Trying to move on in his life, former professional golfer Kazuyoshi Igarashi arrives at Hinoshima Island for a job at its development center. Expecting the island to be a very rural area with nothing much to offer, Kazuyoshi cannot hide his amazement when he discovers a complete golf course made by the island's inhabitants. Using the seaside terrain to their advantage, the people there have adopted golfing as their hobby.
To add to his surprise, Kazuyoshi meets a young girl named Tonbo Ooi, who has been playing golf using only a 3-iron—a notoriously difficult-to-use club. As the former pro gets more involved with Tonbo and witnesses her seemingly impossible shots, he begins to see golf in a whole new light, rediscovering how fun the sport can actually be.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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KANLen09
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.
PixelB
This show made me want to play some golf. Something that other golf shows like Birdie Wing failed to do. And I think it mainly has to do with the fact that Tonbo's a show that's highly grounded in reality, focusing on character development while also not forgetting to apply actual concepts in golf to the show. Tonbo! is more of a slice of life and coming of age show than a show about competitive golf when it comes to the first season. While golf is always on the horizon, a common theme in the show, and is what brings people together, you can tell thatthe show is trying to weave a picture of an adolescent girl who uses only a three-iron club to commemorate her parents. Throughout the show, her connections to golf and people increase, which is evident in the increasing number of golf clubs that she uses. She refuses to leave her shell that she calls her island because she is scared by the outside world. Yet gradually, through her experiences of taking baby steps forward, being supported by everyone around her, and through her passion for golf, she can attempt to enter the world of competitive golf.
Of course, the other characters aren't bad too. There isn't too much of a focus on them other than Igaiga of course, who is another great father figure towards Tonbo. Igaiga's sense of responsibility in Tonbo is ingrained in him due to his passion for golf which makes him want to see the height to which Tonbo can reach in the world of golf. The genuine character interaction between Tonbo and Igaiga is charming, as you see father and childlike behaviors that suit them both. It's fun to see them bond and progress as people.
Finally, the focus on golf is like I said, always on the horizon. I enjoy how each episode talks a little bit about how the mechanics of golf work. The visuals and explanations are simple and straightforward, but they show the viewer how golf is played and what strategies people use to tackle different holes. The mindset, the type of iron, the wind, the grass, the way you stand, the way you swing, and so much more are talked about in this show, so when Tonbo does out-of-the-box strategies, it's that much more interesting to watch how unorthodox methods achieve the same goals as orthodox ones. To me, the discussion and commentary of golf in Igaiga's monologues is one of the main reasons why the golf play-by-play is interesting. Again, going back to Birdie Wing, the show doesn't focus on even the type of hole or how it should be played, nevermind going into detail on how the player should stand or put their club face, so it's nice to see this show attempt to tackle golf on a play by play level, and this depth is exactly what the show needed to stay interesting.
The show does fall off near the end of the season. There becomes the focus on practically irrelevant romance on side characters with not much personality, and it does just seem kind of shoehorned in rather than progressing the plot. Tonbo and golf are no longer the focus, and instead, romance is? The art and animation are also a bit offputting at times, blending in CGI models and 2D animation at times. The golf course CGI is fine because it provides a good visual for the show while also being presentable, but yeah it's fine for the most part. The facial expressions and lip sync are also basic and could be improved upon, but overall I am excited for season 2 and thus put it at a 7.
