With the potential for more loss, real or imagined, in Yuki’s future, he withdraws into himself for as long as he can.
What They Say:
Before they can fish in the ocean, Haru and Yuki must learn to “Enoshima Bowl.” That evening, Keito announces she is going to the hospital for a checkup. A worried Yuki locks himself in his room, and Keito explains more about life to Haru.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the series certainly being one that stands out visually and because of the quirks, the first two episodes did a decent job of also slowly drawing you into the characters a bit. A lot of it comes from the time spent learning to fish, something you wouldn’t normally expect, but it’s a welcome change from the kids either doing nothing all day long outside of school or being sports oriented and focusing there. This form also lets Natsuki stand out a bit since he gets to teach them how to fish and that’s something of a fun way to bring everyone together, especially since you’re dealing with the new arrival in Yuki and the really strange one in Haru. Add in last episodes arrival of Akira, the foreign exchange student, and you have a very quirky group forming.
The show does manage a pretty decent slice of life side to it and this episode isn’t much different, again giving some good focus to Ntasuki and those he lives with as they have a really good feel about them. But we also get a good look again at Yuki and what he has because it turns to his grandmother. She was a neat part of the show at the start and had her moments in the first two, but here we learn that she’s going to the hospital for a bit to deal with something and expects it to be fixed quickly. Unfortunately for Yuki, he hates that this was kept from him and is essentially last minute. The meaning behind it is clear though as it has an important relation to his life and parentage, which does get slowly but surely revealed.
With Haru’s lack of understanding about why Yuki would be worried, he does get a bit of a roundabout education from Keito and she hits all the right notes to teach someone like that. But its Natsuki that really steps things up after he sees the condition that Yuki is in by trying to force him more into fishing for the Enoshima Bowl as a means to distract him. Watching as Yuki struggles with his emotions at this point and seeing the way others care for him already is definitely well done, especially as he does throw himself into the fishing in the end to try and cope with it. With a sense of loss to his past and having only his grandmother now, it’s easy to let your imagination fill in the blanks and understand what’s going on.
In Summary:
Tsuritama continues to stand out because of its execution and animation style, providing a striking looking series that definitely keeps you engaged with it even as it deals with familiar ground. While Haru’s antics and style of speech can be a little annoying at times, or more for some, it’s something that provides a little additional quirk to the show rather than being a straightforward slice of life piece. With the young men involved and the open nature of it at this point with where it can go, episodes like this do leave you wanting to know more about them, but also has you content in filling it in yourself for the moment. They’re all likable young men, and the cast is slowly expanding, but its core focus is where it succeeds the most.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
