. Hachiken stated that he was jealous of Ichiro and his carefree lifestyle. That hit a nerve because Ichiro has his reasons for taking on the family business. His father is not around and they don’t have the money to send Ichiro to college. Having a plan doesn’t always mean the choices were easy. The two end up on better terms after an interesting conversation with a vet that talks about the tough choices that one must make. Oh yeah, and the piglet that Hachiken takes a liking to is being turned into bacon.

That isn’t something that everyone can do.

Obviously, being a doctor or a veterinarian isn’t always about saving lives. The tough choice of whether or not a life needs to be taken is something that vets especially have to grapple with on a regular basis. There is no general healthcare for animals. If you can’t afford to save an animal, or the disease is too severe to begin with, then you can’t just let them suffer. On the other side of things, it isn’t just the vets that deal with this. The smoked chicken that Hachiken ate came from a chicken that wasn’t laying enough eggs. The farm life is not an easy one. I would like to question the ending though. I know that this series likes to follow the science of farming for the most part, but I question the value of turning piglets into bacon. In my mind, one would wait for the animal to mature a bit before doing so. Especially when it comes to a food with a fat content on the level of bacon. Having said that, veal is a thing and you can’t always afford to raise a bunch of animals into adulthood.

That is an interesting name for an amusement park.

I enjoy the farming aspect of the series, but I guess that this episode was a sign of things to come in the personal aspect of the show. It is quite obvious that Aki is Hachiken’s love interest and we already have a probable triangle in the works. Although I am usually a fan of such things, I would honestly prefer a heavier focus on the various characters that have been introduced. A look into their circumstances and dreams would be nice. I do think that they are doing a good job of that thus far and that is why I am enjoying this series as much as I am. We are three episodes in, so there are some predictions to be made. Hachiken getting involved in farming in some form seems likely. I think that we are going to be hit by the “money vs happiness” debate. His parents are probably members of the business world that focus on work so much that they have alienated their own son. On the other end, these kids that plan on taking over the family farm may not be rich, but they do share strong bonds with those around them. That is a very probable step for this story. One last thing. What kind of teacher recommends to students without a goal and a need to get away that they should attend an agricultural science school? I think that it is a bit extreme.

Bad name for a pig.