Ooi! Tonbo

Why I'm watching this anime?
Even thought when I started watching it I was sure I was going to drop it in a matter of two or three episodes, I'm still waiting every week for the next one to come out. And not only for the same old "Slam Dunk paradox": "even though I didn't care at all about (name of the sport), I loved this manga/anime"; but because of something quite unique that I was able to see in this series.

Tonbo, the main character, doesn't need to follow the boring and repetitive path of the classic spokon protagonist who has to get better ... step by step. She already got great talent and experience for the sport that she loves, the only things that she lacks of are proper equipment and, more importantly, a strong competitive and determined mindset.

I was able to enjoy this particular kind of character development despite the mediocrity of the technical aspects of the series (however, for my personal preferences, I really appreciated the attention they put in the construction of the scenography), but I can understand why many people couldn't be able to ignore that.


P.S.
I'm sorry for my poor and bad english.

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 that ... has 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.