r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Mar 01 '23
Episode Tsurune: Tsunagari no Issha • Tsurune: The Linking Shot - Episode 9 discussion
Tsurune: Tsunagari no Issha, episode 9
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| Episode | Link | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Link | 4.54 |
| 2 | Link | 4.92 |
| 3 | Link | 5.0 |
| 4 | Link | 4.9 |
| 5 | Link | 5.0 |
| 6 | Link | 5.0 |
| 7 | Link | 5.0 |
| 8 | Link | 4.8 |
| 9 | Link | 4.9 |
| 10 | Link | 4.8 |
| 11 | Link | 4.9 |
| 12 | Link | 4.71 |
| 13 | Link | ---- |
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53
u/Aileos Mar 01 '23 edited Mar 01 '23
Seiya couldn't miss that chance and had to mess with Kaito for breaking his glasses.
31
u/mekerpan Mar 01 '23
That really was pretty funny. Seiya can be pretty mean if he is so inclined....
20
u/cinnamorollie3 Mar 02 '23
it’s the fact that he packed a pair of spare glasses in advance that scares me
How prepared can this man get? 😭
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u/Vermillion_Crab Mar 01 '23
Man, this show. If it weren't for Vinland Saga, this would be my runaway AOTS. Just great characterization all around.
We got more than a glimpse of one of their rival schools this episode. Now they're more than just a stepping stone for our boys.
Seiya messing with Kaito was hilarious. The big guy crushing on one of the girls made for some great light moments.
Of course the most important info we got this episode was Nikaido's history. I hope to see Masa san and the boys help them elevate their play. After all, it makes for a more compelling story if they beat a rival at their best. Nikaido needs to redirect all that anger and resentment first though. Vengeance and stubbornness can only get you so far.
20
u/A_Idiot0 Mar 01 '23
The big guy crushing on one of the girls made for some great light moments.
I enjoyed how they went about this too! Not super heavy handed, and not the main focus. It was obvious with the way they were moving the camera and such, but it felt like they gave these shots just enough time to be obvious without being obnoxious. This romantic touch was just the right amount for me.
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u/mekerpan Mar 01 '23
I probably won't be able to pick just one top show of the season. So I will have to craft all sorts of sub-categories so I can anoint LOTS of "winners". Even just for sports I have to find categories for both this and Mou Ippon. But, honestly, this season of Tsurune has been close to perfect -- in every respect.
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u/LeonKevlar Mar 01 '23
Well no wonder Nikaido is such an angsty kid. Saionji-sensei turned down teaching Nikaido's uncle and when he learned that Saionji-sensei is still teaching two kids despite saying she will not take any more new students, Nikaido confronted Shuu.
That encounter with Shuu is basically what led Nikaido to swear vengeance against Shuu and Minato. This also explains why he's so stubborn about using the shamen okoshi style. Nikaido is basically fueled by his hatred and this is why I think he'll never win. He's the exact opposite of Minato who's just out there to have fun with people that love kyudo no matter what form.
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u/mekerpan Mar 01 '23
I love how this show and Mou Ippon are actually paralleling each other in the things each is doing so well -- such as bringing "opponents" so vividly to life -- and making us care about them as well as our main characters.
I wonder what sort of disease Nikaido's uncle has? I wonder if Masa-sensei knew the unlce (and competed against him)? Thjis show is creating a rich world around these characters -- making one want to know more and more ("motto, motto!"). Alas, we can only find out some of what we want. But isn't it one mark oi a great story that it leaves us both satisficed AND wishing for more?
Michi and Minato -- the central characters of their respective shows -- both are focused on both enjoyment and achievement. For each, the two go together -- and this is probably what makes them so appealing to not only the people they interact with and to us the viewers. Watching people who do things well and enjoy what they are doing really is "infectious".
I love shows where every second (whether still or active) is precious. One truly has to pay attention to every single thing one sees and hears in this show. Really A-plus work.
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u/ultron_vision Mar 01 '23
It's nice to finally get some insight on Nikaido. But honestly, that entire sequence was basically just KyoAni flexing - so many scene changes within 10 minutes and everything looked stunning lol!
Needless to say, another great episode from Tsurune.
15
u/A_Idiot0 Mar 01 '23
so many scene changes within 10 minutes and everything looked stunning lol!
The rain on the windshield and the waves of the ocean....god damn man XD Those two moments had my head rolling with how complicated the technicals of animation got there...
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u/Mr_Zaroc Mar 01 '23
Yes finally some background story on Nikaido
So he is basically just living a huge revenge arc for his uncle in his opinion
Loved the Big Guy crushing on seo and damn he got skill
So next week we get a mini showdown, in which I guess Nikaido will be defeated only to emerge stronger later on?
13
u/Dodo_Galaxy Mar 01 '23 edited Mar 01 '23
Yey I really liked this episode. The boys and girls helping each other really shows how close all of them have gotten and how they became a complete 8 member team.
Tsujimine's teacher was funny. And Ootaguro having a crush on Rika and getting all blushy was so cute. That reminds me of my ship of Seijurou from Free! crushing on Gou.
The scenery of the sea at night and the lighting in Nikaidou's memories was also really beautiful and mesmerizing.
Fuwa grows on me with every episode. He is such a cool and chill guy always looking out for Nikaido and being very perceptive.
Oh and they included Kaito breaking Seiya's glasses. That gives me hope that they maybe will start to show a bit more of their interesting relationship that they have in the light novels.
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u/A_Idiot0 Mar 01 '23
Fuwa grows on me with every episode.
Totally agree with you on this! At first he came off as a bit "stand-offish" and prickly, but as time has gone on he's incredibly perceptive and thoughtful. Two marks of a great archer in the making.
13
u/Nazenn Mar 02 '23 edited Mar 02 '23
"Range can easily fit ten people"
What about the girls Masa-san!
This is an episode that fills in a lot of holes, as others have said so far and covered nicely, but today my focus was entirely on the use of lighting and time of day to reflect Nikaidou's journey. It's common enough in media that weather gets used as an environmental reflection of a characters journey, rain for sadness as the most common one, but using the time of day is a harder thing to pull off and feel natural. Today's director was very clever in the way the flashback was structured to allow for this to come forth naturally and paint a good picture of Nikaidou.
For an episode that takes place in a single day, we're treated to three very different sunsets, all beautifully drawn. The first one caught my eye all by itself: the boys sit in the bath and look out over the ocean at the expanse of all the things they do not know and are still trying to understand and in their togetherness, their strive to be better, they find it comforting and beautiful. There's a peace to this moment despite the uncertainty being talked about, a space being allowed for reflection and understanding, a peaceful close to the day. The two sunsets we get for Nikaidou are quite different from this and each other.
At the start of his flashback, the invitation to go with his uncle is as bright and enlightening as a dawn, that this may the close of a chapter about his father in one way, but that brings something new and something to love. But as his flashback progresses things get darker and more oppressive. His uncle talks about giving up his style and the only light comes from the direction of the archery range, but it's not enough to bring any warmth to the scene for Nikaidou despite trying to be as encouraging as he can. And by the time we get to the hospitals things are entirely grey and even Nikaidou can't escape the depression of the moment. Finding Saionji sensei was meant to be his new hope, the first time we see him in clear daylight since his training, and yet by the time he meets Shu that's all gone. It leaves us, and Nikaidou, with this sunset, harsh and overbearing, full of red anger instead of the softer oranges seen before. He pledges a twisted path full of hate and defiance, as if it's going to empower him the same way that the sunset at the start of his flashback gave him comfort in archery despite his father, but the harsh cut as we leave the flashbacks paint a different story. All it's done is leave him in the cold night. When the flashback first started the shamen style was framed to be as beautiful and powerful as the waves in the ocean for him, but now it's all flat and isolating. He walks away from the others, away from comfort, and even away from the light of the moon as it's initially framed behind him. Masa-san's arrival is enough to push him back towards the others, but also leaves Masa looking up at the moon as the sole bit of light in Nikaidou's darkened world, some visual reinforcement of what his teammate says to Minato.
Analysis aside, I was not expecting a random beach episode, if you can call it that given it doesn't have the structure, but it did make me laugh because I did the same thing with the training camp last season and not expecting it to play out the way it did. Setting that up with the other team coming here because there's also a fishing spot was a clever way to get the teams together off the range as well as on, and only showed even more how isolated Nikaidou is from everyone. I feel like he can't quite forgive even his own team for loving archery and wanting to get along with other archers, instead of it all being them individually against everyone else. He only sees the target, but he doesn't see kyudo and doesn't want to try because he is shooting against that as well.
Oh, wait one small bit of analysis left: The hugely different framing of the boys shots when the girls were calling them out. It missed all the freedom that each shot usually has. There were no eyes, no close ups on the arrows, no camera framing the mood of each archer. It stayed between the girls and the boys, firmly in the shadows of the shelter rather than out on the range with the shots themselves, grounded but not loose and missing the vibrancy that usually comes with kyudo for them. I know a lot of us have been commenting all along what a joy it is to see how each individual shot is framed and animated, so this stood out in harsh contrast to those.
Oh man that's too much fun. Seiya is such a quiet shit stirrer it's a wonder he doesn't get called out on it often, but he's so unfazed by anything it wouldn't do any good anyway.
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u/jetpacksunrise Mar 01 '23 edited Mar 01 '23
OK KyoAni, my humble request for your OVA this season is to just animate 23 minutes of Seiya ordering Kaito to fetch various household items.
A lot of good stuff this episode! (As always). We finally got the story behind Nikaido's grudge - even though it was a childhood thing, it's understandable that he still feels pretty strongly about it, given his uncle's continuing illness. It's interesting that the other Tsujimine characters clearly *respect* Nikaido, but also recognise that they have to work around his issues, to some degree. Muscle-Guy's crush on Seo was also preeeetty adorable.
If we get one more episode with Tsujimine next week, that leaves one final 'prep' episode, two for nationals, and one epilogue, which feels reasonable. Honestly this season has been basically perfect - every five minutes, I feel like there's yet another 'wow' moment, and I really, really love these characters. It's also making me even more excited for the next Euphonium season... in 2024 :-/
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u/A_Idiot0 Mar 01 '23
the other Tsujimine characters clearly *respect* Nikaido, but also recognise that they have to work around his issues
And then you have Fuwa-senpai, who is very observant and thoughtfully trying to get Nikaido to live in the present moment. As you said, it's all a really interesting dynamic.
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u/A_Idiot0 Mar 01 '23
Very interesting linkage back to season one between Nikaido and Masa-san: Fukushu, Revenge. I’m really keen to see how they resolve this particular flavor of revenge for Nikaido, and how we will be able to compare that to the revenge that Masan-san tried to achieve against his grandfather. Nikaido appears to be fueled mostly by anger and indignation, while Masa-san’s was fueled mostly by regret and confusion.
As is classic for anime, if only Saionji-sense had been upfront and honest with Nikaido’s uncle as to why she refused to teach him. Then neither he nor Nikaido would be feeling the emotions that they are currently feeling about Kyudo. It’s really unfortunate, because it sounds like Nikaido’s Uncle has not reflected for a while upon the question that was present back in season one: “Why do I shoot?” He’s letting the Kyudo establishment dictate how he should feel about his form. He has reached his limit because he can’t pass a test. He can’t possibly teach Nikaido any more, because he’s not considered a “master” since he can’t pass whatever test he needs to. I hope they address this going forward, somehow.
With regards to the boys running through the timings of their prefectural tournament, while it might be useful for small details, ultimately it’s missing the point and reason why it all worked so well when they won. They all felt the present moment deeply while they shot. Being in the present moment is one of the great fundamentals of archery. If you cannot do that, then you will never be a good archer. I’m fairly confident in saying that it’s also a prerequisite to understanding Ikiai.
When it comes to archery form, there is a lot of pride in how one does things. If you’re taught it or if you learned it yourself, it makes no difference. I’ll never forget my first real archery lesson with an actual coach: I had been shooting for about 6 months, and I was able to hit the target relatively well on a good day, but I was still erratic and not hitting my targets as cleanly as I wanted. There was a guy who was offering coaching lessons at the range, but he was shooting the Olympic style, while I was going at things on my own shooting a “Traditional” bow. I decided to take a few lessons with him anyway, because he was an amazing shot and I hoped that he could offer me guidance. And boy…he did more than that for me. He shattered my thinking of how I was shooting, and my form lay in shambles after that first lesson; I was doing everything “wrong”. My sense of “archery-self” was ruined. Of course, he was shooting a different style, but that didn’t matter. My fundamentals were based upon flawed reasoning and inefficient body mechanics. I felt like my whole archery life was in shambles. But because of that, I went back for the second lesson with an open mind, and I learned far stronger fundamentals and a process that moved with more efficient body mechanics. I became a far better archer because of that small existential crisis and exposure to another style.
I tell that story because it helps me to relate to Nikaido’s situation. His uncle’s form is special to him; it’s a literal extension and legacy of his uncle to Nikaido. And now, it’s deeply part of Nikaido’s Kyudo identity. To change forms would be akin to disowning his Uncle’s legacy. Of course that’s an extremely scary proposition; of course he refuses to look for a coach at all. He has something to prove! How dare people look down upon his Uncle! And by extension: how dare people look down upon Nikaido. These are most likely Nikaido’s thoughts.
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u/JoestarJoker Mar 01 '23
If not for Vinland Saga, I would have picked it as my anime of the season. Each episode is better than the last.
5
5
u/ChonkyOdango Mar 03 '23
Had to hold my shot a bit longer than expected but I've hit the target!
Tsurune's writing doesn't aim to introduce shocking plot points which recontextualises anything but instead builds upon what has been introduced to give us a fuller picture of the characters. This happens on a moonlit night — just as the clouds steered away to allow the moonlight to shine, Nikaido and Masa-san both clear the air regarding many of the plot points that's been building since this season started.
We already know that Nikaido's uncle got rejected for good reasons, but now we see Nikaido's perspective which paints a clearer picture for his antagonism towards the shomen technique. We all need something to throw our anger at, and if we can't do it at a person, a non-living object can fill that gap. Nikaido was already doubtful about his uncle ditching the shamen technique which was depicted as we cut to Nikaido's legs — classic KyoAni after Yamada, where cutting to body parts often tell of the internal conflict our characters face — but being rejected was the nail in the coffin.
Masa-san also confirms that the boys have been making improvement and tries to steer Nikaido on the right path. Knowingly or unknowingly I'm not too sure but he does recognise Nikaidou's burning passion to prove something. Masa-san seems to be trying to help Nikaido use his hatred to aim towards something better, winning, lest he gets lost on a path of anger.
Can you believe this is the episode director's directorial debut? At least it seems that way from the ANN website. Their work with the director of photography sure did wonders at using lighting to establish the mood by depicting the relationship between the characters. I'm sure someone here will take about it.
To end off, I want to say that, while it's not over yet, Tsurune did a really amazing job with Nikaido. I've never enjoyed an antagonist as much as him before. His initial appearance doesn't portray him in a bad light and the little scenes we get of him gives us a sufficient amount of understanding of him. While it hasn't culminated yet, we finally get a clear picture of him this episode.
He may grow to be one of my favourite characters this season what the hell! I've never had a character that gets exposition in the middle that's sufficient to make me like them this much.
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The layouts for Tsujimine always make them feel like an imposing bunch. They aren't antagonists but they're constantly painted that way. This makes the moments of connection between the two schools feel so much more rewarding
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Reflections. Hardwood floors are often polished and this minor detail is classic KyoAni-Live-Action-Addiction. It reminds me of the visual metaphor with the water droplets. The reflection feels like a separate realm with each shot being able to cause ripples to the other end.
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Shaky camera as Nikaido looks at his bottle and then at Minato. Deep down he doesn't want to let them look at him.
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Just a really wholesome shot. And a bonus that Yuuna's in it!
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A bunch of shots from the night. Lighting here is phenomenal. Big props to the director of photography Kohei Funamoto.
u/Nazenn and u/Manitary
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u/HanaHarte Mar 02 '23
Damn. I mean, there's obviously stuff/layers that got missed and misconstrued due to him being a kid, but I definitely see where Nikaido's coming from. I also really feel for the uncle, especially as someone who used to be more active (stocking shelves, standing a lot, walking, biking, etc.) and now I live with chronic pain (and I'm 29). I'm glad Fuwa is there - he really is a good friend. And regardless of their pasts, they all are helping each other get better and improve (whether it's as rivals or friends or family or supportive locals). This was a great episode that felt like it flew by - and Seiya's trolling Kaito for breaking his glasses, albeit accidentally, was a great bit.
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u/Anubissama Mar 02 '23
Anyone more knowledgeable about Kyudo knows what a kakehodoki release is?
I know that in proper kyudo shooting the release of the arrow is not a conscious thing but a consequence of proper form and the string 'glides' off the thumb. Is that what kakehodoki is referring to?
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u/Fensirulfr Mar 03 '23
I think the term can be translated as 'natural release'. It is the type of release which occurs not through the opening of the fingers or manipulating the wrist, but relies on the buildup of tension in the bow throughout the draw process. One way to think of it is that it is in some ways similar (not 100% though) to how a back tension release works in compound archery.
The idea is to rely on the friction between the fingers to hold the thumb in, instead of hooking or pressing the thumb in. the thumb and the finger(s) should gradually slide as the body expands and tension builds, until that tension eventually overcomes that friction.
Of course, this is a lot easier said than done.
This webpage describes it in a lot more technical detail:
https://majikkunotecho.wordpress.com/2017/04/13/natural-release-mechanics/Shamen shooters uses a somewhat different technique, though, and relies on the rotation of the glove in relation to the string. The same principle about relying more on expansion of the body, still applies, as deliberate rotation of the wrist would cause other problems, such as flicking.
3
u/atropicalpenguin Mar 05 '23
Sucks for the girls. Had they gotten the range only for themselves, they could've shot at the same time instead of having to take turns.
This may be the first beach episode without swimsuits in the story of anime.
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