Prince of Stride: Alternative

Prince of Stride: Alternative was one of the first new Winter show to be announced just as the new year arrived. It was also among the first ones to be aired in the season, much to the build-up that was added to it. With one of the masters in the industry working behind it, i.e. Studio Madhouse, Prince of Stride: Alternative was well worth the hype it had accumulated thus far, but as the season progressed, it quickly started to fade away. Why? Let's look into it in detail.

The show brings no creativity at all to begin with. It has been done countless time in ... sport anime's before. Famous high school club now in ruins and desperate for new members. Atleast try to be a little more creative. The game of Stride does bring a sense of freshness to the show. Basically its a sport where you run all the while competing with the another 'Strider' within your block. It consists of five different members running from start to finish as all the five team members play a part in the whole sequence and give a touch for the next teammate to continue running. One of the problems with the show is that twelve episodes were always not enough to begin with. There are have been countless other similar shows being successful solely based on the fact that they run for a longer time. Time was an important asset to them and they had plenty to utilize it with the execution. This is something Prince of Stride: Alternative lacked big time. On a side note, I cannot understand why there's a 'Alternative' in the title. I've come to light that the source material was a visual game and the show can be taken as a spin-off of that.

The characters on the show do it no good, with all honesty. All of them are like a basic stereotype with nothing to set them apart from any other generic characters. The MC is a light-hearted and silly guy with a dim-wit personality who just likes to run and is aiming to be on as many of the high school clubs as possible. There's the very cold looking teammate who acts as a direct rival for our MC and who doesn't talk much, and of course, does not get together early with our MC. Then there's the only girl in the show who's in fact the very first characters to be showcased and is another main character in focus in every sense who is inspired by the Stride club's achievements in the past and is aiming to be in the team as a manager. She eventually acts as a Relationer in the team who serves as a guide to the running teammates offering guidance with a speaker directly to the Striders. Then there's always a trap in the group along with a nerd who isn't interested being with the club to begin with. Two more senior characters are there in show, one's a cool, handsome looking guy who seems to be a senior worth relying on, and the other, literally having nothing worthy of praising, in my opinion. The manager however, was an interesting characteristic with his regular inspirational proverbs with a traditional discipline to them. Sad that he didn't get called a "King" when someone who only afterwards in the show arrived got to be called one.

The art totally makes the show cool, and the aesthetics are on the positive aspect of this show. The OP/ED sequences with the music, too, do justice for the show but no OST's or background musics or other character songs worthy to be talking about. But all in all they're on the better side of the show. The frequent use of English in the show, as for the club names and the outfits, really make them appealing to the western audience too.

Prince of Stride: Alternative also suffers from the problem of not being able to convey the story properly in my opinion. It could've have become a good show even with the distinguishable flaws it had, if it had put more effort in giving the concept of Stride a little more spotlight. The sport is cool by all means, but for me it fails to properly deliver some important stuff to the viewer. For example, the tournaments the Stride Races take part in are a little difficult to understand. They do time-trials at times but nothing on the opposing team is showcased (And trust me there are some) on how they got so far. This is where as I said the time limit plays a huge part in. Stride races also offers a lot of cool moves and spectacular jumps, if they had put on something like additional points for that, then I think the games would've become a lot more enjoyable.

Prince of Stride: Alternative was never a profound show to begin with, as is the case with most of the sport shows. But what make them great is the reality aspect and the execution for it, that's where Prince of Stride: Alternative won and lost 50-50 for me. With the pacing and time limit the show had been given, I could see the ending being like that from a mile away, still Prince of Stride: Alternative has the little charm that's the beauty of every sport show, even if it was a short anime with just twelve episodes.

Prince of Stride builds upon the fundamentals of sports anime and brings a more dramatic and innovative approach to the genre. Prince of Stride is revolutionary in a lot of ways and I feel it can convert many who don't watch sports anime to give it a try. SPOILER "FREE!" (it's a free anime joke)


Story:10
This show goes above and beyond what it would have to do to deserve a great rating for its story. Everyone has a unique story that is connected to at least three other people in the main group of the stride runners. There's not really any backpedaling with flashbacks so it's ... very fluid. All the main stories are pretty interesting however a lot of them don't gain momentum until towards the end of the show so hold out if you feel a lack of story in the beginning. While it doesn't come off as one originally, Prince of Stride has great comedic elements that made me KEK so KEKING hard that I KEK'd until my sides hurt.



Art:10
If you've seen any clips from the show or maybe the PV's you'll know what I mean when I say this show is vibrant and beautiful. The color scheme is very pleasant and the animations are smooth throughout the entire show. Not much else to say in this area.



Sound:10
I'm not an expert on what makes a soundtrack great but the songs were catchy and did a great job of expressing the themes that weren't visible.



Character:
All of the characters are pretty interesting in their own ways. The show doesn't feel like it has a lot of forced emotions and the characters stay true to themselves throughout. There's a lot to say but it would spoil the show and I want to make sure this remains spoiler free.


Pros and cons:
Pros
-No fanservice
-Great OSTs
-The fucking KEKs

Cons
-No second season

In one paragraph: It was interesting, had some really golden jokes and even the minor characters had personalities. However, there are a lot of plot holes, they skip a lot of the parts that would be interesting to see and the problems they face have a tendency to be really stupid. They don't really get to any solutions, and there was only one time when we actually saw how they trained. All in all, it's not bad. Continue reading for more details.

Story (6): The story begins, like many other sports related anime, with a character introducing themself and explaining that they went to this particular ... school because of their team in a certain sport. Turns out that this team has been facing difficulties, and they would have to find more members to get the club working again. The first episodes are really slow and steady, you get the information you need, though probably not all the information you want. Later, the time skips start, so you go from one Stride match to another with a small training segment in between (the training is usually along the lines of running a little and jumping over some stuff and suddenly improving a lot). There are always a lot of details lacking, which I guess can't be helped when every second episode is an actual match, and there are still episodes that seem to serve no purpose to develop the plot at all. When it actually gets down to it, the scenes that are included are really good, and considering the fact that it's from a game, you can't really expect too much thought into backstory and such, since it's literally based on just the running part. The sport itself is really interesting, basically a baton style race one a track with lots of obstacles, bringing in acrobatics as a theme.

Art (7): The art is actually very nice, it's a clean style with no obvious flaws. All the characters look very distinct, with individual eye shapes, noses and body types. It's very detailed in that sense. The way the clothes are drawn on the characters sometimes looks slightly off, though. The backgrounds are slightly over the top sometimes. It catches the feel of the situation, but the colors have a tendency to be extremely bright. Most backgrounds are repetitive, with some exceptions. There are also a lot of sceneries in this show that look absolutely stunning.

Sound (7): The opening and ending themes really fit the show, it's particularly cool that they use the idol group from the show to create a theme. The soundtracks in the show are really good, I don't know what their names are so I'll describe them like the sound, the light sparkly tone is really... Light and sparkly, which makes it perfect for those tensionless middle scenes. The "end of summer" track is really upbeat and tells you something is about to go down... That is, if the scene on the screen wasn't enough.

Characters (8): The characters are all very individual, they all have their own respective facial traits and body types. All the characters also have their own personalities, and rather than the standard "everyone is super friends with everyone" kind of style, there is a very realistic parting in who gets best along with who. The characters also have roles in the story that makes them important, which isn't seen way too often. Of course, it doesn't get a perfect score, mostly because all the characters seem to suffer from being way too emotional about things, to the point where it doesn't make sense. The comic relief characters also get annoying after a while.

Enjoyment (7): It's a really light watch, since it doesn't dig into the past of the characters and the story behind what is happening a lot. It focuses solely on the sport itself, and you won't see any of the problems outside of it. Except for one single character in the main characters' class, there is not a single person not related to Stride that we see more than once. This is probably a great "middle ground" anime, a perfect next step after finishing something that leaves you empty, wondering what you'll do with your life from now.

Overall (7): I personally really like this anime, since it does have a line going through the scenes, even though there are some huge time skips here and there. It definitely kept me from not being bored, so it served it's purpose. The best way to explain it is "interesting enough."

Prince of Stride is by no means a masterpiece. It is a light-hearted sports series centred around the world of Stride, a fictional parkour/relay race. While Stride is somewhat different to those common sports seen within the genre, it still fits the mould expected. So what does PoS have to offer?

The story centers around the Honan Academy Stride team, a once elite stride team, which has dwindled after an incident two years prior. Two first years join the team, expecting to find a thriving Stride team, however they are shocked to find the club only has three members. The basis of the story isn't groundbreaking ... or revolutionary, but it is a solid, well-crafted plot which is really enhanced by the sport of Stride. What Stride does well however, is create realistic connections between the main cast. Stride definitely isn't a character driven show, hell, most of the side characters aren't memorable, but it's these relationships within the main cast which makes the drive of these characters powerful.

The art of this show is beautiful and it is really one of the highlights. The world of stride, especially in competition, is bright and colourful, which really fits the atmosphere of the show. The character designs, even for one-off rivals, is unique for every character. The action sequences are high quality and one of the best things of Stride. Watching the characters play Stride is nail biting and entertaining, but predictable.

My biggest gripe with this show is the ending (no spoilers ahead). It's abrupt and sudden, which bothers me. It doesn't tie up any loose ends or provide any closure. It's an ending that makes sense, but it could have been so much better.

Character development is there, but not significantly. There isn't enough time to fully explore all of the main cast within the twelve episodes given. It is based off a Otome Game, which I have heard does explore the main cast and even the side characters thoroughly. However it's impossible to condense 60+ hours of gameplay into twelve 20 minute episodes.

Just to reinstate, Prince of Stride is no means a masterpiece, nor is it a revolutionary series. But, it IS a fun series. I binge watched it all in a day. It had me so hooked I couldn't stop watching it. It follows all the same tropes you would expect out of a sports anime, but it follows them well. If you enjoy sports series in general, you will enjoy Prince of Stride.

I watched this anime series because of Madhouse animating it and that it is based on an otome game, a genre I'm obsessed. But rather I got a lackluster character art, mediocre OP and ED, and did not see romance between the female lead and the other guys.

It should be stated that being based on a BL (Boy's Love) game is more appropriate for this anime since the only romantic development in this anime where between the guys. The touching of hands were rather dramatic since it is the theme of the show.

Story:

If you watched Yowamushi Pedal, the story is like that, wherein the club ... compete on tournaments and beat schools. It is very straightforward. There's also the issue of a backstory between the main leads that came out of nowhere.

Character:

Though I did like the comedy of the show and the antics. The characters are flat though and their opponents beside Gal-Stan and Kakyoin are so flat since they weren't explored properly.

Music:

The OP was upbeat but it wasn't my type. I really couldn't remember the ED.

Art:

I had high expectations since watching Death Note and Chihayafuru that I will get atleast a artistic anime, but what I got were characters who put too much powder in their faces. The character art was so poor but the background and how they executed the stride animations were spectacular though.

Overall, I did enjoy the anime because it was fun and I like sports anime.

What is stride ? Stride is a running sports with parkour. yea... they are running while doing some parkour stuff. tbh, personally, i like the concept of the sports, and even running is one of my fav sports. that is the reason why i got interested in this anime.

For the first episode, first impression, to me, it was a really cool, awsome episode. i really really like the way they start the series. looks awsome and cool to me, and i thought it would become a great series, but......a little bit dissapointment to me.

A story about a guy who in the past has ... quit playing stride because of his brother, but now, in highschool, a girl and a boy invite him or more like force him to join a certain stride club without knowing the fact that he has already quit playing stride.
And that where everything began. but it was a little bit dissapoint me.

Why?

because this show is focused more on the character problems and development more than the action on the sports. and the result; they didn't put much action in the final episode, final race, and that one kinda dissapoint me because i was looking foward to the action. i didn't mean to say the character development and the problems is bad, i like some of them, and some of them i think it was okay to me, but i don't like the fact that they focused more on the character rather than the action. it wasn't balincing in my opinion. AND! the race was too predictable to quess who will win. in sports, that supprosed to be the main problem, the author musn't let any viewer predict or know who will win. because that will the climax. it is pointless if the viewer already know who will win. it's not like i don't like it, it's just okay to me. i just want to say it's a shame, a great looking sports like that is too obvious to see who will win. Basically it lacks of impact.

From the character, they really did a good job in my opinion. they really put their effort to executed the development, problem and conclusion even tho i found their relationship a little bit weird. to me, it wasn't really bother my enjoyment. to me the pacing was okay. i don't see anything wrong nor even bother my enjoyment. just the fact that this show is lack of action is dissapoint me.

The soundtrack was pretty good overall, especially the OP. really like the op. but the ED..... i wish i will never heard it again. well this anime is originally for girls, so obvious some of the song will be something like that. i can't blame the director but still for me, i don't like the ED song at all.

On the other side, good animation for a sports anime. really fit well, especially the soundtrack they used for the action, really good imo. but there is one thing that really pissed me off. some of the character design almost look like a girl and that really pissed me off for some reason. why ? because i almost turn into a gay for a second. it was really a shame, a beautifull character design, the truth is, he is a guy. i really hate that tbh. like i wish that guy is a girl so i can put her in my fav list XD but well, whatever. i don't give a fuck with it anymore XD

Overall, not really enjoy it that much but i still enjoy it. i mean i enjoy it but not really 100% enjoy it. well, like i said, i didn't enjoy it because lack of action. i don't really like the fact that they focused more on the relationship rather than the action. dissapoint me a little bit. so i'm gonna give it a 7/10. probably never watch it again, BUT! i wouldn't mind a second season. at least more action.

I don't know if what your taste is, but if you like sports, try 1 or 2 episode of this series, the sports is really great imo, but it just didn't have that many action, and it was kinda predictable.

Sorry for bad english.
Hope my review can be helpful to you all.
Thanks. Have a nice day

ummmm lets start with a talk about this sport called S-T-R-I-D-E

So basically its relay running with parkour, the name is pretty dank tbh, like striding sounds so fuken badass and real I thought it was a real sport and i think it fits really well

This sport all about the pace,parkour skills and most important of all "connecting emotions", pretty funny concept gotta say, but why nut? connect emotions = good at stride

lets continue with the norms

Story 7/10: Win this summer tournament called "end of summer(EOS)", simple story, not much to say

Art 8/10: Coooooooool,siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick, badddddassssssss, Madhouse(the studio), their overall art are always to the coolside of ... things, colours are to the brighter side of things, when madhouse generally has colours to the dark side of things

Sound 8/10: OP- dank, OST-feels, ED-it was ok(somehow made it into top10 ed for anime trending) VA wise, they all fit their character, Kuga-senpais voice is badass, Riku's brothers voice is gay asf, pretty sure he is gay aswell

Character 8/10: I will comment on a few characters because there are so many characters, you could say all of them are MC's

Fujiwara Takeru(Honan Runner)-Loves the legs, loves his protein, probably the most funniest character in the whole series, he is the most serious person about stride, but he is like dense and does somereally funny stuff

Yagami Riku(Honan Runner)-pretty badass,dyed his hair blonde,he is probably the major MC, towards the end of the anime, its all about how he overcomes his feelings towards his older brother

Sakurai Nana(Honan Relationer)-gotta say pretty impressed how she can connect emotions through a mic, probably the most normal character, nothing special about her

Kuga Kyousuke(Honan Runner)-the man, my favourite character, manly voice, and talks about the "wind" all the time, so cooooool

Dan(coach)-has some sick one liners(idk what they called, quotes maybe? like a few words, but has a deeper/bigger meaning to it), very funny character aswell

Suwa reiji(saisei captain)-hes pretty gay, the typical very feminine guy character that is really nice to everyone

Shizuma Mayuzumi-(saisei relationer)- Reiji's waifu, if not 11/10 waifu material, definitely most feminine character, long pink hair, cooks, cleans etc

Everyone above is a male excpet Sakurai Nana

when i say "gay" i mean it literally

Enjoyment 8/10: watching people connect emotion is SOOOOOOO fun (being sarcastic here), I guess its like watching sport, I spend 8 hours a day watching cricket so watching 20 min of striding is pretty good

overall 8/10: Everything is done pretty well, just the normal sports anime, the anime is pretty predictable towards the end, its probably because its a adaption from a visual novel, if you like sports anime, then its definitely good for you, if not, go watch boku dake ga inai machi, you definitely wont hate it :)

Now the story is nothing special. It’s basically Yagami Riku and his fellow classmates re-establish the school's "Stride" team and compete in Stride competitions. I got really hyped especially when reaching the end of each race. I would've liked the series more if they did more with Nana Sakurai because I felt she was one of the best character, also I think they should've done a little more with Yujiro because he didn't really do much in the series Overall, it is definitely a fun watch if you are really into sports theme animes. It has lovable characters and has awesome action moments. But ... if you’re looking for an anime that has an in-depth story, this is not the anime for you.

There is also a video Review on my channel if you wish to check out on The Georges
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtdYLd1pSXM

Prince of Stride: Alternative was a fun show to watch. It's not the best (it's pretty generic, actually) but it's a funny and exciting anime that you can watch mindlessly just to pass time. In other words, it's a sports anime.

Like most sports anime, the story was not this anime's forte. A bunch of guys start a sports club in high school, participate in a tournament, fight and bond over some backstory drama and eventually win the tournament. This was just a summary of the entire plot of the series and anyone could have predicted this much based on the first episode alone, because this ... plotline has been done to death. But in cases like this, the execution of the show is what makes all the difference, and the show had that part down. Running always makes things feel intense, so stride really fits the concept of this anime well. This kind of stories tends to be a safe bet, since there isn't much to mess up, so the story was predictable but good and well executed overall.

This anime is a visual novel adaptation, so I expected the characters to be just tropes, with the main heroine having almost no characteristics and being used as a blank space for the viewers to insert themselves into. This wasn't exactly the case. The characters did fall into certain archetypes (sometimes to the extreme) but they had a little more depth to them and most characters could not be described in one sentence (at least not without using the word "but"). But even though the characters still weren't great on their own, the interaction between them made the show a lot more fun to watch. The lighthearted shenanigans the characters did together were some of the funniest moments of the show and seeing them hang out with their rivals when they weren't racing was very refreshing. There was no actual villain in this show and it was really nice to see a truly friendly rivalry in an anime for a change. Also, the lack of romance actually benefited the show. It made the main heroine stand out a bit more as her own character and prevented the anime from becoming too cliched. There wasn't much character development in this anime, but when it comes to anime like this one, I'm satisfied with what we got.

The animation in this show was pretty average most of the time. It was very free-flowing during the races, which looked amazing and very intense. On the other hand, some frames were just plain bad sometimes. I did like the strong bright colors, the bold designs and the strong black outlines and shadows that made it look like the frames were inked by hand, but the animation wasn't a big standout overall.

The soundtrack was very good, actually. It supported the show well while not standing out too much, which is what I expect of an anime soundtrack. It was very fitting for the show and gave off the right vibe. The opening and ending songs were very upbeat and catchy. The random english words in the opening were really out of place, but the song was still fun to listen to and I didn't skip it once. The ending theme is sung by the rival team (who are also idols, for some reason), I thought it was quite nice.
The voice actors did a very good job portraying their characters and it sounded like they were having fun. The biggest standout, in my opinion, was Kana Hanazawa as Nana Sakurai. Her portray of Nana was so realistic and it sounded like she meant each and every line. This further contributed to making Nana stand out as her own character.

To sum up: this anime might not have the best or the most original story, but the characters and the animation are decent. The ending was a bit anticlimactic, but still very satisfying. It was a very entertaining show to watch overall and if you're looking for an anime to watch mindlessly when you're bored, I recommend checking it out if you have the time.

ALERT! Look up the rules of Stride (the fictional sport in this anime) before you watch this because, otherwise, you're gonna be confused for like the first two episodes.

Well, this is yet another sports anime to add to my list. Can you name a few sports anime? Haikyuu!!, Free!, Kuroko no Basket? Well, have I got good news for you! Nearly ALL of the seiyuus in Prince of Stride: Alternative have been in at least one of those aforementioned sport anime staples.

Also, the ONLY reason that this anime isn't ranked as a 10 is because the storytelling was bit shoddy and the art made everything ... look super washed out. The story itself was fantastic. I love the elements that were a part of it, such as: Riku and Takeru's backstory, Riku's issues with his brother, and the history of the Honan Stride Club. However, the anime didn't give these plot elements enough time to grow. Had the season been 25 episodes long instead of 12, it would've been nice because those things could've been elaborated on more. As it stands, you kind of get told something through a couple lines of dialogue without dwelling on it. So, the story kind of expects you to fill in the blanks of your emotions when it should be giving you those emotions. Make sense?

That being said, I actually did get a little teary eyed at the end. This brings me into the characters. I absolutely loved them. Not only do I love the familiarity of the seiyuus, but I love the relationships the characters have with each other. Again, I wish they could've been dwelled on a bit more because there were some really beautiful moments in this anime. It would've been heightened had the anime taken the time to develop the individual characters and their relationships to everyone before trying to shove in a meaningful scene. I did still cry though. So, it wasn't a total failure on their part. Just putting that out there.

The music was simultaneously emotional and badass. The music that plays when the characters are running is either something that's jammin' and that gets me hyped, or it's this one song that conveys all of this emotion that these characters are feeling. Both are really good, so I'm very happy with the music in this anime. I don't usually talk about music in anime, so that tells you something.

This anime doesn't deserve the flak it gets at all. Like, yeah, it should've been stretched out and the story and characters should've developed more smoothly instead of like "BAM, take this thing we didn't explain properly before this!" But at the same time, I had such a good time watching Prince of Stride: Alternative. If I'd trusted some of the more negative reviews on here, I would've missed out on a really good time. If you're super picky about a streamlined story, then don't bother, but if you just want to kick back with some funny characters and have a bit of a cry, then this anime is amazing! As far as pure enjoyment goes, this gets a 10/10, hands down.

I actually really wish that this anime finds itself in another season. If they slow down the story pacing, I think these characters and this world has a lot of potential. Give this anime a go because it's honestly really awesome.

I will admit, even though I don't watch a lot of sport-related animes, I'm extremely glad I decided to sit down for a bit and watch Prince of Stride and I'll share why I enjoyed it so much. Just a warning, some minor spoilers may exist below, but nothing that will ruin the anime for you or give away any major plot points.

To start, one of the weakest parts of Prince of Stride is the story. While I'm not saying that its bad, it leaves a lot to be desired and is overall somewhat predictable when comparing it to other animes, regardless of ... genre. The Honan Stride club, the main group in the story, is a struggling team with dreams of becoming the best stride team, but of course, they lack members and talent. As the series progresses, they gain more members and each character has their own set of problems that "prevent" the team from truly coming together and conquering the other teams, which all gradually get resolved throughout the story. As said, it is rather predictable, but it is rather rewarding to see the team eventually come together to race together.

Speaking of the characters, one of the best parts of the anime is the characters, specifically the main group, which all receive their own satisfying development, something that was rather surprising for me as I went in fully expecting each character to be rather shallow cutouts of a specific anime trope. On the contrary, each one manages to showcase rounded personalities, especially Hozumi Kohinata, Ayumu Kadowaki, and Riku Yagami, who are able to carry the anime on their narratives alone. The only real exception to this is Takeru Fujiwara, who stays rather the same throughout but is still enjoyable to watch.

It was also interesting how each character's struggles felt relatable. Feeling like you're inferior, living in someone's shadow, showing jealousy, being vengeful, conquering your own fears, and defying expectations are just a few of the problems that these characters encounter. It becomes enthralling to see how these problems persist throughout the anime and how the characters are able to take their own struggles and turn them into strengths.

As for the music, this anime has both beautiful and intense music mixed together for an all around great listening experience. I'm gonna be honest and say that the music in the background during the races actually made my heart pump, as I was in suspense waiting to find out who was going to end up winning. The opening and ending are also great and fit the tone of the show perfectly.

The art flows well, and while there are some repeated frames during the races, nothing sticks out badly and everything seems to fit in perfectly. The art is also crisp, and nothing is stiff or looks badly, especially with the vibrant world around them.

The only real complaint I have about the anime is the second half of episodes compared to the first. The first few episodes have this intense atmosphere about them that really seems to die down near the second half of the series, especially the ending, but no spoilers here.

Overall though, the anime was thorougly enjoyable and if you want a consistent story with relatable characters, especially if you're a fan of sport-related animes, then you should definitely give Prince of Stride: Alternative a watch.

First of all I'd like to mention that this is my first review , and since I'm not a native English speaker , I dont know how good I'll be able to review this anime.

MAY CONTAIN MINOR SPOILERS
So... lets start...

Why do u watch anime?
I watch it to spend my time and enjoy doing it , What I want in anime is to be interesting enough to keep me going , to be hyped or atleast thrilled about the next episode , Prince of Stride does this job quite well ( Because madhouse always does their job) , If that is your purpose in anime ... , better start watching!


Story - 7

Its isnt hard to understand what " stride " is , I'll leave it to you , the viewers to watch the anime , and understand what it is.
The story of stride is a generic story used in some other sport animes although it starts differently it comes up to one of the MC's ( since Its a sport anime there are quite a few) having an event in the past that changed their view of the sport , later on they overcome it and lead their team to victory or atleast try doing it , at first the anime seems passive but as u watch you notice tension between protagonists or , other characters...
I'll keep it short , Its a sports anime afterall , overall the story is a solid 7 it keeps u entertained throughout the anime.

Art - 9

As expected of madhouse , in this department the anime beats most of the other sports anime I've seen. ( some of them are madhouse too so cant compare)
The competition scenes are very fun to watch and I think that they couldnt be any better.

Sound - 10

aside from a certain anime *cough cough* K * cough cough* this anime has the best soundtrack ... ever , The background music makes the anime enjoyable and fun to watch especially in competitions and races

Character - 7

Sports anime will stay sports anime , There is character development in this anime , although its kinda' like a 180 but I would'nt give it less than a 7 because its a sport anime, Two of the MC's will experience a big change since the start of the anime , and one of the MC's will stay dull but assist in changing the others , I would'nt have it any other way doe , This anime needs character to be like that , It just has to :)

Enjoyment - 8

As I said at the very beginning whats important is that u enjoy the anime , Show interest in it , I feel that Its worth to watch and you wont be wasting your time , but rather spending it in joy.

Thank you for reading my review ,
Hope you enjoyed it and you will watch the anime!

The first time I saw this anime was in a thumbnail on youtube. The art style looked amazing, but I didn't have time to watch it back then (I think it was around the time when it just aired). Then my friend asked me if I saw it yet, the answer was obvious.

I finally got around to watch it yesterday. The art style didn't dissapoint me at all, went past my imagination even. The characters seemed so lovable and relatable to me. I know that Riku's struggle with his self esteem was a widely discussed theme her, but I can see why. He was against ... joining their club the second he found out what club it was. I sure would have complained if the reason wasn't explained. His low self-esteem is also justifiable. As the younger sibling, I can relate, the non-stopping strive(or stride if somebody wants to insert a pun here) to be better or at least as good as your older sibling. It is very hard to best your older sibling at anything, beacause they have more experience, especially in something they enjoy doing. Besides, that is usually called character development that thankfully happened in this anime.
I also have to say that it was well paced. There were no boring parts as well as not those that went by too fast.

I am content saying that I watched this anime in two days with a break for sleep. In my eyes, it really deserves recognition, because I have the tendency to drop the anime I am watching midway (or just after a watching session), then come back to it a few months later or forget about it. This anime made me want to watch each episode, not in the style of "I want to just finish this", but "I really want to see it". My rating for this anime is 10/10.

After getting many recommendations for this anime I decided to watch it and I was pretty surprised to see so many bad reviews for it. Personally I thought it was a good anime. So normally sports anime over exaggerate the sport and how people feel about it and this one was no exception. They made the high five seem like the biggest deal ever like it was all about connecting feelings which it was just it was a little too dramatic. The characters in this story were nice. I love how they didn't make a fussy little female mc like they normally are. She was ... always trying to improve herself for the team, but it wasn't to the point where you would want to slap her in the face.

Art- It was pretty good. It was colorful and bright and it set the mood of the anime really well.

Story- I think they kept Riku's whole internal struggle going on too long. It was like they were using it as an excuse every time they got into a fight which was a little annoying.

Sound- It wasn't that noteworthy, not really good but not really bad either it was just kinda average.

Character- It had nice character development in the end anyways. They really grow up and finally Riku accepts all the hard facts and everyone has a nice ending/

Overall- I loved the ending since they tied it up. All the popular anime try to keep you hooked by saying 'oh no we lost lets have another chance in the second season *wink wink* you should watch it and see if they win' this one they were just like ok this is this. It's the end. I read online too that this anime was actually a dating sim and normally anime based off of dating sims are super annoying since the mc is obnoxious af, but this one was focused more on the actual team, the players, and the sport and less about them all dying for her attention which was good for me anyways. So basically this anime had good humor, good characters, nice pacing, and decent art. If you like sports anime that they don't forcibly drag out and you can deal with the losses and internal struggles you'll probably like it.
That's all thanks for reading ^~^

Story (5/10)
It could be better but the ending creep the story. Madhouse rushed the ending. Well, atleast i scored the story 5 because this is otome games. Madhouse do a good job not making this as a romance. But the friendship is thingy is still creep me out.

Art (6/10)
Their budget go to the music and seiyuu so don't expect the good animation so much.

Sound (9/10)
Some reason why i complete the anime, because the good ost especially the end because of Mamo-chan (okay fangirling).

Character (6/10)
... Okay until episode 11, they have a good character development. They do a good job to make me emotional on watching this.

Enjoyment (8/10)
There are so many fujo-bait that refresh my eyes. Aside from that, They have a good comedy. Also the seiyuu is make me enjoy watch this. A good material for fangirl.

Overall (7/10)
Something that make me stuck to watch this is only the seiyuu how can't you resist Mamoru Miyano Idol voice and Nobuhiko Okamoto stoic voice. I recommended to watch this if you search for material not a plot. Well, not the best sport anime for me but's it's still enjoyable

Before you go on watching this anime, be warned, this is a very typical sports anime to say the least.

I have just wrapped up the series today, and overall... I'm pretty pleased with it.

Story: For those of you who have not looked into this anime at all, it is basically a story centered around a group of guys involved in a made-up sport called Stride, which from simple assumptions after watching the show, is basically a sport where a team of 5 runners race against another team relay-style, and are coordinated by another person called a Relationer. A lot of people have complained that ... the anime does not really go into detail about what Stride REALLY is and the technical details regarding it, and I can understand why that is a bit frustrating, but it being only 12 episodes and based off of a game, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Aside from that, the story is just a mediocre sport anime story: A once great team for said sport, somehow loses all their reputation from an incident among the players, and the spunky freshman characters are the ones who bring everyone together in the pursuit of rebuilding the team. Overall, nothing bad, but nothing good either. I mostly just watched it for the racing.

Side note: I have heard people complain about the fact that the actual races do not have much running shown in them, and more jumping and flipping over obstacles. You CAN say that they only do that for the racing scenes to look cool and actiony, but I think it's the fact that Stride isn't supposed to be your regular track&field type race. I think Stride was intended to be a sport that fused traditional relay racing and free-running/parkour. If you have seen free-runners, the way they run is pretty close to how they run in the show. High steps and very powerful arm movement, and of course, running through obstacles. This isn't really something too important, but I just thought I'd mention it before anyone might criticize that aspect of the show.

Art: The art I thought was very good! The colors are very bright and vibrant, and it can even be a little overwhelming, but the characters were drawn pretty and the animations of the running were also very well made.

Sound: Like the art, the sound also caught my attention. I really liked the opening of this anime. It had a very "get pumped" kind of feeling when listening to it, very similar to openings like from Haikyuu or Hajime no Ippo. Sports animes tend to do a pretty good job with that. Overall sound effects and BGMs were good. Nothing to complain about. They did a good job simulating the sounds of the runners.

Characters: Much like Free, the characters seemed kind of one dimensional so to speak, but were good looking! Each of them held their own personalities, following classic tropes (i.e. the Strong type, silent type, cute/loli type, etc.). I don't want to give too much away, but the characters do have very brief backstories and drama that adds a little bit more substance, but there wasn't too much depth to the characters. They're likable. Nothing too special.

Enjoyment: Honestly, I really enjoyed watching this anime every week. As mediocre as it may be, I'm a sucker for awesome action/sports scenes, and I thought the idea of free-running relay races was really cool too!

Overall: I would recommend this to someone who is just looking for an anime where they can enjoy more so the action than the story. There isn't all that much character development, but it does have great art and sound. Like I said before, I mainly just watched it for the racing. I'm very basic when it comes to enjoying anime, but if you're looking for something exciting, it wouldn't hurt to give this a try!

If you're looking for something to pass the time, look no further. Although it may seem that the characters may be a bit flat, and that this sort of sport anime has already been done, it is good to enjoy nonetheless. The combination of track and parkour is actually very interesting. I didn't expect a sport like that to be created! Additionally, the characters are lovable in their own way, even if they are just stereotypes/tv tropes. What gives them their uniqueness is how they treat their sport and running styles. Although the animation is not top quality, the art is very bright and colorful. ... I would definitely see this as a TV show being aired somewhere, and if you're not nitpicky on what to watch, stick with an episode or three and see how you like it.

I've been looking for an sports anime, but not an usual one about soccer or baseball. In the end I collided with "Prince of Stride: Alternative" and gave it a shot. As far as I know stride is a fictional sport, mostly comparable to a mix of relay and parcour.

All protagonists have their own little background stories, which result in the slice_of_life part of this anime. Not extremely deep but still good enough to create likeable figures. And let's be honest: With a basis of only twelve episodes it would have been almost impossible to draw out more of the main characters.
Same case concerning the ... story: not worldshaking but still interesting by revealing a few twists towards the end. Moreover the story doesn't appear rushed and fills the little amount of episodes perfectly. Watching the stride-races was undoubtedly exciting and enjoyable.

The lovely animations and character designs are the main strength of this anime. Very smooth and dynamic movements plus unusual strong, sometimes cartoonlike colors express an unique charm.
By using powerful music the overall atmosphere of the anime is mirrored pretty good. While I liked the opening best because it set me in the right mood for the episode following, the ending rather appeared to be average and didn't really stand out.

The main topics of "Prince of Stride: Alternative" are quite similar to most of sports anime, since it's all about team spirit and faith and I think those topics are quite well implented. Another important part of the plot is "running" and "running away", which should be considered on different levels.

What we deal with here in the end is an overall solid anime that is able to tell its story within only a few episodes. Nevertheless it has potential which could habe been used better if there were more than just twelve episodes. After all most of sports anime usually need more room for character development due to numerous characters.
I recommend this series, which I believe to be slightly underrated considering its good overall quality, to every sports anime fan.

Prince of Stride Alternative. I truly loved this anime. With fantastic themes of friendship, connecting emotions, and never giving up, it's truly wonderful.

I've seen that a lot of the reviews for this anime are pretty bad, and I really don't understand why. No, it's not the best anime ever, not even out of sports anime's, but even if it's not flawless, that doesn't make it any less enjoyable.

The story is your basic sports anime story line, a team of high-schoolers getting together to become a team and set their sites on victory.

The art is very pretty, the Opening theme is great, and ... the characters are adorable, and all very different. You really come to love each and every one of them.

Overall, I think this anime is really good, and I think everyone should give it a try. I'm definitely glad I did. (And I really wish there was a season 2)

First off I will say, that this anime was WAYYYY better than I expected. My friend suggested this to me, and it even exceeded his expectations. I refused to watch it at first, one because I thought it was yaoi, two because sports anime is specifically the one genre I haven't watched. That should tell you how good it was. I didn't refuse to watch it at first because of the trivial reason other people did, the people who gave it low ratings are just being oppositional. The music was was upbeat, it made me feel the determination of the characters. The opening was good ... as well. The art was good, only complaint is how thin the characters were. I felt a connection with each individual characters, I rooted for all of them in overcoming their struggles throughout the anime.

I think the opposite of all the haters of this anime on another thing too. They said the first few episodes were good, then they gave up because it became boring. That means they didn't even watch it all the way through, and gave up when a boring part appeared. I thought the reverse, the first few were slow and from about ep 6 on were perfect. After episode 6 I binged it, planning on changing to another anime by ep 8.

I loved this anime, I am glad it was my first sports anime. This might be the thing that leads me to watch Haikyuu, and Free! I mean, I don't know about Free! Looks too yoai for me.