Autumn 2018 First Impressions – Tsurune

Minato Narumiya is beginning his freshman year at the local Kazemai High School. Mr. Tommy, adviser to the Japanese archery Club, is keen to recruit Minato, as well as his childhood friends Seiya Takehaya and Ryohei Yamanouchi. Ryohei convinces the reluctant Minato to attend the Club’s orientation, where he also meets Kaito Onogi and Nanao Kisaragi. Singling Minato out, Mr. Tommy introduces him as a rare Japanese archery talent and asks him to demonstrate in front of everyone. However, Minato’s arrow fails to hit the mark because he is afflicted by a serious condition. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll and HIDIVE

Episodes: TBA

Source: Novel

Episode Summary: With a new school year comes a fresh start, and Minato needs one; after the death of his mother, most of the household responsibilities have fallen on his shoulders. At a new school where he expects to know very few people, he thinks he might be able to fade into the background enough to go home rather than joining a club (which he doesn’t have time for anyway). This plan falls apart quickly as several factors come into focus. First, his neighbor Seiya is one of the few people from his previous school attending the same high school, so they end up having to interact as a matter of course. Secondly, the two boys reunite with Ryohei, a friend from their elementary-school days who transferred away in middle school. Thirdly, the high school is hoping to resurrect its Kyudo – traditional archery – program, and Minato may end up right in the middle of it.

Minato has some history with the martial art, though he’s adamant that his domestic responsibilities necessarily keep him from getting involved in the newly-re-established club. His friends, suspecting that his internal desire might win-out against his perceived familial obligations, manage to get him to come to the first club meeting. But it turns out that Minato is carrying some additional baggage and the resulting anxiety results in missed shots and a some subsequent bad feelings. As he mulls the situation, he finds himself drawn to a hilltop Kyudo practice field within a shrine as the moon glows above. There he meets a mysterious archer, one with beautiful form and perfect aim.

Impressions: When you’re as slow as I am writing about seasonal anime, there’s eventually no way to avoid other folks’ impressions of the new crop of shows. I’ve gotten pretty good at divorcing my own opinions from others’ and writing about how I feel, but it’s still interesting to consider what other people are saying. Kyoto Animation is an interesting animation studio because compared to many others it operates with some more creative independence and can honestly be said to exude a more cohesive creative output than most. Its animated attention-to-detail is obviously top-tier, but maybe more subtly I think it could be argued that its projects are focused more on real-world (or occasionally slightly-fantastic) character drama and human emotions, whether the tone of the series is more upbeat or more serious.

I’ve noticed that this sort of thing tends to bring out the naysayers in the sense that the studio’s commitment to a sort of same-ness is the same as it falling victim to creative bankruptcy. Case-in-point – Tsurune is the story of a group of high school students (primarily young males) some of whom have previously-established friendships, sorting through their emotions and relationships within the framework of a specific sport. If you’ve been an anime fan for a while that premise probably sounds pretty familiar. There are, in fact, a lot of sports anime, KyoAni and otherwise, that follow a similar formula. But because the studio has another pretty famous franchise – Free! – that reads very similarly on paper, I’ve been seeing a few hot-takes and commentary that lament KyoAni’s fall into creative bankruptcy because they’ve produced two anime that sound kind of the same.

Setting aside the fact that these critiques often seem to crop up when the anime in question seems to appeal more to girls and women, even the first episode reveals a lot of differences between the two series; Tsurune is clearly trying to do its own thing using a set of fairly common tropes. While it’s difficult to get the full picture from just this small sample, Tsurune seems to have the potential for some fairly decent (if predictable) character drama (or melodrama). While I’m not necessarily pleased by the fact that much of Minato’s situation seems to be the result of “Anime dead-mom syndrome™,” I gather that beyond his budding man-pain is the opportunity for some positive, supportive male friendships and perhaps a mentorship situation with the mysterious man on the hill – in short, the opportunity to examine Minato’s emotions and channel them into something constructive and positive for the benefit of the story. To some, stories about people’s feelings probably aren’t that interesting, but I often find them fascinating even if they’re imperfect or overly-dramatic.

I actually find it interesting that the title of the anime refers not to a name or a place, but to a very specific, specialized piece of archery minutiae. “Tsurune,” as Minato’s mother explains in the opening scene, is the sound of the bowstring as the arrow leaves on its flight toward the target. It refers to an incredibly brief moment; an action has just taken place, but the results of that action have not yet come to pass. It’s a pause in time, a held breath, or a gap between movements of a clock’s second-hand. It’s anticipation of things to come as well as an opportunity to glance backwards one last time. It’s appropriate and poignant, because Minato seems to exist in this sort of gap in time; he seems to have achieved a sort of steady-state after his mother’s death, but he’s still looking backwards; he hasn’t found the target he’s meant to aim for.

The first episode does introduce a variety of characters, and in this way it reads like a more typical sports anime. In some ways, the character “types” appear to be checking off a list that’s been utilized in series as variable as Haikyu!!, Sailor Moon, Azumanga Daioh, and Sanrio Boys, to name just a few. There’s the every-man protagonist, a gruff, angry-looking guy, a youthful, peppy character popular with the ladies… it’s kind of a who’s-who of anime character tropes. I’ve insisted for a long time that this in itself isn’t necessarily a weakness, in that character archetypes are good shorthand descriptions that can be elaborated upon easily as the series progresses, but I can certainly see where people might initially have some criticisms. While I look at a lot of first episodes, I try to approach series more holistically in the limited way I’m able to. Do I think the story has potential to be interesting? Do I feel something toward the characters at an early stage? How’s the overall visual quality and framing? These are all things that can factor in.

It should go without saying that the visual quality of the first episode is very good. It’s not only a matter of flashy animation, although when an arrow is fired in this episode there’s a high likelihood that it’ll be followed by an intense tracking shot as it travels toward the target. The episode also has some judicious use of special effects and compositing, used to cultivate a certain atmosphere and mood. What really impressed me, though, were the scenes that featured more subtle character body movements. Kyudo is as much about form and bodily composition as it is about actually hitting a small target across a field (at least, that’s the impression I have), and this series really nails that. As someone without experience in the art form, it’s still apparent that Minato is suffering from some kind of anxiety around it even before the other characters state it outright; his form is tense, his hands and arms shudder, and he lacks the meditative composure that we see later on with the mysterious, nameless, moonlit archer. More than the many instances of cute guys taking off their shirts, it’s these types of things that keep me coming back to Kyoto Animation’s productions (even when the productions themselves may be deeply flawed in other ways).

While I hate to keep carrying on the comparisons, I think it’s fair to say that this series doesn’t have the bombastic, explosive sports action (nor the overt fanservice) of Free!, and that’s more than okay. I think to have too many expectations just based on some shallow visual similarities isn’t fair to either series, especially one like this which has a very different tone and focus. I think centering a story around such a meditative art form while still clearly intending to tell a forward-moving story is a bit of a bold choice, because to keep the plot-focused crowd interested there has to be some other kind of hook and that can be difficult. Assuming the rest of the series maintains the first episode’s beautiful atmosphere, sharp animation (when the content allows), and likable ensemble cast, it will likely prove to be compelling in its own gently-emotional way.

Pros: Beautiful visuals. A good blend of interesting sports knowledge and character drama. Likable ensemble cast.

Cons: Suffers from a “dead mom” problem.

Grade: B