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Tsurune is weird.

It’s a Kyoani anime that wasn’t a cultural phenomenon, probably because it aired two weeks late and had to share the year with both Violet Evergarden and Free!, but let me say I enjoyed Tsurune the most out of all the Kyoani anime I’ve watched.

Why? Because Tsurune felt real.

There is drama, and there is a lot of it, it feels hectic, nothing gets solved right away and more problems pile up, and some people may have a problem with this but I like this part of Tsurune. Life is hectic, Tsurune just follows the example.

Along with drama Tsurune also has a lot ... of character to it, even though it does seem characters go into tropes, particularly Kaito, Nanoa, and Ryohei, at the same time they don’t. Kaito “Kaachan” Onogi, is a good example because even though he’s the angry one he does self reflect on himself, albeit it’s subtle. In all honesty, these three were in a bad position since the anime really focuses on Masaki, Minato, and Seiya, but those three made the anime worth watching. Seiya and Masaki especially, the struggles they deal with connects them together through Minato, this creates an interesting dynamic. The characters do seem shallow at first, but when you start noticing aspects about their character you truly start falling in love with the anime.

Tsurune also excels at atmosphere, every shot is Tsurune is dynamic and well-placed, especially in episode 10 and 12. The production is obviously top-notch, and this helps Tsurune in the sound and animation department, because every frame deserves to be placed in an art gallery and every track is full of emotion. Good examples of shots in Tsurune is episode 2, the blue moonlight mixes extraordinary well with the characters. Also, shots of them doing kyudo have dynamic camera angles, making hits feel all the more satisfying.

The themes in Tsurune aren’t anything new, but the way Tsurune portrays it is different. “Are adults actually mature?” or “do you love the sport?” are simplistic questions with a wide array of answers, and Tsurune can’t fully answer them either, but the dialogue used to address the questions had a certain charm to it.

The payoffs in Tsurune feel good, they take a while but when it happens, does it happen. Sometimes you might not even realise the answer, and you figure it out as the characters learn which I think is done well.

Some might call Tsurune tedious, character drama is everywhere, Kaachan is a bit of an arse and annoying, or whatnot, but I think those two things are fine. Kaachan did get on my nerves sometimes, but he did change subtly and the little things really shifted my opinion on him.

Overall, I’d say Tsurune is a charming show, as long as you like the characters that is, everything about the anime has a flow to it, no matter how hectic the problems get. I think it would be great if it got a second season, because Tsurune has much to expand on and I don’t think the Free! Treatment would hurt Tsurune.

Anyway time to buy the novel and overpriced merch ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ