Days (TV)

I'm writing a review for this show because it deserves WAY MORE HYPE!! It's crazy to me how I found out about this show by doing a deep search on Google when looking for a new sports anime to watch while waiting for Blue Lock. This definitely can be considered a top 10 sports anime (just from the ones I've seen, like Haikyuu, Free, Bakuten!, Kuroko's Basketball, Run with the Wind, Sk8 Infinity, etc.)

I loved this show sooo much! I'll start by addressing what people may consider negative first. Yes, it may have a lot of typical sports anime tropes, but that's what makes this ... show so fun and special in my opinion! It handles the tropes so well, and is that not the reason why we love sports anime? The skillful quiet character, the third-year leader, the journey the team goes through while team building, it's great. Days is a 10/10 because it keeps you interested the entire time. I never got bored or uninterested, I actually binged it in a few days.

The characters are what make this show so pleasant to watch. There was not one character that I did not like. The MCs - I loved Kazuma, the insanely good first-year star player who was quiet and cool, yet surprisingly really funny. and Tsukushi - the sweet and innocent beginner who found his love for soccer through his new friend Kazuma (can I just mention I loved their friendship, it actually felt authentic which is hard for some sports anime to pull off). The only major con I had for this show was I felt Tsukushi's growth was very slow, but at the same time it felt natural? When you think about it, a first year who's never played soccer isn't just going to come out and be a star. So, while some may criticize our MC for not being the best player, which I can understand, I thought it worked with the storyline. Tsukushi's struggle to learn soccer allowed us to really enjoy other characters outside of the MC, which I thought made the show more complex in a good way.

Characters like Kimishita, Mizuki, Usui, Ooshiba, Kurusu, Ubukata were all so great. Even the coach and other rival teams were great and essential to the plot. I just really enjoyed this anime. It was also very hilarious; I loved the team bonding episodes and the humor never felt forced. I just wish we got more than 24 episodes; I really do. MAPPA did a great job animating the soccer matches in my opinion and the flow of the storyline goes smoothly. There are some things that occurred that I wish were explained more with certain characters personal lives, but again because there's only one season, I'm fine with it.

Give this show a watch!! You will not regret it! It's funny, entertaining, and you'll find yourself really liking the characters as well :)

I'm seriously trying to find the right words to convey my feelings towards this series tbh. Especially regarding the main character tsukamoto, like seriously there are so many people out there comparing him to my sunshine Hinata for some messed up reason. Like running all the time in the name of practice will somehow get you better in soccer especially against experienced players. Just because the game is based on foot itself doesn't mean all you have to do is run because there is a ball involvment too which actually takes you to score. However, i'm not against it totally as it has helped him ... to gain stamina, similarly, his crying at every opportunity irks me to no end, I get it he's very sentimental like my other sunshines, such as deku and tanjiro. But at least their crying somehow felt endearing along side thier hard works that gets us viewers fired up, but his hard works doesn't give me the same feeling at all. I'm seriously treading my decision on watching it's sequel, as the first half of it's series were really meh-ish but after 21 or something you really get something to excite for. And last if not the least, all the supporting characters, seriously i'm not even going to start my rant on them because it will lead me to write chapters on them, however, it's still not stopping me to say that the most annoying character is UBUKATA. Like seriosuly, if you're a failure yourself doesn't mean you get the right to talk shit to people to let them down or give up who are trying their hard as the best possible way they know. Successing or not is up to them, at least they will know they tried and will try to find another way to success, well don't worry folks she at least stop shit talking but somehow still finds to irritate you by acting all boss and shit which might lead some people to think she's a tsundere. Also, that kazama and mizuki, what the freaking hell is up with those guys, they're considered some hard working genius yet they all bark no bite.

This show is so cringe-worthy. I feel I should spoil it to save people the trouble from watching it.

Jaded soccer "genius" spots a momma's boy and apparently decides to pass the time by introducing him to soccer, cause apparently there's merit in bringing a "good guy" into soccer/football (genius is a closet momma's boy). Nevermind the fact physical sports are where alpha personalities and big egos clash to enforce superior social standing above others through displays of athleticism...

So basically this sheltered momma's boy is not only a complete beginner, but also is a complete idiot. His stupidity doesn't tell him that he has no business ... being in the sport; the opposite happens, he determines it to be his calling. He does show that he has tenacity, probably the only redeeming trait that allows others to tolerate him. Seeing this soccer newbie enjoy the smallest things somehow reignites the passion in the no-longer-jaded soccer "genius", and the school soccer team goes on to become a force to be reckoned with.

Rather than being bullied by the alpha guys, he's bullied by a single girl, and everyone treats it as normal. The girl even gets involved by becoming a manager.

The show *forces* this boy into being given air time whenever possible, and prepare to cringe from watching how people react to him. Apparently, his simple-mindedness resonates with muscle-heads, and they sort of create a weird kind of rivalry that accelerates the progress of the momma's boy, evolving him into a freak that poses some sort of unconventional threat.

I don't like the cringe feeling, but I'm not disgusted for some reason, and end up continuing to watch. I know I can drop a high school romance the moment a cringe-worthy awkward moment pops up, but I can't figure out WTF is up with this show that got me to continue. Well, on the plus side, this anime helps set the lowest standard in anime that I could actually complete watching.