There are two things that I ought to restful potentially level out right here. The most significant is that I’m now not powerful of a sports man. I plot now not dislike sports per se, and I salvage pleasure from staring at football and basketball games occasionally, but conserving up with participant stats and what forms of techniques are handiest has constantly felt treasure something that requires more time and energy than I care to construct in, so I have been okay with playing them from a distance.
The 2nd is that I’m a wide sucker for diverse sports anime. Now, that can sound treasure it contradicts the first level, but whereas I’ve had a laborious time going in sports on the technical degree, I have a magnificent more uncomplicated time getting in the attend of tales a couple of persons dash with a explicit sport ends up fundamentally altering their life, or how to tell a community of of us with clashing personalities collectively. Heck, some anime piqued my hobby in a sport thru sheer enthusiasm. As lengthy as a assortment can tell that enthusiasm or have ample aspects to compensate in other locations, there’s no limit to what forms of tales can even be told thru sports. I tell all this up because of whereas Tonbo! is now not an outright abominable prove, it fails at making golf feel keen. It’s far one of many dullest sports anime I’ve ever seen.
The fundamental gist of the memoir right here is pretty straightforward. We apply a man named Igarashi who moves to the distant Tokara Islands for a original initiating following a scandal that ended his professional golf occupation. There, he meets and befriends a impish younger lady named Tonbo, who provides him the nickname “Igaiga” and divulges that she has an unparalleled degree of abilities for golf. Realizing that she will be able to be able to have a promising occupation as a talented golfer, Igaiga tries to persuade her to skedaddle away the island for the outside world, but after losing her of us at a younger age and residing along side her grandfather on the island ever since, she has no scheme of leaving.
For most sports anime, what I correct described right here would potentially play out at some level of the first one or two episodes sooner than interesting onto the dependable meat of the memoir, but by some skill, all this plays out over its 13-episode runtime. Or now not it is now not the worst location-up for a prologue, but it is now not nearly about attention-grabbing ample of a battle to clarify sitting thru for that lengthy. It could in point of fact well perchance perchance had been a couple of 3rd of the length with out losing powerful of the rest.
A slack initiating may perchance perchance perchance work if the prove had been true at making golf feel keen (as powerful as you the truth is can, anyway), but its ideal scenario is in committing what is probably going to be the one gravest sin any sports anime can commit: having a lack of true opponents for the protagonist to square off in opposition to, or in this prove’s case, nearly none the least bit. Since rather a lot of the memoir right here is about whether or now not Tonbo will pursue a occupation in golf, rather a lot of the actual golfing is her messing around on the island’s direction by herself whereas Igaiga provides her advice. However since she’s nearly constantly taking half in on my own, it is laborious to salvage a visible tackle what precisely devices her rather then varied golfers. There are handiest so many instances the memoir can quit to touch upon some unparalleled intention she’s performing sooner than it gets repetitive. The handiest time we scrutinize her face off in opposition to anyone else for this complete season is when one of many assorted residents brings her niece Tsubara to the island as a option to support inspire Tonbo, but even that fails to be attention-grabbing as Tonbo additionally lacks any competitive spirit and handiest starts feeling the must catch after their match ends. It lacks dependable stakes and feels pretty much less boring than Tonbo’s solo escapades.
What the truth is drags this down as a sports anime, despite the truth that, is how overly technical it is miles. Golf is now not basically the most keen sport to witness, so assortment treasure Birdie Flee and Rising Impression compensated by being as flashy and over the cease as likely with their presentation (although stated presentation customarily eager overly clarify golf capabilities and golfing superpowers). This prove goes for a technique more life like option to golf. There is nothing inherently contaminated with that but stated plot customarily entails every action Tonbo performs being adopted up by a lengthy clarification of what made it special. Or now not it is now not precisely laborious to utilize, and it the truth is emulates the feeling of being attentive to sports commentary, but in phrases of the truth is exhibiting off what’s obsessed with the sport, I will’t mediate of a worse manner to plot it. I found myself tuning out of it nearly about whenever.
Now, a few of this is probably going to be remedied if the prove had been compensating for it in other locations since there are masses of true sports anime where the sport plays 2nd fiddle to character relationships or interpersonal drama (Depraved Sport or Speed with the Wind are some pretty solid examples). Unfortunately, there is now not powerful going for it there, either. Tonbo and Igaiga are the ideal two characters who salvage any essential focal level, and between them, most of it is miles on Tonbo and her finding the courage to skedaddle away the islands and skedaddle into the outside world. Whereas her arc is now not precisely abominable, and the prove does ample to salvage across why she’s so linked to the remaining of the islanders, but there is never always ample there to stretch it out over the general season. Even after we eventually reached the climax, I became more jubilant to witness it over with than emotional about Tonbo leaving her family and chums in the attend of.
What would not support is that, whereas his intentions are now not malicious, there are components where it feels treasure Igaiga is more enraged about seeing Tonbo live up to her capacity as an athlete than desperate to plot what’s in her ideal hobby. Whereas they’ve a true ample dynamic, this motivation looming overhead makes it laborious to salvage in the attend of Igaiga’s offer. Igaiga additionally correct is now not all that attention-grabbing, as basically the most we the truth is salvage from him past his training with Tonbo th his past as a extinct professional and the plot in which he became disgraced when one other golfer asked him to fix a match handiest for the both of them to salvage caught when Igaiga hesitated now to not rob a bribe. Other than that, he’s largely correct right here for comedic reduction as Tonbo either pulls pranks at his expense, or he fails to treasure some side of island life that the others are standard to. Whereas fish-out-of-water gags are now not fully unfunny, there’s handiest so many instances you also can plot them sooner than they originate to construct on skinny.
We plot now not salvage powerful out of the remaining of the island residents as a supporting solid, and whereas they’re all likable ample, they largely feature as phase of the background pretty than as proper characters. The one exception is Tonbo’s grandfather, who tries to steer her in direction of determining how she’s going to manage to live with out him when he eventually passes, but even that is basically an extension of Tonbo’s arc than the rest that the truth is devices him apart. Beyond that, basically the most we salvage from the villagers is in direction of the tip of the prove when one of them desires to salvage married to the island’s nurse, but she’s incapable of having kids, and the 2 of them desire to location aside their fears of how their relationship may perchance perchance perchance be judged to have a happy life collectively. Whereas I did bag myself getting pretty drawn into this, the truth that it came come the tip of the prove handiest made me need it could perchance perchance have had more side tales treasure that with the assorted islanders. The truth that one of many particular things it had on offer had completely nothing to plot with golf does keep up a correspondence to how badly this fails at being a compelling sports prove.
On the technical front, the anime’s manufacturing by OLM is suitable, if largely unimpressive. The prove never dips into having a witness outright corrupt but lacks any attention-grabbing visual direction or flair to support have any of the golfing segments stand out, and it handiest serves to pull them further down in phrases of making golf witness keen. Some wretched subtitle work additionally hinders the prove because it lacks subtitles for any of the on-veil veil text, and the interpretation suffers from being a piece of overly literal in locations, which occasionally results in some clunky sentences that customarily is a piece of tricky to parse.
The tough localization additionally extends to its dub. Whereas handiest one episode of it is miles legally available on Tubi, that episode left loads to be desired because it became riddled with awkward pauses, stiff line reads, and performances that occasionally felt treasure they had been barely trying to match what a persona became emoting on veil veil (that the dub is additionally fully uncredited additionally would not plot powerful to inspire self assurance). Or now not it is now not precisely unlistenable, but even speaking as a man who customarily defaults to dubs, there’s potentially now not powerful motive to study this one out past straightforward curiosity. Attributable to the remaining of it is now not available right here in the States for some motive, it is now not even an extremely true accessibility possibility.
I will’t moderately thunder I hated Tonbo!, but I became pretty bored with it, and in some techniques, that makes it more of a letdown. Nothing about it is miles in particular snide, but it fails to promote the enchantment of golf and being a true sports drama customarily. Since this season is more or much less correct an prolonged prologue, the assortment may perchance perchance perchance salvage more keen once we scrutinize more of Tonbo’s golfing occupation. However although it does strengthen, I plot now not know if it’d be fee slogging thru all this to salvage there. There may be not any dependable motive I will mediate of to exit of the manner to witness this one, and with how diminutive it has to present as a sports drama, you is probably going to be potentially greater off staring at an proper golf match as a replace.