I Like Pictures – on Liking Pictures

So, it’s finally my turn. Let me tell you a story about how I like my pictures.

Hold the Line With Me: Chronicling Relationships in Tsuritama

“Tapioca, I don’t like such stifling relationships.”

-Akira Agarkar Yamada, Tsuritama Episode Three

Hook, Line, and Sinker: Audible Distinction in Tsuritama

Only these boys know what they're thinking...and even then...

It’s an odd world, the one that most of us carry inside of our own minds. We may build things up and tear them down in the next instant. As viewers, we are often privy to the thoughts that flicker through our protagonists’ minds, with the idea behind this being one of furthering our understanding of the lead character’s motivations. Why, exactly, are they doing what they are doing? More often than not, we are given this information freely, and don’t think on it too much. It’s a style of direction that’s tried and true, expected, and natural to a viewing audience.

So what happens if the director of a series suddenly decides to point this out?

Fishing as a Way of Life: Tsuritama Episode 1

My father first pressed a fishing rod into my hands in the summer before I started first grade.

It wasn’t out of romance or passing on something to his daughter; in spite of being a nature-lover he hadn’t fished much in his life. No, I had begged for this fishing rod and reaching the age of six meant that my parents had considered the hazards of an accidental hook-through-body-part injury and had weighed in favor of my increasing common sense.

I received a beginner rod. One with the reel attached to the rod, encased in plastic so you couldn’t see the spool of the reel at all. In a brown paper bag my father handed me a tiny box filled with tiny hooks, tiny metal sinkers, and a tiny plastic bobber that was a poor mimicry of a red and white mooring buoy. As soon as he handed it to me, I ran out to our backyard and practiced casting. We were to leave for Maine the next day, and I wanted to impress my friend Robb who, in spite of us being the same age, had the advantage of an older brother to steal fishing equipment from.