200https://i.ur.com/CtpoZz0.png As far as Im aware Tsurikichi Sanpei is the first anime about fishing. In fact other than a small handful of titles there arent that many anime solely about the sport. We recently had Houkago Teibou Nisshi back in 2020 and in 1997 there was Super Fishing Grander Musashi both of which featured fishing as the main focus. But I struggle to name more besides those and a few others. Perhaps its the slow and monotonous nature of fishing that is hard to translate into entertainmentsomething I assumed before getting into Sanpei. I couldnt have been more incorrect. So how does Tsurikichi Sanpei make fishing entertaining? And does it live up to the expectations of being one of the first fishing anime? 500https://i.ur.com/F8PaDsf.png Tsurikichi Sanpei adapts a popular 1973 fishing manga under the same namehttps://anilist.co/manga/40054/ written and illustrated by Takao Yaguchi into 109 episodes. It follows the experiences and encounters of Mihira Sanpei on his adventures to learn all there is to know about fishing. The anime follows an episodic structure with sets of multiepisode arcs ranging from 36 episodes interspersed between single episodic stories. Tsurikichi Sanpei is in fact so episodic that there is no overarching plot whatsoever with the only semblance of one being Sanpeis quest to find his father after an accident out at sea that left him with permanent brain damage wandering throughout Japan with no memory of who he or his family is. However this plotline is rarely of importance for the episodic stories because Sanpei is instead more interested in focusing on the fishing aspects. This is not a bad thing at all as this style of storytelling lends itself to a laidback experience which suits its TV Anime format. Fishing takes centre stage in every episode including everything from fishing techniques to fishing locations and of course the fish themselves thus creating both an entertaining and educational experience at the same time. From analysis about fish and their habitats to exploring a diverse range of different fishing techniques Sanpei never fails to deliver an educational perspective to the bulk of its episodes. Hell some of the techniques shown seem so obscure that I cant help but be fascinated. Episodes 40 to 42 are a great example of this. In this story arc Sanpei is taught the technique of catching mudskippers using a unique spiked fishing hook guided by a master of the art. The episode goes into great detail about the patience and immense precision needed to perform this technique and over the span of 3 episodes we watch as Sanpei slowly masters it. I love these longer multiepisode stories as they convey precisely the patience and time investment needed in fishing. A lot of the single episodic stories werent that interesting to me most didnt take the time to expand on the information presented. In comparison it felt like Sanpei was able to breathe and take its time when it came to these longer stories. Though with that being said this wasnt an issue I found in the second half because many episodes began to focus more on dramatic character stories. 350https://i.ur.com/iSBOny2.png 350https://i.ur.com/qmMIHx8.png 350https://i.ur.com/qN5k6oz.png 350https://i.ur.com/T8zrbYC.png From episodes 40 to 42 These educational moments are of course intertwined with the stories being told in each episode. Episodes 40 to 42 were accompanied by a competition with the son of a rival mudskipper fishing master which provided the muchneeded drive for Sanpei to master the skill himself. Episodes can vary in storytelling some can be as simple as a laidback story about learning a new fishing technique while others can be bloodpumping highstakes insanity. For example Episode 53 is a pretty laidback episode about catching a golden koi and explaining the phenomenon behind its colour. Then the stretch of episodes immediately following episodes 5457 has one of the craziest moments in the whole anime. The story starts off with Sanpei participating in a competition to troll the biggest marlin a type of fish as he meets a veteran fisherman who explains that years ago he and his friends were attacked by a massive marlin which not only killed his friend but also damaged one of the old mans eyes ripped off his arm after it was caught in the fishing line and was violently attacked in the stomach. After hearing this Sanpei makes it his goal to find that same massive marlin. So eventually they find the fish out in the ocean made clear by the fact that it seemingly recognised the old man after he joined alongside Sanpei. After a long battle to maintain the Marlin the old man stands directly in front of it on his boat and in a fit of rage the Marlin jumps up and fucking leaps into the boat causing a massive chunk to rip off and continues to bash into the boat till its completely tired out to which then the old man pierces its eye and finally kills it but then immediately following a group of sharks appear so Sanpei and the old man have a battle with the sharks so they dont eat the dead marlin still in the water. After the insanity that was this stretch of episodes the following episode is just a simple story about a unique use of bait to catch a certain fish. The way Sanpei can jump from laidback stories detailing unique techniques or analysing fish to pure insanity with battles against fish makes getting into each episode always exciting. 350https://i.ur.com/JqRlvnR.png 350https://i.ur.com/iCSnbwK.png From episode 53 350https://i.ur.com/pUAoQpt.png 350https://i.ur.com/vu4BLsh.png From episodes 54 to 57 What makes some of these episodes so suspenseful is the inherently erratic nature of fish. Like in the aforementioned Marlin episode when the Marlin suddenly pulls on Sanpeis rod it causes him to almost fly out of his trolling chair. There are many scenes like this throughout the anime that play on this unpredictableness. Im a huge fan of both the laidback educational episodes and the suspenseful stakesdriven episodes. All of these aspects are what create such a unique experience where its both educational and entertaining which is how Sanpei manages to make learning about fishing a very enjoyable experience. Sanpei himself is a fun character to follow. He is incredibly talented and knowledgeable about every aspect of fishing. Yet despite this greater knowledge hes always very humble. We get to see throughout the series Sanpei sharing his knowledge of fish with others like in episode 83 wherein Sanpei is trying to teach his friend Yuri how to catch a fish using a dragonfly when a man walks up to them and asks if he can watch. Sanpei realising the man knows this technique of fishing immediately offers for the man to join in with them and they spend the rest of the episode getting to know each other and enjoying their time fishing together. With that being said though there are plenty of episodes about a technique or unique fish that Sanpei knows nothing about yet he is always willing to learn about them. The mudskipper episode I mentioned before is a good example of this. This is an important aspect of what makes Tsurikichi Sanpei so entertaining. We the audience are learning these techniques and analyses about fish alongside Sanpei. Its the opposite of another edutainment anime I love Oishinbo where Yamaoka is often the one telling others the facts and information about food. 350https://i.ur.com/PblDySP.png 350https://i.ur.com/4JnEfiX.png 350https://i.ur.com/PqiUXTy.png 350https://i.ur.com/0gRcZq8.png From episode 83 Riffing off of the Oishinbo comparison for a moment one aspect of Oishinbo that I like a lot in comparison to Tsurikichi Sanpei is a sense of community. Sanpei meets a lot of people throughout the series yet almost every character is selfcontained within their respective episodic stories. In comparison Oishinbo has many characters we meet throughout the series who reoccur even if for only an episode or two. While I personally love this aspect of Oishinbos storytelling its only fair to point out that the lack of said aspect in Tsurikichi Sanpei puts greater emphasis on other aspects. Like the aforementioned focus on the different techniques unique locations and different analyses of fish and their habitats the characters within these stories are used to facilitate these ideas. This approach is entertaining in its own unique way. Though this isnt to say the characters in these selfcontained stories arent good. My favourite character is from the stretch of episodes 6971 where Sanpei met a musician who ran away from this past life of mastering a complex netting technique but was convinced to reconcile his relationship with his father eventually leading to him passing on his knowledge of this technique to Sanpei. It was a genuinely heartfelt tale and is one of my favourite stretches of episodes. 350https://i.ur.com/ozsH09Y.png 350https://i.ur.com/grUS304.png 350https://i.ur.com/2u52DMU.png 350https://i.ur.com/p9ScCzW.png From episodes 69 to 71 A surprisingly prominent aspect of Tsurikichi Sanpei are tales of death. Sanpei meets many characters who either end up dying or have a family member who dies. Around the second half of the anime there are about 7 to 8 episodes that feature a prominent characters death. In these episodes Sanpei is understandably horrified by these deaths however these emotions are not felt nor expanded on in subsequent episodes due to the nature of the anime being purely episodic. Though these little details really dont affect the greater enjoyment of the anime especially when it makes itself clear what the main focus is. Another aspect of Tsurikichi Sanpeis storytelling is the occasional episode with commentary on the social aspects of fishing such as proper etiquette when fishing around other fishermen. In episode 82 a fisherman was drilling too many holes at an ice lake and being an asshole to the people trying to warn him. Eventually the ice cracks and causes a huge chunk to fall off dragging the man down with it. This episode highlights the importance of being aware of those around you and the rules one should follow for the sake of everyones enjoyment. However my favourite episode that tackles social topics has got to be episode 76 which focuses on debunking the myth that women particularly middleaged women and wives are unsuitable for fishing. This episode has Sanpei and his friends meeting an older woman fishing at a lake who explains to them that she takes turns with her husband going on vacation out to this lake every year with the other going to work to support each other financially. At the end of the episode Sanpei admits that thinking fishing isnt suitable for women is not right and is glad that he was able to talk and become friends with the older woman. Based as fuck episode one of my favourites. There are also episodes about local folktales like lake monsters or historically significant people and deities. These episodes are a great diversion from the usual educational episodes which helps keep things interesting. 350https://i.ur.com/4g0v02v.png 350https://i.ur.com/zRe46hx.png From episode 76 Tsurikichi Sanpei has a strong visual style. With gorgeous background art and a focus on detailed fish the anime does a great job translating the gorgeous art style of the manga into animation keeping in mind that the art of Tsurikichi Sanpeis manga is incredibly detailed and that naturally therell be cut corners when it comes to animation. The background colours are often muted but it creates a good contrast in scenes where the colours are more vivid especially during the freeze frames. Tsurikichi Sanpei like many anime at the time took influence from Dezakis visual style. This can be seen most commonly in Sanpei with the extensive use of freeze frames to highlight the details on fish when theyve been caught. In general Tsurikichi Sanpei puts a lot of emphasis on the detail of the fish utilising different techniques to achieve a consistent quality of detail. In contrast the character designs are kept simple yet recognizable. The freeze frames also emphasise the poses Sanpei does as he fishes. Actually the pose Sanpei does as hes pulling up fish is an important piece of Japanese pop culture and you can find it referenced throughout anime and Japanese media. Im unfortunately not that knowledgeable enough about the staff behind Sanpei to confidently describe their relations and contributions to the project in detail however I do highly recommend anyone whos interested have a look at the staff list as there are some interesting names behind this anime. 350https://i.ur.com/oPWos0q.png 350https://i.ur.com/I0jaeLi.png 350https://i.ur.com/msWYMpr.png 350https://i.ur.com/tqjwKmA.png An assortment of screenshots showing off the freeze frames. 350https://i.ur.com/imvPLrS.png 350https://i.ur.com/bo3XlCq.png 350https://i.ur.com/qYkRxFd.png 350https://i.ur.com/VolbxXy.png 350https://i.ur.com/2WhFHMH.png 350https://i.ur.com/qOFbbln.png An assortment of screenshots showing how gorgeous Sanpeis background art can be. Being one of the first anime about fishing Tsurikichi Sanpei gets a lot of what makes for an entertaining series about fishing on its first try. By focusing on an educational style of storytelling its able to cram every episode with new experiences and information. By being entirely episodic its able to keep each episode fresh with new ideas and stories. Tsurikichi Sanpeis attention to detail with the fish not only in its art but also in its ability to analyse fish is endlessly fascinating. As someone who doesnt have much interest in fishing in real life I still had a blast with everything this anime had to offer. If Tsurikichi Sanpei sounds like something youd be interested in then I absolutely recommend giving it a try. Thank you for reading my review. 350https://i.ur.com/pMF55Y4.png 225https://i.ur.com/OL14h7N.jpeg