NegaPosi Angler – Episode 06

Episode Synopsis:

Ice bails Tsunehiro (Hiro) out of a language barrier situation, revealing she can speak Mandarin and that she’s a model who moved to Japan to pursue her dreams. After speaking to Ice’s brother about his dreams of being a chef, Hiro has an existential moment. Is it possible for him to have dreams when he’s (supposedly) only got about two years to live? Later, the gang takes Hiro out on a boat to try fishing with a tairaba lure and catch sea bream.

Review:

It’s Ice’s turn in the spotlight here in Episode 06 and it’s fun to see her many sides. She models, cosplays, fishes, and just all around lives her best life! She also apparently has the unique ability to change animation styles at will?! Clearly she is the most powerful character in this show!

I am really glad the show shifted gears quickly in terms of styles of fishing (pun intended). I got concerned in Episodes 4 and 5 when Hiro suddenly blew his first paycheck on professional fishing gear. I said to myself “Wait…isn’t that the kind of equipment one earns by the end of show?!”. Regardless, his Exceed 4000-X grade fishing reel doesn’t help him with tairaba lure fishing in the middle of the sea.

In addition to getting sea sick, he has to deal with a whole new fishing method. It’s a nice way of showcasing that the sport of fishing is diverse and one rod does not a Kingfisher make (yes please applause. I’m so clever in this write-up). There was some solid humor in the ship sequences and I enjoyed watching Hiro’s determination to succeed manifest. As a brief aside, I have moderate to severe motion sickness so I laughed out loud at Nishimori-san’s reaction to getting on a boat.

Here at my second write-up I feel like I should comment about the art a bit. I’m not sure I’m a fan of the realistic CG fish in contrast with the animation of the characters. Sometimes the water looks a little too plastic as well. Since the show uses a variety of animation styles for the characters, the fish aren’t glaringly out of place but it’s still odd. I imagine they wanted more realistic fish to add to the education values of the show. If so, I maybe I could get behind this more.

Another important piece of this episode is the interactions Hiro has with Ice. Hiro thinks she’s amazing because she’s pursuing a ton of her interests and seems to have life figured out. The truth of the matter though, is that she’s just living life in a way that makes her happy right now. I like that we’re starting to turn the gears in Hiro’s head without having to have long winded talks about it. In real life, people don’t meet at the “Pier of Life Altering Dialogue” and discuss their woes with others while the sun sets or there’s a downpour (yes, Anime and movies lied to us). Change happens slowly, as we come to realize life is about anything we want it to be. We choose what we want to devote our time to and we can find happiness even in the most dire of times. Having a supporting network around him is definitely what Hiro needs to break out of his funk and hopefully start seeing life in a new light.

Summary:

Well, well, well Hiro…

You spent all that money on a fancy rod and reel, but it didn’t fully put you ahead of the game. Looks like you’ve still got a lot to learn about fishing. Hopefully Ice’s advice (hey that rhymes!!) starts to sink in and Hiro gains some agency in his life as we approach the latter half of the season.

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