First Impressions / Tsuritama

「寂しくてキャスティング」 (Sabishikute Kyasutingu)
“Lonely Casting”

ENO-SHIMA DON!

Huh, and here I was thinking fishing was just about throwing a line into the sea and waiting for something to bite. Or at least, that’s how Pokémon and old men colored my biased perception. Damn you Gamefreak! Tsuritama’s blinding passion for the subject matter is almost infectious, in no small part due to the detail paid each episode to the fishing equipments and angling techniques that is quite frankly, impressive to watch. Seeing Yuki shouting out his youth while swinging his rod time and time again in a scene reminiscent of (out of all things) Gurren Lagann was damn near cathartic, and has me itching to try my hand at this whole fishing shebang. If I didn’t know better, Tsuritama could easily be passed off as an introductory teaching aid for angling beginners, though I doubt anyone besides the real professionals would even attempt the near-impossible training of aiming one’s lure into a barely 10-inches-wide bucket lying some 30 feet away.

But of course, you readers and I do know better, so what’s going on in the overall plot?

Tsuritama is still in the early stages of its story, and while we still aren’t seeing much in the way of plot developments, details are being fleshed out bit by bit as we continue the build up toward the later part of the story. Most interestingly, Tsuritama played the sickly family member card way sooner than I had anticipated, with Kate being admitted into the hospital for her unknown illness. It slowly becomes clear why Yuki is constantly moving, and he is also obviously disturbed by this, understandably because Kate is probably the only person alive he has a proper social link with.

Then, dear Haru goes and agitates him even further in one of the worst ways possible.

It was at this point that I had to stop and wonder. Haru’s presence in the show is extremely polarizing, and I’ve seen a fair number of people hate him for the very same reasons other would find his character enjoyable. This episode served to fuel the debate further with Haru’s “everyone dies” comments. Some might find his innocent bluntness due to his extraterrestrial origins to be charming, while others might find his behaviour to be downright tactless and annoying. I find myself sitting with the former camp, but regardless, the show makes a strong case for the validity of Haru’s character through his dynamics with Yuki. Tsuritama is very much about these boys stumbling around the complexities of friendship, and the parts involving the oblivious Haru are what conveyed this idea the best; for example, Haru’s continued childlike defiance of his sister who persuaded him to break things off with Yuki. Haru, who continued to stand up for Yuki and in him, saw strength where others would see flaws. Tsuritama manages to make this two characters play off each other extremely well, with the development of their relationship in this episode feeling both subtle and more importantly, genuine.

That is not to say the development of the other characters paled in comparison, as I really enjoyed how Natsuki really opened up to Yuki and Haru at the close of this episode. The final few minutes was undoubtedly my favorite moment of the show till now with every core character (save Akira) going through their own moment of catharsis, and the closing scene with Natsuki dashing in the rain yelling his lungs out was as emotionally refreshing to me as I imagine it would’ve been to him.

The episode also gave us a look at the other side of Akira’s double lifestyle, and if there were any doubts from last week that he actually is 25 years old, they should be put to rest with his diet of cigerettes and beer. More fabulously is the organization he works for, Kirabo- err, I mean, DUCK!, which asides from their unbridled passion for, well, ducks, seemed to have taken more than a few fashion tips from a certain glittering brigade. It confirms the suspicions of Akira being part of a MIB-esque group, sent to infiltrate Enoshima and observe the alien siblings. Judging from the conversation with his superior and his dismissal of bond between the boys, Akira appears to be your young upstart that is completely focused on his goals at the expense of relationships. But where this anime is going, I expect he will turn around soon enough. Speaking of ducks, the antics of chick-magnet Tapioca were a delight, especially the amusing scene of Akira mistakenly thinking Misaki (Tominaga Miina) was talking to him.

Next week’s episode seems to continue the build up on existing plot points, with a focus on Natsuki’s family as Yuki and Haru comes into contact his father Usami Tamotsu (Saitou Shirou). So for now, this is Asobi, signing off. KIRABOSHI!DUCK!

Full-length image: 01

 

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27 Comments

  3. DUCK!

    Once again amazing episode with new characters introduced. This is getting exciting! And Natsuki at the end was just pure gold!

    Also I do understand why people will find Haru annoying but to me he is one of the reasons why I watch this show. He’s just so friendly and cheerful and it’s obvious all the things he does and says are unintentional and he just cares a lot about Yuki. So I do find that some viewers are being harsh on him. I’m glad you understand the dynamic between the relationship Haru shares with Yuki. I’m sure he’s the kind of character you just need to give a chance XD Plus who can resist his “Biribiribiribiri” and “SKKKYY TREEEEE” XD

    Drift
    Reply

    1. You can steal one of mine, their plenty on the river in front of my rental to choose from … if you can catch them. But they sure can produce a Donald duck furring when the geese get to close … I wonder if we will see an epic Tapioca throw-down in this series. lol

      Ani_BEE
      Reply

    2. I can’t wait to see the full collection of things you would have bought by the end of the series. Put them all in a box, lable it “Enoshima Surprise” and auction it on Ebay or something.

      Junglepenguin
      Reply

    3. If I ever visit Enoshima, I think I will try tht water gun. (then run)

      Seriously, now I feel like looking up on the Enoshima….. Do they have the aquarium in EP1? Do they hv ENOSHIMA-DON?? Does the anime ver. look lk the real life ver.? Is tht OP dance an actual culture dance?

      D-LaN
      Reply

  9. I really enjoy this show, but must admit that if I knew someone like alien boy in real life, I most probably would drag him into a deserted jungle in the middle of the night and pop a bullet to the back of his skull. 😛

    Not enough duck this wee, to be frank.

    Litho
    Reply

  10. Whaaaaaaaaa………. there’s an organization in the sky with colorful clothing and they like ducks n’ makes fishing look like a goddamn extreme sport-I NEED TO WATCH THIS ANIME!!!!!!

    starss
    Reply

  11. I want to continue watching this, because of the superb animation. But I just can’t. Always feel like I’m drowning/suffocating when I hear AlienBoy and misc characters talk.

    petitorenji
    Reply

  12. I’m enjoying this show far more than should be possible in a setting where I’m not sure where the overall plot is, the characters’ voice acting rubs me the wrong way in some cases, and the main character makes really weird, somewhat cringe-worthy facial expression.

    And yet, I work up two hours early just to watch it while it was streaming. 😐

    There are things that bug me about the show, and I can’t say I have a very good grasp of where it’s going, but I have to admit, what you said in your very first post, that this might be the most “refreshing” show of the season rings true. I do know I had the goofiest smile when Haru claimed that Yuki and Natsuki had become friends. I completely expected Yuki to deny it (either internally or externally) seeing as how he can get rather snarky inside his head towards Haru’s antics. But then he didn’t say anything, which spoke volumes more. It seemed like he was embarrassed, but he didn’t deny it. And that scene, at the end, where Natsuki tries to suppress his smile and fails, ending with him shouting happily into the empty street was wonderful. I’ve had that EXACT same urge before so I know how much you just want to let go and laugh and scream sometimes.

    Rita
    Reply

  13. So little comment?? It seem lk philosophical or controversial shows will get tons of comments while those obscure one get less comment….

    By the way, forgive Haru, he an alien fish. So calling this anime SF slice-of-life fishing show.

    D-LaN
    Reply

  14. A duck who can sing and likes curry, chick-magnet Tapioca is awesome 😀
    Another great episode and while Yuki was at the center of drama this week, it was Haru and Natsuki who shine in their respective roles to cheer Yuki up. I like Haru, he’s probably my favorite character in Tsuritama. He acts like a child and I suspect his actual age might be younger than we think, but what really stands out is his inquisitive nature, he’s curious about human complexities and mind you, that’s a very complicated subject. Good news is that he’s learning quick and in that process, he gives Yuki the kick in the butt our MC desperately needs. Everybody needs a bro-hug from time to time, and Yuki’s lucky to have two (maybe three) good friends
    Also, great post Asobi, I really enjoy your work 😉

    Seishun Otoko
    Reply

  15. So now we know that aliens can have Asperger’s syndrome as well. Haru and my brother are practically the same person.

    Oh, and I think Haru’s nee-chan looks quite attractive. Should I be worried?

    Junglepenguin
    Reply

  17. *lets out a deep breath*

    From the beginning of this episode, I felt the odd feeling of “rushed”. It might be just the fact that there was no segment before the opening began, or it might be that we didn’t immediately continue from Akira joining the class. We just went to the three fishing on the beach, and then, we had Yuki’s Grandmother being admitted to the hospital. I guess since there are 11 episodes slated for this series, there must be a lot of ground to cover, and I’m looking forward to what the writers have in store for us, because I certainly don’t yet that doesn’t bother me in the slightest.

    As for Haru… I have no problems with Haru. His innocence doesn’t bother me, but at the halfway point, Miyu Irino (it seemed to my ears) exaggerated a lot of the lines. It made watching the tender moment between Haru and Yuki’s grandmother a bit painful, because Haru’s exaggerated childish (whining) voice didn’t fit the mood imo. Then, he carried it for the rest of the episode. When Haru first told Yuki how “everyone dies”, I was fully expecting Yuki to punch Haru in the face right then and there. But, I’m very glad he didn’t. It shows a lot about his character. I also liked how we saw Yuki affirming with Haru that he’s an alien, which made me like Yuki even more as he’s trying to understand Haru (as we all should). I wished that we could’ve seen some of Yuki’s internal thoughts regarding his grandmother’s admittance to the hospital, but this episode moved at a breathtakingly fast pace. At the very end of the episode, we had Haru childishly persisting to support Yuki, and I commend him for that. When Haru told Natsuki how Yuki actually was happy and friends with Natsuki, I smiled. I’m glad that Haru’s there to relate Yuki’s feelings when Yuki cannot.

    As for Akira, well, his remarks about how he hates “stifling relationships”, makes me interested as to how his opinion changes. I’m looking forward to how he gets integrated into their group, since the OP seems to indicate so.

    I didn’t know what to make of Natsuki, but I think Natsuki letting out a scream at the end probably shows how he felt stifled by his complicated family issues. Judging by what his sister said last episode about how she rarely sees him with friends, I guess that he doesn’t have many friends either. So, it must have felt great to hear how Yuki (and Haru) has just admitted that they were friends.

    I’m glad that we’re seeing character development on all fronts (minus Akira, which we’ll probably see soon enough): Haru learning more about human interactions and feelings, Yuki stepping out of his comfort zone and trying new things, and Natsuki being able to be himself outside of his family. Good work so far, Tsuritama.

    Isabel
    Reply

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