Tsuredure Children

Episode 8

This week's Tsuredure Children focused more on plot development than comedy, offering actual narrative progression in three of its four skits. With the various characters and relationship dynamics established, Tsuredure Children is starting to lean on our established affection for these characters to lead us through somewhat more subdued sequences. It's a far cry from the madcap comedy of its first few episodes, but fortunately, Tsuredure Children is almost as good at the emotional stuff.

The first two segments seemed intentionally linked, with both of them focusing on attempts to cross conversation gaps, as well as arriving at a first kiss. We started off with Goda and Kamine, the couple who can never quite seem to understand what the other is thinking. The skit mostly just danced around the fact that both of them do want to get more intimate, but they're araid they'll come off as pushy or weird to the other. Their anxieties were articulated in nicely understated fashion this week, and beyond that, this was a fine continuation of their overall conceit: the difficulty and necessity of coming to understand each other. Goda and Kamine are one of the least overtly “funny” pairings, but that lack is counterbalanced by their consistently convincing portrait of real-life romantic issues.

From there, we smartly transitioned over to Kana and Chiaki, as Chiaki brought up the events of the previous skit to offer a natural segue. Kana and Chiaki are possibly my favorite couple in Tsuredure Children, and their sequence acted as both a mirror and counterpoint to the first segment. In contrast with Goda and Kamine's misunderstandings, Kana and Chiaki are generally on the exact same wavelength, to the point where they tend to hold conversations through strained cooperative comedy bits. The overlong sports metaphor here was a solid gag, but my favorite bit was Chiaki's difficulty finding the right angle for a kiss. One of Tsuredure Children's greatest strengths is how often it highlights the often overlooked unglamorous trivialities of romance, and accidentally kissing your girlfriend's nose definitely qualifies.

The last two segments this week weren't as emotionally strong, but they were funny in their own ways. I feel almost guilty for saying Akagi and Ryoko are also one of my favorite couples, considering Akagi's behavior can often slip into awkwardly predatory behavior, but watching Ryoko flip between totally flustered and “dude, you're an idiot” is one of the greatest Tsuredure Children pleasures. I also appreciate how these two are allowed to be unabashedly horny - in a sea of chaste romances, it's nice to see a couple who bicker about feeling each other up in the school library. And even the melodramatic Katori got some strong material this week, bolstered spectacularly by the one girl who actually loves his absurd nonsense. If there's one thing to take away from that unlikely romance, it's that there's somebody out there for everyone.

Overall: B+

Tsuredure Children is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Nick writes about anime, storytelling, and the meaning of life at Wrong Every Time.