Hanebado!

Hanebad AKA Hanesaki Badminton is yet another underwhelming sports series from 2018. This time, our series focuses around edgy feelings stuff, crying scenes and other melodrama, and the title itself already acknowledges it is bad.

Apparently, life is pointless and so is badminton, so wearing an edgy face directly from Madoka Magica whenever someone hits the ball, or cringe flashbacks with sad feeling stuff occurs, is obligatory. I have no idea what the series tries to accomplish by anyone crying every 5 minutes and reflecting their suicidal vanity via badminton. Better cut myself some wounds that won't heal to understand how deep it is, I ... guess.

Our characters are pretty boring. Moeblobs whose character design has gone thru more planning than their personalities, filled with bunch of psychological problems and depression, used by the author in purpose of trying to make someone feel for them because they are so full of these emotions, man. Practically the whole crew is Inside Out's take on what being a bitch in different ways is about.

This series also contains one of the most random scenes I have ever seen in the history of anime. Girl 1 yells at girl 2 in anger, followed by girls 3-5 yelling at girl 1 for yelling at girl 2, further followed by girl 4 starting to walk off into the sunset while girls 1-3 and 5 watch. All of my wat.

Originally, I was hyped to see the animated trajectories of badminton, but I have been too distracted by the obviously-an-anime character models and the thought that someone might start crying or kill themselves in the middle of a match, to get impressed by it.

Perhaps those who don't find the shonen sports formula to be very appealing, will find some satisfaction from this, but be warned: some edgy series are fun and some are this anime. I will still give this a generous 5 because there seems to be a chance of it getting better, which alone is worth of something because most airing series don't even have that.

Sometimes, I wish sports anime gets more attention whether it’s swimming, basketball, soccer, tennis, or anything competitive in nature. Sure, there was Free! from these past few years but it clearly had an audience from the very beginning. Badminton is a one of those sports where it doesn’t get too much attention, at least not on an international level. Yet Hanebado has its own fame when it comes to selling its sports drama.

I would have originally watched this show just for the sheer competitiveness feeling. However, Hanebado persuaded me to invest into its character cast from the first few episodes. We meet a colorful group ... that includes Ayano, Nagisa, Riko, Elena, among others. From my initial impression, it reminded me of characters trying to make a name for themselves. But as more and more the story progressed, it felt like some really were pushing themselves to the limit. The most noticeable character is Ayano where she enter an insane beast-like mode when she is motivated. Some of her matches are noticeable of being extreme such as the case with Kaoruko. While Ayano is a main character, I find it difficult to root for her. The show chronicles her personality as being overly competitive to the point where it can toxic to watch her matches. On the other hand, I do think that Ayano is able to bring out the nature of badminton to a level that people were not anticipating for.

It’s probably easy to overlook some other characters at first glance but the show does attempt to bring out the best from others. Nagisa is another noticeable name that I ended up rooting for late in the story. As a way to prove herself, she pushes Ayano to her best in one of the most intense matches in the series. We also got to learn a bit more about both girls along the way. But unfortunately, I can’t really say this series makes Ayano likable. It’s like there’s two completely different characters of her – one that evokes fear and another that behaves like a casual schoolgirl. It’s much easier to relate to the latter. Ayano’s competitive side often reaches to a point that is unbelievable in this show. I find it even baffling at how she deals with depression because her past shows a case of abandonment.

Realism, in fact, does exist to some extent in the show. The characters skill sets are easily watchable as it’s not hard to tell who can beat who before a game is even over at times. But on the contrary, some matches feel like it didn’t live up to expectations with curb-stomp like moments. I also have some problems with how much characters changes, not just in the case of Ayano. For instance, there’s Connie who develops a meaner attitude after facing off against her. Regarding Ayano herself, it seems no one really tries to help her change either. This extends to their coach, Kentarou Tachibana. I’m not going to lie, this guy is hard to accept. He helps out Nagisa with her own problems but doesn’t attempt to do the same for Ayano. The show did make him likable in the beginning but his development doesn’t get enough attention.

As you may have guessed, Hanebado isn’t going to spoon feed you information much so you’ll have to learn along the way. Badminton isn’t an overly complex sport but it does require a lot of attention. To me, the pure competitive energy of the sport is enough sometimes. The series sells its drama this way during the matches. It’s a bit strange though. The more I watched badminton, the more I feel like this show mixes in psychology during the storytelling. Every match feels like there’s something at stake such as a player’s pride. As one of the positives in this series, every match carries an emotional weight that I think is worth watching for. If only the main character cast could be worth talking about just as much in a positive light.

That isn’t to say the series is unwatchable even with its questionable character roster. Jumping into Hanebado is a visual feast to the eyes with the production quality. There’s a lot of fluidity in the motions of the characters. Every movement in the series felt real and important especially during key moments of the matches. This ranges from the clever camera angles on the muscles to little details like body language. Character designs also look clean that gives each character a distinctive look. Ayano is an exceptional case once you see both sides of her character. That also leads to character expressions that I see very much as impressive. Ayano’s personality is highlighted with how she reacts to her friends or rivals. Others show their emotions without holding much back. Even during lighthearted scenes, there are moments that defines characters for what the creators wanted them to be in this adaptation. The theme songs (particular opening) contains a variety of dynamic camerawork that is admirable. It’s stylish that enhances the energy of the show. The ED theme song contains carefully crafted framework and artistic coloring. Definitely very thought provoking like a work of art.

There’s not too many sports series that hooks my attention and Hanebado did that in the beginning. While I still can’t forgive the character destruction of some of the cast, there’s definitely a few that are worth watching. You can be the judge on who to root for. For a show with sports competitiveness, there’s the feeling of emotional stakes. I did hope the series took better care of its characters in terms of their development and personalities. But Hanebado is a watchable. It’s not perfect by all means or even outstanding. Yet, it has an ability to tell a dramatic sports story.

I'm not a fan of the sports genre, I may be missing out on some treats, but I'm not interested in cliche games where the main character always wins. I came across Megalo Box and it proved me wrong, so I thought why not give this a try? It might impress me too... but it didn't.

The story is about a tournament in which challengers play against each other. I guess that's it, that's the most of the story. There's also the unnecessary drama which is also criticized by its fans, but if you dislike the drama, then what do you exactly like about the show? ... The tournament? Is it really something praiseworthy? I'm not here to judge anyone's taste, you can like whatever you want to, but I really want a legit argument as to why this is likable. Anyway, each character has some sort of story with badminton and they're as forgettable as the characters themselves, with the exception of Hanesaki because the anime shoves down your throat that she plays badminton for her mother and you should not forget that. Then her mother comes back to live with her one day and we don't even get any kind of development or reunion scene. She comes back, and the director thought, let's skip to another scene, shall we?

I'm guessing the animators thought they could win over the fans with some good animation for the games and forget that a story or even character designs exist. The characters were so forgettable that I had no choice but to distinguish them by appearance, but even that was impossible because the characters pretty much look the same, just alter the hairstyle a bit, or not, depends on the character. They even forgot how to draw Hanesaki in episode 12 and made her look like she grew 30 years in the time frame of one game. They tried to have style over substance but couldn't nail both. As for the soundtracks, easily best part of the show, they were chill, intense, or anything that was needed. They didn't stand out much but they made the show a bit more enjoyable.

And now come the characters. I mentioned how forgettable they are so I pretty much forgot what I wanna say about them. Hanesaki hates the world for some reason, Nagisa is flat, not her breast though, and she was just... there, possibly to rival Hanesaki. The teacher had Nobuhiko voice him and that alone made him a bit remarkable, he was encouraging I'd say. Other characters had an episode dedicated to them but I can't really recall their names, personality, maybe even their looks, or their motives. They played games constantly and the game were just shortened to add in some irrelevant drama which does not affect the game. Characters keep on playing regardless of their past in their oddly paced matches. But it's notable to say the strategies used in the games were convincing so that's a merit to notice. Anyhow, I kind of lost track on what I was gonna say about them, but losing track is what their personality is best at. They're just bland and present to give you a well animated, oddly paced match featuring characters that look and act the same.

Rant of the day is over. You can now go watch this (or not) and ignore my opinion because this is definitely AOTY.

Sports anime are usually a bit over-the-top and rely on internal conflicts of the protagonist, but here this was taken in a particularly weird and annoying direction. Most major characters in the show, including the protagonist Ayano, act in an erratic, exaggerated manner that makes them simply unlikeable. Ayano's mother especially is an unbelievable piece of **** and while her actions were vaguely explained, none of the drama she causes is really believable or adds anything interesting, she's simply a horrible person dragging others down with her. Everything ends with a great confrontation between two deeply unreasonable individuals without anyone to really root for and ... a pretty anticlimactic resolution.

Other than that, the series is solidly produced - it looks and sounds very good and while I only had a very brief adventure with badminton myself, everything definitely felt right with how the matches were portrayed. If someone enjoys the tension and detailed animation of sports anime, they should be satisfied with this one. Much of it is drama though and I've found basically all of it rather questionable.

While the beginning of the season was interesting, for me the show proved ultimately unsatisfying and I recommend it only if you're seriously into its theme or the kind of visual spectacle it offers.

One year ago studio Lidenfilms gave us the wonderful Killing Bites and now they've graced me with this epic anime about Badminton (yes you read that right), Hanebado! If we graded anime based on production quality alone this show would seriously be a 10/10 masterpiece. The choreography in the badminton matches is superb, like you feel like you're watching two real athletes compete, because their movements are so lifelike. The animation is just superb as you see the sweat flying off these girls as they compete, you see their muscles straining under the pressure of returning that smash shot. CG is used appropriately to show ... the shuttle cock flying around the court at breakneck speed, and all of the sounds effects are perfect. For these reasons I'm giving a 10 to Art and Sound. Sadly this show has one fatal flaw: its protagonist.

I really, REALLY hated the main girl, Ayano, in this show, to the point where she almost made me turn it off a few times. If literally any of the other players in this show had been the protagonist, the show would have been about said girl's dedication, passion, and love for the sport of Badminton. The problem with Ayano is her motivation ISN'T ANY OF THESE THINGS! She just wants to crush her opponents, doesn't care about having fun or making new friends, and just wants mommy to notice her. Sounds like she'd make a good season villain, I'll grant you, but the heroine we're supposed to root for? Never in a million years!!! What's worse is we HAD a good protagonist in episode 1 with Nagisa (short haired tomboy),before the bait and switch and it turns out Ayano is actually the main character by episode 2. We see Nagisa's muscles straining, the sweat collecting on her forehead as she trains. Compared to Ayano, who never has to practice hard because she's a prodigy, who easily crushes her opponents and even mocks them after beating them? What were they thinking making HER the heroine? Ugh. The score for Character was hardest for me to give since I LOVED Nagisa as a character but I HATED Ayano so much more, and she turned out to be the "heroine" of this story. Ayano starts out annoying and she only gets worse and worse with every episode, picking fights with people for no reason and rejecting any kindness people show her. So I ended up giving Character a 3.

I gave Story a mediocre 5 because it's just a show about badminton, after all. There's the usual cliche high school drama, but that's not what you're here for. You're here for the epic badminton matches that seriously got me as hyped as a boxing match in Hajime no Ippo! But the games themseves aren't story per se, so I'd throw that back in the Art/Sound category. I still had a lot of fun watching the show, but my Enjoyment score dropped from a 10 to an 8 from episode 1 with Nagisa as the protagonist, to the later episodes with Ayano in the lead role. Overall I wanted to love Hanebado but ended up only liking it. I probably would have given it an 8 but that one character Ayano made the show so hard to watch I had to drop it down to a 6.

I thought this would be a 10/10 anime. Beautiful animations and so forth but it turned out to be a bad date. Most reviews are boring so heres my "bad date" review of this anime.

I was excited as hell. I learned so much about her and I was hoping to finally meet her in person. I waited until the date we'd air. It was everything and more. But I had no idea she would Sword Art Online me.

Episode One; No spoilers: Beautiful animation, beautiful women, and I like them a bit tall with chunky arms so this was EVERYTHING after being forced to watch ... underage waifu's and best gals. Beautiful opening scene which Japan never does as well as the U.S.. I thought this WAS IT! I didn't need 3 episodes to get into the anime like most shows. Finally an anime that nailed the PACING and CHARACTER INTRODUCTIONS. Usually we are introduced to 100 characters, half of which don't really impact the story but, hey, the ramen animations are awesome right ? HAHAHAHHAHAfukmeahahaha.

Episode two: I was excited for our date. All her manga exes kept telling me "wait till you see ___." They're so annoying. This, was a great one as well because it pushed away from the usual "protagonist overcomes ____" With three protaganists, and no essential main characters it was YET another trope japanese filmworks never seem to be able to do. Which is why shows like Boku No Hero Academia, Justice League, Naruto, One Piece, and Teen Titans are so interesting.


But thats pretty much all it had to offer. The anime died on me, I already downloaded episode seven so ill finish it. But im absolutely dissapointed in the character development and pacing. You CANT just introduce a character and milestone then retract them. Also, the girl's backstory isn't sad. It's completely unrealistic, and they should've spent more time helping me graph and understand her empathetically. She has no personality traits and im six episodes in.

"Its not enough to just love something." A quote that fits this anime perfectly. Like most japanese filmworks they try to stride through with animation, kawhi best gals, and fan service. Im sure the manga is great but this show is bad for ONE reason. It...it doesn't hold my interests. Hopefully the next episodes help the audience understand the characters and dig deeper into "why." Not how...

Ya know when there is an anime with a sports genre, we think of beginner's luck followed by the reality of losing and a competitor that trash talk at the main character. But not like this where the main character itself is the antagonist herself, and we're talking about Hanasaki Ayano, who from a sweet girl who abandons badminton when she was left by her mom, to a condescending bitch when she finds herself going back to the sport that made her quit in the first place thank in part from her childhood friend, Fujisawa Elena. As the protagonist we see Ayano doing what the ... usual antagonist does , attitude , winning, smirking and then trash talking. Ok so the story plot has that cliche drama of the main character, being alone, and finding his or her place in the world, but then again, this isn't about badminton , rather it all about the two competitor , Ayano and Nagisa, as they struggle to be the best and at the same time having the obsession of beating the other in order to put the loser in her place. But in the end , it didn't when that way as nothing tragic has happened with nay of them , nagisa only have a not so serious injury, Ayano lose to her by just 1 point , and then the no good mom of Ayano, finds herself being forgiven, I mean, not much of a good ending. But to me, I really find ayano being an antagonist that I like and where her bitchyness is something I can forgive, Nagisa, well, she may have this never give up attitude and work hard thing for her but much of it was her frustration from losing to a middle schooler in a badminton tournament which we see from the first episode, in fact I would have love to see her lose again to Ayano and at the same time really have a bad injury that she'll never play again kind of thing, but like I've said it ended like everything is ok and everyone will be friends again kinda shit. But enough of that, here are mya ratings:

Story-Good 7: Cu'z it was just the usual cliche sport drama, but then again, having the kind of character like Ayano and Nagisa make up for it somehow.

Art-Poor 3: Cu'z there weren't any intense fanservices around, but I do have a fuss about the Kitakomachi High School Badminton club attire, which look more like the old haydays of Superman and Batman wearing their underwear outside their suits, except here it looks like they're wearing leotards outside of their rompers that I find it dorky.

Sound-Good 7: Cu'z you can feel the sound of being tired or being exhausted as each players duke out with each other in the court.

Character-Very Good 8: To me it's very good since Hanasaki Ayano is one main character who is the antagonist that I like.

Enjoyment- Very Good 8: Since it was something that makes one empathize with the character.

Overall- fair 6: I may have like how the plot of focusing everything on Ayano Vs Nagisa on a rematch, but I kinda hate how it ends as if studio LIDENFILMS and director Ezaki, Shinpei wanted an good ending where everyone move forward for the best, I mean, it just has that cliche ending..........so , don't even think about another season bitch.

Hanebado was a show that left a bitter taste in my mouth. Sure, with its stunning animation, it stood out to me as a show I need to watch. Unfortunately, with its lack of direction and poor characters, the show was a little more than underwhelming. I had high hopes for this show. Being a huge sports anime fan and having 2 new sport shows come out last season, it was more than a treat. Unfortunately, both have disappointed me in more ways than one. When I first saw the preview back in April for a new show about girls' badminton, it blew me away. ... They showed 30 seconds of a match with the most detailed animation. The speed and intensity of the match was just astounding. It reminded me a lot of Haikyuu!!, plus, it was about badminton which is a sport that hasn't been explored in anime I believe. The animation is stunning and very free flowing. The things that stand out to me the most are the watercolor painting style of the ED, the smoke dissolving into different characters in the OP, and the movement in the matches. The insane cuts between characters and the shuttlecock and the court make it more intense. The soundtrack is also very good and plays at all the right times. The opening song is very good too. Other than that, the show definitely falls flat in terms of writing.

Hanebado! starts with 2 girls, Nagisa and Ayano, who don't know why they even play badminton because of certain events in middle school. When Ayano gets into high school, she is forced by her peers to join the badminton team. That's basically it. Sports animes don't really have a centralized story like most shows but they focus more on the characters. In Haikyuu, we follow Hinata as he joins the volleyball club with skills that are necessary for volleyball but with no knowledge of the sport. We learn the details about the sport with Hinata. In this show, both Ayano and Nagisa know the sport very well so they decide not to talk specifics about badminton. They don't tell you the rules or even show you strategies, they just assume the audience knows.

As for the characters, most are boring and uninteresting. Now I know that this is only 12 episodes so it's not a lot of time to develop characters. I don't think this is an excuse though. Ping pong the animation has great characters and they space them out well enough so we know about everyone. That show is only 11 episodes too but back to this show. Ayano, who is supposed to be the main character, is a girl who was raised by a badminton pro to become a prodigy. There isn't really a lot of pressure put onto Ayano until she loses a match. Her mother just straight up leaves. This leaves Ayano in sort of a trance like if I don't get better, my mom will never come back. Uchika, which is the mother, decides that if she keeps helping Ayano, she's gonna play badminton for her and not herself. Ayano begins to hate her mother. The way the whole situation is resolved is just stupid. Ayano says like 2 sentences and then leaves. Can't go into details because spoilers, but if you watch it, you'll see. Uchika also reminds me a little of Ging from Hunter x Hunter. Ging leaves Gon to become a hunter. Gon thinks that it's amazing that he would leave to pursue his dream but that's messed up. Just like Uchika, Ging places importance of Gon becoming a hunter over raising a child. She places badminton over all. When Uchika leaves, she goes to train other kids in foreign countries and one of the kids is Connie. Connie is an orphan who Uchika takes in and raises to become a badminton prodigy. She tells Connie about Ayano and mentions that she played badminton. I feel Uchika provokes Connie to find and verse her, but Connie's main goal is to become a family. This sounds nice, but Connie goes all the way to Japan to verse Ayano and when they meet, she is super rude to Ayano. Why! If you want to just ask about the family situation, just straight up ask. Ayano versus another girl with pink hair named Kaoruko who is also like a cartoon villain. She provokes Ayano into a match and it shows her past very little. They were rivals when they were little, but Kaoruko loses a lot to Ayano. One day, Kaoruko gets sick so to keep it fair, she gets Ayano sick and wins the match. This is also the match where her mother just leaves. Ayano remembers this and starts acting differently from this episode. That whole situation was outrageous and pretty dumb. What else is dumb is the badminton team. They are there for moral support and that's it. They don't stand out, they don't have any unique personalities, and we don't see them play badminton much. The coach is pretty bad too. He finds Ayano and sees the potential in her. He asks if she would join and she says no. She obviously joins later but this is the only time where the coach is interested in Ayano. He picks his favorite which is Nagisa, the other main character basically. They focus on her for the beginning of the show then just push her off to the side for the rest of the show. She is a lot like the coach, so the coach sees that and helps her out. She thinks she isn't talented but through the hard work she puts in, she can succeed. This could've set up for much more but since she's put in a side character role when she's basically a main character, the ending doesn't work. She talks about how much work she's put in throughout the year, but we don't see it, therefore, we don't care.

Again, this show had lots of potential. If the show focused on both characters with their ideals and talents but erased their knowledge of the sport, I think it could have worked better. I also think that if every match was like the one in the last 2 episodes, it would make matches more intense. I watched it for the animation, but the writing just isn't there. Great shows can come from shows like this but when the story and the characters are bad, the show becomes bad.

I've often watched shows like Haikyuu! and wondered why it's so focused just on volleyball, and not on developing some of the characters away from the court. After watching Hanebado!, I'm re-thinking that position. The best way that I could describe the story in Hanebado! is that the scenes focused on badminton (the matches, the training/coaching, etc.) are actually quite excellent. And everything that happens away from the court is just an absolute mess. Maybe some writers are just better at telling a simple sports drama and shouldn't try to extend too far beyond that (although, I recently watched Cross Game, which handled the balance ... quite beautifully).

Without spoiling too much, Hanebado!'s major plot is driven by Ayano's psychological state, which is in turn driven by her mother's abandonment. Badminton focused heavily in their mother-daughter relationship, and her mother's disappearance from her life causes Ayano some serious mental anguish. I'm no shrink, but she has some really wild mood swings, going from sweet, adorable character to total bitch. It makes her very hard to like, which is a problem in a show like this. Some shows might benefit from anti-heros, but I don't think this one does. On a side note - Ayano's mom seems so cool and loving and caring in every scene she's shown in, and there's just a real disconnect over how she could just up and leave. I kept waiting for an unexplained reason that would make sense, but that doesn't come. Her reason is dumb, and it just doesn't jive with how her character is portrayed at all.

On the flip side, despite initially being kind of bossy towards her teammates, Nagisa is a much more likeable character. We understand her and her motivations - her passion and drive to better herself in the sport that she loves. And her own mental battles (having lost so thoroughly, despite all the work she's put in) are much more relatable.

If the story had focused more on the matches and less on making Ayano some sort of mental case, I think it would have made for a much more enjoyable experience. I still enjoyed the badminton scenes quite a bit, so the show gets a pass from me. I'd even watch a second season if they ever made one. But mostly I just feel like this was a missed opportunity, given the obvious production value put into the effort - this is the nicest-looking show I've watched in a while. The animation is amazing, and the character designs are all top notch. They clearly put a lot of effort into the aesthetic of the show, it's just a shame they couldn't salvage a decent story.

What could have been the leader of female sports anime sadly became a meaningless collection of yandere females.

Sports anime is perhaps the easiest genre to carry on due to its one and only rule: put the sports element front and center. It does not necessarily mean that sports anime should feel like a docu-drama-- it means that sports should be the medium in which the characters grow and find themselves and resolve their conflicts and finally, aim for the better future. Sports would subtly become the metaphor of life itself. One should train hard to have a better life, that one should be able to ... compete to elevate such life, and that both victory and defeat are simply the beginning of a brand new chapter of life. As time goes, though, different types of sports are adapted and become a breath of fresh air, let it be archery (Tsurune) or sumo (Hinomaru Sumo) or even karuta (the lovely Chihayafuru). Nonetheless, the rule shall be universal. Come to think of it, it is not as easy of a genre, is it?

Hanebado! attempted to defy the one and only rule. Now look at what it had become.

On the surface, the narrative seems strong and the characters even stronger. Sure, fan-service elements are to be expected (the originated manga, after all, is skewed more towards the male readers than the female) but with proper management, Hanebado! --again, on the surface-- could have been something really promising. Unfortunately, as if the people of LIDENFILMS had no faith in either the badminton sport and/or the promising elements, the whole thirteen episodes become a paradise for yandere girls to the point of which, does it even matter that they play badminton? In fact, does it even matter that they play sports at all? With the yandere-ness getting overboard, all character developments feel elementary, the conflicts become some sort of a farce, and the resolution becomes ultimately pointless. Every defeat would only snap their psychology and every victory would be a mere 'meh' moment. These are just a bunch of high school females bathing in sweat and bipolarity. It is as if, "Who cares about depth?"

At the end of the day, it is puzzling who should be ashamed of this product: the studio that made the anime or the audience themselves? Like the old saying, "there is no supply without demand". Does anime such as this exist in the first place because we, the audience, want this to exist? Have we reached the new low in terms of shallowness? Or perhaps this is the worst-case scenario: that audience just does not want to see deep and resolute female athletes on their screen? If it is the latter, then well, we ALL really should be ashamed.

#felixlovesanime

as always this genre ignites the veins of glamorous battles that fall in love with many, I have always liked, the story is now of badminton with women and one with an elite talent, the story I like is pretty enfaciz in almost all secondary characters giving a degree of appreciation on the screen but still have to expose, the story advance very fast in my opinion is quite different from manga in the order of events, its animation undoubtedly I like quite gives the touch of suspense ideal to the series , acceptable soundtrack, acceptable story and in general acceptable, I do not think ... it will shine like gold series more like silver still lacks enough to be a great series for going to a good level

I'll get straight to the point without beating around the bush too much.
I call this anime: How to have great story potential and being a fan of Disney endings. Let me summarize this for you, this anime let's you down harder than Hanesaki's mother abandoned her. I rated this a 6 because the animation and character's are pretty cool and all, but seriously that ending is so frustrating. So many design choices that make you wonder why did you not chose a less "mainstream" road.
ANYWAYS, please just watch this anime until mid episode 12 and forget the ending please.
I do sound like ... a hater, however, I really am not. Just the studio wanting to finish the anime in 13 episodes and rushing it to have a happy ending.
Peace

I feel compelled to write this review as Hanebado! is a mix bag of probably the best of somethings--such as great animation during the badminton scenes, and the worst of everything else.

As far at the story goes, there isn't much flow between one thing to the next, I mean in one episode we see a character enter the story, yet next mentioned throughout the next episode. This is just one example. But the story goes from some flow, to none at all as the story is trying to be super edgy and depressed while never having a real need to. It never makes a big ... enough impact on you to have that edginess or that depression. And things come from random encounters and random scenes that give very little in both body language or dialogue to have you really understand what is going on.

So Art and Sound go hand in hand here, as they are both equally good when the scene calls for it. The Badminton must have been done by watching real badmintoners as it's very crispy and fluent and when the music is right, it does a great job of what's needed of it, but as I said with the story above, there are unnecessary times when it's building a mood that isn't there and feels out of place at best.

Characters suffer from the story as well as they are sporadic. The core cast is overall fine, but than we have two out of place badminton players which are there purely it seems to cause harm or hate on the main character. And she is somehow traumatized by it all. I understand how someone can be so engrossed into a sport, but I've seen that done far better in other anime's than this one.

So really all that is keeping me watching this at this point is the fluent animation of the badminton and the very few hints that the story is good here and there. But it doesn't flow at all. And my enjoyment is at best dull to what could have been a great series to watch.

I have a hard time deciding if I'd recommend this show just for good character design and some good sports play that's few and far between. Because the story definitely isn't what I'd recommend

I've heard some people say that this show is way too dramatic for a sports anime about Badminton. I'd say that it is more like the show takes its story too serious. Sometimes to the detriment of it's characters. Kuroko no Basket is a sports show that takes itself seriously, but still has a aura of camp to it that makes it enjoyable. This show has no camp to it's edgyness ... and it just leaves you hating any character that isn't the MC Aragaki. Aragaki is great in this show as she seems completely uninterested or unfazed by the other characters BS. This amazon just wants to play Badminton.

The characters are my biggest problem with the show. Motivations and characteristics seem to change for everyone on an ep. to ep. basis. Even after 12 ep., I still wasn't sure what the characters would be like in the 13th. The secondary MC, is one of the worst at this as the entire way through the show she hates her mom for abandoning her, for losing a match. However, anytime we see the mom throughout the show she seems like a super loving mom and a generally nice person. What the Secondary MC thought was abandoning, was actually a business trip that the mom didn't communicate properly..... seriously.

The art and sound are the saving grace of the show. When the director stops focusing on character BS and focuses the camera on the sport, it's super well animated; using some CG and hand drawn techniques. There are numerous times we get long shots of play. One huge prop I'll give this show, is that the final showdown gets all the screen time it needs and it is very enjoyable. The Sound effects are also stellar.

Overall, If you ever wanted to watch a show that's insecure about the sport it's about this might be for you. It's almost like they thought the audience would get bored of crazy well animated sports play for some reason.

Hanebado is a summer 2018 anime produced by Lindenfilms, directed by Shinpei Ezaki, and written by Taku Kishimoto. The story follows Ayano Hanesaki, A high school girl who is very gifted at badminton. Hanebado features a large cast of characters whom all have some sort of quirk and shortcoming to their personality. The anime initially seems to be a coming of age story about overcoming said quirk. Unfortunately, Hanebado slowly turns into a narrative and ethical mess that by the end makes all the events that happened in the middle seem pointless and infuriating.
One major problem with the anime throughout its runtime is the ... meanspirited atmosphere. Hanebado insists on pushing animosity, melodrama, and insults in its script without having a meaningful outcome. An example of this is one character being defeated by the MC of the show, the MC of the show insulting and mocking her and then moving on. The character who got insulted own character arc ended on sadness and depression and then just threw her back in the background. Granted this character was stingy to the MC in the past, but the arc this character received did not make her a better person, it did not make the MC more likable, and it didn’t give a viable explanation on why she did these actions.
Another downfall is the plot device of Ayano’s mother which is so outlandish and disgusting, that it is completely unbelievable and takes the immersion out of the viewer. It is so over the top that it leaves the viewer frustrated with the actions of the MC’s mother not changing and not realizing her mistakes in an actual meaningful way. The mother’s actions were not properly justified and seemed so fucking stupid that it just made me think what the writers were thinking hyping up this plot since the beginning for such a drab explanation. The “development” that does occur between them on the last episode felt so artificial too. The problems between them were patched up far too quickly instead of properly fleshing out their relationship over a span of episodes. This was solidified with episode 10 and in all honesty, made me feel disgusted.
This doom and gloom throughout make the show feel depressing and it makes the very slim number of lighter moments feel so out of place that it gives you whiplash. Hanebado is not an ideal sports story in all accounts. It does not show the viewer the benefit of being on a sports team. It does not properly show the sacrifices of being in that sport because it shows the negatives of those sacrifices without showing how the characters grow. The characters either don’t grow at all or are not developed properly and the main plot device of the show is so stupid and achieves nothing to grow the MC and her mother. Combining all of these factors make this anime a poor tale about sports and playing on a team which should be empowering.
Oh well, At least it looks good.

This is my first review, and I'm using it on this anime. It's been getting way too much flak in my opinion, when that time would be better used on series that deserve it more, especially in this abyssmal season. Hanebado is not that bad, and imo, it's got some things going for it.

I have no issues with the premise, I've never felt one way or another with badminton. Little bit too much drama as everybody and their mother has pointed out, but makes it at the very least not completely boring, even if it's pretty asanine. I'm watching for the well animated matches anyway, ... so if it isn't completele paint drying in inbetween, it's not huge problem or anything.

Art is really good. Backgrounds aren't anything special, but not terrible. With the animation, I like the use of rotoscoping in particular, and the animation outside of that is generally really good, exceptional by this season's standards. I really disliked this season.

The voice acting was pretty good, no qualms really, music was unremarkable to me honestly. The OP is pretty catchy I guess.

You only need to know anything about two characters, Nagisa and Ayano. Ayano, you are supposed to dislike. She does have backstory and all, but the overall intention is to dislike her personality she develops through the Hanebado's duration, especially after her mother returns. Is it a good character arc? No. Is it a character arc? Yes. In the end she's kinda cute and more bearable too. Nagisa is a good character. She's tall, and people misjudge her and think the only reason she's good at badminton is because she's tall. She's actually a very hard worker, and she is also struggling with a knee problem. She has determination and good work ethic. More importantly, she's a tall, short-haired tomboy with big titties and bigger muscles. Hot. Should be noted I thought she was the main character for at least half the run of the anime, so that says something about it.
Side characters are pretty boring. No one gives a shit about Hayama, he didn't need the attention he got.

Enjoyment was the only thing I scored this off of, because literally everything here is boiling down to how much the other elements contributed to enjoyment, or bogged it down. I enjoyed it. The matches were good and fun to watch, the drama wasn't boring at least, and Nagisa is a good, sexy girl.

Overall 6/10.

Plot is mediocre at best. Heavy on drama and anxiety. Just Ayano's mother alone is enough to make me dislike the anime. I don't have much tolerance for terrible parenting and I certainly don't enjoy watching characters traumatized for no good reason.

It would be better if it just focused on the sports/slice of life aspect but the whole mind-broken little heroine girl concept just drags down the whole feel of the anime. Rather than emotion and character depth, the whole show just feels like a long dragged out pity party.

It's watchable, but just barely. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone even if they were bored ... and had too much free time on their hands. The artwork and music is good and there are some good aspects. However the over-dramatic trauma and pity significantly outweighs the good aspects.

Oh wow, what did I just watch here

Sports anime is always something that I liked because it's unique. Baby Steps, Kurobas, Haikyuu, Free, all of them are really pleasing to watch. Of course, I had an expectation for this anime especially since I myself like badminton but, it was quite a let down tbh. I got immersed into it for the first 2 episodes because they did a really good job on portraying character and story but after that I don't even know what they're aiming anymore.

Unlike most of the sports anime, the competition scene wasn't really appealing (with the exception of the last episode) ... so I thought they would've focus more on the story but nope, not really. A lot of things in the story was just bland. Character development is undeniably just ridiculous (especially with the change of personality stuff) and there are lots of background story that are like come and go, they tell us about it a bit and just move along without really giving a conclusion.

In the end what was this all about? Honestly idk, it's just a come and go for me too anyways. Story was too wrapped up to even find a good conclusion and the competition was just too bland to be attracted for. I guess they wanted to focus on the story, abandoning the competition scene but failed miserably.

Overall I give this a 6. Stayed just because my love for badminton and sports anime. They should've been able to manage better even for a 13 episode long anime.

One of the most important things about a shounen or seinen anime is that it must be able to inspire or at least make the viewer skip a beat. This anime has done nothing to do either of those. Hell, in my opinion, Keijo!!! was far better than Hanebado. The only saving grace, in my opinion, was the animation in the matches which had the smashes swooshing in and the receiving top notch. I really liked the use of CG there and the sweat and anticipation really mimicked the intensity of a real-life match. However, apart from that everything was really bad.

Starting with the story. ... the characters were not true to their motivations. Instead of having a well-defined goal, we had the story of a mystery novel with the mother being the ultimate bad. I mean come on the mother left because she lost a match. And the attempted comedy threw the anime into the dark trenches of cringes. The protagonist has a sister who comes all the way from Denmark to beat her and then after being all smug becomes very compassionate. At no point in the story, winning a cup or winning for senpai or even the stalest "power of friendship" come into the motivation(winning for the team doesn't count). All characters say they madly love badminton but baring a few moments it's rarely seen. Compare that to Haikyuu which had all of your usual tropes, the thrill and rush of playing a sport was definitely felt by the viewer. Hell, I played volleyball for a month after watching it.

The characters were the worst part of the show. The angry one becomes the side and quiet one and then becomes the winning one all by realizing that she is tall and heavy. The protagonist starts from being a yandere then becomes a kuudere and keeps switching till she meets her mother who in my opinion is the worst character of all. The remaining charcaters have paper thin personalities and are pretty much disposable.

The music isnt bad but the way shows such as Naruto, Haikyuu, BHA have used it to raise the tension during the fights, I was very disappointed to not see it happen. Overall, its motivated me not to play badminton anymore and that summarizes my review.

Story: 6/10
It's not anything special. Ayano basic premise is finding out the reason she plays badminton and then there some mother problem or something. Nagisa is literally about showing that her effort means something.
Then there is a tournament arc and everyone loves tournament arcs right?
There are some supporting character that get arcs as well but my god they are not that good at all.
Also it doesn't follow the manga 100%. It changes a lot of things or makes things much more dramatic.

Art: 9/10
Probably the reason you are going to even watch this. The animation is just phenomenal in this show. The badminton scenes ... look amazing. Of course like most shows though it does tend to get worse as you get into the later episodes but it still is no where near as bad as Yuri on Ice was.

Sound: 7/10
Great opening and ending. The soundtrack does its job and the sound effect have a lot of impact in the badminton scenes.

Character: 3/10
All the characters are just terrible. Ayano becomes almost annoying as hell in the second half. Nagisa is really unlikable at the beginning, yes I get it is the point so that she gets an character arc where she gets better but in the later half of the show she is just so boring. The supporting cast aren't any better either. Connie is unlikeable Kaoruko is very unlikeable and Uchika is just the worse.
By the end of the series nothing feels resolved at all with these characters.
I honestly don't understand why they didn't just follow the manga accurately? The characters are much better in the manga and much more likeable.

Enjoyable: 7/10
The first half is very enjoyable and the animation is enough to keep you intersted. The story is just very bad and the characters are bad as well.

Overall 5/10
Should've followed the manga