First Impressions / Tsuritama

「戦慄のスプラッシュ」 (Senritsu no Supurashu)
“Horrified Splash”

After a solid first half that packed some of the most brilliant character-building I’ve seen in an anime, the show finally pushes on to give the plot some much needed development.

I suppose I made it quite clear in previous posts that I’ve been waiting for the bigger, harder-hitting developments in Tsuritama, and this episode certainly didn’t disappoint in that regard. The midpoint of Tsuritama signals a departure from the pacing and direction we’ve expected thus far, and starts introducing a greater mix of elements into the story. Even so, it seems clear that the show doesn’t want to stop its characters from growing, and it’s a welcomed fact that the spirit of the first half isn’t exactly lost in transition.

So yes, it honestly wouldn’t be stretch to say that this episode had more plot developments than every other combined up until now. We got a better insight at the mysterious entity (purported to be the dragon mentioned in episode 1) that Yuki and co. will eventually have to fish through Akira’s investigations and a close-encounter with the dragon itself, which seems to have made itself home at Akemi, an artificial fish reef off the coast of Enoshima. Like any good sea monster, this thing seems to have a penchant for making boats disappear, a likely result of the memory manipulation that our group of protagonists was subject to in this episode.

With the developments also come the question marks. It was bizarre to see Haru being subject to the same memory manipulation and subsequently losing it, raising the question of the dragon’s true nature. The legend of the goddess keeps cropping up as well, without much of a clue as to what it could be referring to. (Possibly the alien siblings?) Then, there’s the mystery of those triangular halos, and its implication for Haru now that his is broken. (This could also be a reference to the Bermuda triangle, which has been mentioned a number of times. It is a rather massive triangle literally floating over sea water, after all.) And what of that crazy Enoshima dance? HAINO!

It doesn’t mean the characters have taken a backseat to all this plot development. With Akira finally getting some proper screentime to himself, we find a person whose passion for fishing is unparalleled in the show, but at the same time having a rather snobbish and elitist attitude when it comes to his revered hobby. Oh, and has a pretty hilarious reaction to jokes. He also seems to have taken a personal interest in the Enoshima case, with his investigations going beyond what his superiors want from him.

And with the fleshing out of Akira comes his proper integration into the quartet. And guess what’s the first thing they do? Why, fishing of course! I never imagined that fishing could be a team activity, so seeing them all working together to catch the tuna was all kinds of awesome. The show has done such a great job of fleshing each character out and establishing their relationships with each other, so much so that the entire sequence felt like a culmination of all that character build-up, a representation of everything they’ve achieved and how they’ve grown over the last few episodes.

It’s nice to see that all the build-up seems to be paying off extremely well, and with luck, as we move into the second half, the resulting climax of the show will be reaching even greater heights.

Full-length images: 05, 07, 09, 21.

 

Preview

24 Comments

  1. Omg. First comment? *squeal*
    Favorite episode thus far! I’m super excited for more plot development, especially regarding why Haru stops smiling naturally since the Akemi incident.
    Btw, this is my first time posting a comment after being a lurker for years. Yoroshiku nee~

    haizaraa
    Reply

  5. Tsuritama definitely needed some plot 😀
    not that i became boring i dont mind watching a whole season of 4 people getting closer
    but i became really curious about the saving the world thing 😀

    Isolence
    Reply

  7. When I saw the triangular halo over Haru’s head, my first thought was:

    OMG, I’m watching Evangelion: Fishing! lol

    What are the odds that he’s actually the 19th Angel (or 14th according to the Rebuild version)? 😉

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

    1. LOL when I first saw them I thought “It’s Macross and Aquarion!” since they both seem to feature a lot of triangle in their OP to represent the love triangle going on in the series.

      Does that mean Haru and the thing he wants Yuki to fish is involved in some love triangle? 😛

      Drift
      Reply

  8. https://randomc.net/image/Tsuritama/Tsuritama%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2014.jpg

    DAT Natsuki in his underwear fufufu.

    I got really excited how the story is moving forward dramatically! I kept rewatching this episode over and over again because it was just that exciting XD

    Also it’s nice to see Ayumi getting so involved in the plot. At first I thought he was going to end as some comic-relif character that just has a crush on the Misaki. But seeing how he changed Yuki into a much confident person, and seeing the way he interacts and cares about the boys, I’m starting to like his character more and more. It’s a shame we can’t see him and Natsuki’s dad dancing in the OP. That would be great and they deserve it!

    Drift
    Reply

  9. The last time I watched both of the show in the noitaminA block is way back Usagi Drop and No.6, but I wasn’t that impressed since East of Eden (I really love EoE). However, SnA and Tsuritama are really great shows. And come to think of it, I already have 4 of the top 5 anime shows for this year – Chihayafuru, SnA, Fate/Zero, and Tsuritama. Can we have top 10 this year? Because it will be hard to choose if there are other amazing animes that will show up in the second half of this year.

    That aside, fleshing out the characters is what Tsuritama is good at. However, I am still not that emotionally invested to its characters compared to those of SnA. Yeah, I know, Tsuritama is not as dramatic as SnA, but still… oh well, let’s stop here before it becomes an essay

    MindZkr
    Reply

  10. Natsuki!

    Tsuritama‘s got such a unique charm to it… I have absolutely no idea where it’s going but I could care less about that. Really, it’s become a show I look forward to watching every week.

    More Enoshima Bowl, please :3

    And… that grilled tuna *__* Do want.

    BakaMochi
    Reply

  14. The rest of you can have Natsuki, while I have dibs on Yuki. That smile. <3

    I look forward to this show every week. I can't help but smile while watching it. I'm so glad that Yuki has grown into a more confident person. I am going to miss this show when it ends.

    Also, Tapioca is the real boss of this operation, huh? (Akira: Please let me fish!) lol

    Isabel
    Reply

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