Thoughts on Tsurezure Children

To those with good eyes, there is a distinction with how this series’s name is pronounced. It can either be Tsurezure Children or Tsuredure Children. I’m gonna stick with “z” because that’s what it’s more commonly known by.

This technical anime short has been garnering a lot of praise around the ani-community for its straightforward portrayal of young romance. By golly, two kids almost have sex with one another! Isn’t that just gross? A far cry from the typical behavior surrounding love where characters blush at the thought of even looking each other in the eyes. Tsurezure Children is an experimental production dedicated to true, unfiltered romantic shenanigans between kids who have no idea what to do with it, while at the same time organizing it in a sort of slice-of-life/comedy structure. With context like that, this series seems right up my alley!

Initially, the series showed a lot of promise, with keen focus on the trials of understanding how to make a relationship work and how absolutely awkward teenagers are despite their bravado. Despite how many characters it showed, I found each couple (or potential couple) to be charming and relatable to some degree, if not for the random bits of comedy that carried into each scenario. The pacing was fairly good and it displayed each couple fairly evenly as the episodes progressed, with some variety to the situations they faced in their everyday lives. Somewhat unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of crossover between these characters until much further on, which would’ve tied the whole school together instead of isolating all of these incidents and characters as though they controlled the universe they inhabited. The charm of the progression these characters have into becoming committed to one another mostly made up for it.

And once the series pairs (almost) everyone up, it decides to slow the pace down to near unbearable levels. For the love of God, one couple was close to having sex in episode four, and then the rest of the series they don’t even kiss (seriously) no matter how hard they try? What kind of logic is that?! It seems that once the couples have been established, it’s smooth sailing to the finish line. Like skinning a potato like lightning, only to flop it right on the pan to heat over a low flame. At least these couples are established, sure. At least these couples progress further than hand-holding (usually), sure. But if that’s the cutoff where writers think that’s all people want, that’s naive.

You know what would’ve been a really interesting plot to follow? Imagine the couple in episode four really did have sex. What would happen with them afterward? Would they carry on like normal? Would they try to create an image of superiority to hide how awkward it probably was? Or working with another angle, what if one of them (likely the male) really liked it, and they continue to have sex quite a bit, and then the one not enjoying it so much feels as though that’s all the relationship is to their partner. Doesn’t that sound relatable? Like your partner is just in it for the physical benefits? I praise Tsurezure Children for taking a step forward with its progressive take on young romance, but I’m also criticizing it for not continuing their path to trendsetter status. It doesn’t work if you have cold feet halfway through, which is notable with the second half of the series.

I enjoyed most couples, such as Ayaka and Takeru, though a few travel the line of “Waiting for the inevitable” a tad too uniform for my taste. A girl who doesn’t know much about love. A boy who loves her. She’s completely oblivious to his advances. As the series progresses, she begins to understand love, and now the boy who’s too scared to take the initiative (because of course he is) is inhabiting her mind more and more, and she can’t figure out why! I wonder how that’s gonna end… Situations such as this appear sporadically throughout episodes, though are more prevalent in the second half. Even without the clichés of romantic development, many of the couples have their own niché when it comes to their development. One misunderstands the other until they actually make their intentions clear. And… Well… Actually… Yeah, that’s about it. One person misunderstands the other until they make themselves clear, and then they love them more. Okay.

While I admire the look and presentation of the anime, its animation is actually rather mediocre. Almost every episode has a noticeable frame jump that defies reality, and movement isn’t nearly as smooth as one would see in, say, Shingeki no Kyojin. Some of the more “intimate” details of characters’ bodies are only ever emphasized if they’re focused on, while from far away don’t always match how they look up close. What is praiseworthy is that most characters look actually different, with different styles of eyes, hair, and facial structure to differentiate person to person. It adds more to that whole “universe” of characters that inhabit the school (that I really wish they’d take more advantage of!); revealing differences in physical appearance, yet similarities in morals and values.

Something I would absolutely recommend if only for the eleven-to-twelve-minute runtime per episode, resulting in a much more convenient marathoning experience. The quality of the series, despite the general amount of praise, is mixed for me, as the later portions of the show tend to overinflate the filler instead of actual development of characters or their relationships. I enjoyed it enough, but it starts and finishes in a way that leaves the viewer feeling unfulfilled. Should the series continue with a sequel season, this may not be so much of an issue. Regardless, it’s cute and cuddly, as well as an encouraging foray into the relatable world of romance that most anime series never dwell on.

The rating for this title and all others can be found on MyAnimeList.