Gunjou no Fanfare

In Japan, betting on horse racing is one of the few legal forms of gambling; thus, the public races have become an interesting part of Japanese culture. In this sport, an individual who rides a horse and competes in races is called a jockey—that is just what Yuu Arimura aspires to be.

Becoming inspired after witnessing a derby, 15-year-old idol Yuu shocks the entire nation when he leaves the entertainment industry to enroll in a prestigious horse racing school. Excited to pursue his latest passion, he gradually bonds with his new classmates—such as the talented Shun Kazanami and the self-assured Amane Grace—who are each unique in their own way. Although the path ahead may be full of obstacles, Yuu is determined to pursue his ultimate goal of becoming one with his horse.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Arimura, Yuu Main

Yano, Shougo Japanese

Kazanami, Shun Main

Tsuchiya, Shinba Japanese

Grace, Amane Main

Hanae, Natsuki Japanese

Houshou, Hayato Supporting

Toyonaga, Toshiyuki Japanese

Asahi, Yutaka Supporting

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Maki, Kouta Supporting

Kobayashi, Chiaki Japanese

Kyouriki, Aki Supporting

Itokawa, Yojiro Japanese

Hayashida, Kazuma Supporting

Nakamura, Yuuichi Japanese

Azuma, Masaki Supporting

Oohira, Shousei Japanese

Kitami, Tako Supporting

Lynn Japanese

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Yonai, Noritomo Producer

Kitazawa, Shiryuu Producer

Harao, Kouji Producer

Reviews

Jun 26, 2022

Stormy_77

Recommended

As a fan of horses, and horse racing, I was extremely happy to see they finally made a real horse racing anime that wasn't Uma Musume pretty derby. This anime has decent visuals and a Sawano OST, but unfortunately due to one scene in Episode 1 with semi BL vibes a ton of homophobes ended up dropping the series, not realizing that (1) most sport anime are "fruity", consider the Top Gun volleyball scene and (2) this is definitely NOT a BL anime.

Story - 7/10, Character - 8/10

Our main character, Yuu, decides to drop out of his idol group to become a Jockey! A semi ... implausible premise unless he really loves horses because while being an idol is hard work it's also very glamorous and comes with a huge fan base of girls! The jockeys in the show are distinct in personality, background and looks, which let this anime actually have a good story with lots of different types of friendship.

There are many subtle themes interwoven in this coming of age anime that will resonate if you've ever been through the type of situations these boys are facing, some of which are fairly common, like:-
* Living up to your parent's or society's expectations of you vs. choosing your own path
* Pressures for a female to "set the bar" for others
* Money is a constant concern
* Do what Daddy wants and life will be easier
* After trying hard at something, maybe this isn't really the field for you?
* How, when and under what conditions is quitting the right decision?

Art - 7/10

The visuals in this are inconsistent. Overall the look of the anime is pretty, with some bits being ground breaking and gorgeous which actually elevate the profound philosophy sections of the anime designed to make viewers go "aaaah my heart". If the entire series were like this it would be an easy 10/10!

Unfortunately some of the horse CGI is sub par and looks wonky, especially the bits where they are going into the gates. That CGI looks like some gambling game in terms of quality - staid, wooden and unrealistic. Then the horses start running and it looks like real racehorses. So I have mixed feelings because it's either great or wonky, hence inconsistent.

Sound - 10/10

This anime with Sawano OST would have been the best OST of Spring 2022 if not for the existence of Paripi Koumen / Ya Boy Kongming! Second place to that is good. The Op, Move The Soul by J01 is an amazing bop! The ED is an amazing bop! Listening to those brings to mind J-pop or K-pop idol songs. They're contemporary and excellent! The Insert Songs and instrumental songs are top notch, especially when paired with the amazing visual bits. The OST is probably the best thing about this anime.

Enjoyment and Overall - 8/10

Overall I really enjoyed this hidden gem. Yes it's a niche subject matter even for sports anime but it does expose some of the dark side of horse racing in a limited fashion, there aren't much in the technical aspects of running a successful stable but the jockey parts are done well.

This is bishounen which I enjoy immensely, with the resolution of their stories and the relationships with Episode 4 having one of the best training arcs in a sports anime because of several profound conversations that were had. This isn't going to be for everyone, but if you like decent looking anime with sports, friendships and deeper thinking on themes set to an amazing OST then this will be right up your alley.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jul 9, 2022

syl__via

Mixed Feelings

this is the first anime i watch that surrounds about horse racing and the characters training to be a jockey. i think it is somewhat an enjoyable anime but i think it could have been better if it has been expanded and developed further.

like for example, it feels very fast-paced with the one year later, six months later etc. you totally don't know what has happen in between to reach that part. also, there isn't much about the each and every character's background to understand why they want to be a jockey.

overall, i think it would be better if it had focus more on their ... training in school, like how each of their lesson helps them in being a jockey etc. like some episodes feels more focus on the character's personal issues than the actual plot but with only 13 episodes, it feels a wee bit redundant.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jun 25, 2022

KANLen09

Not Recommended

We had our fair share of horses in anime, the most prominent being` the likes of Cygames's popular franchise that is Uma Musume: Pretty Derby that features anthropomorphic girls with legendary names taken straight out of Japanese horse derby races for spokes-animals. But ask someone what would he/she do in a horse race, and the first instinct is to deal some horse betting for the most popular horse that would score you wins or losses, and also the journey of horse jockeying which takes into accounts of its intense practices and potential dangers, which is what Gunjou no Fanfare a.k.a Fanfare of Adolescence attempts to ... do. And this is brought to you by the same director that did the wonderful LGBTQ+ Yuri show that is Yagate Kimi ni Naru a.k.a Bloom Into You.

Ahh, it's the same combination of things that always marks a bad anime, and it NEVER gets old. And so does the rife when it comes to this show, which bears all the hallmarks of a show that is literally D.O.A from the start:
- The production committee writing the story for this show (which I've mentioned before in a review that this "creative" clash of ideas is always bound to turn up bad) that went nowhere and breaking into "arcs" just because they can easily timeskip the process;
- The sole specified idol studio Lay-duce to produce beautiful looking and young Ikemen (with the exception of the sole female since a single-gender only show would do only do favours to turn it into an idol-fest of sorts);
- The cast of characters that for the most part, only serve to contradict one another in their own personalities and habits, all while being unmemorable, obtuse and even to the point of being annoying to watch (save for some that resonate, but even then not by much);
- The music, which give or take that SawanoHiroyuki is doing the composition for this, and adding the new trend of more "J-Pop and K-Pop" fusion bands, which isn't bad (see Black Clover with Snow Man) but can get repetitive, not to mention boring if you're not a K-Pop song repertoire stan.

It's a shame that Gunjou no Fanfare, even with director Makoto Katou's efforts, is only able to shine in the visual department that borrows many of Yagate Kimi ni Naru's assets to make the show visually appealing, there's no doubt in my mind that Lay-duce did a very good job emanating that feeling of freedom while galloping a horse from the footsteps of being a trainee jockey all the way to becoming professional jockeys, ready to take on the local stage.

But everything wrong with this show is just the same tried-and-true efforts that have been done before but to inducing nauseating effect:
- The popular idol Yu Arimura whom wants out of his idol life to pursue the horse racing dream, with his entire entertainment agency being ready to welcome him back with arms open wide if he misses the mark. being an angsty boy that doesn't want to stay in one place and keep on moving forward;
- The only Ikemen that's worth a shot being likable: the horse "whisperer" Shun Kazanami with his happy-go-lucky personality and one whom often descalates any potential argument to cool it off;
- The foreigner that's a full-on American Grace Amane (which I'm impressed and not that Hanae Natsuki is able to sound like a Gaijin) which can grate on people's nerves for standing out and being outlandlsh.
- Also, I'm kinda glad that the only female Eri Shimotsuki is here, and supposedly because that the "Bloom Into You" director isn't so keen on just having Ikemen that couldn't stand out much, so they had to have her tag along. The most important aspect of her character is that she is not being sexualized and wears the same jockey uniforms as the other boys, even if she is there to break the mold and provide some entertainment that's evident of her lesser-than-usual screentime got.

It would be an understatement to say that this show was fun, and indeed it has moments like that of destress and communion when things hit the fan and everyone bonding to solve problems together for a spirit of camaraderie, that is perfectly fine by me. But there's something about this show that just rubs me the wrong way, and I can only say that I half-appreciated the show for its haphazard story/plot elements with some of the most egregious character development I've seen in a low-key show like this.

Unless you have a reason to watch this show based on the director's influences, then I suggest that you stay far away from this show because there's just nothing interesting about it, other than the fine-line intricacies of raising horses for betting races, and then wash, rinse and repeat.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Gunjou no Fanfare Episode 3 Discussion Stark700 - Apr 16, 2022	22 replies	by kirakiradeths »» Feb 25, 2023 6:18 PM
	Poll: Gunjou no Fanfare Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Apr 2, 2022	50 replies	by kirakiradeths »» Feb 7, 2023 3:09 PM
	Poll: Gunjou no Fanfare Episode 13 Discussion Stark700 - Jun 25, 2022	23 replies	by Ranxomare »» Dec 25, 2022 11:38 AM
	Poll: Gunjou no Fanfare Episode 12 Discussion Stark700 - Jun 18, 2022	16 replies	by Ranxomare »» Dec 25, 2022 11:25 AM
	Poll: Gunjou no Fanfare Episode 11 Discussion Stark700 - Jun 11, 2022	13 replies	by Ranxomare »» Dec 22, 2022 10:09 PM