Tsurune is a sports anime that Kyoto Animation produced as part of the Fall 2018 season. It ran for 13 episodes and has a feature film scheduled for release in August 2022. Based on a series of novels written by Kotoko Ayano and illustrated by Chinatsu Morimoto, Tsurune is focused on a male cast with a female target audience in mind.
Even though it was produced by the much-beloved Kyoto Animation, Tsurune didn't gain much popularity, especially compared to the studio's other recent works. But despite being something of a hidden gem, it plays an important role in the studio's history -- one that will likely make others reexamine their views on it.
Episode 5 of Tsurune Drew Accusations of Plagiarism
Kyoto Animation holds an annual writing competition, open to amateur and professional writers alike. The winning novels are published by the company in-house under the KA Esuma Bunko label. Many of these works are later adapted into an anime series as well; previous winners include Violet Evergarden, Beyond the Boundary, Free!, and of course, Tsurune. The man behind the tragic arson attack, Shinji Aoba, submitted a novel to one of these competitions but did not make it past the first round.
The accusations of plagiarism come from a specific scene in Episode 5 of Tsurune. The main character, Minato, is grocery shopping with one of his teammates. He suggests buying some meat that's closer to the expiration date to save money, and later admits that he's always been good at saving up because he works within a small family budget. It is a short scene that lasts for roughly two minutes.
Despite this being a very common scene in many anime, Aoba claims that this specific scene was stolen from the novel he submitted. Kyoto Animation itself has commented that the piece Aoba submitted had "no similarity to any Kyoto Animation works."
Tsurune Was the Final Project For Many of the Arson Attack's Victims
Unlike most studios, Kyoto Animation usually produces one anime per year instead of multiple series. This is to encourage a less stressful environment for its workers, particularly the animators. It is also one of the reasons why KyoAni is believed to be the most humane Japanese animation studio to work for. As the attack occurred in July 2019, Tsurune ended up being the last show that many of the victims were able to work on.
Among those who passed away was Yasuhiro Takemoto, best known for directing classics like Lucky Star, Hyouka and The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. He'd been working in the industry since the 1990s and was involved in almost every anime produced by Kyoto Animation. Takemoto also worked as a storyboarder and director for Episodes 3 and 10 of Tsurune. He was credited posthumously for his involvement in the Violet Evergarden films and the second season of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid.
Despite the tragedies tied to it, Tsurune is a beautifully animated series with wonderfully written characters, just like many others produced by Kyoto Animation. Knowing that many of the people who worked on it are no longer of this world will always bring a sense of profound sadness in the way that certain movements can no longer be replicated, and certain designs will never come to light again. Many of the staff who worked on this anime will likely be posthumously credited in the upcoming film in August, and for many, it may finally bring about a sense of closure. Their work is done, may they rest in peace.