Shu-!
-kun!

Everyone: 😱

Everyone's reactions to Ryohei calling Shu kun XD

Happy Manji is back on the team

Loved the bond between everyone here😭

Bit of a slow episode, but it was cool to see how the two schools interacted with each other again, especially with Shuu and Ryuohei.

Great to see Man get back into the regulars lineup.

Whenever Masa-san lead the ceremony, I always struck by His beauty. Masa-san is the moment 💙.

This looks so beautiful. Art, animation, everything.
Really happy to see rival teams have a wholesome friendly relationship with each other.

Nikaido finessed some funds for his gang. Bruh that Norini idol shrine tho 💀

the way kaito stood in front of nanao @ 3:56 bro 😭😭
did he think the kirisaki girls were looking at his cuz? or did he want to get out of the way so they could go up to the other girls?
either way really cute 😭

Edit: Ok I see it was the latter, he's really so precious!! and the way seiya exposed him lmao tsundere

I think he thought they were going after Nanao and wanted to keep them away from him and so, his reaction and Seiya's

The subtitles for the scoreboard are grossly inaccurate. Seiya Takehaya's score was in the middle row as that reflects the actual line-up when they shoot. There should be a player between him and Minato so obviously he was the one who got in all 4 shots with no misses. Minato and Shu have the same score as Seiya. Obviously, there were only 4 attempts for each player, not 5 . You can see this in the score markings and the actual number of arrows on the target.

Also, note some differences between the anime and the light novel: In the LN, Shu slyly tricks Minato into having him over for Takoyaki- and he makes it so that it's heavily implied as a "date." But Minato chooses to bring over Seiya to Shu's horrible dismay- and Shu complains to Minato as if to make Seiya feel even more awkward and unwanted. In this episode, Seiya and Shu were more friendly and wholesome toward each other- which is better for me.

Similarly, the Ryohei/ Shu interaction here partially deflects the Shu/ Minato tandem. At least Ryohei gets some deserved attention- though the fact that he only gets it by being buddies with Shu is slightly annoying. Even so-

It's nice that the author/ studio decided to tone down the shipping rivalries that we saw in Free, which virtually turned the story into a gay harem with each "new" guy competing for Haru's attention. Whether the writer/ studio intended it or not, the unnecessary pseudo-love triangles in Free encouraged fan wars by pitting Rin against Makoto when in fact, there's only one, single person that's been there for Haru as support and guide, through thick and thin, for better or worse- and NOT just for the competition or the rivalry. (No matter what the popular bias says, it's Makoto for Haru the same way it's Seiya for Minato).

I can't help but see the same pattern in the dynamics between and among the characters in Tsurune. I hope the story builds up all the main characters evenly (instead of indirectly shipping the protag with every potential rival).

Tbh, I pray Seiya doesn't get the same rejection in the finale as Makoto undeservedly got (just because the Rin/Haru fans rabidly shipped their ship). I also hope Seiya doesn't get bullied as badly as in the previous season. Not only did the obsessive rivalry needlessly turned Shu into a petty, jealous, and hostile pseudo-lover. Overdramatizing it turns the story into a version of Free- which I seriously think could've been more decent if the same writer/ studio didn't make the shipping wars that anime's selling point. I hope Tsurune doesn't replicate Free's flaws. It should focus on the story not the ships- gay isn't a plot twist after all. If any gay innuendos are present, they should be more natural and spontaneous than forced so as not to encourage or incite ugly shipping battles among fans.

The subtlety here is much appreciated. The ribbons on their bows at 1:08 show that Seiya's and Minato's bows are leaning toward each other in the final seconds of the episode. (Minato's ribbon is green, Seiya's is blue, Nanao's is white, Ka-chan's is red, and Ryohei's is orange).

I'm glad they've so far cut/ toned down in the anime version the sappy flirtation between Minato and Masa in the LN. I love gay- but turning it into a needless distraction with no relevance to the development of the characters and the story is just cheap.

As we can observe most sports anime isn't gae at all, it's just the readers or watchers that turn it gae (don't get me wrong I'm a fudanshi, I like shipping men lol 😆) and sometimes authors use this trick to capture and bait the audiences, a mass female and gay audiences well if we're baited then it's our fault lol 😆. But TO BE HONEST, I more like it when the anime is not actually or not intended to be BL or shounen AI BUT there's a lot of fruity 😏 things that is happening between or among men characters, idk but for me it gave me some butterflies 😳.

I second that (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)

thanks for your work to compare the anime to the light novel. :) did not read it and i never have seen the naime as BL or with ships between males.
good that they decided to do it that way. that gives more respect and credibility to the kyudo aspect, wich is so beautyfully animated and correct in detail.

Wow 😲.

Twin were jelly that their guy got stolen. lol

Kacchan assuming that the girls were aiming at Nanao ICANT

we needed more sports anime like this... only enemies on the field, but friends to besties outside of sport. ;-;

The Art of Tsurune is always awe-inspiring. ❤️

Nikaido is seriously so wholesome, as much as he tries to hide it he's trying his very best for his team :'(

is he though? Did you not see how jealous and bitter he was when Minato told him that he learned from Saionji sensei?

He is also doing Kyudo for the wrong reasons.

I saw that but I think it was anger because of what happened to his uncle rather than him wanting to be taught by Saionji-sensei. Still, I agree, that he is after some kind of revenge

so wholesome <3

Seeing Minato’s shots are really awesome. The gathering tho, love that the most. Great to see two teams becomes friends like this.

the little satisfaction smile after the last perfect hit was cute. :3

I wonder if Shu is adopted, have a different mother from his sister. On the last episode he was feeling like an outsider when he was younger, he noticed the hair color difference and the attention she was receiving.

I love the way this studio draws the eyes of the characters

Kirisaki and Kazemai friendship is so wholesome

every episode is so beautiful.

wow, I've never actually seen an anime where competitive schools are this friendly

kyudokami masa-sama back with hitting the middle of the middle.
would like to see how he would react if he hits the edge. :D

The wholesomeness of this episode is at its peak. This might be my most favorite episode so far! 💕

im glad the two schools become friendly with each other ❤️ and felt sad that tsujihime doesn't have a budget for their club 😭 in any case, seeing masa-san half naked will never get old 🤭

blooming relationships

good vibes, i cri

I need the next ep asap ヘ⁠(⁠￣⁠ω⁠￣⁠ヘ⁠)