Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm

This series is rated lower than it deserves partly because many have judged the anime too quickly and dropped it since. Also, due to this, there are many lowly rated reviews for this anime. However, I'll be delivering my take on this anime.

Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm - The REAL Proper Review

Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm is an anime that could have had the potential to be a really great anime but was plagued by its origin. "Eroge" & "Visual Novel" Lets take a deeper look why it meets its demise when compared other animes of the season.

Most anime are adapted & ... serialized from its manga counterpart. Manga are usually known & recognized for its deep plot/content. Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm on the other hand is adapted from its visual novel known for its eroge. Most visual novels serving its "eroge" purposes have little to no real plot by default. Furthermore, its "sports" focus further reduce its chances for any deep plot to come by.

However with Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm, I think they have done pretty well despite being a "sports" anime. It's actually deeper than it seems and gets better at later episodes.


Story - 6/10

Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm revolves around a sports called "Flying Circus" The goal of the sports, by flying through the use of Grav shoes, is to score points by touching its buoys in sequence "1,2,3,4" or scoring a hit on the opponent's back. Or so it seems... This is when the real plot begins to surface.

Do not JUDGE its plot before Episode 7, because that's where it really showed how deep it really is.

When you love & know something so well, for example in a game, (In this case, FC) then all of a sudden, someone new just came & destroyed your concept of that. You become afraid, because the very thing you are so familiar & close to, becomes something you no longer understand.

That's what Misaki felt. FC became something "dark".

All these while, FC to her, was about touching buoy or hitting each other's back. A simple and fun sport. But Inui broke that concept. Instead of playing the game, she intensely pressures the opponent by restricting & denying whatever her opponent tries to do. It becomes a mental sports and makes you feel inferior & powerless. That's the "beauty" Inui and Saki sought. However, Asuka, being that carefree girl, may not fully understand the "dark" Misaki began to see. To Asuka, it is an exciting new territory of the game. But Misaki became afraid of FC, became afraid of Asuka. She could not accept how Asuka could think that way.


Art - 6/10

Brilliant & Radiant. This anime is just beautiful to look at.


Sound - 8/10

One of the best anime's OST I've heard in a while. If you actually listen closely, you will notice. One example I can give is in Episode 6.

Listen closely to the OST:
05:04 to 06:02.
16:22 to 17:47.
17:47 to 19:45.


Character - 6/10

I love the contrast between Asuka and Misaki's mindset. As I've explained earlier.

Masaya Hinata is your secretive hidden ace badass. He is shown to be rather highly intelligent.
Asuka Kurashina is your slightly clueless clumsy cute female MC with innate potential in FC that she doesn't really know about.
Misaki Tobisawai is strong female character that is also smart. Realizing the "dark" in FC.
Mashiro Arisaka is your kawaii little loli with cute obsession with Misaki.
Aoi Kagami is your ultimate hidden ace triumph card that you hope she would just come out and whoop everyone's ass.


Enjoyment - 6/10

I really like all the characters. There's a good variety in personalities and good comedy. I like seeing Asuka's sillyness, Mashiro's cute obsession with Misaki. Hinata & Kagami being the hidden badass retired aces.


Overall - 6/10

Honestly, I really enjoyed this anime despite being poorly received by the community. A good mix of comedy, action with its beautiful art, amazing OSTs. Would definitely recommend to give this series a try and watch till the very end.

(NOTICE 1°: Recommend to watch the anime first before reading this review)
(NOTICE 2°: This review is in English and Spanish)

--REVIEW IN ENGLISH--

‘’Look at the sky, don't avert your eyes, the answer lies there’’
That's what the visual novel taught me.

(NOTICE: Visual Novel Reader / Player)
Yes, as it says above, this review is focused from the point of view of adaptation of a visual novel, so it will have two parts, how good anime is and the other side of the coin, how well adapted to anime is it, both points individually, so here we go.
...
(NOTICE: Sorry if my English is bad)

1. REVIEW OF THE ANIME

History 7/10

The story is good and simple (A sports club, how much fun it is to fly and the freedom it brings, friendships, winning or losing, although what really matters is having fun, etc.) throughout the episodes it shows an entertaining story and the last episode complements the: "What really matters is having fun."

Still, it's not spared from script holes or things characters say and then contradict themself, but we'll talk about that in the character section.

Art 5/10

Well...the backgrounds look good, the character design is good but the good animation is not constant if not non-existent and in certain parts the characters look amorphous, yes, the CG in the encounters makes them much more enjoyable in sight.

Sound 8/10

The soundtrack is very good especially since the composition is made by Elements Garden, the same ones who composed the original BGM of the visual novel.

Character 5/10

1. Asuka Kurashina: a good character, being the fun and positive of the group. Her development is good since she starts out well, but she ends up falling and then in the final episode she shows that she is the root of: ‘’What really matters is having fun’’.

2. Misaki Tobisawa: a character with low energy but when he dedicates himself to something he gives everything of himself, being the first to go through the conflict of: "If I don't have fun why do I keep flying?" so then she stops flying, although she then takes it back, to give everything of herself but this time having fun.
Asuka and Misaki are the main protagonists of this story.

3. Masaya Hinata: character who contributes almost nothing to the story until the last episodes.

4. Mashiro Arisaka: good character, with good development, but little screen time ...... Misaki-senpaaai!!!!!!!

5. Rika Ichinose: character with potential, but disappears after the fourth episode.

6. Madoka Aoyagi: ...Comic Relief.

7. Shion Aoyagi: a man who loves speed.

8. Reiko Satou: ...is Satou-in by the way, writer.

9. Shindou Kazunari: the best Skywalker in Japan.

10. Saki Inui and Irina Avalon: the antagonists of the story, although Irina is the most obsessed with her perfect FC, and then ends up redeeming herself. Acceptable antagonists for a sports anime.

11. Aoi Kagami: Masaya Hinata's mentor, only contributes to the plot at the end of the anime.

Enjoyment 6/10

An anime to pass the time, although you have to wait for it to get interesting.

Overall 7/10

An entertaining anime, funny characters, fascinating encounters, very good soundtrack, '' good '' animation, script holes, acceptable character development and a good message: '' What really matters is having fun '' (yes, I know, I have already repeated this three times) and how amazing it is to give everything you have.

If you have time and want to have a good time, watch this anime, yes, do not expect an incredible story or memorable characters, it is worth it because it is entertaining especially because of the encounters and the message it gives: ‘’What really matters is having fun’’...fourth and last time I say it.

If you read this, I appreciate that you took the time to read my review of this anime, see you later or below if you read the part of the visual novel, sayonara.

The anime review ends here, if you wonder why I wrote so little about the characters I suggest you keep scrolling down to read the lost potential of this anime adaptation in the review from the visual novel point of view, if you wish.

(NOTICE: Review taking into account the visual novel, read this if you have played the game or if you simply want to know more)

2. ADAPTATION TO ANIME OF THE VISUAL NOVEL

Well now I will talk about how good adaptation it is, I will be taking into account the points of the anime part to compare it with the visual novel and see if it has coherence.

In order not to make this longer, I will be comparing only the story and the characters, without spoilers of course.

-Story-

The story in the visual novel reaches the summer tournament from here you are presented with the decisions to enter any of the 4 heroine routes that the game has, so having clarified this, let's continue.

Since the anime begins, we are already shown that it will not follow any of the existing routes since our protagonist in the game, Masaya Hinata, here has no love interaction with any of the heroines and is put in the secondary role. As we advance in the episodes, we are also shown how the routes of the heroines are mixed, which makes the character development totally original and inconsistent with that of the visual novel, although it has events that happen in the game, in the anime no longer they have coherence or they are left without any feeling for not following the original script from the beginning.

In the anime we are shown that Asuka and Misaki will be in charge of being the protagonists since Mashiro and Rika (the other heroines in the game) are also put in the secondary role, with Mashiro being the one who is always behind Misaki, and Rika set aside, but we'll talk about this in the next section, characters.

-Characters-

I do not want to spoil anything about the history and development of the characters so I will not go into details I will only say how the anime differ from the visual novel.

-Protagonist and Heroines-

1. Masaya Hinata (Protagonist): well, they just put him aside in the anime, but in the visual novel his development on each heroine route makes him one of the most realistic protagonists I have ever seen.

2. Asuka Kurashina (Heroine): her development is completely opposite to that of the game since she is the simplest heroine but the one that brings the most changes with her as at the end of her route, he brings a revolution to the world of FC and is the root from: "What really matters is having fun."

3. Misaki Tobisawa (Heroine): the heroine with the conflict of: ''If I don't have fun, why do I keep flying?'' since, believing to have '' talent '', but not being able to improve, she collapses, stopping practicing FC to be able to find the value of her effort, thus achieving it at the end of her journey where his frustration turns into fun.

4. Mashiro Arisaka (Heroine): the frustration and the desire to be better make her one of the heroines who strives the most to improve without having even a '' talent '' to lean on, reaching from 0 to 100 giving everything of herself.

5. Rika Ichinose (Heroine): the honor student, having a serious personality and not being able to show her true self, is one of the heroines who remains stagnant and cannot improve until she gets to know Masaya in order to show how far she can go being herself.

-Support characters-

1. Aoi Kagami: a role model for Masaya and his mentor, the connection they have shown how important they are to each other.

2. Madoka Aoyagi: manager of the group and a character who always cares about her friends.

3. Shion Aoyagi: a man with a great spirit, if it weren't for him the FC club wouldn't exist.

4. Reiko Satou: despite being an ojou-sama, she is a character who cares about her companions and friends, thus being a source of resolution for Masaya and the Heroines.

5. Shindou Kazunari: a character who shows great passion for what he practices, thus being another source of support for Masaya and the Heroines.

-Antagonists-

1. Saki Inui: A person of few words who just wanted to find someone to have fun flying with her.
2. Irina Avalon: the mastermind behind the ''Bird Cage'', in the anime she redeems herself, but in the game, she simply accepts the fact of having enjoyed the show and then says that one day she will show them her real FC.
Both Saki and Irina are well built antagonists with just the same motivations and desires as everyone else.

-Conclusion-

The adaptation is not bad, but it does not manage to convey the same feeling as the visual novel, the heroines who are the source of everything in the game, in the anime they are not developed correctly and the protagonist who is the connection between the different routes, is non-existent in the adaptation.

In my opinion, having an original script, the message they want to convey throughout the anime, especially in the final episode, is only the 20% of what the visual novel actually transmits to you.

If you want to see how beautiful this story is and the message it wants to convey, I recommend you give the visual novel a try, you will not regret it, I gave it a chance and I can say from the bottom of my heart that it was beautiful to have done it...

Well, this writing ends here, if you got this far, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, I hope I have helped you with my opinion and have opened an opportunity for you to play the visual novel.

Now I say goodbye, I thank you for having read me and have a good day, I hope to meet again, matta ne...

‘’A story of girls flying through the sky and experiencing love’’

AOKANA, 2016...


--RESEÑA EN ESPAÑOL--

(AVISO: Recomendable ver el anime antes de leer esta reseña)

‘’Mira al cielo, no apartes la mirada, la respuesta yace ahí’’
Eso es lo que me enseño la novela visual.

(AVISO: Lector/Jugador de la novela visual)
Si, como dice arriba, esta reseña está enfocada desde el punto de vista de adaptación de novela visual, así que tendrá dos partes, que tan buen anime es y el otro lado de la moneda, que tan bien adaptada a anime esta, ambos puntos individualmente, así que aquí vamos.

1. RESEÑA DEL ANIME

Historia 7/10

La historia es buena y simple (Un club de deporte, lo divertido que es volar y la libertad que trae consigo, las amistades, ganar o perder, aunque lo que en verdad importa es divertirse, etc.) a lo largo de los episodios logra mostrar una historia entretenida y el último episodio complementa el: ''Lo que importa en realidad es divertirse''.
Aun así, no se salva de agujeros de guión o cosas que los personajes dicen y luego se contradicen, pero de eso hablaremos en la sección de personajes.

Arte 5/10

Bueno...los fondos se ven bien, el diseño de personajes es bueno pero la buena animación no es constante por no decir inexistente y en ciertas partes los personajes se ven amorfos, eso sí, el CG en los encuentros los hace mucho más disfrutables a la vista.

Sonido 8/10

El soundtrack es muy bueno especialmente porque la composición está hecha por Elements Garden los mismos que compusieron el BGM original de la novela visual.

Personajes 5/10

1. Asuka Kurashina: un buen personaje, siendo la divertida y la positiva del grupo. Su desarrollo es bueno ya que empieza bien, pero termina cayendo para luego al episodio final demostrar que es la raíz de: ''Lo que importa en realidad es divertirse''.

2. Misaki Tobisawa: un personaje de poca energía pero que cuando se dedica a algo lo da todo de sí mismo, siendo la primera que pasa por el conflicto de: ''Si no me divierto por qué sigo volando?''. Para luego dejar de volar, aunque luego lo retoma, para dar todo de sí misma pero esta vez divirtiéndose.
Asuka y Misaki son las protagonistas principales de esta historia.

3. Masaya Hinata: personaje que no aporta casi nada a la historia hasta los últimos episodios.

4. Mashiro Arisaka: buen personaje, con buen desarrollo, pero poco tiempo en pantalla......Misaki-senpaaai!!!!!!!

5. Rika Ichinose: personaje con potencial, pero desaparece después del cuarto episodio.

6. Madoka Aoyagi: ...Alivio Cómico.

7. Shion Aoyagi: un hombre que ama la velocidad.

8. Reiko Satou: ...es Satou-in por cierto, escritor.

9. Shindou Kazunari: el mejor Skywalker en Japón.

10. Saki Inui e Irina Avalon: las antagonistas de la historia, aunque es Irina la más obsesionada con su FC perfecto, para luego terminar redimiéndose. Antagonistas aceptables para un anime de deporte.

11. Aoi Kagami: mentora de Masaya Hinata, recién aporta a la trama al final del anime.

Disfrute 6/10

Un anime para pasar el rato, aunque hay que esperar para que se ponga interesante.

Overall 7/10
Un anime entretenido, personajes divertidos, encuentros fascinantes, muy buen soundtrack, ''buena'' animación, agujeros de guión, desarrollo de personajes aceptable y un buen mensaje: ''Lo que importa en realidad es divertirse'' (si lo sé, ya he repetido esto tres veces) y lo increíble que es dar todo de ti.

Si tienes tiempo y quieres pasar un buen rato mira este anime, eso sí, no esperes una historia increíble ni personajes memorables, vale la pena porque es entretenido especialmente por los encuentros y el mensaje que da: ''Lo que importa en realidad es divertirse'' ...cuarta vez que lo digo y última.

Si lees esto te agradezco que te tomaras el tiempo de leer mi reseña de este anime, nos vemos luego o más abajo si lees la parte de la novela visual, sayonara.

Aquí acaba la reseña del anime, si te preguntas porque escribí tan poco acerca de los personajes te sugiero que sigas bajando para leer el potencial perdido de esta adaptación a anime en la reseña desde el punto de vista de la novela visual, si deseas.

(AVISO: Reseña tomando en cuenta el material de origen, ósea la novela visual, lee esto si has jugado la novela o si simplemente quieres saber más)

2. ADAPTACION A ANIME DE LA NOVELA VISUAL

Bueno ahora hablare de que tan buena adaptación es, estaré tomando en cuenta los puntos de la parte de anime para compararlo con la novela visual y ver si tiene coherencia.

Para no hacer esto más largo estaré comparando solo la historia y los personajes, sin spoilers claro.

-Historia-

La historia en la novela visual llega hasta el torneo de verano a partir de aquí se te presentan las decisiones para entrar en cualquiera de las 4 rutas de heroínas que tiene el juego así que habiendo aclarado esto prosigamos.

Desde que empieza el anime ya se nos muestra que no seguirá ninguna de las rutas existentes ya que nuestro protagonista en el juego, Masaya Hinata, aquí no tiene interacción amorosa con ninguna de las heroínas y es relevado a personaje secundario por no decir eliminado. Al avanzar en los episodios también se nos muestra como las rutas de las heroínas están mezcladas lo que hace que el desarrollo de personajes sea totalmente original e iconsistente al de la novela visual, aunque tiene sucesos que pasan en el juego, en el anime ya no tienen coherencia o se quedan sin sentimiento alguno por no seguir el guión original desde el principio.

En el anime se nos muestra que Asuka y Misaki serán las encargadas de llevar el protagonismo ya que Mashiro y Rika (las otras heroínas en el juego) son también puestas en el papel secundario, siendo Mashiro la que está siempre detrás de Misaki, y Rika dejada de lado, pero bueno hablaremos de esto en la sección que sigue, personajes.

-Personajes-

No quiero spoilear nada acerca de la historia y desarrollo de los personajes así que no entrare en detalles solo diré como se diferencian los del anime con los de la novela visual.

-Protagonista y Heroínas-

1. Masaya Hinata (Protagonista): bueno, simplemente lo dejaron de lado en el anime, pero en la novela visual su desarrollo en cada ruta de heroína lo hacen uno de los protagonistas más realistas que he visto.

2. Asuka Kurashina (Heroína): el desarrollo que tiene es completamente opuesto al del juego ya que es la heroína mas simple pero la que trae más cambios consigo como al final de su ruta que trae una revolución al mundo del FC y es la raíz de: ‘’Lo que importa en verdad es divertirse’’.

3. Misaki Tobisawa (Heroína): la heroína con el conflicto de: ‘’Si no me divierto por qué sigo volando?’’ ya que, al creer tener ‘’talento’’, pero no poder mejorar se desmorona, dejando de practicar FC para poder encontrar el valor de su esfuerzo, lográndolo así al final de su ruta donde su frustración se convierte en diversión.

4. Mashiro Arisaka (Heroína): la frustración y el deseo de ser mejor la convierten en una de las heroínas que más se esfuerza por mejorar sin tener ni un ‘’talento’’ en el que apoyarse, llegando de 0 a 100 dando todo de sí misma.

5. Rika Ichinose (Heroína): la estudiante sobresaliente, al tener una personalidad seria y no poder mostrar su verdadero ser, es una de las heroínas que se queda estancada y no puede mejorar hasta que llega a conocer a Masaya para así demostrar cuán lejos puede llegar al ser ella misma.

-Personajes de apoyo-

1. Aoi Kagami: una figura a seguir para Masaya y mentora del mismo, la conexión que tienen demuestra que tan importante es el uno para el otro.

2. Madoka Aoyagi: manager del grupo y un personaje que siempre esta pendiente de sus amigos.

3. Shion Aoyagi: un hombre con un gran espíritu, de no ser por el no existiría el club de FC.

4. Reiko Satou: a pesar de una ojou-sama es un personaje que se preocupa por sus compañeros y amigos, siendo así una fuente de resolución para Masaya y las Heroínas.

5. Shindou Kazunari: un personaje que demuestra una gran pasión por lo que practica, siendo así otra fuente de apoyo para Masaya y las Heroínas.

-Antagonistas-

1. Saki Inui: una persona de pocas palabras que solo quería encontrar a alguien que se divierta volando con ella.

2. Irina Avalon: la mente maestra detrás de la ‘’Bird Cage’’, en el anime se redime, pero en el juego simplemente acepta el hecho de haber disfrutado el espectáculo para luego decir que algún día les mostrara su verdadero FC.
Ambas, Saki e Irina son antagonistas bien construidas con motivaciones y deseos igual que los demás.

-Conclusión-
La adaptación no es mala, pero no logra transmitir el mismo sentimiento que la novela visual, las heroínas que son la fuente de todo en el juego, en el anime no son desarrolladas correctamente y el protagonista que es la conexión entre las diferentes rutas, es inexistente en la adaptación.

En mi opinión al ser un guión original el mensaje que quiere transmitir a lo largo del anime especialmente en el episodio final es solo el 20% de lo que te llega a transmitir en verdad la novela visual.

Si quieres ver lo hermosa que es esta historia y el mensaje que quiere transmitir, te recomiendo le des una oportunidad a la novela visual, no te arrepentirás, yo le di una oportunidad y puedo decir desde el fondo de mi corazón que fue hermoso haberlo hecho…

Bueno, aquí termina este escrito, si llegaste hasta aquí te lo agradezco de corazón, espero haberte ayudado con mi opinión y haber abierto una oportunidad para que juegues la novela visual.

Ahora sí me despido, te agradezco por haberme leído y que tengas buen día, espero poder encontrarnos nuevamente, matta ne…

''Una historia de chicas surcando el cielo y experimentando el amor''

AOKANA, 2016…

I know this is kinda weird review (and probably the shortest one available), but still... (sry for my English :(

tl;dr: highly recommended if you're looking for an anime to stay live in.

I watched the anime about 2 years ago and gave it 6/10 because the plot was really mediocre but... somehow i play this opening song again and again. Now I understand: this anime isn't about the breathcatching plot or the awesom characters, it's just about the atmosphere and surroundings. When I watched it for the first time, it was just an average anime to me, but it left kind of subconscious imprint on my ... soul. I realised it for the first time, as these green rainy urbanized islands appeared in my dreams. As I woke up, I just understood, that there's something special about this atmosphere and this landscape. Since that, I'm just in love with that atmosphere. "Lange Rede, kurzer Sinn", as we say in Germany, but I wish I could live in this city with all its rains, winds and this grey beautiful rainy sky.

When I first read the description for the show I thought, "Great, here's another harem where the underdog guy will suddenly sweep everyone off their feet." Surprisingly, this show isn't really like that at all, it's more about the fruition of a girl's lifelong dream to be able to fly and compete with the other best flyers in the area. Though the show showed promise early on with some good development, the circus's act breaks up late in the show, falling victim to forced, unnatural antagonists. If you're looking for a harem, this definitely is not one. If you're looking for a competitive, tournament-based show ... that bastardizes moves from air combat, then feel free to dig in.

Animation:
The show is well drawn overall with a rather bright mood and lots of serene, blue skies and oceans. Backgrounds in general are mixed as occasionally you get really detailed drawings (mostly clouds) and other times you get generic, blurred scenery. There is definitely a lot of CGI in this show, some of which is pretty distracting. The show has some nice, colorful UI displays during tournaments and some other gadgetry that looks like it's lifted right out of a game. The character styling is average overall; you won't get characters confused with each other but there isn't anything particularly special about them either. Asuka's drawing style feels a bit odd as her eyes seem to give off an air of confidence and sharpness that honestly is missing most of the time. I also don't get the uniforms worn during matches, not really sure why yukata-like sleeves are helpful in a speed contest.

Expect a fair, though dispersed, amount of action, centered around the two main tournaments in the show. I was indeed surprised that they made it through two tournaments considering how most shows of late fail to conclude even a single one per season. The action consists of two contestants flying and attempting to accomplish goals, either hitting pylons or hitting the other contestant's back, which apparently causes a giant magic-sign-like symbol to appear. Given that most of the action is really just following colorful contrails in the sky, this isn't going to be satisfying for those needing real, gritty action. The same can be said in the ecchi department. Though there are completely unnecessary scenes, such as our protagonist seeing his neighbor pretty much naked multiple times, it isn't nearly as over the top as some of the other ecchi heavy hitters. That said, there is plenty of bouncy and bodysuits in the show if that's your fancy.

Sound:
The show opens with a very light rock OP that reminds me a bit of the voicing in Mami Kawada's work in Shakugan no Shana, the melody here isn't nearly as strong though. The ED is likewise very light (almost like they purposely filtered out all the base); I like the instrumentation and atmospheric pads, but the melody just isn't convincing. The same could be said about the BGM, it has some good fundamentals and some nice string tracks but ultimately lacks any memorable melodies; the stringed instruments make for a fairly relaxed mood overall.

The show has a decent number of veterans but the actual casting feels odd. Misato Fukuen (Yami from ToLoveRu) is an interesting choice for a clumsy, light-hearted heroine and Azumi Asakura (Asia from DxD and Kumin from Chuunibyou) is an odd choice for an own-pace tsundere. Really, my choice for strongest performance goes to Risa Taneda, who voices a strong supporting character.

Story:
The show follows yet another high school club, this time the Flying Circus club where you train to fly in circles in what is essentially something like a baseball diamond. Our protagonist, Hinata, is coerced into joining the dying Kurahama club along with the heroines of the show. What follows is a lot of preparation and, surprisingly, multiple tournaments. It's all told in a rather simple, contiguous storyline with just a few teasing flashbacks.

Though I appreciated the effort in drawing out this unlikely setting and liked the intensity during the tournaments, the rest of the show felt rather lackluster. Though episodes flow well together, many of them focus on a specific heroine and their personal struggle; often the protagonist isn't even part of the resolution. As alluded to before, the show builds to two main peaks in the form of the tournaments. Each is resolved to a fair degree (the latter in the final end credits) though I still don't get the point of the whole show. There were a lot of what seem to be foreshadows that don't amount to anything; either Gonzo planned a sequel or are using them to satisfy those who consumed the original source material- in either case these events are just wasted screen time for the rest of us for now.

Character:
There are a fair number of characters in this show, including about half of dozen rather important females. The character interactions were pretty good overall, but one wonders why they even put the protagonist here. It becomes obviously pretty early in the show that he's no ordinary Joe, but he really never gets much of a chance to shine nor does he really try for the majority of the show. Other than seeing his neighbor undress a few times, there's nothing guyish about our lead.

The heroines fare better than our protagonist but likewise aren't particularly memorable. There's just too many of them and none of them really ever develops any real bonds with the protagonist, the strongest bond is arguably between two of the girls. Reiko Satouin gets my vote for most interesting character, which says a lot considering that she's not even a main character. As for the lead heroine, Asuka, there's just something about her that's off. Sometimes she's goofy and sometimes she's Kira Yamato; it just boggles me how a single person can be such a klutz and yet such a genius.

Unfortunately, a character-centric slice of life is pretty meaningless without strong characters, and that's exactly what we have here.

Value:
This show is about a useless bystander of a male lead who barks orders at various girls flying in circles who eventually develop some feelings for the guy barking orders at them but nothing ever develops- there is no romance. In addition, there's some amusing tournaments where it apparently makes sense that the best way to intercept a flying object is to stand still- there is no logic.

So there you have it, a VN-converted show with no romance and illogical battles. If you're looking for a show with good character development or intense action, steer clear. This is really only a filler show to pick up when you've really run out of things to pick up. That said, it isn't the worst of fillers that I've seen. Are you ready to run in circles figuring out what this show is really about?

I liked to call this one the "Reverse Gender Sports Anime"

I seriously mean that, the anime got some wrong tags.
The cast plays a sport, it may not be a real life sport but for their world, it is.
Instead of a guys team, it's a girl's team.
Instead of a girl manager, its a guy manager.
There is the fresh year who joins the club and turns into the ace in the hole.

Actually though, look at Haiykuu or Kuroko. They have all what was mentioned before, but the opposite gender.

... And being a fan of those two recent sports animes, I had a good time watching this one.

Some may call out our MC is quite the dumb klutz, but she is about as clueless to the sport as she was. In short, she learns about the sport as much as we do from watching.

The sport is pretty neat, its a 1 versus 1 aerial battle for point control. One player tries to get from one area to another, while the other tries to stop them.

It's not such an intense watch as the more well known sports animes, but it certainly isn't what the tags say it is. Check it out for a more lighter and chill sport anime.

To start off with this is one of my first reviews, This review contains a few spoilers, well here goes..

As a harem genre fan as myself, I saw this anime and saw the main chars being many girls and 1 boy, as usual youll be like "oh dats harem right there" but its actually far from being harem or far from having any romance hinted actually. I'm actually a fan of Air Gear so the concept "flying" really got me hooked into this anime and I got loads of free time so I'm like why not and decided to try it.

:Story: 6

An anime which ... had friendships/sports and a little spice of drama and poof Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm is created. Basically its about a girl named Asuka Kurashima who came back to the island where she went before as a child and somehow is a prodigy in this "Flying Circus" thing. There's also the "kouhai" character which is played by Arisaka Mashiro. Tobisawa Misaki played the senpai role between this two, shes a gluttonous girl who have fragile emotions and basically had many emotional breakdowns through out the serie. And there's the main "guy" character named Hinata Masaya who is actually a prodigy and also a japan candidate back then but hes a p*ssy so he ran away from everything and because he got caught up in the moment he became a "second" to all the players in the FC Club.

It had it cliche moments aswell like the main character being prodigy and good at sport even though she tried it just recently, and many more. The ending was also predictable at many ways the cliche lines of the antagonists such as "why does she look like shes having fun" and so forth brought predictable ending to the serie.

:Art: 8

Its the modern generation and I must say that the art of this anime is top notch and its one of the reasons why I didnt drop this anime, I've been wanting to drop it so much after so many disappointments here and there such as lack of explaination and sh*t pacing that was brought throughout the serie.

:Sound: 7

The osts were alright but it could be better, something like that was given off as I keep hearing the osts from openings and endings as I am the type of person to not skip the opening, as there are some people who actually skip openings from time to time. I as a fan of music myself refrains from skipping as I actually enjoy listening to op/ed's.

:Character/Character Development: 5

Characters were mostly all basic looking you have the normal girls with normal sized tits, theres that flat chested, loli, kouhai girl, the hot looking teacher, proud type girls with boobs ( Satouin) and the main char guy who I really is so dissappointed in is plain looking and nothing out of the normal presented except his exceptional skills in FC which took him 10 f*ckin episodes to release to them that he had those techniques. He's like "o sh*t they need new moves and crap alright imma show off my techniques" and the teacher aswell LMFAO she couldve helped by showing her techniques even at the first half of the serie but nah which is really a disappointment.

I was really disappointed in the character development through out this serie as there are many flaws that couldve been fixed easily things such as it took 10 episodes for "Hinata Masaya" for him to stop being a p*ssy and actually teach FC manually LOL

:Enjoyment: 5
I hardly enjoyed watching this to be honest because I keep waiting for the part where the main guy will take control of the situation and actually have some balls and be proud of his exceptional skills and take pride in it but nah he chose to be a p*ssy until ep 10 which is really a disappointment.

:Overall: 6
Well it was out of the usual animes and it truly is a unique one even though I've had many disappointments throughout this serie it was fairly good and if youre looking for a pure sports anime with a bunch of emotional breakdowns this is for you.

-Gogoanime.io: "This is a love story about the two who met while soaring in the skies, and the friends surrounding them."-

To be honest here guys, I watched this anime because I was told that it was "romance" but not once in the show, not even a tiny bit did it show any kind or hint of romance. I am so disappointed to the show's story. Apparently, the protagonist is supposed to be a guy named Masaya, but instead of revolving the story around him and again instead of showing how he showed his romantic interest in any of the girls he's been with, the story ... revolved around a girl named Asuka, which is totally messed up because the main-main character is supposed to be Masaya.

Disappointing as it may be, the anime's art quality is perfect, scene execution is nice and character's personality is good. The story is just really a big disappointment for me, not just because it had no romance in it but it had a "mainstream" kind of feel. It was too simple and didn't have something I'd call great. Again, greatly disappointed with the "No Romance" part.

I hope they create a sequel, movie, or an ova to this anime and hope it contains what it's supposed to have because the potential of the anime's plot is actually pretty good but it's not being used to its fullest. Not just talking about its romance potential but also to its potential to be an overall, great anime. This might also be the best one if plot was utilized properly.

AOKANA: Four Rhythm Across the Blue is one of these series with each season of shows that doesn't stand out that much, and for a good reason.

The story itself is not that interesting. It's your typical "a group of kids join a once defunct sports club that gets resurgence thanks to these new members". I do find the sport (as well as the wear used for it) to be a bit fascinating, though the lackluster story can still make it look dull. Plus, these are never explained enough (like how did they come to be, what was the purpose, etc.) At times, I wondered if ... there was an actual story, or even if there was one (that was surprisingly absent) that was never used. Upon further research, the visual novel, which the anime was based on, was more of a dating sim (any signs of romantic elements were taken out).

The characters are just was dull as the story. They're your cardboard cutouts, two-dimensional with nothing interesting about them. One of the characters had traits that did not match at all; while acting like the more adult character, occasionally she has this cat speech (ending sentences with "Nya" and whatnot). In the visual novel, you play as the one who (sort of) becomes the main male lead in the anime, and choose which os the girls to have a romantic relationship with. He showed no significance in this anime, and doesn't even have any type of romance, which could've given the show some spice. There's implication that he has a past, but that's not even brushed on (just mentioned). The only thing I can say I liked was the voice of the main female lead (just the voice, nothing else) as I found to be quite cute.

Just like with everything else with the show, there's not much to say about the animation. For the most part, it's average with occasional inconsistencies in detail.

As I continued watching, it came to a point where I wasn't looking forward to next week. There really was nothing to this that completely captured my attention. I understand why the story from the original source was changed for the anime format, but even a bit of romance can give it at least something, especially for character development. I would not recommend this to anyone.

So I have just finished watching this and I think I'll be giving a (not so) short review

Well, the point is that this anime had wasted a lot of potential

At first when I watched this, I found it to be interesting since this anime focus around a new type of sport, so I at least expected it to share the same thrill of what a sport anime should be
But in the end, I was dissapointed
At first I rated this 8, but as I watch it, the disappointment led me towards lowering it to 6

Well, there are pros and cons, so I'll be discussing about the ... pros first

-it is a brand new sport
What piqued my interest is this, since we always wanted something to be fresh and not mainstream, and aokana is one of them
-decent raphics
The graphic in this one is still acceptable, it isn't one of those that really has a bad or weird grapnics. And since it centers around the competition of the sports, I would expect the graphic to be at least intriguing to watch and yes, I could say it did
-flow is more relaxing
Because the story is not too serious and tense, we wouldn't need to be too focused on the story since it flows quite relaxing, hence making it more enjoyable so plus point to this
-fun
Well, okay I could say that aokana focuses more on fun, so... yeah
-characters are clear
The character development is acceptable, it doesn't have too many characters that would make us really confused and it focuses more on the main characters, but it does lack a bit of the characters backstory.

And the cons
-the competitions are a bit boring
Despite from being something fresh, the competition doesn't really have much variation, thus making it a bit boring for me. Of course this is to be expected as it not a common sport, but I thought it could have a bit more variation
The most intriguing one I found is only at episode 12 and yeah, the last episode
-Story development
aokana is weak at the phase of the story. Every phase of sports is crucial, by this I mean that from the introduction of the sports, the practice, the competition, until the win or loss, everything.
The introduction of the sports didn't have any problems. What I felt missing is from the practice until the result of the competition. It didn't pack a punch
-an imbalanced character
This imo is one of the most weakest point in aokana and the biggest factor to why I rate low
As everybody knows, Asuka is the character that has the most spotlight, in fact, aokana prioritize her too much. And to add it, Asuka is too OP, it felt like the most important thing is talent, not hardwork. She could easily do anything, I mean anything any other people could do.
This kind of talent itself is not that bad of a plot, but for it to be over exploited leaves a bad outcome.

To conclude, aokana does have many flaws, but is still enjoyable to watch
It is more of a leisure anime than a serious one and is better to watch if you are just intrigued and isn't really expecting much

I really wished it to give more spotlight to Masaya though, and in a certain episode (no spoilers intended) did gave my hopes up, but....
Well, nope

Its my first time to write a review so i'm sure there's gonna be some mistakes like grammatical mistakes.

First thing im gonna say is, if you watched this anime without playing the visual novel, you may say that its a good anime, but if you played the visual novel like me before watching the adaptation, you will think that this adaptation is really bad. Why? the main reason why i think this adaptation is bad is, Hinata Masaya was a supporting character instead of being the Main Character because they changed some part of the story like on the first few minutes of episode 1,instead ... of Masaya helping Asuka go to school, they added Misaki, Misaki and Asuka was supposed to first meet after Aoi sensei asked Masaya to teach Asuka how to use a grav-shoe (the shoes used to fly) but no, Asuka met Misaki in the FIRST MINUTES OF EPISODE 1... And they also changed a lot of minor details like Madoka bringing the fc club to shirase-san's store, HINATA WAS THE ONE WHO BROUGHT THE FC CLUB TO SHIRASE SANS SHOP.. and also Madoka and Shion first met at the beach, while in the anime they already knew each other.. And there was a filler at episode 4 where Mashiro asked Rika to teach her how to maintain a great form but i liked that part cuz it gave more screentime for Rika, BUT what i hated after that episode is they made Masaya an idiot... Masaya knew right from the start that Mashiro should be a speeder rather than a Fighter, then he asked Mashiro to change her playstyle and Mashiro agreed, but in the Anime they made Masaya was surprised that Mashiro was a better speeder than a fighter which made him look like an idiot... WHY DID THEY REMAKE HINATA AS AN IDIOT?!?!?!?! MASAYA WAS A CHAMPION IN A NATIONAL TOURNAMENT AND HE WAS GOOD AT ANALYZING THINGS... AAAAAAAA this was a huge dissapointment....

I find the concept of the series very innovative, and the plot setting is nice. Character development is fine, although I must say towards the end of the series, the ending is quite naive. In my opinion, I think the series could have improved more of the character developments of the side characters, as I think everything just isolates around a few characters. I love the music and environment of this anime, especially the themes of flying. I also love how it portrays to the audience of the character's sentiments towards their craft and passion which anyone can relate with in their own lives, and ... I find the Flying Circus to be very inspirational.

ah an anime thats not popular at all not everyone knows it and still i watched that anime bcs it was recommended to me from one of my friends that anime overall wasnt smtn special but it was fun to watch its a sports kind of anime it was intersting idea for an anime as well a shoes that have wings nothing that we can imagine in real life now days but they even made it into sport the opening and ending were amazing the anime was pretty fun to watch as well it had kind of intersting to see story about a girl that ... wanned to win the championship and there were pretty much alot of different type of ppls that were into that sport and the sport it self had alot of different rules that were RLY INTERSTING ACTUALLY and there are different type of persoanlities in the sport it self there were like 3 different types of players as much as i remember the ones that are deffensive that attack alot and that ARE INCREDIBLE FAST that anime was intersting to watch and i can recommend it to pretty much anyone i gave it overall (6/10)