Yeah, time for another anime series first impression based on the first 3 episodes, which won’t change for a while because from the 4th episode (included) and onwards, the series is on hiatus until further notice, like many other anime suffering delays (rightfully so, because i don’t like people dying in order to get anime out faster) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Let’s be patient, alright?
It is law that if you have cute anime girls, you can pretty much make them do anything and receive success, especially is a slice of life series. Doesn’t even matter if they actually get around to do something specific, but it helps, so after anime girls camping, anime girls going to Antarctica, anime girls doing rock climbing, anime girls lifting weights, we have anime girls gone fishin’, with Houkago Teibou Nisshi, based on the eponymous manga by Yasuyuki Kosaka.
A shy first-year, Hina Tsurugi, transfers to a riverside city, and she really wants to join the handicrafts club, as she likes sewing and knitting, but after meeting a 2-year student, Kuroiwa, at the riverbank, she’s basically “fooled” into joining the Breakwater Club, where they chill and fish. Problem is that Hina is scared of fish and sea creatures, but encouraged by the weird members of the club (including a childhood friend of hers), she decides to join and try this new experience…. even if she collapses after seeing Kuroiwa show her to kill a squid (which is conceptually quite gruesome).
Yeah, it’s a slice of life, so plot isn’t the forte, as the episodes are just the girls fumbling around and dedicating themselves to the after-school club, which in this case just happens to be fishing instead of a more traditional sport, and Hina serves as the audience proxy, as they teach her the ropes, how to make and use bait, hooks, intricacies of making knots, the etc. There are a lot of intricacies to the trade, i don’t really like or practice fishing in real life, i fish in Animal Crossing, that’s my skill level.
On the upside, this works better if you don’t know much about the activity in question, as the show has to make you care about a subject you might not be familiar or interested in, so if you’re still watching, it’s doing something good.
And yes, Teibou Nisshi is doing something good, because i really didn’t care much about fishing to begin with, but it’s cute, doesn’t force it’s own cuteness, as the characters feel like a typical ensemble of quirky-but-not-insane schoolgirls, because that’s exactly what they are, and they act like that. You gradually get to know each a bit more, but they never stray too far from their estabilished personality, which works because the group has a good balance of traits and personalities. Not a great one, but there isn’t a character forced to be “extra” in order to make the show more “meme friendly”, they fit familiar roles (the energetic girl with the “fang” out, the quiet girl with glasses, the laid back boss), but they don’t look like a random mish mash, and overall they are a quiet and chill group, as it would make sense for a fishing after-school club.
My main gripes are that the character design could be better and feel a bit “low effort cutesy”, but they get the job done, and that these first episodes are a bit too centered on Hina’s struggles, as she is easily scared, quite weak, so you can imagine how she reacts to having to kill the fish and stuff like this. Mostly by fainting and puncturing her sewing doll. 🙂 Kinda surprised the show doesn’t resort (at least so far) in throwing bullshit like a random panty shot (there is a panty joke, but it’s implied and harmless) or boob joke of some kind in inappropriate moments just for the sake of fanservice, since the character design is not engineered for that purpose to begin with.
It’s exactly what it sounds like: it’s cute, comfy, relaxing, and with some funny jokes. Drawings’ quality is decent, animation as well, even if it’s a slice of life so it’s relatively less taxing and perilous to animate, but decent job so far!
I’m definitely keeping up with this one, really looking forward to see more of it!
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