Negative Positive Angler

Episode 4

With Hiro's character established and his arc in the works, it's time for Negative Positive Angler to cast its gaze onto the supporting cast. Unsurprisingly, Hana's oversized personality pushes its way to the front, and her antics make for another charming and poignant episode filled with fish.

Hana is interesting because she's full of contradictions. In Hiro's eyes, she has her life together, yet he's shocked to learn that she is both younger than him and still in high school. She's mature enough to balance her studies, hobbies, and shifts at the convenience store. Still, she's prone to childish games and outbursts. She's a savant about the technical intricacies of fishing, but her brain overheats when calculating a customer's change. While Hiro finds these personality quirks exasperating, Hana's example gives him hope. She has an odd and chaotic life that she nevertheless wrangled into something that works. Her situation doesn't map precisely onto Hiro's, but they're sufficiently analogous to see what NegaPosi Angler is trying to say by putting them together.

I had also assumed Hana was in college, so I thought a relationship between her and Hiro might be in the works. It's still possible, but now the show may take a different direction. Hiro's reaction to her age is revealing and relatable. He puts on a straight face while his soul withers at the thought of his junior already surpassing him in all facets of life. Romance doesn't even enter into it. Their fishing scene together later in the episode is also friendly and familiar. Hana acts like a precocious little sister, and she yanks Hiro around like the big brother figure he is. I'm not naive enough to believe that these sibling vibes preclude the development of a potentially fraught romance (this is the anime world, after all), but I like their dynamic. Besides, with this new information, now I'm rooting for Takaaki to make his move.

The episode's construction infuses a ton of personality into Hana. I've never seen an anime character bluescreen so powerfully and poetically. I laughed out loud at that, and I'm happy to see the show continue to embrace those cartoonish flourishes. To reiterate a point from last week, Hiromi Taniguchi's character designs are wonderful, and the production seems intent on breathing as much life into her work as possible. Hana's hair is another great example, and I love how it bounces and conforms to its big blobby shape. That roundness makes her appear extra vivacious, which is fun to contrast against Hiro's gloomier appearance and personality. And while Fairouz Ai is killing it with her performance (and if you haven't done so yet, please watch last season's Mayonaka Punch for more of her gremlin mode voice acting), I'm also a big fan of the wordless montage summarizing Hana's daily routine. NegaPosi Angler isn't in any kind of hurry. It's confident enough to slow the plot down for a meaningful digression and character portrait.

That montage highlights the strength of Tomoki Kikuya's soundtrack, too. He's been around the anime scene for a while, but I can hear the continuity between his soundtracks for this and Bocchi the Rock!. While guitar pieces fit Bocchi's subject matter, they're also a great match for Angler's indie film vibe. The clean and crisp plucking and production don't stand out too ostentatiously, which is good. However, if you pay attention, the music can jump out at you like a fish breaching the water's surface. These are strong compositions, and I'm eager to hear the full soundtrack once it's released. I especially like it when the music turns the tempo and bass up when someone snags a fish on their line. It feels like a homage to Nobuo Uematsu's battle themes for the Final Fantasy series, and if that is intentional, it's brilliant. After all, fishing is probably our closest real-life counterpart to random encounters in an RPG.

Finally, this has little to do with the plot or its themes, but I'm surprised to learn how math-heavy fishing is. I don't just mean in the sense that it's cute to see these characters struggle to convert from imperial to metric (and, speaking as an American, I apologize for that). To fish, you must deal with lure weights, fluid dynamics, water density, tensile strength, part compatibility, winding speeds, etc. This shouldn't surprise anyone who has thought seriously about fishing for at least two minutes, but I honestly hadn't done so before. I like it when my brain gets wrinkled. I'm not yet in a rush to hike to the nearest lake and pull on a pair of waders but I'm beginning to understand the appeal. I think Hiro is, too. It's like jazz. It's not only about the fish you catch. It's just as much about the fish you don't catch.

Rating:

Negative Positive Angler is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Steve is on Twitter while it lasts. Fish most certainly do not fear him. You can also catch him chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.