Negative Positive Angler

Episode 7

An inescapable facet of fishing is its unpredictability and ironically, a fishing anime has become one of the season's most consistently enjoyable shows. Negative Positive Angler has yet to let me down. It still looks good, eerily realistic CGI fish and all. The writing is funny and inclusive, with enough bite to stand out. Every character is distinct and delightful. It doesn't break the mold. Still, this time of year, I need a regular dose of down-to-earth and gently quirky drama to sate my 4 PM sunset blues. Last autumn strapped me into Overtake!. This autumn hooks me with NegaPosi Angler.

Fujishiro is this week's focal character. If we're going in the order from least to most caricatured character design, then it makes sense that he should follow Ice's episode. Hiromi Taniguchi drew him as a truly exquisite funny little guy. The glasses. The head shape. The crazy comb-over. I love his middle-aged vibes. Appropriately, he's also the most mysterious member of Everymart employees. They subject him to a bevy of increasingly outlandish mythologizations, which read like a G-rated version of the Bill Brasky SNL skits. I like that the episode doesn't resolve any of those mysteries. Life is full of coworkers and acquaintances whose lives otherwise don't intersect with yours, and there's a cosmic sort of beauty in recognizing that. To quote A Serious Man, sometimes you just have to accept the mystery.

Hiro has a lot of accepting to do this week. His modicum of fishing experience has turned him into the poster child for the Dunning-Kruger effect, which the narrative and narrator go to great lengths to lampoon. I don't think it's too mean, either, because we're meant to sympathize both with Hiro's naive overconfidence and the wizened admonishments from the voice of experience. The great thing about NegaPosi Angler is that you don't need to know anything about fishing to relate to it. I know the zeal of a new hobby all too well, and the sobriety that comes later.

Hiro's mistake is thinking he needs to be good at fishing to have a good time fishing. He conflates the biggest catch for the best catch. Sardinella are small fry; only the big blue-backed fish are worthy of his time. To facilitate this, he separates from the main group. He imagines himself as the protagonist of his own fishing TV series (and may I say that the shot of him and Takaaki watching the laptop together is way too cute). However, when the narrator turns out to be none other than Fujishiro, Hiro's hubris turns into the true catch of the day. He fumbles his fly, loses his lure, and fails the basic knowledge checks any seasoned fisher would recognize. Combined with Fujishiro's droll and bassy commentary, it makes for a hilarious and wonderfully cringe exposé of Hiro floundering out of his depth.

Hana stops by with temporary salvation, keying Hiro into where he should cast his lure, and that moment of kindness ultimately sets him back on the right track. When he finally gets a hit, he realizes he has nobody to help him put it in the net, and he loses the catch anyway. His return to the group isn't marked by dejection, however. Everyone is having a good time, and they're all happy to see him. There's fun to be had in the intrinsic nature of fishing—Kozue makes the apt comparison to gacha, and Hiro is no stranger to the allure of gambling—but its true value here is in its community. Even Fujishiro, who goes his own way in his camper van, still sticks close to the main group. Everyone has their own rhythm. Hiro, of course, is in the process of finding his, but he's surrounded by friends who want to help him do so.

I'll wrap up with some other good odds and ends. I like that the anime continues to pair fishing scenes with food scenes. This emphasizes the communal nature of both, and the shared meals in particular signify the found family aspect of the narrative. Takaaki working as a host makes complete sense, and it also synchronizes with my earlier point that everyone's lives contain multitudes. Finally, I think it's getting a bit too cold for it now, but I'm getting dangerously close to trying fishing. Between this show's regular edutainment blocks and the happy anime character holding up their catches, the brainwashing is working. Watch NegaPosi Angler at your own risk.

Rating:

Negative Positive Angler is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Steve is on Bluesky now, and he's okay with that. Fish most certainly do not fear him. You can also catch him chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.