Tsurune 2 Episode 3 -Shamen uchiokoshi

Archery looks like fun, doesn’t it? Not necessarily competitions. That seems a bit too stressful for my tastes. Especially when your performance can let your entire team down. But just shooting at a target looks like tons of fun. I’ve done it a few times in my life and always enjoyed it. I can totally relate with Minato on that one.

This second season is shaping up to be subtly but categorically different than the first. Ill get into it a bit later.

I’ve been using the names of the competitions very inconsistently so just to clarify, they are currently at the regional championship, and the winners will have a guaranteed spot at nationals. Kazemai High already has a guaranteed spot because they won the last competition so their performance here isn’t as important but it still going to have an impact on team morale and general perception. Moreover, there are teams in this competition that they have not seen before so this could change their perspective a lot.

For the first two matches, Kaizema did respectably, winning both and scoring a decent amount of points. However, they are not the standouts of the competition. By contrast, Kirisaki (Shuu’s school) who lost to them last time are dominating with near-perfect matches every time. This can be unsettling for Minato and the gang but Shuu’s little sister is having a great time.

It was nice that Ryouhei finally found out she was Shuu’s sister in such an organic way. I was afraid they were going to turn it into a ridiculous overblown affair. Afraid and I little hopeful…

I thik it’s this scene that made me want to try out archery more seriously. Minato and the gang decide to go check out Minato’s old senpai’s team. Turns out Eisuke is now attending Tsujimine High School and they are competing for the first time. From what I understand, they actually don’t have an official team so they just all sort of do their own ting. This means their competition was a lot more free style and disorganized. But it was also really inetersting to watch. Like a modern dance when everyone else is doing ballet.

The thing is, Kyudo has a lot to do with balance and timing. Especially when you’re in a team. There are a lot of intangible and even ineffavle factors that can affect your performance. And Tsujimine are one heck of a disturbance.

They’re a fun team, right? The bad boys of traditional kyudo! Up until now, Kaito held that title all by himself but it seems he’s been handily replaced. They don’t seem like actual bad people mind you, just a little gruff and rough around the edges. But that might just prove to be their strenght.

Also, they didn’t seem to have a coach. Eisuke was the one giving direction and we didn’t see anyone that looks like a teacher with the team. The fact that they are doing this well is pretty amazing.

I,m not sure if it was seeing Tsujimine’s untraditional style or just tryong to hard to outdo themselves but Kazemai’s last match was a mess. Everyone messed up at some point. It was their worst showing by far and the worst they have done as a team for a while. But the really devastating part is that no one knows what went wrong, really.

I say no one but that’s not true. Coach Masa knows but he wants them to figure it out for themselves. And Minato is banned from practicing until he does. Whenever something goes wrong the coach bans Minato from practicing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a strategie that has worked so far but it seems a little mean. Why not ban the entire team. I guess they might actually need some practice before nationals mind you.

I mentioned it in my opening paragraph. Tsurune feels a lot different this season. It’s abit difficult to explain since at first glance it looks like the exact same show but it isn’t. Season 1 of Tsurune was a school based drama with Kyudo as a framing device. It was very much about Minato letting go of the past and trying to get through what was, let’s face it, a pretty bad depression. It was also about his friends trying to deal woth someone they care about being depressed. As side stories, there was also Masaki’s personal journey and accepting responsability for teaching the boys as well as Onogi and Nanao adjusting to their new circumstances and each other. Putting together the Kyudo team was just how they went about dealing with those issues.

So far season 2 is clearly a Sports! anime before all. It’s very much about team dynamics and finding the balance between personal performance and team work. It’s about the necessity of rivalries. It’s about knowing when and how to challenge yourself in order to get better and not just destroy your game. And the entire rythm of the show has shifted to what you expect a Sports! anime to be versus a drama. Time will tell if it’s an improuvement bu it certainly feels very comfortable for me!

Season 1

• Tsurune Episodes 1 & 2 – Slings and Arrows
• Tsurune Episode 3 – A Shot in the Arm
• Tsurune Episode 4 – Good Form
• Tsurune Episode 5 – Yawatashi
• Tsurune Episode 6 – The restrained beauty of propriety
• Tsurune Episode 7 – Adding a string to your bow
• Tsurune Episode 8 – Straight as an Arrow
• Tsurune Episode 9 – On A Dark and Stormy Day
• Tsurune Episode 10 – Giving it Another Shot
• Tsurune Episode 11 – Little Earthquakes
• Tsurune Episode 12 – The Importance of Being Ochi
• Tsurune Episode 13 – Bullseye

Season 2

• Tsurune 2 Episode 1 – Sports!
• Tsurune 2 Episode 2 – Rivals!