Ooi! Tonbo

Tonbo! - Conventional meets unconventional to spark inspiration for fledglings. But is it enough to satiate the watch? In every given season, there's always a few shows that stand out for their peculiarities, and that's especially true in the Spring 2024 season, where there's a chunk of variety for just about anyone. But one genre in particular that always gets mixed receptions is the sports genre. Sport-centric shows can be easy to tell their story and character growth for the fundamental long-term change, but their drama can also make or break the series in its direction. Enter mangaka Ken Kawasaki with Oi! Tonbo, a series thathas been ongoing for a decade since August 2014 with a whopping total of 50 volumes (as of May 2024), and a story about the familiar meeting the unfamiliar, proving that the assumptions of the outcast can still make something interesting out of the mundane. In with the mundane skills, and out of Lady Luck, sums up ex-pro golfer Kazuyoshi Igarashi as a whole. An embarrassed swindler that cost both his certificate and reputation, Igarashi hangs his head low, and leaves his family behind to reside at Hinoshima Island in the Tokara Islands (which is based on Nakanoshima), where the near-deserted island has a job offer awaiting him that will determine his new life going forward and not having to touch an ounce of golf again in all senses of the word. Little does he know that the island does have an actual (but unattended) golf course that, as he learns, is occasionally played by the island's residents, but more importantly, for a girl whose golf skills are bizarre at best that Igarashi homes in immediately on her, a budding relationship is born between the two to rediscover the joys of playing golf. Where there's sports, there's always drama involved, and Tonbo! is fundamentally no different in that regard. I just love the interaction between the two main leads: the adult, who's clearly had life sucked out of his innermost being, and the child, who's really childlike, and sees the world as her oyster, not thinking too much about the outside world in general. Igarashi, as Tonbo would nickname him "Igaiga" for speakeasy terms, is a very critical man who thinks that people should play the ordinary style, but as he's soon about to learn, Tonbo has two things going for her: her trusty 3-iron, and the unorthodox measures of blazing through the golf course like a mofo. And it's that clash of personalities that makes the both of them click. For Igarashi to unwind his expectations and see that someone like Tonbo, as weird as her playing style can be, still defies expectations, that's time in the training of golf knowledge. From the stance of standing aloft to the specific hitting areas of the precious 3-iron golf club hitting the golf balls to putt where it's needed to go (with some luck on the side), the relationship of Igarashi and Tonbo is akin to that of a master-student tutelage that often has the roles constantly reversed back and forth to teach one important lesson: Expect the Unexpected, while keeping in traditional play. The other supporting islander characters do play a part in helping the sole middle-schooler when Igarashi tries long and hard to convince Tonbo that there's an outside world that demands her style of golf, even when her circumstances force her to take steps back rather than push forward. It's a community affair after all, since Tonbo is well recognized by everyone, and everyone helps one another out as a collective group together. Where the anime sadly falters is in its production, which, given its Saturday Morning Cartoon-ish timeslot in Japan, is meant to be a show for kids, so there's no need to go all out on pristine animation. Helmed by OLM's Team Hikita (credited as OLM Division 2) alongside Shogakukan's Music & Digital Entertainment (the same CG animation production house as Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid a.k.a The Duke of Death and His Maid) for the CG segments, Tonbo! does look nice, I'll give it that, but its mature nature is hampered down by simplistic production, which at least gets the job done...and that's honestly all that matters. The kids' thematics continue onto the music, which, like its production counterpart, does its fine job as well. Sacra e sole's OP and Tokyo Groove Jyoshi's ED are perfectly decent for what they are, and even by a monocle that I like the ED more than the OP, I wouldn't hedge a swing to remember both songs, unfortunately. As much wrong as I can find with Tonbo!, some others will find this a hidden gem of a show where the characters and their developments steal the show for a semi-serious nature, not just involving the complexity of the sport, but also the people involved with it. Still, I reckon you should give Tonbo! a try if what you see in the show does enough convincing to deliver hard hitting moments in a lighthearted tone, especially since Season 2 is continuing this Fall. It's a kids' show after all, and there's learning points to capture too, golf and/or otherwise.

The story is really great. Thoroughly enjoyable. It's refreshing to see a sports anime spend so much time in getting to the starting line, giving plenty of breathing space to get to know Tonbo and what makes her tick. The animation,though weak in places, puts all its money into the golf shots, courses and aerials: which pays off massively. I'm dyslexic so only watch dubs, so I can only give my opinion on that and have no idea if it's a stylistic choice carried over from the sub, but sometimes the voice acting seems very wooden. *However* it's easy to ignore and doesn't destroy theimmersion as you get sucked into the story. Birdie wing was fun yet batshit insane, Ooi Tonbo is far more grounded and has alot of heart. I'm really looking forward to the continuation of this a seeing where Tonbo and Irigashi end up on the pro circuit.

60-SECOND REVIEWS A series that really duffs its potential. It sets itself up as a rejuvenating slice-of-life about a burned out guy reconnecting with his love of golf through the untainted love of the sport from a young girl. It's sort of like Barakamon, but without the comedy and without the old dude really learning any life lessons. Instead, he learns unorthodox golf techniques from the girl, Tonbo, and she learns traditional techniques from him. So it's a lot more technique-focused than I was expecting. If you really love golf, I could see you liking the more in-depth discussions. But if you're hoping for a quote-unquote sportsanime, maybe look to Rising Impact, and if you are here for the more peaceful, slice-of-life approach to casual golf, you may also walk away disappointed. Also, it's neither here nor there, but this is one of the ugliest shows I've watched in ages, but it is primarily aimed at getting kids into golf, so since it's a kids show, maybe I can give it a bit of a pass.

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