Negaposi Angler is a quirky show, that’s for sure. A very unusual protagonist and premise, and visuals that are a curious hybrid of many styles (not least Gainax). It’s quite refreshingly dark, too, though one has a strong sense that it’s ultimately going in an uplifting direction. There’s still the elephant in the room, of course, which is still being skirted over in a big way. I have still have questions about that but if we’re to take the premiere’s cold open at face value that colors everything else that happens in the series.
The more we learn about Hiro’s past the most of a pathetic loser he comes off as. Yet still someone you feel a certain sympathy for, a guy who just can’t catch a break. That shot with his mother after he failed his university entrance exam was quietly heartbreaking. The whole misadventure with Forex trading (that does sink some people, but I’m surprised they didn’t make it crypto) was another example. Definitely a self-inflicted wound there, but it clearly contributed to his downward spiral. Seems as if he transferred his addiction to the thrill of currency trading to pachinko once he could no longer afford the former.
In any event, it’s not had to see why he fled when he bumped into those two guys from college. Like Kyoutarou from Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu, Hiro seems to have pretty much checked out on the world after his exam failure. The differences are that Kyou was still young enough to right the ship, had a family that supported him (Hiro’s doesn’t seem to have), and he found someone who dragged him out of the darkness of self-loathing. It’s obviously a different dynamic but Takaaki seems to be filling that role for Hiro.
This is definitely emerging as the most important relationship in Negaposi Angler. Takaaki is just one of those guys who won’t take no for an answer. Even when, as seems to be the case, Hiro doesn’t seem grateful and doesn’t seem interested in turning his own life around. It may play as unrealistic but there are people like that in the world, and sometimes they’re the only ones who can break through with a person like Hiro. And while there was a million Yen at stake, Hiro buying a rod and showing up on his own to try and catch a houndshark does seem to show that Takaaki’s group is making some impact on Hiro.
I always enjoy when an anime teaches me something new, and I’d never heard of a houndshark before this episode. But they are a species that lives in Japanese waters, it seems. They’re endangered so I’m surprised there’d be a fishing competition for one, though. Hiro thinks he’s hooked one on his cheap rod and reel (it turns out to be a shark), but the world’s nicest loan sharks show up and one things leads to another. The symbolism is thick in the air here – Hiro tries to flee and Takaaki chases after him. Eventually he pays off the loan, drags Hiro back to his place and tells him it was an interest-free loan.
This series is another one dealing with the reality of a very busy season, on its busiest day. It’s absolutely not a mass-produced model in any way and I’m pretty certain there’s enough here to keep me hooked in normal circumstances. But these are not normal circumstances, so at this point I think I still need to let the line play out a bit longer before deciding whether to reel it in.
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