TV Review | Tsurune Season 2 (Episode 11: Falling Into Place)

“It is finally time for the Nationals. This week’s episode of Tsurune showcases a powerful confrontation between the Kazemai and Tsujimine teams. It keeps you on the edge of your seat during the whole match.”

After two episodes at the training beach camp, the second of Tsurune is almost coming to an end. And today’s episode marks the beginning of the long-awaited Nationals.

THE NATIONALS

This episode begins right away with all the characters from Kazemai, Kirisaki and Tsujimine preparing to go to the Nationals. We actually get a little scene in front of Nagano’s train station, which is nice to see because I was there back in October. I visited the different places from season 1 and with season 2 I spotted more places that I have seen. It is impressive to see the level of details that Kyoto Animation has to recreate the different places from Nagano. There is a real dedication to anchor their series into reality.

Moreover, the first part of the episode focuses on the characters settling into their hotels and getting ready for the big tournament. We barely see the first batch of matches. After all, we know they were all going to make it to the second round. But it is the second round that is more interesting. Indeed, Kazemai, Kirisaki and Tsujimine are all in the same group. And so this means they won’t all make it to the finals. The episode lets the tension build up to what we all want to see the confrontation between these teams.

And in that tension, we get a great scene between Seiya and Nikaido. This scene is a confrontation of their vision of kyudo. As usual with Seiya, it gets intense and that is what we love about him. He is not afraid to stand up and say what he has to say. There is a reason he is the team leader.

THEIR OWN IKIAI

Furthermore, the second part of the episode is the eliminatory match between Kazemai and Tsujimine. It is a powerful confrontation and the whole time, you are on the edge of your seat not knowing who will win. Undoubtedly, there is a lot of emotions that run through your body throughout this match. This is the beauty of Tsurune, this series knows how to captivate people with a kyudo match. Kyoto Animation sure knows how to build tension. This is done with the visuals but also with the sounds and the music. In kyudo, sounds play a major role. And it is even more true during competitions.

Kazemai has their own struggles during this match as Seiya is destabilized by Minato’s wound. He truly cares about him and knowing that he is hurt as him so worried. Everytime, there is something about Minato, you can be sure Seiya is going to overthink about it. When you see Seiya miss a shot, you know something is wrong. But everything changes when Minato finds the perfect shot. And from that, the Kazemai team finally finds their ikiai. It is an incredibly powerful scene.

On top of that, there is something extremely interesting happening with Nikaido. His final shot scene shows him thinking about his team. And in this moment, I feel like he is finally realizing that he is doing kyudo more than just for revenge. He actually cares about his team. Even though, they fail, this sets him on a better path for a potential third season.

VERDICT

It is finally time for the Nationals. This week’s episode of Tsurune showcases a powerful confrontation between the Kazemai and Tsujimine teams. It keeps you on the edge of your seat during the whole match. Next week’s episode is going to be an intense one with the coming match between Kazemai and Kirisaki.