I really liked this as a premiere episode. It managed to set up some interesting plot hooks and introduce some memorable characters without overwhelming the viewer with exposition dumps. I think there is a lot of potential here, so time will tell if it lives up to it.

I agree with @glilimith@lemmy.blahaj.zone that the animation overall was quite nice (those reels…) but the fish and, to a lesser extent, lures are hard to overlook. It isn’t as bad as something like KamiKatsu, but the rest of the show looks so nice (even the cgi used for reels and the pachinko machines) that it really feels out of place.

As somebody that really enjoys fishing, but haven’t been able to go on a fishing trip in quite a number of years, I think they did a good job of capturing what is nice about it. I don’t enjoy fishing to catch fish (I don’t even like eating most fish), or enjoy pleasant weather (it often sucks), or even for the friends you make along the way (I prefer fishing alone). No, what I enjoy about it is having some 1:1 time between me and mother nature; just communing with nature out on the lake. However, something the show did well is that every other angler you talk to has their own reason that they enjoy fishing.

I hope that this show uses fishing as a way for the main character to process the trauma and feelings of mortality that he must be working through instead of some way to solve his problems. I think it would be much more interesting if he manages to accept his mortality instead of somehow curing his illness. However, I suspect that we might end up going the curing route…time will tell.

@rikka@ani.social