Runway de Waratte (Smile Down the Runway)

Being the daughter of a modeling agency owner, Chiyuki Fujito aspires to represent her father's agency in the prestigious Paris Fashion Week, shining under the spotlight as a runway model. However, although she is equipped with great looks and talent, she unfortunately lacks a key element in becoming a successful model—height. Stuck at 158 cm even after entering high school, her childhood dream seems out of reach.

Meanwhile, Ikuto Tsumura is a high school student with a knack in designing clothes; however, without the resources to pursue the necessary education, his ambition of becoming a fashion designer remains a mere dream. But as fate brings Chiyuki and Ikuto together, the dim hopes within their hearts are ignited once again. Together, the two promise to rebel against convention and carve out their own paths in the fashion world.

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Adaptation:	Runway de Waratte
Other:	Runway de Waratte Mini Anime

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Characters & Voice Actors

Fujito, Chiyuki

Main

Hanamori, Yumiri
Japanese

Tsumura, Ikuto

Main

Hanae, Natsuki
Japanese

Hasegawa, Kokoro

Supporting

Kayano, Ai
Japanese

Tsumura, Honoka

Supporting

Ishikawa, Yui
Japanese

Ayano, Too

Supporting

Kimura, Ryouhei
Japanese

Niinuma, Fumiyo

Supporting

Suwa, Ayaka
Japanese

Moriyama, Kumi

Supporting

Tanezaki, Atsumi
Japanese

Tsumura, Aoi

Supporting

Yamamura, Hibiku
Japanese

Yanagida, Hajime

Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi
Japanese

Igarashi, Yuu

Supporting

Kaida, Yuki
Japanese

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Staff

Kamei, Hiroshi

Producer

Sawada, Airi

Producer

Eriguchi, Takeshi

Producer

Nagayama, Nobuyoshi

Director

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Opening Theme

"LION" by Ami Sakaguchi (坂口有望)

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Ending Theme

"Ray of Light" by Jae Joong

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Reviews

Mar 27, 2020

bend_over

Recommended

I never had a dream I wanted to accomplish. I was born, raised in perfect conditions and will continue to move forward without a final destination. However, upon watching "Runway de Waratte" I couldn't help myself but think that accomplishing a dear dream of yours should really be wonderful. Yes, it won't be easy, but I truly think the best thing is to at least try and if you fail, you should look at the sky and say - Damn, what a journey that was, I should follow up on it. (I would definitely do this exact way if it ever happened to me).

"Runway de ... Waratte" presents the kind of situation when characters have a dream and they genuinely care about it but the way forward is absurdly hard that at any given time they can fail as for the world's ruthless. The way it's displayed is phenomenal which shows how difficult it is to get anything.

"Runway de Waratte" is very simple to understand, but to fully understand it you must first understand the characters struggles. You should put yourself in their place and suffer as much as they have. Only in this way will you be able to understand and piece everything together to how great this anime really is. Did I do it too? Yes, and let me tell you something, it's absurdly sad. It's more I would have thought. Whenever I saw someone cry in this anime, a piece of me died along with them. I was suffering for them as well.

The anime is about fashion, and I'll be completely honest with you, I never cared about. I've seen some videos here and there about it, but it's not just my type of cum, but when an anime takes that and goes to the next level I'll just say that I'll get hooked up and I did. Even though the characters were the center of attention, I was quite interested on that to the point I was trying to learn how the whole thing worked and at the end of the day, you need to be good at that to have a minimum chance on getting the fame one is looking for.

"Runway de Waratte" would be described in one word "rejection". Everyone gets rejected on something and I also have come to understand that in addition to hard work you have to be a little lucky. Without that you won't be going too far on anything. "Rejection" in a sense you won't be receiving anything at first but after a hard-ass work that ultimately would fail.

The characters in "Runway de Waratte" are the best part of the anime. I wouldn't have liked the show as much as I do without them in it because lemme tell you something, I like them. Even the most douchebag ones are somewhat likable because I can feel their strugglest as well. I can sense the sadness they have experienced throughout their life.

The story is awesomely great even though the amount of cliches might ruin a lot of people's enjoyment. Almost half of the anime is comedy and because it is one of those types of comedies it might turn off tons of people but I think it works pretty well for this kind of stories. It would have been better if it had been reduced but I myself didn't mind.

As for the technical sector, no excellence, but not even a serious lack, to be clarified. The character design is amazing: the only flaw are the body proportions which sometimes it feels like seeing a body of 6.5 feel tall person and I didn't mind that because it's anime and hell but hell, they're really tall. Even the protagonist who appears to be short (according to others) is extremely tall when on screen.

"Runway de Waratte" is one of my favorite anime i've seen in my life and I'll continue to repeat this for years to come.

Chiyuki must be protected at any cost.

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Mar 27, 2020

Walpurgies

Recommended

------ SPOILER FREE REVIEW (at least not beyond the first ep) -----

My first completed anime ever on a subject that I totally don’t care. Well not the case anymore, I guess.

Runway de Waratte, Smile down the Runway or That Time Kamado Tanjiro got reincarnated as a Fashion Designer was a blessing to have this season.

To you that may have already seen it, I hope my review will do justice to your feelings towards this anime and for those who are hesitating or just don’t want to watch this “weird, cringe, girly, wtf is fashion design” show, I will try my best to convince you ...

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Mar 27, 2020

Pipe

Recommended

Dreams are something that follows us during our entire life. Sometimes we can make them a reality; sometimes, they will become a nightmare that will follow us for eternity. Sometimes these dreams will become a utopia; sometimes, they will be childish. No matter what kind of dream we have, our life will revolve around them. Runway de Waratte is a fantastic series that push us to follow our dreams and to keep moving forward.

We follow the story of Chiyuki, a small fashion model that does not meet the height standards of a runway model. This limitation always closes her doors to the point that ... she feels that her dream is vanishing. On the other hand, we have Ikuto, a high school student that cares about his family, his friends, and who loves creating new clothes designs. Call it luck or destiny, Chiyuki, and Ikuto team up at the beginning of the story opening a new world of possibilities, frustration, sadness, friendship, and the essential love for their dreams and the courage to follow them. From the story perspective, this is overwhelming—the need to fight for what you want to do adds tension to the plot and keeps you interested every time. The story will have rivalities, partnerships, sadness, and more. You will be hooked to the story almost instantly, where the pacing will take you in an elegant way to the runway. You, as a spectator, will enjoy this beautiful, vivid, colorful show to the point that you will want to see more.

The characters are exquisite, and maybe it is because we have the opportunity to see them with different clothes, scenarios, and they express very will their feelings and have a radiant personality irradiating the screen.

Chiyuki is a fashion model. She is not very tall but is more talented than most of the models, and she reflects it in her training and devotion. However, the fashion industry is rigorous, and she does not fit the height standards. I have a lot of personal stories about that industry; photo sessions are a pain. If someone does not meet the standards is taken away. If you are not suited for the runway (walk, presence, resistance, courage, photogenic), you are out as this series shows. Trust me, it is a severe, complicated, and an awful world sometimes. She is left behind to the point that the frustration invades her. Something that I find interesting is that she is a compelling character that no matter what, she will not give up, which motivates her to fight for her dreams and not take a no as an answer.

Ikuto isn't the typical high school student. He loves to design clothes but never considered to be part of the fashion world. Chiyuki pushes him and introduces him to a broader world. He shows cohesion during the story. He grows and moves forward, thanks to Chiyuki. He is a cheerful person, amiable and responsible.

We have two more important characters that contrast the whole cast. Maybe they have the ability that Chiyuki and Ikuto are trying to achieve. They are Kokoro, a tall girl with a stunning modeling aura with a different dream on the mind and Too, perhaps Ikuto's rival, but who knows.

From the creative aspect, the production is flawless. Recreating fashion designs and make them look admirable is a cumbersome task that requires hours and hours of brainstorm. Finding and ideal for expressing fashion as this author did is a clear example that spends several hours, days, months searching for patterns, and studying the basic concept of designs. Now taking that concept to the animation is a job that I must say is lovely. The production does an admirable job, and you can see the effort of the animator, the director, the writer in every scene, and the camera movements that fill our eyes with a marvelous and elegant story that amazes.

The sound is excellent. I think that both the OP and ED are vibrant. However, LION is a song with a steady rhythm needed in each runway. The lyrics are beautiful, and I think that is one of the best songs of the season competing with "Good Night" that has a stunning letter and score.

Finally, Runway de Waratte is not for everyone. Sadly, some persons will hate that genre. The member stats give me that reason. I am not going to write the same thing that is a Shounen, etc. You will watch it if you have a certain kind of curiosity, and I am sure you will end amazed by the story development. I am glad that I find this marvelous story.

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Poll: Runway de Waratte Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Mar 27, 2020	91 replies	by Innskip »» Mar 20, 5:03 PM
Poll: Runway de Waratte Episode 4 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Jan 31, 2020	54 replies	by TranKhanhDang »» Sep 11, 2022 9:11 AM
Poll: Runway de Waratte Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Feb 28, 2020	62 replies	by ALisAnimeLover »» Jul 17, 2022 11:13 PM
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