Streaming: Crunchyroll
Episodes: 12
Source: Original
Episode Summary: Mikoto Shiratori is a former high school badminton star whose doubles career was derailed after a traumatic incident during a match. As an adult he’s played on the corporate team for a large bank, but only as a singles player and with not nearly as much success. After yet another loss, he’s let go from both the team and his job. As he heads back to his parents’ home with his tail between his legs, he gets an unexpected call from the Sunrise Beverage Company looking to recruit him to their company and corporate badminton team.
What Mikoto thought had been a major stroke of luck turns out to have some… caveats. The senpai providing him with job training is a free-spirit named Tatsuru, who first appears to Mikoto face down in a park after a late-night workplace outing. After spending a day with the guy, Mikoto finds out that the intention was to have them both be partners on the badminton court as well – as the two halves of a doubles team. Their coach just happened to omit that little detail. Mikoto’s participation in this ploy comes down to the result of a single’s match between himself and Tatsuru, and while Mikoto’s skill at anticipating his opponent’s moves proves formidable, Tatsuru’s skills and experience come out on top. Now forced to make good on the wager, Mikoto’s sour mood has only just started to rev itself up.
Impressions: This is it; this is the sports anime of the season.
That might sound like a dubious claim to make after one episode, but this original series hits so many of my buttons that I feel like anything else would have a difficult time making a better impression. It features adult characters in a workplace setting. It introduces story elements like dealing with past trauma and moving forward after those experiences. It’s got a good mix of “sports anime characters™.” The character designs are nice and the series demonstrates the interesting aspects of an unfamiliar sport. It’s truly the entire package from the get-go.
In the past when I thought about badminton, usually the images that would come to mind would be sharply-dressed people from the 19th century gently hitting the shuttlecock at some garden party. It wasn’t until I watched a Try Guys video released as part of last year’s Summer Olympics lead-up that I got a good picture of what modern badminton actually is. Badminton at the competitive level is an incredibly active, fast-paced sport that’s just absolutely wild to watch; it definitely isn’t a leisure activity to take in over afternoon tea.
Though the reality of the sport essentially ensures that me and my limp spaghetti noodle appendages will probably never become a badminton master, it has given me an appreciation of it when I happen to catch a match. The game between Tatsu and Mikoto easily manages to capture that appeal. Their long rallies and the almost superhuman speed at which the two are able to hit the shuttlecock (which, because of its construction, is affected by drag much more than a ball or other more common projectile) is just a ton of fun to watch, aided by some above-average animation. This, coupled with the obvious shipping potential (always a bonus for those who are into that) and the pitch-perfect utilization of tried-and-true sports anime tropes, makes this latecomer to Winter 2022 feel like something really special.
Yes, I know I can be a predictable person, and that while I enjoy being surprised sometimes, I also feel drawn toward certain types of entertainment. I don’t feel bad owning that. But if you’re like me and truly have a soft spot for sport anime that hits all of its checkboxes in a satisfying way, I bet you’d like this, too.
Pros: Sometimes simple pleasures are the most satisfying. I’m not hugely into the Japanese seiyuu fandom, but I do occasionally recognize certain voices and Takuya Kuroda is definitely one of them. Probably best known to me as Kazuma Kiryu from the Yakuza games, the series for which my latent fujoshi tendencies have most often bubbled to the surface as of late, his deep, occasionally threatening tone is well-utilized as coach Ono.
The badminton match is so entertaining to watch because it’s both dynamically animated (thank you for your service, animators) and well-directed. Looking at director Yamauchi’s other credits, I can’t say I have a clear picture of what I should expect (I pretty much haven’t watched any of the other series listed). That said, sometimes putting less experienced talent in the drivers’ seat can result in pleasant surprises, so I’m tentatively impressed and hopeful.
Cons: Though I appreciate that this series stars adult characters, one thing I often find interesting is that often those characters can end up being indistinguishable from younger characters, at least in how their personalities and actions are expressed. As far as the badminton segments are concerned, if you had told me that they took place in a high school setting I wouldn’t have known to argue about it. Even Tatsuru, referred to as “ossan” (old man) at the ripe old age of 32 (*stares in early middle age*), reads as especially immature. I’m 40 and still don’t feel much like an adult myself, so in reality there might not really be that much of a difference other than the standards that we hold for ourselves, but I found this worth mentioning.
Content Warnings: Sports injury, shown in brief flashback.
Would I Watch More? – It’s always amusing to me when shows kind of appear by surprise fairly late in the season. ANN doesn’t even have a Preview Guide entry for this series, and that’s a shame because I feel like it won’t get as much attention as it deserves because of it. Luckily it caught my attention, and I’m definitely excited to watch more of it (and with only two episodes available as of the time of this writing, I won’t have as much to catch up on as some of the many other things on my list from this season and last).