Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to step back into the sumptuous world of Tsurune, following the conclusion of this exceedingly generous season’s first tournament. After a troubling performance on the range, Minato has been given a shocking order from his coach: no archery for him until he rediscovers what is truly essential to team kyudo. And with the national tournament fast approaching, Minato better get to discovering quickly.
Given last episode’s employment of that persistent ribbon motif, it seems obvious enough that what Minato needs is to rediscover his identity as a member of a larger team. At the same time, the novel paths of his two rivals emphasize that each team has its own internal rhythm, and that strictly following a template set by his teacher won’t necessarily lead him to his own form of kyudo. Therefore, he must find his own unique place within this unit, trusting in and supporting his team while still charting his own path. It’s a tricky, nigh-contradictory challenge, but I’m sure Takuya Yamamura’s team will illustrate every step with outrageous beauty and thoughtful storyboarding, attesting again to Kyoto Animation’s singular mastery of visual storytelling. Let’s get to it!
Episode 4
Tommy-sensei clarifies what Masaki means, stating that every member of the team has areas they need to improve in, and that they’re off the court until they figure out what those areas are
That’s the tricky thing about mastery; if you’re simply told everything you need to do, you’ll often find yourself executing certain motions simply because that’s the way you’ve been trained, rather than because those motions are the best path to your objective. Physical instruction is certainly necessary, but at a certain point you also have to understand the principle behind the physical instruction, with the knowledge to judge whether some piece of previously unquestioned wisdom is right for you specifically. Nikaido’s team exemplifies the ultimate results of this questioning, with each member of their team having arrived at a different “correct answer” that is right for them
Even the animation of Tommy-sensei speaking attests to Kyoto Animation’s uniquely talented team. Elderly people in anime are often defined purely by a couple minor visual signifiers (gray hair, single diagonal lines beneath each cheek), but you can see Tommy’s age in every wrinkle of his face reacting as he speaks
Gray skies over the school establish location and mood as we return post-OP, with Seiya’s recitation guiding us into the classroom
“Shu turns his hand when he shoots. Maybe I should turn my hand more, too?” Yep, Minato’s already beginning the process of reflecting on other valid approaches to kyudo, and debating whether they might be right for him
Minato’s teacher has fewer lines on his face and strong cheekbones. Though the standard assumption in animation is to gravitate towards distinctive, iconic, simplified profiles, KyoAni never do anything the simple way, and their more recent productions have leaned even more heavily into capturing the actual complexity of human facial structure and expressions
Seiya helpfully points out the thematic relevance of the teacher’s lesson on seeking guidance and avoiding acting on our assumptions
Meanwhile, the girls have found a flier advertising a tournament for teams of three. Nice, I’m happy to see they’ll get their own moments of triumph this season
Once again, the storyboarding leads us smoothly across the school as we hop from one perspective character to another, with the sound design emphasizing the tonal shift from Kaito’s quiet, introspective practice to Ryohei and Nanao gossiping during art class
Ryohei cannot decide whether it is necessary to pursue “beautiful” archery or not, with Tsujimine’s bizarrely distinctive styles having shaken his certainty in the correctness of Masaki or Minato’s approach
I appreciate how Nanao is initially framed as this superficial playboy character, but as we get to know him, it becomes clear his popularity in large part stems from his emotional perceptiveness and empathetic clarity of perspective. He already seems to understand that Ryohei needs to push beyond the path established by his two childhood friends, while Kaito needs to open up about his issues and let his friends support him
I get the feeling Masaki’s choice to push Minato off the range was as much for his teammates’ sake as his own. Minato is their leader, and that last tournament proved that his team’s reliance on him as a leader is holding all of them back. They need to discover their identities as archers independently from Minato’s support
“There’s no beauty in bulk.” “What are you talking about? Might is right!” Predictably, Tsujimine’s players all have their own distinct philosophies of archery
In spite of that, Nikaido is able to provide useful advice to all of them, meeting them wherever they are in their approach
He texts their apparent secret coach, while attesting that he loves the freedom not actually having an active coach offers. Further hammering on this team as the embodiment of individuality
“No talk about etiquette or positioning matters much if you can’t land a hit, right?” Nikaido’s philosophy is the opposite of Masaki’s – rather than first focusing on mastering proper form, you must first find whatever style allows you to hit a target, and then build your form outwards from there. It’ll be interesting to see if Masaki actually can help Minato, or if Minato needs some lessons from these contrary approaches
Unsurprisingly, Nikaido is not a fan of Kirisaki’s extremely formal style
Nikaido states he doesn’t mind not having a dojo because he “doesn’t want to owe anyone anything.” Once again emphasizing independence as his ethos
Seiya decides to tape the team’s practice so they can examine their own forms
“I just feel like I look a lot better out there in my head.” Trust Seiya to interpret “you must acknowledge the weaknesses in your own form” in the most literal, objective way possible. It’s no surprise that Seiya doesn’t really feel a close connection to Masaki – Masaki is all about moods and intentions, while Seiya is all about hard facts
Kaito predictably wants to take all the blame on himself, but can’t help revealing that Minato also threw him off his rhythm, prompted by the one-two punch of Nanao and Masaki’s urging
God, this show’s lighting and color design are so good. Such a palpable sense of atmosphere as Nanao and Masaki wait at the train station
“Don’t let your pride get in the way of fixing things”
Nanao is at this point through with vague hints, and tells Kaito directly that hiding his concerns and taking all the weight on himself will only hurt the team
“I landed my hits. I did what I needed for the team. So why am I getting told off?” Because of that precise perspective, Minato!
“Sometimes when you’re sure you’re doing things right, you lose sight of yourself in the process.”
And so Minato rushes to regain sight of himself, heading off to check out the regionals footage with Seiya
Kaito and his big sister’s relationship is convincingly established in one scene of her dumping a load of laundry on top of him. I really like the character design style for the women in this show, which feels a touch more angular and less “soft” than many of KyoAni’s productions. Anime has a tendency to flatten women’s character designs into a few conventionally attractive styles, so it’s nice to see at least a touch of variation here
Looking back on the footage, Minato can see that he was racing ahead of his teammates, abandoning his comfortable form in pursuit of his rivals from other schools, and thereby panicking his own team
“How did I think I was working for the team? I couldn’t even see myself out there!” Minato is even more important as the team’s leader and guide than as its best archer
We meet the man Nikaido has been taking advice from: Sugiwara, who’s suffering from some sort of long-term illness. He seems to regret Nikaido’s insistence on not having a hands-on coach
“You shouldn’t be trying to land hits, the hits should come with the form. But first you need to stop copying others and find your own shooting form.” Masaki offers an interesting pair of suggestions here – the first is classic Masaki, but the second encourages an individuality that seems new to his lesson plan
“I think finding a form that’s all your own, not a copy of someone else’s, is a lifelong journey.” Now there’s the Masaki we know. Well, I suppose this is what happens when you choose a monk as your archery coach
“One of you trying hard on your own doesn’t help the team. The five of you need to work together. It’s what we call ikiai.”
And Done
And so our heroes muddle their way through the thorny recovery process! This was unsurprisingly a fairly low-key episode compared to the last two, echoing in its form the subdued restlessness our team is experiencing. That gave us all the more time to luxuriate in the beautifully realized specifics of their lives, with ostensibly mundane yet psychologically consequential interactions slowly leading Kaito and Minato towards an understanding of their mistakes. Whether it’s teasing out the anxieties and assumptions informing their behavior or simply enjoying this gorgeous rendering of their everyday life, each episode of Tsurune is stuffed with treasures.
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