Tsuritama – 05

Just a metre more away from the boat, and they’d be catching sharks instead

Have I mentioned that I’m flying off to Japan to participate in an immersion programme at the end of this month? BECAUSE I AM 8D Incredibly excited at the moment and I’m definitely going to ask my host family to bring me fishing. And then I will possibly shout ENOSHIMA DOOON! and embarrass myself and everyone else around me horribly. YAAAAY.

Lucky Miyu, flying off to Japan and living out everyone’s tsuritama fishing fantasy! I’ll be curious to find out how many people suddenly become interested in taking up fishing after this series finishes airing. Have any of you rushed out to buy your own fishing pole yet? I’m starting to want to…

Yuki has become such a fan of fishing that he decides to buy his own fishing gear. Sadly, he’s too broke to really afford…well…anything. Natsuki sees how badly he wants to become serious about fishing, so he suggests working on a fishing boat with him. Ayumi (or “Captain”) takes customers out on his boat, and hires people to help lure in the fish and aid the customers in getting the caught fish on board with nets. It’s a perfect job, because they get to do what they love while earning money…to do more of what they love. Captain agrees, and thus their boat adventures begin.

The first day at work is quite eventful. Yuki can barely even stand up on the boat let alone follow basic instructions. Natsuki catches the first mahi-mahi in order to lead the rest of the school towards the boat for the customers to go nuts over, while Haru and Yuki go around with nets. Haru does fine, but Yuki snaps his net in two and starts to freak out when the customer (rightfully) asks what the hell he was doing. Captain steps in and diffuses the situation with humour, and everyone keeps at their job until the ride is over. Let’s not forget about Akira, who kind of forgets about being a spy and enjoys his fishing a little too heartily.

“What happens if one of us falls in?” “Well, I guess we’ll find that 5-headed dragon a bit earlier than scheduled…”

You would think getting a pay cheque would make Yuki feel fantastic, but he feels far too unworthy of it after messing up so badly on the first day. Captain tries to console him, but he still feels bad about it – and everyone notices it. The next day, Yuki is nowhere to be seen, so Akira boldly claims that the redhead turned chicken and abandoned his duties. That turns out to be far from the truth. He arrives late after spending all morning fixing the net he broke (duct tape? glue?) and does a much better job this time. He manages to even stand up!

The more Yuki works, the more he gets used to talking to people and catching fish. Natsuki even offers to let him be the instructor and catch the first mahi-mahi. He sweats a few buckets and runs around the entire boat before he catches it…but he does. Not only that, but he’s able to yell “CAST AWAY!” to the customers in a loud voice. He’s got a huge ego boost now, and it’s translating to his everyday life. He can actually talk to people now! Sort of! As Yuki becomes a dazzling star(fish), Akira watches from the shadows and convinces himself that friends are the worst thing ever.

Happy, happy, happy, AKIRA. One of these things doesn’t belong…

Little Details:

Haru needs water to live, and he sleeps with his toes dipped in a bowl of water.

The cat fighting with Tapioca matches how Akira feels about Natsuki, Haru and Yuki.

It looks like they need water pretty damn often <_<

Akira is actually a TSUNDERE! I-it’s not like I actually want to fish or anything…

End Thoughts:

The three of them have come a long way since the first episode where everything was awkward and tense and angsty. Now it’s all happy gay smiles and rainbows!  (≧∇≦)/ Okay maybe not, but I really enjoy watching the easygoing vibes and silly grins that they were giving each other! ALL the bromance! I was heartened by the fact that not only Haru, but Natsuki too had such trust in Yuki when he showed up late for the second day. The usually stoic Natsuki had that look of utter calmness and determination that psssh, he’s going to show up anytime now. And I was just really heartened by how much their friendship has grown. Beautiful relationships everywhere in Tsuritama :’)

I was also wowed by how open Yuki has become after merely 5 episodes of hardcore fishing! In the first episode I couldn’t even imagine him looking like anything other than his signature constipated-drowning-look, but now that glorious smile, that brimming confidence when he was leading the other passengers makes me feel like a proud momma. In this episode we get to see that Akira is also actually really lonely underneath that “I don’t need any friends because I’m cool like that” façade. His only real partner is the most adorable duck on the planet Tapioca, and that’s pretty sad considering that he’s human too. Although it’s kind of obvious that in a few episodes time he’ll probably join the fishing party too and then more fun interactions would ensue! We’ll see. 8D

THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE. Who would’ve guessed?! I am really intrigued by (un)natural phenomenon like these (National Geographic is my favorite TV channel – yes why am I so nerdy), so I’m very excited at its possible inclusion in the fate of the world! With all the hints that Haru and his sister have been throwing around, I’m expecting some huge face-off between them and a gigantic monster sleeping at the bottom of the sea.. with tentacles. Japan is famous for their scary sea creatures, although I doubt Tsuritama will ever give us something that frightening xD Four-headed dragon is still entirely possible though. I can kind of see how fishing, of all things, could possibly lead them to confront this creature. After all that character development, it doesn’t necessarily have to be Haru directly telling them “let’s go kick some Godzilla’s ass to save the world!”, but many cheesy anime plots could also be used in this context. Let’s say, captain gets swallowed by the giant sea creature and they vow to defeat it and save him. That is really cheesy. But whichever direction Tsuritama takes I’m sure it’ll still manage to do it beautifully. With only 6 episodes to go, they should probably be moving on onto the saving-the-world part now. I will definitely miss the slice-of-life episodes that we’ve been enjoying, but I’m still waiting in anticipation for upcoming action and dorama. This is Tsuritama, ever so unpredictable.

There’s something really magical about the way Tsuritama portrays fishing. There’s a difference between an exciting scene in an anime and a scene that genuinely makes you feel excited. As soon as emotions have the potency to cross over from the screen and affect your mood, you know you’ve got a good anime on your hands.  I know I keep making this point, but think about how this sounds on paper: I was excited to see a boy stand up on a boat. Sometimes you don’t need crazy, interweaving storylines, pretentious speeches and picture-perfect animation…sometimes you just need some fun.

To echo Miyu, this week really emphasizes Yuki’s growth into a more sociable and confident person. He talks as easily to Natsuki as he does to Haru now, he outwardly announces his love for fishing, and he’s even slowly branching out and communicating with strangers. Remember when Haru had to drag him to go fishing? Now he’s come to love fishing as much as he loves his newfound friends. Together, fishing and his buddies have kindled feelings of self-worth and confidence. Yuki panics only when he feels like he can’t handle a situation – but with his newfound self-esteem, he feels like he can meet these challenges and thus doesn’t panic. Well, he doesn’t panic as much. I know that talking to someone doesn’t seem much like a challenge, but it is for something with Yuki who is bordering on the social anxiety disorder line. He’s getting there, and his friends are gradually coming to understand how to accommodate for his shyness. Natsuki understands that Yuki just makes that face when he’s nervous, and tried to step in to help Yuki when his net broke and he seized up in front of a customer. It’s just that Mr. Pink Shirt got to him first.

Look at our core trio of characters. Yuki has let his passion for fishing change his life for the good, Natsuki is opening up and rarely seen frowning anymore, and Haru is slowly learning human ways through mimicry and experience. Everyone is undergoing some sort of metamorphosis into a better person, all the while becoming a more tightly-knit group. Then we have Akira, who scuttled out from under the woodworks this week to play a more prominent role. He’s still at square one. Akira has no friends, and shoots down any notion of ever changing that. At least “for now,” as he says. I don’t think Akira understands what friends are really for. Saying “I don’t need friends right now” makes me believe he sees them more like tools that are handy at times, and cumbersome at others. Why he feels this way and how he got this far in life without making friends, I do not know. Especially since he’s in a organization where he has to sit in a room all day with a bunch of guys and watch surveillance videos. You would think one of them would be his friend. So far he seems to find friendship to be a very unappetizing concept, yet at the same time…he’s a bit lonely.

I think it’s Akira’s turn to change now. I originally couldn’t help but see him as only a foil to Haru and his plans, but I’m starting to realize that he has to join the group too. It’s clear that despite the mental walls he’s set up to prevent him from getting close to people that his life is a bit empty. He’s also a bit in denial over his joy for fishing.  He’s a harder nut to crack than the others, I would think, but he should come around (at least a little) by the end of the series. I still have trouble picturing him getting too intimate with anyone (no, not like that!), but everyone else has already come so far that either A. someone else has to change or B. something will happen to screw everything up. Episode 6 might start going into more of that dark drama, or focus more on catching that fish that Haru keeps going on about. Just for the record…I’m still hoping that Keito dies. That’s some grade A drama right there.

Sea you next week!