Cool, a sports anime focused on female badminton players. How bad could it be~? (Let’s just say I went into this with low expectations)
Okay, sure, it’s a sports anime and I know very little of badminton (played it in high school but very casually) so I’m gonna be wowed by the animation anyway, but I am very attached to the characters already (even if I don’t appreciate what feels like being chucked into the middle of an arc instead of starting at the beginning).
The ep kinda felt unbalanced; it was for the most part dramatic with some lighter moments…but it felt like the two elements didn’t quite work. This wasn’t helped by annoying fanservice in the form of overly-focused butt shots and excessive boob bouncing…and the amount of sweat. Like, I know this sport can get very intense very quickly, but there was an excessive (imo) amount of sweat. (Though I will praise the creators for not making the locker scene into more unnecessary fanservice; that scene was necessary for establishing just how rough the relationships between Nagisa (one of our lead characters) and the rest of the club was).
Ayano (our other lead) is going to be interesting in how she develops over the season; I hope she doesn’t end up in the same spot she was at the beginning, with the dead eyes. I’m curious as to where her “it’s only a sport” mindset comes from, as it could be a parental pressure thing or just her own beliefs. I guess we’ll find out.
However, Ayano being pressured into the club left a sour taste in my mouth, so ehhh… Too many bad memories of a similar situation going wrong for my taste.
The animation was pretty but I don’t know if that’ll last long; and the soundtrack basically did its job; nothing noteworthy there (though I love the OP so far).
I’mma give this two more eps before deciding whether to continue; it has potential but the drama/unnecessary fanservice might put me off.
Ace Anime Reviews 