Tsurune’s anime spin on archery will send the mind racing through time

polygon.com:

In a nameless town on the border of urban and rural life, at a nondescript high school like any other, arrows pierce through the idyllic landscape, hitting their targets and echoing out across a grassy field. The martial art of kyudo, Japanese archery, is at the center of Kyoto Animation’s Tsurune. The anime is currently at the end of its second season, Tsurune: The Linking Shot (which you can watch on HIDIVE), and while it may sound like any other sports anime with a bit of coming-of-age drama for spice — a tried-and-true genre of the medium — Tsurune pulls the viewer into a nostalgic dream world that feels vaguely like a memory of a life you may or may not have lived. The beautiful visual language of the show creates a longing to connect, a desire to reach back and relive the warmth of a memory that may or may not be yours. Nostalgia par excellence.

Tsurune is a beautiful show. The team at Kyoto Animation has poured its hearts and souls into making this show look amazing. Whether it’s the high-action shots of arrows in flight or the attention to detail in the background art that brings a local sports center or a high school classroom to life, there is an energy that pulses through Tsurune in both the intense narrative moments and in everyday scenes. Minato Narumiya’s journey back to kyudo after a tragic accident is made all the more powerful because of the care put in by series director Takuya Yamamura and his talented staff.

Telling a sports story in anime can be a relatively straightforward exercise. Your youthful group has a goal, usually to compete in a national competition, and they grow and experience life on their way to that goal. There is often a rival who is better at the sport than the story’s lead