Tsuritama - Episode 3

Thus far, Tsuritama has tried hard to be a different kettle of fish to other spring season anime, but although it's still a long way from shooting fish in a barrel, does it have what it takes to cast its line into a bucket?

It's this exact challenge (the casting a line into a bucket part, not the horribly laboured introduction part) that is set to Yuki and Haru by Natsuki as they continue their fishing education, and the all-important ability of casting your line properly which has far more to it than meets the eye.  Although his "pupils" quickly pick up on Natsuki's verbal timing trick to get the basic concept right, actually completing their challenge proves to be rather more difficult.

Come that evening however, fishing quickly becomes the last thing on Yuki's mind, as his grandmother Keiko announces that she'll be spending some time in hospital starting from the next day on account of her mysterious illness.  Of course, this worries Yuki greatly, and he isn't exactly helped by Haru's insensitive (yet true) comments, to the point where he's interested in neither attending school nor fishing.  However, time alone to think can be a great healer, and eventually Yuki has another cracking at Natsuki's challenge, to the thrill of all those concerned.  But what of Akira and his organisation, and how about Haru and his sister; what are they up to exactly?  There are still plenty of unanswered questions that look likely to be harder to snare.

While I'm certainly relieved to see some of Tsuritama's threads coming together from this episode, there's still something missing from this series - for starters, I'm yet to develop any kind of emotional bond with any of the characters even in situations where I can empathise with them somewhat.  The fishing side of things also hasn't exactly captured my imagination despite the show's best efforts to draw me in, which is also a concern.  Overall, I can't help but think of Tsuritama as a less charming version of NieA under 7 at the moment between its aliens and zany nature - I haven't given up on the series just yet, and as I just mentioned it's starting to feel as though things are coming together, but it certainly has a lot of work still to do if it's going to win me over.