English Dub Review: Tsurune “Snapping Point”

That’s the thing about kyudo oujia: you never know who shot the arrow.

Overview

The second episode of Tsurune picks up where the first left off: Minato comes face to face with a handsome stranger, who was practicing Kyudo at an empty range. The stranger kindly invites him into the dojo and tells Minato he should try and take a shot himself, but Minato emotionally rejects the offer in a fit of teen angst before storming out. Feeling guilty, he returns to the dojo the next day, where the stranger is still taking shots at the target.

Meanwhile, back at the school, everyone at the Kyudo club who has genuine experience with the sport (meaning Seiya, Ryohei, Nanao, Kaito, plus three girl characters, Seo, Noa, and Yuna) is called upon by Master Tomi to join the upcoming Kyudo tournaments. Seo, Noa, and Yuna agree to join the tournament’s matches as individuals, but Seiya steps up and asks Tomi to allow he, Ryohei, Nanao, and Kaito to be a team and join the tournament’s team matches. A team must have five members, so Seiya volunteers Minato.

A flashback then reveals what seems to be Minato’s big traumatic Kyudo memory: 10 months before the present, he and Seiya were on their way to winning a Kyudo tournament with their team — until Minato got “target panic” and missed his mark, causing them to lose.

Back at the dojo, the stranger finally tells Minato his name — Masaki Takagawa. Masaki confesses to Minato that he’s going to quit Kyudo after his 10,000th perfect shot, while Minato confides in him about his “target panic” issue — Masaki gives Minato advice, and Minato leaves — only to be confronted by Seiya about joining the team (which he again rejects.)

Minato realizes he still has Masaki’s glove powder case and goes to the dojo the next day to return it to him — only to find an old woman who tells him Masaki’s been dead for a while. Forming a narrative in his head about how Masaki might disappear after his 10,000th shot, he goes to the Kyudo range that night to beg Masaki not to disappear. Hilariously, the old woman had Masaki confused with another Kyudo archer, and Masaki promises that he’s not dead. He also promises Minato that he won’t give up Kyudo if he also doesn’t give up the sport. Minato agrees.

Our Take

There were some minor improvements from last episode — for one thing, the “ghost” subplot gave the show some flavor and humor to its otherwise bland dialogue/characters. Like seeing a sickly child venturing out to play in the sun for 20 minutes, the show has a tiny bit more color to it than before — but still remains very, very pale.

Even the voice actors seem bored.

There’s a challenging factor when it comes to voicing animated characters, and it’s the fact that if the animation is boring, it’s going to be hard to work with — even for the most talented voice actors. There’s an extremely thin line between sounding too animated on a character that doesn’t move much — making it seem forced — and trying a calmer approach that fits the character’s movements, making it dull and completely forgettable (taking the “acting” element out of “voice acting.”) If the show itself expanded on its animation, the voice acting quality would improve tenfold. There’s only so much actors can do when the production quality itself isn’t up to par, so even with the lackluster or tryhard performances (specifically from Masaki and Nanao — not gonna lie, there were some laughable lines in there) there needs to be a bit of judgement that’s abstained from.

Aside from stiff animation (and subsequently, stiff voice acting), it still seems as though Tsurune isn’t taking full advantage of its sound design department, which is ironic considering the show’s title is literally the sound effect a bow string makes. Some of the most entertaining parts thusfar have been parts that shouldn’t have been “entertaining” — the scripted dialogue being corny, the character actions being overly dramatic — it’s hard not to pick on it a little. The entire first scene where Masaki is inviting Minato into the dojo had some strong Stranger Danger vibes in the dialogue. “Come inside, don’t run away.” Run, Minato!

All aspects need improvement — animation, dialogue, sound design, and voice acting. Hopefully, though, while these elements are catching up as the series goes on, the story direction can carry the weight in the meantime (that is, if it doesn’t also miss the mark.)