Houkago Teibou Nisshi – 07

「穴釣り」 (Anazuri)
“Hole Fishing”

For Episode 07, Houkago Teibou Nisshi is aiming to give a deeper look into the club’s beloved senior member Ohno Makoto as she helps prepare the newbies to learn about rock fishing. At the same time, we actually get a little bit of development on Natsuki’s end as she assists Hina in her efforts to study for an upcoming exam.

It wouldn’t be controversial to say that Ohno is the Breakwater Club’s unsung hero. She might have a shy, easily embarrassed disposition, but she is always quick to act as a mama bear for her friends and underclassmen. We see an adorable side of her this time around as she gets engrossed in talking about how to use Burakiri as a means of catching rockfish such as Scorpionfish (aka Scorpies). Her enthusiasm ends up being in the exact same cadence as her embarrassment and matter-of-factly descriptions on how to fish, so it becomes all the more endearing to hear her enthusiastically get invested in describing rock fishing as she catches herself getting too engrossed in the subject.

At the same time, we get another rare side of Ohno as she has a hidden rage and fear about an old grade school experience. While she is ready to snap at Yuuki for bringing it up, she ultimately decides to tell the newbies that she is obsessed with wearing a life jacket because of the past trauma she faced when she fell off the dock while rock fishing as a kid.

She might be more authoritative in the subject of fishing than the actual president of the Breakwater Club, but it does humanize her to give her such a strong aversion to getting into deep-water when that experience lingers in the back of her mind to the point that it discourages her from swimming or getting too close to the ocean without taking proper safety precautions.

This episode also gave Hina more to work with as her fear of worms begins to resurface. With the realization that, at some point, she might have to use worms as bait for some point as they are some of the more useful bait in rock fishing, it gives Hina another obstacle that gets in her way. Another bugbear for Hina is having to handle a rockfish with her own hands, and being able to deal with its sharp body to unhook the fish and get it in the bucket.

Although it was too late for her to use the tongs that Yuuki had, Hina’s method of stitching together a doll to get her used to gutting a mackerel is one thing that gives her the edge in getting adjusted to her time fishing.

Aside from their scenes, it was also nice to get more from Natsumi’s point-of-view this time around. As Hina tries to get her mind off of exams, she stumbles upon Natsumi’s mom’s restaurant where we see both a bespectacled Natsumi and her mom where we find out that she makes some really good pasta. It was cool to see that Hina’s strengths have made a positive impression on Natsumi given how she contemplates getting into stitching and making her own fish dolls after seeing the one Hina uses for becoming comfortable with gutting mackerel.