Houkago Teibou Nisshi – 06

「アジゴ」 (Ajigo)
“Baby Horse Mackerels”

This week’s Houkago Teibou Nisshi focuses exclusively on Sabiki fishing, a method of fishing that helps you catch multiple smaller fish such as the baby Horse Mackerel in this episode. But there is much for Hina to learn if she’s going to get comfortable with being able to do activities in the club on her own.

One of these life experiences is the grisly aspect of fishing that Houkago Teibou Nisshi doesn’t shy away from; killing fishes. It’s rare to see this much gore in a slice-of-life anime, but when you’re tackling the subject of fishing, it helps that the show has previously given you glimpses of them gutting and cleaning their daily catch before they’re eaten. That way, it doesn’t feel like too much of a shock when Hina gets tricked into having to learn how to gut small Horse Mackerel.
But even though she’s learned how to desensitize herself from the fish-gutting by imagining the fish as a stuffed animal, the show makes it clear that she still has much to learn. By bombing at her solo attempt to go Sabiki fishing, it gives Natsumi time to shine by having her offer Hina advice on the importance of hook size for stabilizing everything.

But the important thing is that none of her setbacks ever discourage her from continuing fishing. In fact, it’s funny to see how much motivation and drive she has specifically to avoid the future Sayaka has paved for herself. Nothing much has changed about the anime’s format, but it is nice to see that Hina hasn’t been deterred by some of the newer, more uncomfortable experiences that have occurred while learning the ropes on catching and cleaning fish.