DESCRIPTION

CAST

NOVEL DramaTsurune: Kazemai Koukou Kyuudou-bu
OVA DramaTsurune: Kazemai Koukou Kyuudou-bu - Yabai
MOVIE DramaTsurune: Hajimari no Issha

REVIEWS

• 

  RazorJazz

  94/100
  How Tsurune teaches elegance and beauty of kyūdō and life

  When was that? And where? I only remember one thing. Just one sound… A sound like soaring. Like a ray of light flashing in the Dark.

  ---

  Tsurune is an anime directed by [Takuya Yamamura]( https://anilist.co/staff/126449/Takuya-Yamamura) which is based on a light novel of same name, by [Kotoko Ayano](https://anilist.co/staff/124010/Kotoko-Ayano) with illustrations by [Chinatsu Morimoto]( https://anilist.co/staff/124011/Chinatsu-Morimoto). Anime was produced by Kyoto Animation in fall 2018.

  

  Plot revolves around a young man, Minato Narumiya and kyūdō club in Kazemai high school. Our protagonist used to be in his middle school's kyūdō club until an incident in his last tournament caused him to quit archery. His friends Seiya Takehaya and Ryōhei Yamanouchi try to rope him into rejoining the kyūdō club in high school, which he refuses to, at first. This story is about how our protagonist relearns what was it that made him attracted to kyudo with the help of a really great cast of characters. This is such an appreciable story about rehabilitation and teamwork. The presentation of story is done through really serene visuals and elegant pacing. What this anime best is representing the essence of kyūdō in story and characters. Motivation of protagonist towards the Archery is so pure and yet so real.

  ---

  

  Kyūdō is a Japanese martial art of archery. This beautiful form of sports, is exhibited in one of the most beautiful ways I have seen in anime. Anime captures the true essence of art like none other I have seen before. This anime forefronts true spirit of kyūdō that is, [Shin Zen Bi](https://www.ikyf.org/shin_zen_bi.html) rather beautifully. Where; - __Shin__: Shin means true shooting is the one with no deceit; - __Zen__: Zen is the manifestation of the ethical aspect of kyūdō which involves Rei (courtesy) and Fuso (non-confrontation) requires one to always stay calm and not lose their composure. - __Bi__: Beauty of kyūdō, which lies in Shin and Zen.

  Each aspect of kyūdō has been touched upon rather lovingly by the anime, and I truly appreciate how well it was displayed through our main protagonist. __I cannot encapsulate true beauty of this anime without going into spoiler territory, so from this point forward spoiler warning. __

  ---

  One of the main aspects of the story, which I really love, is how the rehabilitation of character was not a physical one but instead a mental one, that is, target panic. This gave an in depth of what character is like and what is it that makes kyūdō important to him. He relearns this with the help of Shin, which is true shooting without any thought in mind.

  

  Another thing this show does greatly is Teamwork, often with sports shows, teamwork is not as much explored, but this show goes deep with the philosophy of teamwork and how it makes a team sports much more compelling than the individual sports. Our team of boys Minato, Seiya, Ryōhei, Nanao and Kaito really make a good team; they go through a perfect balance of growth in the show. Each member of team grows individually with focus on self-acceptance and also acceptance of other members of team without any prejudice. Throughout the show we see how our team grows and gradually come to accept one another. It is as Seiya says it’s like the tale of three arrows, except it’s five arrows, I guess. Which encapsulates perfectly how team works. Seiya’s quest for his friendship with Minato, Ryohei’s quest for self-acceptance, Nanao’s quest for helping Kaito, Kaito’s quest on focus and acceptance of others and finally Minato’s quest for Tsurune; Everyone got room to grow, and they did beautifully.

  

  Our coach Masaki Takigawa is also very compelling character with his own character arc. He grows throughout the story and learns from his students. His initial motivation of “revenge” is changed during the course of time. I love how his character was explored. Although the car accident, clichéd, wasn’t necessary. Also why’d you cut my man’s beautiful locks, it should be illegal.

  

  ---

  A thing which I thought could have made this even better was, focusing on the female members of the kyūdō club; Like Rika Seo, she was one of the characters I was most interested in as she represented perfect form of Zen, amongst all the members of the club. Show is definitely not without its flaws, it has some of the clichés, but they can overlooked easily.

  

  ---

  Will I recommend this show, of course I will, If you want to watch something healing with beautiful visuals and sound design, definitely do watch this. This is not a regular fast paced sports anime, and does gives you space to breathe and think about it.

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• 

  Cirruuss

  85/100
  The Beauty of the Noise called "Tsurune"

  (Disclaimer: I tried avoiding Spoiler for the Sake of getting more People on this Anime, For this Reason the Review might feel a bit superficial and im super sorry about that. Second of all, please dont mind the Grammar Mistakes i make. Im not a Native Speaker of the English Language , i hope that i still can manage the task of making this Review readable to everyone.)

  ---

  What is Tsurune about?

  Tsurune is the Story about Minato Narumiya and the newly established Kazemai Kyudo Club. Kyudo is a Combat Sport where Players try to hit Targets with a Bow and Arrow, which is like Normal Archery but without Points, You just need to hit your Target thats it. Which might seems Easy on the first Glance, but becomes much deeper the more you get in the Anime. One Reason why is the Main protagonist of the Story Minato, he suffers from a condition that many Kyudo athletes had before him, that makes it almost impossible to hit your Target. This Story is about the Future of Minato, the Kazemai Kyudo Club and everyone involved with the Situation.

  ---

  The Characters

  The Anime features a small cast of Characters. These are mostly Students who Practice Kyudo at the Kazemai and Rivaling Schools. But the most Important Character isnt a Student it is a Teacher. The Teacher of the Kazemai Kyudo Club to be exact, Masa-San is an Important character for not only our Protagonist but the whole cast. He seems to have an Influence on almost everyone in the Anime, and takes the Role of the Center which connects it all. I dont want to go into depth because Spoilers but the Cast features great Characters like our Main Team or the Girls Team which got zero to no screentime sadly. Still the Cast is Great and every character feels Unique in their own way which i find very Important for a Sport Anime.

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  Soundtrack and Visuals

  What can i say, if you havent guessed it already, I absolutly Love the Visual representation of the Anime. Kyoto Animations did a phenomenal Job Animating this Series. The Artstyle looks Detailed but still calm and well-ordered, i also like that Scenes can be Super Bright or very Dark depending on current Situation. The Soundtrack didnt disappointed either, the OST fits the whole Theme of the Show well enough to not feel out of Place, The Opening is really Good, one of my Favorite Op's of all Time already but it didnt really care for the Ed it was rather meh in my Opinion.

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  Final Thoughts

  For this Review i thought i just share my Thoughts rather than present my Opinions on what is the best Moment or Character. So im really glad i came by this Anime, it was a Great Experience and i only can say it that much but you should Watch this Anime. Tsurune isnt nearly as Popular as it needs to be, it dosent do something crazy or mindblowing but the simple representation of Kyudo was good enough to make this Anime somewhat special. Tsurune is more on the Chill side of Things, it dosent need some crazy action shots or super loud and hyped up characters because this Sport isnt made for those kind of things. But i need to add one more thing before ending this Review, This Anime still left some Questions open for me, which i obviously wont talk about here but i still have that Feeling that something is missing, maybe the Upcomming Movie can answer those Questions for me.

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  That was my Short Review on Tsurune i hope i could avoid Spoilers for the most Part so that you can experience Tsurune nearly Blind. I hope you Enjoyed reading this Review, it really was a Fun Time Watching the Anime and Writing this Review, and with that until we will meet again someday. Bye!
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• 

  toastaro

  85/100
  not spoiler free! tsurune is a treat for those who enjoy strong character arcs, subtle storytelling, and SPORTS

  watch tsurune before reading this really informal review!!!

  overall i really enjoyed this show.

  im gonna start with what i dont like cause it’s two things but they’re important ones.

  • at the beginning of the show there is this emphasis on the physical tension between the adult coach and the students. they play it for the attention for a few episodes and then it kind of dissipates. i feel like they could have gotten the story point of it, the idolization of the coach, across just fine or even better if he was played a bit more distant from the kids. they even play it for a gag at one point which is unacceptable.
  • the second thing is a classic which is Girl Characters as Tools for Observing Boy MCs. i get that the show’s not about them but its tiring at this point. i feel like they could have involved the girls in a more meaningful way so it wasn't so blatantly obvious.
    if it wasnt for this shit id have scored this show like a 95 lol

  anyways heres what i did like.

  it starts out a bit slow, but once it sets in, the pacing sets it apart from other shows. they don’t waste any time in scenes; they often get out right when you ask yourself a question.

  the show really hits its stride around the middle-end of the season when they start to explore the character relationships more deeply. i didn’t expect it to go there! cause at the beginning they’re playing everything slightly on the tropey side with the group dynamic. but it was thrilling to discover the relationship history between minato and the characters from his past!

  seiya’s motivation (witnessing the accident, continuing to be close w his dad being the doctor) for being so caught up in minato’s state is believable. i feel like ive seen lot of shows where there are many characters just obsessed with the plain MC for no discernible reason… in this show, you learn that all the kids that are obsessed with minato knew him before his accident, when he was the sunshine archetype. minato was the kind of character who brought people around him joy in a really outwardly way. and i guess he kind of continues that in a subtle way with his coach at the beginning of the show, before he starts to show a bit more of his feelings when he needs to draw seiya out of his shell around episode 10.

  many characters have great arcs. the coach has a compelling arc, though i think it manifested a bit inappropriately (oversharing w minato one on one), but i think it was in character for him to act that way i GUESS given all his creepiness from early season. and then i appreciated that minato immediately took it to his friends because he’s too young to really know what to do about that.

  kaito’s arc of accepting minato, and minato’s arc w him of getting to know him was very sweet.

  it's kinda great how the characters literally just... talk about how they feel.

  i enjoyed a lot how they showcased this feeling of when you're a kid and maintaining friendships is kinda out of your control due to circumstance. moving schools, changing clubs, etc. they captured that fading warm feeling of it well i think. it was refreshing to see how minato had so many old connections w people that he regarded in a healthy way, 'ah we just grew apart but i really like this about this person'.

  it has some stand out moments in editing. a lot of cutting in 3’s. and they let the characters act! it gives me a hair of flavor of Ao No Flag with cutting to a character just to see them observing an interaction, or looking off to the side and then down, little things that make you ask what’s going on with them.

  it’s got melodrama (dead moms! car accidents… 2!!) but somehow it doesn’t feel corny.

  and it’s a sports anime, so im always down for that.

  i think if you liked Tsurune you should check out Stars Align, another sports anime that spends more time on its characters and team dynamic than the sport itself.

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