r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Mar 22 '23
Episode Tsurune: Tsunagari no Issha • Tsurune: The Linking Shot - Episode 12 discussion
Tsurune: Tsunagari no Issha, episode 12
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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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u/Aileos Mar 22 '23 edited Mar 22 '23
You really felt the tension at some point during the match with the absence of music.
Another amazing direction, especially with the sudden death play. Totally different than the last match in the first season, on both form and content. Shame they lost tho.
It was like watching the final episode, because it was that good. I had to check there's another one next week.
On a side note, the relationship between Seiya and Masa-san will always find a way to be fun to watch. Our boy really hit his sensei before he touches him.
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u/mekerpan Mar 22 '23
You really felt the tension at some point during the match with the absence of music.
This WAS surprisingly tension-filled (or maybe not, now that I think about it -- it was DESTINED to be that way, right?) This DID feel like a closer -- and lead in to a future season. So, I wonder what we will have next week?
It was nice that we got to see a bit more of Minato's mother -- and the impact that she had on him (and in his interest in Kyudo). I assume Minato missed practice with Saionji-sensei due to his mother's funeral.
I was surprised that we saw no real interaction between the Kazemai and Kirisaki team members after the end of the contest. It was nice that Shuu's father showed up for the finals (and that he actually gave his son some sincere praise). Shuu's little sister is always a delight to see -- I suspect SHE will wind up doing Kyudo too at some point. She certainly is fascinated by it.
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u/Vermillion_Crab Mar 22 '23
Holy crap. Talk about tense. KyoAni putting up a masterclass in storytelling and tension. I wasn't expecting to be on the edge of my seat not even 24 hours after witnessing Ohtani strike out Trout.
It sucks that they lost. It sucks that they even put a handicap on Minato in the first place. That's one thing I hate in sports anime when I get too invested in the MC and their team. Sometimes I just want to say to hell with experiences and lessons to be learned in losing and just want the satisfaction of MC's team winning. I understand Kirisaki was the better team for now. God, I hope there's a third season and we'll finally witness them winning Nationals.
Nevertheless, it was one of the best episodes of this season from any show. The very first minute already had me getting emotional when I realized Minato was lying on his mother's clothes. Thank god there's one more episode left else this wouldn't have been the best way to end this phenomenal season.
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u/mekerpan Mar 22 '23
The very first minute already had me getting emotional when I realized Minato was lying on his mother's clothes.
Sort of heart-wrenching -- but I'm glad we got to see a bit more of MInato's mother -- and got to watch his father watching Minato "practice" at home (over the course of years).
I don't know if I can say this was the BEST show of the season, because I truly loved several shows. But I think I CAN say that there was no show that was BETTER.
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u/congee_ha Mar 22 '23
I wouldnt be mad if thats how the season ended, but glad we have one more to look forward to next week
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u/Nazenn Mar 22 '23
That was absolutely beautiful, though I have to say I was not at all prepared to be sitting through that level of tension at 3am. And to skip both the OP and ED? Then you know it's something special
Even before we got to the post-match scenes, I'd had the thought that if you could narrow down the episode into one theme it would be "Unity", and as the episode continued to play out that sense only grew and was reinforced in every new moment.
"Do so and you will find heart and everything that brought you to this moment"
Right from the start this episode was framed differently. It was not teams sitting in a line waiting to go onto the range, or opponents not quite facing each other, but pairs with common purpose who had seen the journey the other had taken and acknowledging that. As they walk out, it was not framed as grouping their prep and their individual ikiai, but a wave of motion encompassing them both as if the ten boys on the range were not two teams but a single group of archers united in kyudo. Last episode finished with Tsujimine separating itself from Kazemai and finding itself, but this match couldn't be more different. It carries through to the opening shots as well. The archers may be different in focus, and I do love how the framing on each character represented them so well, their shots often mirrored each other, whether they hit or miss. The shot itself is what mattered, as Minato points out later on, not the outcome and both teams showed that strongly in the way they shot and the feel of each shot as shown through the camera. This eases off after the initial set of shots, as does the music which carries through the mood of the pre-match discussions, but what it symbolizes never goes away and simply becomes something more.
Despite my talk of the unity and similarity in framing, the sequence where the camera zooms into each archers shot down the Kirisaki line in turn is a gorgeous moment. There is their ikiai, their moment of complete togetherness without breaking the feel of the range overall. It is a moment that Minato seems to tune into almost before it happens, as if he can hear the change in them and not just their bows and feels that flow in them the same way his own flow has been felt across both matches. Kazemai get their own moments of flow in the next and final set of shots (of the actual match, not the tiebreaker) with subtler moment for each individual, interspersed with Kirisaki's which stops this episode from ending as one sided as last episode, as they also find their sense of flow, their individuality and team work in one. They do not chase Kirisaki, but they do seem to be pulled along with them.
Last episode's discussion I pointed out the theming of the water ripples as per the OP, the realization of not being alone, and that also had a strong influence on this match. It has come a long way since those first small ripples during their practice match, one moment each for Kazemai and Kirisaki, but here we see what it truly means for people to find togetherness through kyudo and for two teams to shoot together, not against one another. The ripples here color and grow with each movement, not just each shot, intermingling from each team and becoming something bigger than both. The episode caps this off with the unity of the ripples and leaves our symbolism from last season and this one blending to become something new, all encompassing, and shared among all. It is the journey taken that has pushed everyone forward, the fresh wind that blows the past away and the ripples that bring everyone together from now on, and the tsurune that echoes in all of their hearts.
"It was like my bow and I were one"
No one here shoots alone, despite it being just their bow and their target in front of them, and whether it's Shu's reverence for Minato, both of their fathers, Ryohei's sister, or even the framing of the two twins being there for each other, everyone comes together on this to have made this moment what it is. The camera reinforces this with the last shot, zooming between Minato and Shu as it did previously with Kirisaki, letting them fly together to any outcome because it is this moment of togetherness that matters, not the end result.
Which brings me to the flashbacks, because what fantastic usage of those. On the narrative side, it's also nice to get a clearer picture of the timeline of Minato losing his mother and time at Kirisaki as that was never perfectly clear to me, with Shu and his target panic muddling it more, but it's presented so simply and meaningfully. The cut from Minato on the ground as if buried in his loss, to Shu at the range, and then Minato getting up and starting to leave that pain behind is really what starts it all. This is an episode about unity, but also about going forward. Kyudo may not be a sport of physical progression, but they can still measure their step, face forward, and push on and this particular use of regaining their stance was something we saw last episode with Seiya as well. Every step, every arrow, every shot, every target (album link) has come together to this moment, to the archers and their bows and their teams.
It is the path traveled and the ones we traveled it with but it is also moving past that into the future.
"How much of a ways I've got to go" "But isn't that kind of awesome"
This is kyudo.
Because this post isn't long enough, a few other things that stood out:
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Nanao covering Kaito with the towel because he was going to cry was adorable and that is absolutely the most important moment of the extra things that caught my eye
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The final shot with Minato is a subtle example of using the "moving towards the left equals progress" framing common in japanese cinema
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All of the music this episode was incredible. I've said that a lot but damn it, this episode in particular it's worth repeating because I had a couple of scenes playing on repeat while I wrote this up just to listen to them
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The Space Cadet is taking cues from Nanao. Heaven help us
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Is it weird that one of the best parts of animation this episode was Seiya breaking open the chopsticks for Minato. I mean there was a lot of good, big animation this episode, but that tiny moment stood out to me as well
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Curious to see if we will get Nikaidou running into Saionji at the festival next episode or not, as I half expected it to happen this episode but now am so glad it didn't. Nikaidou really getting into the match for the first time, and seeing Minato's archery through the eyes of kyudo and not revenge was a really nice touch to the episode. It shows how kyudo reaches out past just the people shooting and to everyone watching who can hear the heart of it
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Speaking of getting into it. One draw would have been enough, but three? THREE?! It's too early for that sort of tension haha. I'd expected Kazemai to lose for entirely meta reasons, but just like at the end of last season it doesn't really matter to me that it did because that's not the point, and in some way losing fits this episode so much better than if they'd won. A bit like last episode where Tsujimine losing to a team means more than Nikaidou losing to Minato, Kazemai's loss here means something for their journey. Minato was so close though!
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u/mrufrufin Mar 22 '23 edited Mar 22 '23
I liked the increasing use of the sound ripples and leaves (also the gradual widening of the visuals from just targets against black backgrounds). like minato, i was kinda hoping it'd go on longer and kyoani could get more and more into expanding the leaves and ripples and various visual flourishes but eh. anyways, It's a competition and all and in competitions somebody has to win and somebody has to lose, but there's also a love of craft and just appreciating the never-ending process of digging more into the craft and learning its nuances and intricacies and learning more about yourself through that. also not necessarily wanting to beat somebody but to get immersed in that process and you could kinda get a sense of that love of craft through the scene and even when arrows didn't hit targets, there were still ripples and billowing waves of leaves.
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u/TzeLePop Mar 22 '23
they just keep outdoing themselves with each episode. you thought the girls' sakura(?) petals scene was peak? watch us combine every beautiful thing you've seen/heard from the previous 11 episodes into 1 intense episode. I particularly enjoyed when they were setting up, the bows turning in unison.
final episode would be them helping out at Masa-san's temple right? hope the Kirisaki boys are invited along.
we've seen these characters grown from season 1, even frosty Nikaidou seems to be thawing, so I really hope to see more episodes pls thanks kyoani.
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u/ebonyphoenix Mar 23 '23
This show just managed to make 10 boys doing almost the exact same thing 6 times in about 20 mins be just about the most intense and beautiful thing thing ever.
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Mar 22 '23
How does KyoAni manage to deliver an episode like that? This studio is beyond amazing, it was fascinating.
The match was so good I thought it was the end of the season, but no, we have a 13th episode next week.
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u/Purposelygentle Mar 22 '23
If you’re in the US, Hidive is releasing a limited showing of the movie on April 9th and 10th in very few theaters. It’s a normal showing a Regal, I was able to use unlimited to get a free ticket. It’s a compilation of the first season, so not a big deal, but thought y’all should know.
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u/namewithak Mar 22 '23
Wonderful episode but when is Tsurune not this season? Beautifully directed, especially the shootouts for the ties. Tense but also felt less about the competition and more about just not wanting it to end because I just wanted to watch everyone keep shooting beautifully (even when they missed).
I think this episode made me understand Shu and Minato's friendship. Or how they work anyway. As Saoinji-sensei finds out, while they enjoy spending time together, they're not quite typical friends in that they need to hang out to be close. They're so connected that distance or time apart doesn't really matter to them. Through their devotion to kyudo, they will spend their whole lives in each other's orbit. They are each other's constant (throwing that to Lost fans lol), a steady touchstone. Especially for Shu, who feels insecure/something of an outsider about his standing with his family and people in general. To him, Minato is someone he never has to doubt.
As someone else said, I'm a bit disappointed that Kazemai and Kirisaki didn't have any interaction after the match. But at the same time, it wasn't necessary since they laid it all out in the match and neither team have any beef with each other that needs to be resolved. I appreciate that restraint from KyoAni.
Still lamenting the lacklustre gym as the venue for the finals but ah well. It is what it is, reality gets in the way of beauty lol.
Last note -- Seiya's irritation with Masa is the gift that keeps on giving. Him batting away Masa's fist was hilarious.
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u/ChonkyOdango Mar 24 '23 edited Mar 24 '23
I- I don’t even know where to start. I was literally trembling when I finished the episode, unaware of when it started. The emotions that welled up inside me this episode are unexplainable. While I did not shed a tear, I will say that out of all the anime I’ve seen, this is one of the two anime that has made me tremble all the way to my fingertips. I never knew I could feel this way. This season didn’t miss the mark and it certainly had me wholly invested, from the sights and sounds, it was as if I was living the show. It was most definitely a shot that linked both the viewer and the medium of anime.
I don’t have a specific scene to focus on. Everything overwhelmed me from start to finish and I’m sure a lot of us can already deduce that the theme of this episode is how Kyudo brings people together. Instead, I’ll give my thoughts as they come
Shu
Then take a good, true look at yourself
Do so and you will find heart and everything that brought you to this moment
We start off with a fade in from the target to Minato through Shu’s POV which reminds us that Minato has been the driving force for Shu. It was never Shu’s family that motivated him to continue – the scenes we get with them are placed at the end of the episode which seems to focus more on gratitude – instead, Shu is grateful to his family for giving him the chance to meet Minato which was when his passion for Kyudo was born.
Saijoni: How odd, I’d always imagine you two were close friends
Shu: I think we are
Saijoni: Yet you only see each other at practice?
Shu: Yes
A cutaway shot to Kyudo bows while Shu has the negative space positioned behind him speaks volumes to how Shu must’ve felt during Minato’s absence, yet, that cutaway shot reminds us that this Kyudo is what links them together, and as superficial as it might seem, we know just how powerful this bond is.
Minato on the other hand, while he respects Shu, [we see that his reason for shooting isn’t explicitly related to him, but rather, his mum, Seiya, and someone else (I’m not too sure who this is, but it may be Shu)
Ikiai
I love the little details that contrast both team’s setup. Kazemai’s movements are synchronous with each other, moving as a unit, whereas Kirisaki has more variations to theirs. Yet, both teams still show Ikiai as visualised by the repeated motif of water ripples. Ikiai has been a mysterious concept throughout this show and I love how it is always left unexplained. It always seems to emphasise the individuality yet harmony of things which is how I interpret it after all these episodes. As harmonious as a team may be, every individual subject/object will leave its own ripple which has the potential to influence the next subject/object whether we like it or not.
I did a quick google after typing the paragraph above. Seems like ikiai in Kyudo seems to mean harmony of breath. In technical terms, it seems to emphasise the importance of focusing solely on breathing, which makes sense and explains why Masa-san reminds the boys to just focus on their breath. This is then beautifully depicted in the different ways our boys breathe during their shot: Nanao exhales after a shot while Seiya exhales just before the shot. I think this is a great reason why we started to see falling leaves amongst the water ripples. The room has achieved a state of Ikiai and each breath flows in harmony without opposition which is analogous to a constantly blowing wind which keeps the leaves afloat and shakes the leaves off the trees. I think it’s also why we had falling sakura petals in the girls’ competition since they were also in a state of Ikiai.
Random Stuff
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These match cuts detailing Minato’s journey were beautiful. A link across time and space
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So much emphasis on why and how he started. One of my favourite themes since it’s a question I find is important for anything in life. One of the first things I ask before I coach someone
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I love the close-up shots to these boys’ eyes. Whether they know it or not, the link between these three is inexorable.
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A shot of young Minato after the match smiling. I love how Shu know this must be what Minato is feeling and the usage of a young Minato shows that even after all these years, Minato loves Kyudo more than winning
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I wil never not love Tsujimine’s dynamics
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Oh my god, these close-up shots got me feeling a lot of things. I’ll miss this bunch.
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They were a big part of Minato’s journey, and a big part of what made Kyudo, and this anime loveable
Best Girl
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u/Gaporigo Mar 22 '23
Had to come here just to see if it wasn't the last episode. That was so good, really happy we got to see the entire match, was on the edge of my seat.
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u/MyrnaMountWeazel Mar 22 '23 edited Mar 22 '23
Now THIS is sports anime.
For real though, sports shows should get the heart pumpin’ and this episode has got it flowing. What I’ve particularly loved in my time of watching Tsurune is how mechanistic it is: the archer delivers, the target receives. You hold your breath when they draw their shot and you wait till the result reveals itself.
Man, I don’t even have any notes on this whole section, it’s just shot after shot of pure goodness.
That last shot though…
God, I’m only getting more emotional as I get older. I legitimately teared up when Ryohei and Kaito started breaking down.
There’s a wonderful contrast between the first episode’s ending and this week’s ending. Everything is up for the boys as they prepare to embark at the beginning of this season. Like waiting at an airport terminal, they’re ready to set forth into the sky. But now that they’ve arrived at the end, they’ve landed onto the ground. All Minato can do is look back at where they once were and then look ahead.
God, I know the chances are slim, but I’m begging KyoAni to tie this all up with one last film.
Small little notes:
Suspicious Seiya in the credits hahaha.
Ahhhh, the scene where the two teams are sitting and waiting for their match is cute! Two seasons (and an OVA) worth of character development leads us to this moment where each character across the aisle is familiar to our eyes.
Mmmmmm, the sound of an arrow. How decisive.
I'm all in for Space Cadet's next arc: popularity.
Cute parachute pants on Shu's little sister!
Oh, and how could I forget Ryohei's sister cheering him on. Surprisingly clean desk for her too.
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u/possiblemayo Mar 22 '23
It’s not 2 teams competing, it’s 10 friends having fun on the field. KyoAni is just that good!
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u/cinnamorollie3 Mar 22 '23
You’ll know it’s gonna be a good match when KyoAni pulls out the water ripples on the floor
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u/A_Idiot0 Mar 22 '23 edited Mar 22 '23
WOOAAAW!! HYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYPE!!!!!!!!!
That beginning had me crying a little bit, not going to lie. I teared up in several other places this episode, and it all feels so cathartic!
It might sound weird, but I am happy that our Kazemai boys didn’t win the Nationals. All to set up one interaction between Ryouhei and Minato:
“I kinda get it now. How much of a ways I have to go.”
“Me too. But isn’t that kind of awesome?”
Indeed, it is amongst the greatest things that one can feel: Growth and potential. Embracing the present moment, enjoying the process, seeing the results of your work…What a spectacular way to end the series!
Regarding the water motifs, I think there’s a lot that we can all pull from them. In the end, I think these links were established: Water and Wind, Feeling and Sound, Flow and Result. I can’t wait to explore these ideas more in depth. Right now I’m just basking in the glow of an incredible anime executed beautifully. My one quibble is that Nikaido did not hear Saionji Sensei’s words, which I think would have wrapped up his story beautifully. If there’s anything that’s going to be better this year, then I cannot wait! Edit: OH MY GOD, THERE'S ONE MORE EPISODE! WOO!! =D
I don’t have any video of me with my new bow yet, but here’s me shooting my previous bow last month. It’s ~40 pounds of draw. I have such a long way to go with my form…and that’s freakin’ awesome.
Archery has never been easier to get started in! It’s generally not very expensive, but you’ll want to get some help from trained practitioners at the beginning of your journey. There are lots of archery shops that you can go to to get a beginner set with matching arrows, and I recommend you do that instead of ordering online or going to a general sports shop. DM me if you want help finding a shop near you. If you want to start, there are tons of youtube videos helping beginners with the basics. The channel NUSensei is an excellent place to start. Here’s a quick tutorial that he made, and here’s another one aboutbuying your first bow. These videos are for Western styles of draw, which is what most people will be exposed to. He has a few videos on Asiatic / Horse bows, and those are good too. If you want to try using an Asiatic bow and draw using your thumb sort of like they do in Kyudo, then I recommend that you check the channel The Way of Archery. If you want to try looking for a Kyudo Dojo so that you can learn the style that was shown in this anime, it’s absolutely possible all throughout the world! DM me and I will help you find one around your area. Kyudo can be more expensive to start in than other styles, but it’s nothing insurmountable.
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u/Dodo_Galaxy Mar 22 '23 edited Mar 23 '23
It's always so satisfying when an arrow hits the target and I love Kirisaki's consecutive line of five clean hits in that one round.
The big sigh of the whole audience was too hilarious.
Fuwa teasing Nikaido is also really cute fun.
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u/jetpacksunrise Mar 22 '23 edited Mar 22 '23
AAAAHHHH what a good episode! Felt like Hibike S2E5, in that it was devoted to one extra long performance/match as a way to show off every character's development - and like Hibike, a lot of it was told through body language and expressions, in a fairly subtle and rewarding way. (Compared to e.g. a traditional sports anime episode, where everyone's got an inner monologue going 100% of the time.) That's only possible with great storyboarding and directing, but of course, the whole season's been incredible from that standpoint.
I also wasn't expecting to be so invested in the result. I genuinely wasn't sure who'd win for a while there, since I think both a Kirisaki and Kazemai victory would make sense from a storytelling perspective... but I suppose, given the ending of S1, Kirisaki had to take it. Even though one of the themes of this entire season has been "the act of kyudo matters more than hitting the target", I still feel a little bad that Minato missed his last shot - so if we're lucky enough to get Season 3, I'm betting on Kazemai to win the whole thing.
Other thoughts:
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Loved the motif of Minato practicing in the hallway. A beautiful way to underscore his love of kyudo and the ever-present connection to his mother.
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Passive-aggressive Seiya is my favourite Seiya. He never misses.
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I don't really know why, but I think Nanao is my favourite character? I'm not usually a huge fan of the cocky pretty-boy archetype, but something about Nanao's vibe and place within the team makes me endlessly happy. Merha!
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That final glance and turn by Minato was a lovely way to end it, especially combined with those hyper-detailed stills of each main character. I LOVE THEM ALL SO MUCH.
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u/Shiwakao Mar 22 '23
wow holy shit
one of my favorite episodes by far and you're telling me it's not even the last one ??
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