Negative Positive Angler

Episode 11

After last week's melodramatic fireworks, I appreciate the cooldown episode that Negative Positive Angler tosses us this week. While it lacks the finesse and momentum that transformed Hiro and Takaaki's fight into edge-of-your-seat viewing, the story here is more consistent with the tone we've come to expect from the anime. It's a little goofy, a little poignant, and overall delightful to watch. It's a fitting follow-up that wields the show's pre-established strengths as the forces that steer Hiro back on the right path. Fishing and friends save the day, just as they always have.

Kozue's return is the component that best exhibits the lighter touch of this episode. The team lesbian hasn't been around as much as the rest of the Everymart crew, but she definitely makes up for lost time here. I love that, upon sussing out that Hiro and Takaaki had a fight, her immediate instinct is to puzzle out the rest of the juicy details. And when Hiro keeps acting fishy, she manifests the details she envisions in her mind's eye, which, naturally, involves a gay love triangle with a rival from Takaaki's past as a host. And yes, it's explicitly gay because 1) she's gay, 2) it wouldn't make sense for Takaaki's rival to be a woman, and 3) she deliberately uses the gender-neutral “koibito” when she brings up Hiro's nonexistent date. Kozue lives for the drama, and we love that for her.

Hana, thankfully, is more forthright and helpful when she notices that Hiro clearly has stuff going on. Per usual, she dresses her advice in the guise of fishing tips, but the connotation is clear as day. As evening approaches on their impromptu fishing outing, she grows even more direct, talking about the nature of their friend group and the first time they met. Most importantly, she conveys the casualness of her relationship with Takaaki as a point of contrast against Hiro's closeness with him. Takaaki tells Hiro stuff he hasn't told Hana. He literally fished him out of the water. Their fight is just proof of how much they care for each other. That's been plain to the audience for a good while now, but Hiro needed to hear that from somebody he trusted.

Hana's advice gives Hiro the kick he needs to flip from negative to positive angling. However, one can't catch a fish simply by throwing their lure at it. You need to be cleverer. You need to understand the surrounding environs. You need to study it. You need to feel it. Hiro, therefore, doesn't pursue Takaaki directly, but rather devotes himself more intently to the sport, knowing that Takaaki will someday show up where the game is. It's exactly like how anglers target schools of smaller fish because they know the big fish will feed there. Moreover, I can't imagine the Hiro we met in the premiere engaging in his much patience and long-term planning in order to mend things with a friend. He's grown a lot.

I'm curious about everything Takaaki gets up to while Hiro and the rest of the Everymart crew go about their business this week. Does he drive from pier to pier, living out of his car the whole time, or does he finally make the trip to visit his family? I imagine we'll find out next week, but for the time being, I think his absence is a good thing for the narrative. First of all, it's telling that he chooses to leave instead of kicking Hiro out. Even in the midst of their fight, Takaaki recognized that Hiro still had nowhere else to go, and he couldn't stand to leave his friend homeless. From the perspective of Hiro's character arc, Takaaki's absence gives Hiro the space necessary to prove his development and independence. While Takaaki's nagging was instrumental, it's ultimately Hiro himself who makes the decision to call the hospital and confront his future. There's a lot that may be out of his control—maybe everything—but we can't live with our feet shackled to the ground. That's true death, and Hiro already has firsthand experience with it.

There's one last scene I'd like to highlight, and of course, I'm talking about the mysterious mustachioed fishing sage voiced by Shinichirō Miki. He comes out of nowhere, hands some pearls of angling wisdom to Hiro, and disappears into the night like an apparition. Who is this man? The credits call him “Legendary Angler,” but if he is based on a celebrity who real angler-heads would recognize, please let me know. His character design is so incongruous with the rest of the show that I expect him to be modeled on a real person, but I think it also works if he's just a nameless fishing wizard who visits young anglers in the midst of their dark night of the soul. Regardless, I'm never going to complain about a random Shinichirō Miki cameo. If that's the kind of heat NegaPosi Angler can bring to its penultimate episode, then I can't wait to see the finale.

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.