Hanebado!

Those who derive all of their entertainment and lasting impressions from anime out of said work’s production values alone, those in the so called Sakuga Community, have always interested me, because while their commitment to technical quality is something I deeply share and respect, their equally unshakeable lack of concern with every other aspect of the work has perplexed me to no end for as long as I can remember. I mean, no matter how beautifully made it may be, I just can’t imaging enjoying a show if the plot composition, character writing, visual direction, or even just the music or color design alone is ... bad in any combination. These are the people who convinced me to watch a show as embarrassingly incompetent as Fate/Apocrypha for its action sakuga alone, and watching a show that heinously awful just to see a few flashy fight scenes which I could’ve just as easily seen on sakugabooru is something I will happily never do again. In light of this resolve, however, I for some reason decided to watch a show as melodramatic and cheaply written as Hanebado just for its ambitious athletic choreography and gorgeous animation direction, and this review will detail to you the sad reality of this mistake.

The direction, the shot composition from storyboarding, the digital and hand-shaded lighting, the angles and framing, the perspectives and editing, the aforementioned choreography and base animation, and just about every other facet of the visual presentation this monster has to offer was spot on perfect every time it absolutely needed to be so, and while it could be called mildly inconsistent, the average quality of artwork and animation will still blow you away. Directing often done in perspective animation of the birdie dashing like lighting back and forth across the court with quick, intense, energetic frames of the characters’ enlivened faces intermittently flashing onto screen. Powerful storyboards punching in the impact of the birdies ricocheting off the rackets like bullets off plate metal, the muscle it takes to vault for wide shots like the athlete’s life depends on it, and the beats of sweat leaping off the athlete’s face when they switch directions to dance across the court faster than the in-betweeners can even draw them. Never does the spectacle slow, drop detail, or pan across stills, thusly spending every waking second zipping around the court and the players atop. I cannot stress just how much time, money, and manpower was clearly expended crafting these brilliant sequences. Do you remember the documentaries of Production IG staff meticulously studying professional volleyball players to animate Haikyuu, or Silat martial artists to animate Psycho-Pass? If not for the fact I know and can evidently see LIDENFILMS rotoscoped half the matches, I would’ve sworn similar amounts of Herculean effort was put into the production of Hanebado, because it’s just that beautiful.

As for the rest of the show, well, it’s pretty not great.

Our protagonist is a girl named Ayano who is the daughter of the most decorated female badminton athlete ever to grace Japan, and with such expectations rested upon her shoulders and with such big shoes to fill, she has been raised for the sole purpose of playing badminton and living up to her mother’s lofty ideals of her development. As if such an overblown conceit wasn’t already embellished enough on paper, Ayano is portrayed as a being an almost literal “badminton monster”—which I know sounds hysterically stupid, but seeing as they actually use this descriptor multiple times in the anime verbatim, I’m going to stick with it—who will periodically flip her crazy switch in tense matches which literally makes her eyes dilate like a psychopath and also makes her hair turn messy like a rabid animal. I guess I could take this seriously if her mother beat her or something abusive to warrant this level of distress, but every single flashback to her childhood shows her and her mother happily practicing badminton with no stakes and all smiles, so when the show suddenly cuts back to present day with Ayano looking like she’s ready to murder her opponent over a simple practice game, I can’t help but wonder how she became so comically overdramatic. And it’s not just her either. Her opponents are just as outrageously overreactive and unbelievably over-the-top. For example, one of Ayano’s early competitors is a Danish girl who pushed aside her life and home country to move to Japan for the sole purpose of beating Ayano and winning her mother’s favor. How any of these personalities and character motivations are supposed to be believable or realistic in the slightest bit is beyond me.

Despite the badminton matches being absolutely stunning on a visual level, the script which stands meekly behind them can only be compared to that which you’d find in your standard shounen battle manga. If I had to give an example, I would say Fairy Tail, but all shounen battle manga have their own version of the infamous Power of Friendship, or what I like to call the-writer-is-a-hack-and-the-main-characters-are-just-going-to-win-now-for-no-good-reason-other-than-the-fact-it-will-make-all-the-kids-and-teens-self-inserting-as-the-carboard-cutout-of-a-hero-feel-good-about-themselves. And, of course, Hanebado has its own version of this as well. Instead of following the examples of critically acclaimed sports anime such as Haikyuu, Baby Steps, or Hajime no Ippo, shows wherein the cast has to work for their skill and success with blood, sweat, tears, and precious time, Hanebado will just haphazardly throw characters in your face with predetermined skill sets which you’re then just supposed to accept with no questions asked. At no point in the show does anyone actually sit down and explain HOW or WHY someone is a good or bad player even though everyone is continuously using badminton terminology without explanation or demonstration. After watching the aforementioned shows Haikyuu, Baby Steps, and Hajime no Ippo, I know the rules of Volleyball, Tennis, and Boxing like the back of my hand, but after watching Hanebado, on the other hand, the only thing I really understand about badminton is when the birdie hits the ground, someone gets a point.

And speaking of the ostentatiously contrived script, I forgot to mention the people who are competing in this show only win or loose when they WANT to. As I just mentioned, there isn’t any progression in the characters’ skill sets, so the element of surprise which ends up deciding the matches is—you guessed it—their emotions. If Ayano is feeling unmotivated or corrupt, then she looses, and if Ayano is feeling determined or righteous, then she wins, and this is true for every single character in the entire show. If the lesson they have to learn involves suffering defeat, then they loose, and if the lesson they have to learn involves tasting victory, then they win. Skill and most certainly technique simply do not matter in this anime. Like, oh my god, you don’t even know. There’s a match towards the end of the show wherein the opposing player knows, in no uncertain terms, her opponent has a weak knee. Her coach knows this too, and he advises her to make her opponent run side to side in order to blow out her already weakened knee so she herself can score the win with ease, and she then decides to ACTIVELY DISOBEY HIS OBJECTIVELY HELPFUL INSTRUCTIONS AND DELIBERATELY PROCEED IN A MANNER IN WHICH SHE KNOWS FOR CERTAIN SHE WILL LOOSE THE MATCH, because his strategy, and I quote, “was not the badminton I wanted to play.” I suppose you could make the argument this allows the thematic depth of the show to shine, but when said theming is the same paper-thin conversation on hard work versus talent which you see in every sports anime ever made, the integrity of the script and consistency of the logical progression is hardly worth sacrificing.

In the end, despite having sought to never do so again, I finished a show I didn’t enjoy just for some pretty visuals, which I guess—if for no other reason to mention than to give myself an excuse—paints a really ugly picture of the fact most anime are so utterly lacking in technical quality, I would become so starved for a polished product that I’d just settle for this. Now please don’t go interpreting my bitching too far, though, because Hanebado is not complete and total failure. Its character art is really nice even if the designs themselves are cliched at best, its music was quite invigorating and the hype opening theme and animation were just as much so, the voice acting was really well-done and emotive even if the dialogue itself was pretty milquetoast, and the pacing was legitimately good. But again, if you’re looking for appeal at a level deeper than the absolute surface, you will be sorely disappointed with Hanebado. If you’re sick of being recommended the latest popular success by A-1 Pictures or Bones only to watch it and find it to be ugly as sin, just as you should, then check this out with your brain turned off to ease the pain, but beware, because if your brain accidentally comes alive, you’ll find yourself quickly confused, annoyed, and then immediately bored and turned off once again.

Thank you for reading.

Most people think the 'bad, in Hanebado is for 'badminton.' Unfortunately, it literally stands for 'this show is bad'. Long story short, this show is not impressive in the slightest. Abysmal writing and comic book antagonists (that would actually be disrespectful to comic book villans though)

Remember the show "Everyone Hates Chris"? This is pretty much Everyone Hates Ayana. They introduce a new rival every week that just make no sense. The characters don't care about badminton at all for the most part. Everyone seems like they hate it. The whole show is just doom and gloom. Every week we think they are turning a corner, ... but it stays the same. It is just a really gloomy show. We get it, badminton requires a lot of sacrifice, but this show is over the top dramatic.

Brings me into my next segaway. This show is not funny. Contrary to the cheerful cover poster, there is barely any "fun" to be had. It is just drama after drama. There are no lighter moments. The only source of anyone trying to be funny is a the coach who feels like a blatant ripoff of "Trainer-san" from Uma Musume (miraculously he is one of the better characters which gives u a good glimpse of this show) I know comedy is subjective, but there isn't even a moment to critique the comedy, because it isn't even there. Serious shows can have lighter moments. Not everyone has to be so miserable.

I will give credit where credit is due and that belongs to the amazing art which is one of the best and solid soundtrack as well as the OP and ED (especially the ED as it signals the end of this show). But in all seriousness, one of the prettiest shows to ever be animated.

At the end of the day, Hanabado is everything bad about Sports Anime. No "falling in love" with the sport, not meaningful matches, and no realistic characters to like. If you want a sports show, watch Harukana Recieve. It is everything this show isn't and it is airing this same season.

Ever wonder what the female version of Haikyuu!! would look like?

No, you say??? Alright, then…..carry on.

Its just, this anime bears some resem—….oh, you still don’t care. Okay. I’ll just leave you alone….



F—k you! I’m writing this review whether you like it or not.

...
As regular as the seasons change, another sports-genre anime has graced our computer screens for what seems like the umpteenth time, the flavor of the month being: badminton. Not the most exhilarating sport in the world, but it definitely has intermittent moments of shock and awe (much like Hanebado!).

Following in the footsteps of its male counterpart, Hanebado! is a semi-serious sports anime that deals with the psychological consequences of youth athletics. As the story progresses, we begin to learn that each girl is plagued by a personal shortcoming that impedes their progress as an individual player. These visceral, psychological battles become the focal point of the entire series, making the girl’s opponents, more or less, inconsequential, as they are primarily focused on their own internal “demons” (i.e. battling themselves). An excellent example of showcasing this internal struggle happens in episode two, where chalkboard animation is used to emphasize the duality of Aragaki’s height “advantage,” provoking her to overcompensate in other facets of her game. Not only is her height an emotional weakness (as other children call her a “beanpole,” and make fun of her masculine appearance) but it turns out to be a physical one, as well. The astute coach for Nozomi employs a strategy to force Aragaki to move from side to side, putting an enormous amount of stress on her knees, resulting in overexertion and possible injury. But due to her commitment of staying true to herself (i.e. overpowering her opponent through strength), she is able to circumvent this clever scheme.

Of course, this is all well and good for our protagonist, but a more pressing dilemma emerges during the match, because while Aragaki simply needs to impose her will — her identity, if you will — on the game, Nozomi comes to the realization that she has no identity. Her entire career has been dictated by “guidance” of her coach; thus, deteriorating her passion and creativity for the game. The themes that Nozomi and Aragaki experience are quite typical for teenagers in high stress, athletic competition, yet the resolution of said themes felt a bit artificial, too romantic. Is it truly believable that Nozomi’s coach would transition from yelling at her profusely (like she’s a red-headed step—…you know what, I’m just going to stop right there), to accepting her new perspective on badminton in the middle of a match — literally, on the drop of a dime?

Quixotic happenings aside, Hanebado! suffers from the same deficiencies that infect its male counterpart, those being:

-Random comedy from which there’s no reasonable explanation.
-A character (i.e. Ayano) with “superhuman” ability that cannot be matched by anyone else.
-The EYES of Ayano and Hinata both resembling a predator stalking its prey (both are small in stature, as well).
-Displaying unrealistic feat’s that are not attainable in real life for the sake of entertainment
-[Insert 5th point here — too lazy at the moment, its 3:30 in the morning]

Hanebado!, in all seriousness, had an extremely promising start with interesting conceptual ideas about the psychological consequences of competitive athletics; yet, with each passing episode, it quickly decayed into a bizarre, nonsensical comedy with a weird daughter/mother/step-daughter dynamic that was particularly unappealing for the viewer. Furthermore, the amount of melodrama was off the charts, with an innumerable amount of peaks and valleys, making even the most mundane task feel like it was a life or death situation. Ayano’s metamorphosis from a timid, reserved girl, to a heartless, animalistic human hybrid was remarkably far-fetched, not to mention tropey. It seems the desire to emulate its male counterpart was too strong, reducing Hanebado!’s effectiveness as a compelling story that can stand on its own weight.

(This review is spoilerless.)

This series is a very bad sport series.

Honestly, based on the ideas and quality productions alone cannot make this series to be an interesting or even watchable. Personally, I like nothing in this series starting from plots, ideas, characters, pacing, tones, dialogues, progressions and developments. This is one of most pandering and corny sport series I have ever seen for a while. It feel like I'm not even watching sport or let alone the series itself. Everything look fan service to me.

Plots that building up to be an obnoxiously over-dramatic sport life where everyone don't play sport as they feel ... like or love to play it anymore. They only play sport for winning which in my opinion isn't the purpose or goal of sport itself.

Ideas that having weirdly morals about you can being a jerk and having no sportsmanship to everyone but if you are good at sport or you feel some kind of sorry, everyone will forgive and forget what you do even though they have no reason to.

Characters that are mostly confused because they don't know how to separate sport logic form life logic. You don't have to win every time or have to be the best at it. You can be yourself and happy to do the thing you like. If you don't feel like to play sport, just quit it. It's not like badminton is only occupation in the world right ?

The pacing and tones that keep going back and forth as director doesn't know how to direct other type of tones and pacing rather than drama and sport that only smack their shuttlecock to each others' face with no plan or strategy. (except the very last match between main character in final episodes which some kind worth to watch)

Dialogues that totally horrible as everyone always speak aggressively to each other and keep complain about how life so bad in a metaphoric way.

These are brief examples of the problems why this series is so bad in my opinion. Now let's get into the detail explanations.

1.) I don't like how this series present the ideas of badminton or sport at all. The ideas of badminton and how social life work seem so separate and don’t go along with each others so much. Even though the series want us to think that badminton is a life for characters or the whole world to move along with. But most of the time the logic and gimmicks to link this two ideas together don’t make any senses. Every scenes and plot points look extremely corny and forced. It feels like everything in the entire series always try to reason with each other by using badminton and sport as an important factor in every arguments. When characters and scenes are executed by using these badminton and sport life as main arguments, they look so stupid and so hard to understand what they are thinking. Some people may say that these combinations of both ideas are just some metaphoric and hidden massage of how realism work, but the point is in the end, these just make everything much more complex and over dramatic for unnecessary reason. Just drop the badminton things for a second and make character do and think like a normal person will make this series much more realistic.

2.) The morals in each episode are so moronic and hard to actually believe and work in real life. Again if this series follow the way of trying to be “REALISTIC” then the morals are actually important and it is the matter of fact that these will make the series to have much more visualize images of “what get what after done what” things going on along the entire run. Some scenes and plot points are exaggerated and pandering so much. Doing things that are absolutely not gonna happened in real life and then get away with it or characters and plots just forget about it seem so convoluted and doesn’t make any senses. This will be an exception to cut the score or to even considered as a bad point if the series doesn’t try so hard to become “REALISTIC” though (based on how the series tones and plots were presented). This circumstance actually make me believe that characters and plot points don’t have their own morals and stand points and they are changed over the time with no subtlety and development at all.

3.) This series have one of the worst dialogues I have ever heard in my life. This is the most important key that absolutely ruin this series in my opinion. First, characters usually talk nonsense and metaphoric which kind of annoying and irritating and actually extend the running time to become a boring mess that ruin both tone and story progression and development. Second, this series are extremely over dramatic because of dialogues alone as every characters usually talk like they want to punch each other face for all the time. They insulted and roasted each other for absolutely no reason which even make plots and sequences look so much pandering and fan-service which some time even extend the length of dramatic tone to the maximum limit that later destroyed other tone and plot as well. Third, characters usually repeat the same thing they have been speak and think for several time for no reason which even make this series so long and boring.

4.) Scenes and plots arrangements, pacing and even execution in this series aren’t very good at all. In fact most of them look so confused and hard to tell what viewers should actually focus at the very moment. They are too cramped for the starter. In one episode they have over 100 plots going around and none of them have an impact on each others. Also these plots are always appear randomly with no enough development and subtlety. They cut so many tone and story of an important point that viewers kind of care for the most of time and even make the overall episode to be much more chaotic and confused. Additionally, the storytelling and pacing in this series is sometime totally bad in terms of timing, cliffhanging and swapping. They are so many plot points that are telling in those stage which quite annoying and irritating for those viewers who doesn’t want to watch the three kingdom of badminton.

5.) There are so many stereotype of characters that viewers can actually see and predict their plot for a mile away and even stay the same with no developments or changes during the entire run. The hard strong shounen women who doesn't know how to give up and extremely hot-blood. The want to be winner innocent character. The senpai lover. The girl who look kind and nice outside but her life is very sad. Everything you can easily guess.

6.) This series is easily predictable. Nothing significantly going on during the entire run rather than things that you might seen and think since the very beginning of the series about girls who want to play sport (and win) so much which in each episode will have dramas as a layer to it as always and in the end will conclude with we are friend now kind of cliche'. Furthermore, every morals in each plot arcs (yes, the entire 2-3 episodic sequences) are actually the same. This is so boring in both short and long running viewing experiences. Watching this series only in the beginning and the last would actually give you the same result you want as watching the entire series.

And that's all my opinion why this series is so bad even though it has very good productions. If the main important characteristic of the series, plot isn't compelling enough or even downright design to be fan service, then I have no reason to watch such failure series.

The final score is 1/10. 1 score comes from quality animation productions alone.

I honestly don't know why I bothered finishing this. As a child I grew up with Badminton so to see the first two episodes portraying the sport in such an ugly fashion put me off it for a while before I continued. But here we are and let's have a chat on Hanebado. (Insert joke about how you can't spell "Hanebado" without "bad" here).

I've watched two sports anime this season based on fanservice-heavy manga. The other one being Harukana Receive. While I can't comment exactly on how faithful each adaptation is, I would've much preferred Harukana's approach to the genre. That is to say a ... generic, but decently done sports anime on friendship happiness puppies sunshine and all that nonsense with a heavy dose of fanservice and waku waku shequasars. On paper, Hanebado's approach of forgoing most of the fanservice and light-hearted moments and instead zeroing in on the drama and misery seems right up my alley. After all, Ayano's character is defined essentially by her abandonment by her mother. However, in execution it just doesn't cut it for me.

My largest complaint about the series is its lack of focus. From the first 2 episodes focused almost exclusively on Nagisa's development to the point of making her seem like the main character (she's not, but she's still the most important secondary character), to the side stories on sausage girl and senpai boy which I frankly don't give much a toss on about, the series feels somewhat schizophrenic when it comes to its plot. While ostensibly about Ayanon, she doesn't make much of an impact up until episode 5. I will say however I did enjoy Ayanon's drive and character study, especially the drama surrounding her and her shit mother, though the resolution to that in the final episode is a complete copout.

Speaking of characters, they are either hate-sinks or mostly forgettable. They change personality so quick you'd swear they were bipolar. Prime examples include Connie and Kaoruko where after taunting Ayano several times they show up a few episodes later wanting to be good friends? And to have Ayanon forget all the shit they've done?? What!? You can't just take a shit on my lawn and say you wanna be friends me while I'm bashing your head in with a badminton racket the next day. Good thing Ayano's one of the few characters with consistent personality. Her anger doesn't dissipate and the comeuppance she serves is cathartic. You can feel her breaking point and her insanity leaking out at any moment. It's brilliant. The horror music too perfectly ramps things up a notch. Making this my second favourite unintentional comedy of the season (the other being Happy Sugar Life). Though speaking of Happy Sugar Life, it's awful how Ayanon's mother came out unscathed and without any karmic retribution or even any lasting hatred from Ayanon.

The audio design in this is pretty bad too. A lot of the times the BGM can overpower the lines of dialogue spoken by the characters. Especially when the horror strings are playing. Ayano with her softer voice is the prime victim in this. It always feels like her voice lines are played loud enough to be heard with any clarity, even when she’s shouting.

At times I do wonder if the director actually hates the sport. Badminton is portrayed as a really ugly thing in this, being the driving force behind Ayano's trauma and the source of many conflicts throughout. Matches are animated well enough, and they don't bore me to the extent of how Harukana's did, but honestly the characters behind the net ruin the experience for me. Being the horrible people they are.

Oh well. I wonder if Yonex ever regrets sponsoring this.

3/10. Would not Wei-wei.

Although I’ve marked this series as “Completed”, I actually ragequit in the last episode with only a few minutes left to go. I’ve never seen a supposedly character-driven show fail so hard on every plot-related aspect while acing everything else.

The OP drew me in with its slick, beautiful animation and the charming smile of Ayano Hanesaki. Unfortunately, upon finishing (or near-finishing) this show, the only positive impressions I was left with were indeed the animation and Ayano Hanesaki.

Hanebado! seemingly wants to depict the growth of Ayano and her counterpart Nagisa into badminton players who play with a happy, healthy mindset. Yet while it ... sets that up decently, every step along the way is fumbled. Most damning of all (and it’s hard to pick any one thing here) is the treatment of Ayano. Ayano is depicted as a girl with massive trauma lying underneath her seemingly cute, innocent surface. She’s been abandoned by her mother because of her inability as a child to be a perfect badminton robot and as a result, playing badminton reverts the paltry progress she’s made into having feelings or developing a persona separate from vying for approval from her only caregiver, even if it’s stunted, childish, and a little backwards. It’s actually a nuanced and realistic portrayal of childhood trauma that I deeply relate with.

Somehow, every single character watches her relive her trauma and shift back into a zombie who plays solely to avoid being abandoned and to create some feeble sense of self-worth, with snark and arrogance as her only defense, and NOBODY HELPS WHATSOEVER. As they witness this descent that they themselves brought upon her, her clubmates fail to see that she needs people to care about her and react to her with jealousy and hostility as soon as she really begins falling apart, her coach gives up on projecting his failed Olympic dreams into her when she fails to have any emotional response towards them and dismisses all her hard work as “natural talent”, her best friend doesn’t realize she needs to take responsibility for pushing Ayano into this until the very end, and worst of all— her mother. The story idea of “I’m a poor trauma survivor and everybody hates me” isn’t impossible to work with, but everyone here is portrayed with no critical eye, and absolutely nobody has to deeply rethink their worldview. The sideplots with the other club mates whose names I can’t even recall are dumb and boring as a result, and absolutely nobody is likeable. What’s the point when we’ve clearly seen a setup of “Ayano’s trigger is badminton and she’s reliving her trauma because of that” and then proceed to have everybody stomp on our protagonist?! Shouldn’t we hate them then?! But, of course, this show doesn’t care about that— just look at the mother.

The mother returns to Ayano in the second half of the show. Unsurprisingly Ayano reacts with pure numbness and completely rejects her. The mom doesn’t realize the error of her ways— AND THE SHOW REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE THEM. Up to the end, her mom holds the same messed up belief that she raised Ayano the right way by abandoning her because she’s better at badminton now (?!?!) and the show STILL attempts to depict her as a sympathetic figure. When Elena weakly calls her out, there’s no follow up. When it’s nearly the end of the show and it’s time for Ayano to magically 180 and decide she loves playing badminton because the club mates who previously hated her also magically 180’d and suddenly don’t hate her for being snarky anymore, Ayano forgives her mom. And that’s when I closed the episode.

These magical 180s pop up often: sometimes for drama or plot convenience, and sometimes for no reason at all. Whether it’s Connie suddenly coming to Japan and her flip flopping on whether she likes Ayano and what she actually wants with her (wants to be sisters, but is cruel to her? but then sugary sweet? but why?), her club mates randomly changing their opinions on her (sometimes even before she has a breakdown, club mates tell her they hate her... but now they’re friends! Even though she hasn’t talked to them for two episodes.), Nagisa’s Tension Creating Potential Injury, Nagisa’s power level, Ayano’s power level, Nozomi deciding losing is how she wants to play, Nozomi’s coach being okay with that... the character motivations and actions simply don’t make any sense. I’d praise the badminton strategy and technical showings, since it’s a sports anime, but the complete whiffing of the final Big Badminton Final (power levels aside, SWITCHING HANDS BETWEEN HITS?) also makes me strongly question the writers’ ability to write something coherent. Sure, it’s beautiful— the faces, the unabashed depiction of sweat— and the breathing sequence is ambitious, but it’s completely soured by the heavy baggage of the plot.

In summary, just enjoy the opening. Look at Ayano’s cute smile. And for both her sake and your own, don’t watch Hanebado.

It takes a lot of effort to fail at sports anime but this one manages to do it.

Yeah, it's pretty bad. The worst thing for me was that it felt like they didn't really know if they wanted the show to be your typical "funny, upbeat with a few serious moments here and there" sports anime or something more serious and realistic. At times they want to make the whole thing sound really serious and realistic and then they give one of the main characters an "eye transformation" power up or an "i win because of the power of my heart even though i'm actually ... playing injured" moment which throws away all the seriousness they'd built up and overall makes the whole thing feel bs af.

The characters are average at best. By the time the last episode came i really didn't give a banana peel about any of the characters involved in the final match. Both were annoying, bland and quite boring, although "psycho eyes" mode girl was interesting for a little bit but they also ruined that with a bunch of cheap drama. Their reasons to "fight" were lame or even non existent. Things happen because the plot dictates it, not because the characters have real motivations and feelings to make them happen.

The plot is basically non existent. Several things are happening but each character's stories never really come together as a whole. The ending feels rushed and incomplete. They never really explain important plot points like why the hell the main character's mother just decided to leave her like a bag of trash and go live in another country and adopt another girl. Don't ask how the hell is a japanese single woman able to adopt a kid in Denmark? I don't know either. The mysteries of bad writing.

Overall looks alright, sounds average, plot is bad, characters are bad.

I didn't like this anime which you can obviously guess from the score. But I couldn't resist an urge to write this review to get it out of my system. So basically consider this review as a rant from an angry badminton lover. I have watched quite a few sports anime. So before I start this review let me note few lines for the two anime I like the most. Feel free to skip to the "Review part" for actual review.
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Few months ago me watching Haikyuu: Wow even though as usual these guys are focusing on flashy impossible moves like smashes, I am loving this ... show because even with these non-realistic moves to capture the audiences they are significantly focusing on the defense as well as strategic elements of the game. Few episodes in OMG net-blocks, strategy to avoid them, analyzing and covering their holes in their game awesome I am loving this Anime as well as these awesome characters.
Some time after, while starting anime "Baby steps" me talking to myself: I don't think any sport anime will try to cover technical, mental and physical aspects of a sport because their main aim is to entertain people who otherwise will not watch the actual sport. So similar to myriad of Tennis anime this will be the usual emotional cliche sport anime which will never come close to Haikyuu. Few episodes in: WTH is going on there is no way people will like this kind of detailed story but I am loving it. After few more episodes: This is too much of sport technicalities even for me to handle. After finishing 306 chapters of manga: Me watching and reading this story was the best decision of my life. I wish there was a similar story about badminton.
Me today browsing through MAL: OMGGGGGG there is an anime about badminton. Awesoooooom. I am fu*king excited.
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Review:
If you have read above paragraph, you can guess that I started watching this anime with too many expectations. I myself being a (local) badminton player and an enthusiasts who follows international badminton I had set the benchmark too high to cross. But to my utter disappointment this anime came nowhere close to it. After watching the 5th episode I realized I couldn't take this anymore. I must drop this utter disgrace to the sport of badminton.
Story: Average
It the usual cliche sport story with one hardworking girl who loves badminton and is struggling through a past traumatic loss. When a cliched GOD-GIFTED lefty player joins their team who had suffered since childhood because of oppressive parent. Then you have rivals and other things, the usual stuff you find in other sport anime. Just like any other sport badminton is also a game of skills and strategy. But this anime shows neither of those. Rather whatever is shown is either a stereotype or a complete wrong tactics. It gives zero insights into the game. Story and characters are lackluster as well. Read the spoiler at the bottom to know why I hate this anime.
Characters: Bad
All the characters in this anime are average. The interactions and personalities of the characters felt artificial. Aragaki Nagisa, their team captain felt too much out of character when she changed from badminton obsessed relentless captain to an accommodating team player who puts faith in the team. Same can be said about Hanesaki Ayano who is the left-handed prodigy with shy personality. Side characters are also average or below average. I didn't feel any connection or understanding with any of them.
Art: Very Good
First episode is extremely well animated. Trust me after watching badminton for so long I was awestruck by the details of the sport the animation covered. The quality of the animation dropped after the second episode but it was by no means bad. I think there was nothing for me to complain.
Sound: Average
Even though the sound tracks are good they felt out of place in certain situations. For example in initial episodes during a serious match between Captain Aragaki and new member Ayano the pleasant music ruined the mood.
Enjoyment: Very Bad
I literally hate this anime. I usually don't drop anime no matter how bad they are. But may be this being too close to my heart I was unable to stand it to the end. May be some of you will find this enjoyable if you ignore the sport aspects of the show or view it from some other perspective.

*********************
Spoilers:
Episode 5:
In the last doubles match between Kitakomachi high-school and other team, the girl from other team decided to play solo against the two girls and goes on to win the match. Are you kidding me. This is total bullshit. Even if assume that the single player is 'that' good all she does to win is to hit strong smashes. Even from an entertainment point of view all we get is how emotional they are during the game and zero strategic thinking from both sides. To add to this utter disgrace the coach gives advice where the two girls will play front-back which is THE WORST thing you can do to defend against an attacking player. For those of you who don't know much about badminton let me put few things in perspective. In badminton if we combine two 'singles' players who have won lets say Olympics and ask them to play again an average 'international' doubles pair. They will lose the match because those two game categories (singles and doubles) are that different. So if an Olympics medalist is playing one on two match with any two local 'serious' players he will lose very badly. And here we get to see two talented players (who I am sure are going to win in future) loosing from a single player without any strategy. Hope you got my point.

I used to play badminton a small while ago(and no I was not very good at it). At one stage, I also decided to quit watching anime since there weren't many I enjoyed and I started to play games instead of watch cartoons or TV series. However, my friends saw this anime and recommended and I was bit excited. But the more I watched, the more I was disappointed. Story was terrible, some crazy girl how was addicted to badminton, wasn't very that emotional although the creators tried to be. However, the way they play Badminton is supposedly "national/professional badminton level". Other commenters say that ... Hanebado! is one of the most realistic sports anime at the moment due to "no special powers" although you not only stupidly play with some long ass anime hair (which will get in the way) but able to dive smash in front of the net (which is not only practically dangerous and risky but impossible because you will hit the net), a 180 degrees spin to receive (stupid to do unless you're having fun which she is not) but for Ayano to be able to smash like a bullet is impossible. There are many reasons why in reality, she is trash and that this is not realistic. First, you will not get a full power smash when you're playing tennis for badminton, jumping to the sides and doing them god-like smashes. It's possible for the professionals you say? Well not only do they rarely do it in real life but the way they smash in the anime is not realistic. They are playing VOLLEYBALL. When smashing, the power comes from the wrist and a very quick swing of the elbow, a bit like a whip. Jump smashing is not always seen in Badminton but you only jump smash when the shuttlecock is high up enough and you have enough time to both move and jump. Movement in Badminton is very long and quick, taking large steps in order to get to the other corner. However they're doing... tip toe steps??? Ayano also cannot smash that strong if she grips her raquet that tight. In general, people who say how these people don't have super powers literally do not understand anything about what's going on. Kuroko no basket although have special abilities are still realistic with jumping, shooting, passing and movement are still realistic, although Kuroko doesn't really have a superpower, just people can't see him. In Haikyuu, it's not that Hinata can spike eyes closed, it's just stupid but it comes from all the trust he has for the prodigy setter Kageyama. Therefore, Hanebado is just trash and full of bullshit and nonsense.

As a sports anime enthusiast, I was excited to watch this. Badminton may not be the most exciting sport in the world but I was interested to see how it would be handled. However it managed to do something few sports anime have ever done: it bored me to death. And that's saying something considering that I'm easily amused.

Story: The typical tournament arc with bits of training sprinkled throughout is a classic sports anime element. This anime manages to turn it into personal drama plus some training with bits of competition in between. If I'm watching a sports anime I want to watch people play ... the sport. Adding in some drama is fine, but not to the point where it becomes the main focus of the show.

As for when the sport is actually played, it's a bit of a letdown. The characters don't really show any progression in regard to their skills. And whether they win or lose often comes down to willpower rather than ability. Also the matches themselves just aren't very exciting. There are only so many ways you can hit a birdie over a net, so there isn't much variation. Either you hit it or you miss. There are no plays or special moves. It ends up becoming repetitive.

Art: I was pleasantly surprised by the art. While the character designs are nothing special, the animation is consistently good throughout the series. The characters' movements are fluid and pretty realistic. I have no real complaints about it either.

Sound: The sound was fine. Not bad but not amazing either. The characters' voices match and although the music is forgettable, it wasn't offensive either.

Characters: Ugh. What a lackluster if not questionable cast of characters. The main character is a garden variety Mary Sue who just so happens to be a badminton prodigy. The other main is obsessed with badminton and doesn't take losing very well. They're mediocre at best. The rest of the cast is flat and forgettable except for the Danish exchange student that has beef with one of the mains.

Enjoyment: Look, I really like sports anime and it takes a lot for me to genuinely dislike one. This series managed to do it. I was bored after the first few episodes and felt that it wasn't worth finishing. It isn't the worse anime I've ever watched but it certainly didn't entertain me.

TLDR: If you're an avid sports anime fan, you can give it a shot. Just don't go in expecting much. If you aren't, just skip it.

Do not bother getting invested in this series, whatever payoff you're looking for does not exist here. This series get's compared to Haikyuu, and in a formulaic manner they bear similarities. Trade relative heights of the two rivals turned teammates who face off at the beginning of the series, there's a blonde alumni male coach there to help, just drain the importance of every other character on the team away. This series is also admittedly well animated with great dynamic motions that make you feel the whirring speed and cracking pop of the shuttlecocks.

However where Haikyuu universally inspires a love of volleyball in its ... viewers, this series is more likely to just piss you off constantly, in fact it'll become the main reason you keep watching. This series masquerades a bit under the mask of friendship and good sportsmanship. But will hit you repeatedly with nasty encounters that just make you want to see people lose in ways that will break their spirits rather root for any particular person to win. Seriously, I assure you I'm not exaggerating.

While the series does stick to realistic sports action, I found it lacking for in-depth explanations at times for terms it would throw out, strategic logic, player tactics or specialties, often just vaguely asserting that someone is good or fast. This can vary from slightly noticeable to very jarring depending on how much the series cares about the characters involved. However these are small gripes in the long-run, because quite frankly the sport isn't the most important thing here oddly enough, and it's not the reason to keep watching.

The reason to watch this series, is for the hope of revenge, and that sweet sweet revenge ain't coming.

This section contains spoilers of varying degree.

The main reason to watch this series, and the main reason you will if you do not heed warnings will be your desire to see the main character's mother suffer or at the very least receive her comeuppance. She spent years raising her daughter to feel she only had worth if she could perform up to her national champion mother's standards. Only spending time with her seemingly to play badminton, and cutting their time short literally the moment her daughter lost a point. Then after her first big loss the mother literally abandons her daughter, packs up and leaves the country to raise another kid to play badminton.

Honestly the tournament action grew boring and predictable quickly, it really won't surprise you, the only reason you'll still feel invested will be to see her get revenge on the woman who abandoned her and crushed her spirit. But unfortunately, like many series this one lacks the stomach for proper confrontation or repercussions, so by the end everyone's smiling with literally nothing having changed at all. The mother has this annoying permagrin that she'll get to keep the entire time as she leaves again, feeling in her heart she did the right thing all along and the series acting like "yeah this is fine".

Yes sometimes it's easy to get worked up over a desire for retributions for a character's sake that the series simply won't fulfill, but these are often placed there by us the viewers. When a series spends it's entire season focusing on the main character's reason and plan for revenge against their own parent, you expect some sort of payoff.

But no, at the very end it tries putting the smiling mask of shounen-style friendship back on and expects us to not notice the cheap hunk of plastic and string it's wearing.

Afternote:

The manga seems more like a lighthearted comedic romp that might be more enjoyable, I can't really bring myself to read it though after realizing I'll never get to see Ayano take any action against her mother. This feels like its put scars on my heart in places where I've never been cut, and I fear the only cure will be a better anime to wash out the taste of this one.

I'm going to keep this short.

Hanebado! is a melodramatic piece of garbage.

Besides the very good art direction in some of the badminton scenes and pretty backdrops, Hanebado! is really bad. Bad characters, decent sound design, terrible secondary characters, and an extra terrible main character with an even more terrible mother.

Of all the sports anime I've watched Hanebado! is the most infuriating to watch. It honestly doesn't even feel like a sports anime but rather a drama anime for edgy teens that just so happens to be about a group of people who play badminton.

Connie is a bitch but then isn't? She claims she wants to ... be a family with Ayano but treated her like dog shit she stepped in when they first met. Okay. Nagisa should have been the main character because Ayano is insufferable to watch. I get it, it's supposed to be like PTSD or something but it's just not fun to watch at all. She's a complete bitch to everyone around her for 75% of the show and somehow no one slaps her. Ayano's mother is worse though. what a bad parent that we are supposed to understand... some how? Just awful.

Riko and Erena are the only decent characters. Everyone else is either passable, awful, or has bad hair (Ebina).

Not a fun watch.

4/10

I don't always write reviews. But when I do...

Well, let's just say this is yet another disappointing anime to write home about. We've been getting a lot of those lately and my hopes and dreams for the future have been nigh diminished. But enough about my self-pity, let's get a move on and see why exactly this show fails at nearly everything.

Story: 4

A weak part of this anime is the story. I mean, it's an anime about badminton. What more can one want? Here's an idea: how about a realistic depiction of the sport? With actual tournaments arc? And not individual matches here and there ... in the first half and then one boring tournament that focuses on only 2 of the characters? Quite frankly, there is nothing to even compare this to - story-wise it's a dry dish. No spice, no flavor.

Art: 7

Nothing spectacular but nothing bad either. I found the art to be satisfying and enjoyable. I didn't go "OMG" and my jaw certainly didn't drop but it was "ok". Minus the unrealistic amounts of sweat comign from the bodies of those teenage girls. I mean, you'd reckon they were playing badminto in a sauna with the amounts of sweat protruding from their pores.

Sound: 5

Was there sound? A forgettable OP, even mroe forgettable ED, almost no thrilling soundtrack during the actual matches. In other words - mediocre.

Characters: 2

Yet another weak point. Probably the worst thing about this anime was its character cast. We have 2 main protagonists and... that's it. Pretty much 0 development for the rest. (sure, we get some dramatic training sessions with some minor characters that - guess what, go nowhere). On top of that we have contradictions left and right. To finish off, we have absolutely scum characters trying to act all righteous.
A mother that abandons her child and goes abroad to play mommy with some other girl. One could say that Ayano gets NTR'd by some danish chick. That's a new...
We then have Ayano herself, who goes from being an absolute monster of a badminton player, to being an average schoolgirl that hates badminton, to then being a psychotic badminton player, to being an average school girl again. If I was even a mildly-proficient doctor, I'd lock her up in an institution.
Her counterpart, Nagisa, is your typical "hard-worker" that overcomes everything. As if... give me a damn break, people. If this anime wanted to shove this "hard work beats talent" crap down our throats, they should have renamed the anime to "Hard-working sweaty teenagers beat the shit out of a badminton shuttle". You go try to play a 3-set badminton game with a blown-out knee against a far stronger opponent, and try to score a point. Then come and tell me about all that hard work that paid off.
And my least favorite character is that danish NTR chick who goes to Japan to fight Ayano because ?she has some ?beef with her?? I'm really not sure about her motivation. She then basically mentally insults Ayano with that little speach about "Mom only cares about winning", ONLY to come a few episodes later and try to be all friendly and family-like with the girl, who's life she single-handedly ruined. Talk about being the lowest of scum...

Enjoyemnt: 2

The only way I could have enjoyed this anime less was if they added bad CGI. Which is saying A LOT.

Overall: 4

Again, the rules of mathematic prevent me from giving this anime a lower score. And I would have, believe me. This is one of those rare times, when I actually think MAL's score is being TOO generous.

As parting words, all I can say is: Watch at your own risk.

An anime has never given me such a bad headache before.

I despise it. I loathe it. Get it out of my sight.


It's a shame too, this show had potential with nice animation for when they're playing and decent art that actually looked fairly alright at times with the lighting and attention to detail. However the budget has seemingly gone to the animation as opposed to making the show a genuinely enjoyable experience for the viewer.

Soundtrack? Mediocre and forgettable (that goes for the opening and ending as well).

The overall plot of the show was mind-numbing and infuriating with poor writing and terrible developments that made me ... question my own reality and why I was dedicating my time to it. Add onto that an underwhelming ending and you've got yourself a show not worth your time.

Could have been a nice introduction to the sport of badminton for many... Too bad it had to have a terrible storyline and abysmal characters so idiotic and contrived it makes me wince.

A sports anime with no sportsmanship!

That is the thing that went into my mind after going on half of the episode. That way, it gave me a bad impression already in the story. Too much drama, arrogant characters, inconsistent development, all in a sports anime. If this is reality, then Japan must be one of the most hated country in any world class sports tournaments for sure!

Okay, now move one to every aspect of this anime. It has a rather inconsistent visual as well. During the early part of this anime, everything looks very good. However, on the second half of the story where everything ... gets more serious, the art started to look downgraded. Not sure the latter part was rushed or not, but the inconsistency is just too obvious for me. Over hundreds of anime I've watched, this is the third title that shows obvious inconsistency in artwork quality. The artwork was going between just very good to just okay. But overall, I'd still consider it is as good.

The sound effect is one thing that this anime quite excel. The music is also very good. I'd say the audio quality is actually the best part of this anime. You got an energetic and motivating opening theme that doesn't really match the story. Also an energetic and cheerful ending theme that again, doesn't really match the story. But it is not bad. I am just saying the music is too good for this type of gloomy story.

The characters are... mediocre. Nagisa is the only one with good development. She went from a loser to a... winner. Ayano is all over the place. From nothing to loser to villain to whatever the creator wants her to be. Most of the characters from different schools have no sportsmanship which is terrible for a sport anime. The other supporting characters in the same school barely shown any development. Oh well... none of the chicks are the type that one would want to make them wives though.

And finally... about the story. Honestly, having a story with a flow like this and type of female main character like this is something new for me. But not in a good way. Actually, the story itself is what dragged this anime down in my view. It shows a bad example of people should behave in sports competition. I know, it is just an anime. it is just a fiction. But should you know, fictions have power to shape or motivate people! See how Long Riders attracted people to do cycling or Yurucamp attracted to do camping for example. Hanebado doesn't show the good way of Badminton. It's just a drama which sets around Badminton unfortunately.

Overall... I have too many complaints about this anime. Mainly the story and characters' personality. They ruins the enjoyment of the anime. They don't motivate people to do Badminton. They showed how bad sportsmanship in sports competition. When seeing the PV back then before the anime was aired. I was truly impressed. But the actual product is too much of a disappointing.

*Disclaimer*
Just personal scratch.
Advised, possible spoilers.
Opinion & Informal

Art: 6/10
The art was fine. There were a few cases of "quality" but it didn't bother me too much. The anatomy and proportions checked out. The overall style was modern-standard. There were a few nature and panoramic shots that looked pretty good. There were a few impact shots that looked alright which were mostly the "scary" or "crazed" face of Hanesaki, but that's about it. They looked alright but didn't really leave any impact or give me a sense of the kind of feelings she was having at the time.

Animation: 8/10
Animation was very good. I was impressed with the ... kinds of motions and sequences that were used in this show. I was surprised at the level of animation that went into the actual sports sequences. Full rallies were animated which is a huge plus. Each individual swing, step, and body motion were all included in the animation. While there was some reused animation, specifically in those impact sequences, there was enough variation and new animation mixed in that it deserves a pass. The small details such as sweat and dripping sweat were also nice additions. There weren't as many shortcuts taken; there was a good showcase of full body motion: walking, running, etc that wasn't cut off by selective framing. Frames weren't dropped in the important bits, and generally everything looked nice and fluid. Overall, the impressive impact sequences, the regular well-done sports sequences, nice and fluid standard motions, and nice-looking supporting effects are great parts about this anime.

Characters: 4/10
I'm not impressed with the characters or character development. Their annoying dynamics and character developments were two reasons that killed my personal enjoyment of this show. Their dynamics were all centered around building unnecessary and honestly really forced tension, awkwardness, and drama in almost all of their interactions. A majority of the interactions between the characters and groups had to have some sort of poorly reasoned confrontation or staring contest. Riko felt like she was only just there to serve as the mediator and voice of reason. The bit of backstory added to her wasn't really developed and felt sort of just like a formality. Riko felt like a typical, "I'm a long-time friend who always had your back who acts as the voice or reason. However, I'll have a telegraphed outburst at least once in the show to act as the trigger to your final resolution." Connie was just a device to act as a temporary antagonist until the final antagonist (the antagonist in this case was an idea which was Hanesaki's raison d'etre: playing for herself, and not for her mom) could be fully fleshed out. In fact, once that idea was sort of in place, Connie was basically tossed aside for a few episodes lol. Hanesaki's mother had weird motivations that didn't feel like they were properly backed up or decently executed. They made sense, but they didn't have enough sequences supporting them. Aragaki had a decent but simple setup. The setup between Aragaki and Hanesaki was the whole, "Two previous rivals that just so happened to end up on the same team" which another example of this setup would be Haikyuu. Furthermore, Aragaki had the, "I've discovered that I have a semi-serious injury which just so happens to arise NOW and conveniently be at a point to where if I decide to play against my rival in the final match, I may permanently end my career." This same trope can be seen in Ping Pong the Animation. Aragaki's culmination was fine but predictable. She ended up finding her resolve to fight Hanesaki, winning, and rekindling her love for the sport. Hanesaki's character development was disappointing for a majority of the show. Her personal growth stagnated for almost 4 or 5 episodes which is a shame; she became that "soulless" yet motivated character for almost a third of the show. She only really developed in the final few episodes going over her past in greater detail and going over her personal thoughts and resolve. In the end her character development played out somewhat predictably. She fought her rival, mid-battle discovered her true motivations, and reconciled with the people she wronged during the show such as her best-friend during the park at sunset scene. I'm not implying that Aragaki and Hanesaki's character development were bad. I'm happy that they turned out the way they did. What I'm not impressed with is the stagnation that occurred midway through the show because of the need to build on the atmosphere the forced and blatantly over-the-top drama was trying to build. Their personal asides could all have used just a bit more time and execution. I gave this area a 4/10 because of the unsupporting supporting cast, slow development midway through, and generally awkward dynamics that didn't feel real at all.

Plot: 6/10
Interesting but typical plot setup. It's a standard first-year joins some sports club, practices and interacts with club members, goes to a tournament, and finale. The catch is that it's about badminton. Something I read recently that has this exact same setup is Sesuji wo Pin! to: Shikakou Kyougi Dance-bu e Youkoso.

Development: 4/10
Much of what I want to talk about development I mostly discussed in the character area just because it was appropriate to do so. I do want to re-bring up the slow pacing and needless filler interactions. There were way too many dramatic scenarios between groups in this show. Why are the problems between side characters being developed much more than the main character's? Why are the main character's developments taking a passenger seat and only being developed in maybe the last 2-3 episodes? Not much of Hanesaki's past or motivations are looked into until the latter half of the show which means that she pretty much acts like some brat with no reasons to it during the former half. My biggest gripe about this show is that it doesn't teach the viewer (not an exaggeration) anything at all about the sport. The badminton was just there. No rules, no basics, nothing at all was taught about badminton. Like the character area, I gave this area a 4/10 because I did not like the slow pacing, lack of proper development to the actions and personalities of the characters, and overall execution of their stories.

Music: 7/10
No sound design to note. Soundboard was quite nice in which effects such as "smashes" and sneaker friction added a lot of flair and life to the matches. Overall, soundboard was very fitting and did very well in creating an exciting sports environment. Bgm was unmemorable and not too catchy in my opinion. Moreover, the bgm didn't "feel" like it added to the sequences. OP and ED were neat but also sounded like a "typical anime opening." I don't actually weigh the OP and ED that much; I just bring them up as a side note.

Overall: 4/10
I personally did not enjoy this show. It was predictable just based on the initial plot setup and it was painful to watch it develop to its predictable climax. The positive parts of this show are the above average art, the impressive animation, and the fitting soundboard. The negative parts about this show were the character and plot development, the awkward and seemingly ungenuine character dynamics, as well as the forced and over-the-top interactions between the characters.

Good things I have to say about Hanebado:
-It was beautifully animated.
-It brought attention to a sport that doesn't get a lot of attention.
-Gave us a show about female athletes without making it entirely about fanservice.

Everything else was generally not good or just not enjoyable for me to watch. I went into this thinking I was going to absolutely love it. I was so ready to fall in love with these characters. And then... I met these characters. I have rarely watched an anime where I found main characters to be quite so unlikable. I kept holding out, not dropping this show in ... the hopes that they would grow on me. Instead, by the last episode I just felt more frustrated. The story and characters are both just lacking.

Alright, I am skipping the whole first time writing a review bullshit thing. Let me give it to you as straight as possible. This show is great as long as you are only here for the sport or visual aspects of it. Everything else is actually dogshit.

Now, this review covers spoilers! so look no further than here if you want to try the show.

Now as said above the visuals of HAnebado are amazing. The details are impressive. It is one of the many draws the show has from the get-go. Now this series starts like Haiykuu!! does. Your main girl Nagisa is the ... classic work for it and will get it kind of charter. However, she gets absolutely destroyed by Ayano the op as hell character fo the series. Now after this thrashing they both end up as the same school. Where you start to think "Oh they will team up and get over the hurtles together to be better or 1 v 1 against each other a lot and be good rivals."
Do they?....... For like the first three eps teamwork and that seem like the idea....until is dies quickly at ep 4. After that Ayano does a 180 and this show moves on with Kirito mark 2.79 I am going to stop there for if I go on I will spoil everything.

Now the characters are the main bane of the story. Mainly Ayano's mom or any of Ayano's rivals. Who I can even begin to speak of how much I hate her. I am sure she shit. Like her char. makes no sense. Like from the plot I have no idea why she had a kid. Like for eps 1-11, I have no idea how or why she would procreate. She is just a shit human being who has no regrets of abandoning her child to make her like badminton for her own sake or some dumb shit like that. Ayano is just a shit version or exact version of kirito. It is like they thought to make an antihero like Hachiman for SNAFU, but took away all the character form him. Mainly all the characters do 180 like every eps for little to no reason. The only good char. is Nagisa but she fucks off at ep 4.

The writing is god awful. it seems like the animator got all the money while every other department got lackluster people. I feel bad for anyone who had to work o this show. Since it is dogshit.

All in all, this is a case of the MANGA IS BETTER!!! kind of thing. I wouldn't know though since this anime has turned me off entirely form the series. I would personally seek to fail the show if told I could. If you think I am being too harsh or missed the point of the show you watch it and come back and call me wrong with a good backing of facts(from the show no manga facts) and I will not change but lessen my smolder hate a little.

Kwik-e

This is a show with some good highs, but way too many disappointing lows. it makes good usage of it's audiovisual to show a captivating story with nice animation, decent art style, good directing and editing, and a soundtrack that while isn't unique is utilized wonderfully with the way it rises and falls in correspondences to the scene. the problem is the story and characters that are attached to the show that makes it a disappointment. it's not a bad story per say as it was interesting in the first few episodes, but as it kept chugging along it carried along unnecessary luggage in the ... case of subplots and characters who have little weight to the story. the characters aren't bad themselves even though they aren't well rounded and are overtly dramatic. they all wouldn't be bad in the grand scheme of things, but it's the way the anime presents them that makes it hard to care. it's a show that wants to be taken seriously and makes sense how it wants to do it, but doesn't live up to its standard.

this show does work on a thematic level, but it's narrative doesn't help support it. in the end even the best of production values can't save a shoddy story.