I have to say, I’m really enjoying this second season of Tsurune. That wonderful episode last week has now been followed up by an equally lighthearted and joyful episode this week. What do you expect when you put Ryouhei at the center of an episode, of course, it’s going to be happy-go-lucky. His unexpected budding friendship with Shuu is not something I would have ever seen coming, but the balance is actually very interesting. It brings out a lot in both characters.
I hope they can keep up this streak.
Here’s the thing, in the past the guys would have taken a setback like they had in the last competition, pretty badly. Especially Minato who can be delicate. And I’m not saying they were completely unbothered or anything but all in all, they’re actually taking it in stride. Especially now that they know what to do, get in synch!
That opening scene with them trying to do synchronized udon eating and just how quickly and horribly wrong it went had me giggling. I think it’s too bad they didn’t pepper the entire episode with scenes of them trying to do random things in perfect harmony. It would have been hilarious.
Also, I’m with the girls on Masa’s coaching skills. I understand that coming to your own conclusions can be a very powerful learning tool but at what point is it just him slacking off. There’s a limit to the hands-off approach. I like to think that he was having as much fun as I was watching the guys make idiots of themselves and that’s the real reason he didn’t intervene sooner. Eventually, he did tell them that Ikai was actually about being in synch mentally, not just mirroring each other. Phooey!
And this is where the episode decides to follow Ryouhei. Ryouhei is a pretty good athlete and general all-rounder. However, he’s the only member of the Kyoudo club that had never used a bow and arrow before. In fact, all of the others had been active members of other clubs in middle school and have literal years of experience on him. So it’s normal that he feels a bit left behind. He does perform quite well all things considered, but it’s obvious to all that he is the weakest link.
And so, while trying to be in synch with everyone, Ryouhei figures he should up his game a little so that he doesn’t bring anyone else down with him. But it’s Ryouhei so he thinks all of these things in a very positive way. It’s a bit hard to describe but it’s like the most optimistic form of self-depreciation.
So in order to improve, he thinks about getting new gear. It was ridiculously expensive so that was a no go. And he also takes the opportunity to go return Shuu’s arrows. Every time we see Shuu at home, he seems richer than the last time. He has a full staff!
Tsurune always looks pretty good, but I’m going to ask you to pay attention to the framing this time. You can already see a pretty good example in that last screenshot. The scenes to come have some fantastic mise en scène. It makes me want to restart my gallery posts.
So Shuu and Ryouhei are ideal foils. They play off each other’s strengths so naturally that it seems like the characters were specifically written to be foils for one another. Why did they not really meet until the middle of the second season? And of course, Ryouhei’s rapport with Shuu’s little sister is absolutely adorable. They are now best friends and I totally get it. I’m not jealous of both of them simultaneously, somehow.
We also got to see a bit of Eisuke. Not too much. We know that he works a part-time job as a waiter. That seems to fall in line with his general character. His snarky relationship with Kou is kind of fun but difficult to really believe for now. Eisuke in general is hard to place. He seems to be an amalgamation of a number of different archetypes and his motivations are still completely unknown. Heck, even his goals are a little nebulous at this point. He wants to win the tournament, and he wants to do so on their own terms but that’s pretty much it. I guess it’s enough when you think about it. I just think there might be more.
See what I mean about framing. Almost every screenshot above is fantastic. My personal favourite is the one of Shuu sitting on the couch with the painting behind him. That one is tremendous. The fact that he’s in the center frame, perfectly in the middle of both the sofa and painting create this almost harsh symmetry which is then challenged by the slightly off placement of the doors in the painting. Shuu himself appears still, frozen in place while the painting has a sense of movement. It’s a great way to encapsulate the character as he is right now.
Also the colours! Those greens and yellows. I have almost never seen this exact colour palette in anime. It contrasts so much with the composition that it almost brings an uncanny quality to the image. Like something very bad is about to happen.
Nothing bad happened. Not at all in fact. Both Shuu and Ryouhei got a lot out of their time together. I’ve said it a few times before but I really can’t stress enough how successful they are as an odd couple. I really never cared for Shuu’s character before but I kind of do now. It’s entirely because of the interplay. He really didn’t do that much.
This is the scene that made Eisuke extra confusing for me. He has this slight bad, boy vibe. The whole team is presented as the rebels of Kyoudo or something like that. And although Eisuke does seem to be the ersatz team captain, he’s fairly lax about it and doesn’t seem to have much of a relationship with the other guys on the team, outside of the club.
And yet, he’s the one buying all the boring little supplies that the school doesn’t provide so that they can enjoy their practice. And he does so without even telling anyone. That’s why he has a part-time job in the first place. How does that mesh with the character?
Here’s my favourite bit. Earlier in the episode, Eisuke’s co-workers invited him out to karaoke with them and he declined, saying that he’s too poor for such things. Now, in the closing scenes, Kou bought all the supplies they needed himself, and they have this little bro moment where they dance around the subject and end it off with Kou saying do whatever you want, I don’t care, while just dropping the bag on Eisuke. And then as he is walking off frame he just says so wanna go to karaoke or something and Eisuke says yeah sure. That’s it. It’s not punctuated or anything but it’s such a smooth throwback. I really liked it.
It’s difficult to explain why, but I had a lot of fun with this episode. It makes me want to watch the next one sooner rather than later.
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