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Meanderings
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Friday, 13 April 2012 12:33 |
In Enoshima, Yuki is a high school student who's never been good at making real friends thanks to his abnormally poor communication skills. Haru is the self-styled alien who decides to teach Yuki to fish. Natsuki is an irritable born-and-raised local. Akira is the mysterious Indian who watches them all from a distance. These four meet, fish, and find big adventures on their little island...
Immediate reaction: what the hell did I just watch. First, slightly more considered reaction: new transfer student meets two new friends, one of them a tad grumpy, and discovers a shared hobby? Isn't noitaminA doing that already this season (and far better, too, in Kids on the Slope)?? Well, yes, and no. First, jazz and fishing aren't quite the same thing, and second, Tsuritama is just downright strange. From the aquatic theme of Yuki's panic attacks, to Haru's talking fish and what appears to be a mind-control water-pistol (I want one...), to a "Man in Black" whose turban makes him look less like an Indian and more like someone in a bad Indian disguise, there's a lot here that could be considered abnormal. It also hasn't got around to telling us what's really going on, either - there's a promised story of saving the world still to come, but this episode settles for just introducing the cast, having some fun with them (and us), and leaving the audience to scratch their collective heads in bemusement at the end.
None of which does much to sell the series to me, to be honest, and when you add in that Haru's antics are as annoying as hell to watch (yes, I know he's supposed to be an alien and is acting the part), and one finger is hovering over the "drop" button.
THE GOOD: The strangeness is a plus, I suppose, although it's overdone a bit. Bright, colourful animation style.
THE BAD: Haru, which given his apparent importance would seem to be a fairly major flaw. Lack of any hints as to what's going on so far.
I think I'll be applying the 3-episode-rule to this one, as well - give it a chance to find its feet and start explaining things. But not the most auspicious of starts...
Tsuritama is streamed by Crunchyroll.
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Backbites 
