Sorairo Utility (TV)

Avid gacha player Minami Aoba finds herself at an impasse when her favorite game announces the end of its live service. Left adrift without her beloved characters, she realizes she has been wasting her first year of high school and sets out to try different clubs to find a new, more productive hobby. However, the harsh truth sets in that she is completely unfit for pretty much every sport her school's clubs have to offer.

One fateful afternoon, Minami stumbles upon a golf driving range after helping an old man carry his equipment there. Inside, she meets Haruka Akane, who promptly introduces her to the sport. Much like her previous attempts at athletics, Minami has no natural talent for golf, but something about the rhythm of swinging the club captivates her. Finally, Minami feels the spark of genuine excitement that she has been looking for—a new obsession within her reach.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Aoba, Minami Main

Takagi, Miyu Japanese

Akane, Haruka Main

Amami, Yurina Japanese

Hoshimi, Ayaka Main

Gotou, Ayasa Japanese

Yoarashi, Hina Supporting

Naganawa, Maria Japanese

Megumi Supporting

Honda, Takako Japanese

Setoharu Supporting

Seto, Haruka Japanese

Akane, Masamichi Supporting

Ueda, Youji Japanese

Practice Field Manager Supporting

Mizuno, Risa Japanese

Raimon, Tooru Supporting

Taniyama, Kishou Japanese

Kazamatsuri, Daigo Supporting

Yasumoto, Hiroki Japanese

Takagi, Hideto Producer

Kudou, Masayo Producer

Saitou, Kengo Director, Character Design

Horita, Daisuke Sound Director, Music

Reviews

Mar 21, 2025

Marinate1016

Recommended

Birdie wing ending left a deep hole in my heart that Sorairo utility has done a surprisingly good job of filling. Whereas Birdie wing was more story based and focused on the absurdities of super powered golf, Sorairo utility is a much more grounded and realistic story about a regular girl finding herself with the sport! It’s the sort of story that everyone can relate to as Minami is not some prodigy nor does she even ever become great at golf. She’s new to the sport and sucks, but that’s ok because she’s having fun and I think there’s a very powerful message in that ... that you don’t see in anime often. You’re not always going to be the best or even good at something, that doesn’t mean you have to give up and can’t enjoy what you do. It’s all about appreciating the journey and who you experience it with. That alone makes this one of the best sports anime I’ve seen.

Sorairo and birdie wing will inevitably be compared because they’re two recent golf anime with female casts. As I said in the opening, though, they’re drastically different. I love both, but there’s something about the more realistic story and setting of Sorairo that struck a chord for me. As someone who has always wanted to get into golf, but hasn’t had the chance to, I really saw myself in Minami. I know for a fact that when I start out I’m going to suck, but this show encouraged me to stick it out and keep going despite the initial struggles. I may never reach the level I want to be at, but that’s ok as long as I make long lasting relationships, learn more about myself and grow as a person. Minami does just that in this show and joined by a stellar supporting cast in Haruka and Ayako. These three girlies were so much fun to watch every week. Every episode went by so quick, whether it was them actually golfing or hanging out and just teaching Minami about life, golf, etc., it felt like we were watching 3 friends every week and that’s this show’s other big strength, the chemistry. This group flow together so well, you can’t help but smile, laugh and cry right along with them.

Equally as impressive is the show’s emphasis on different golfing approaches. Golf, like anything else in life doesn’t just have one way of going about it. Minami for example plays golf to learn the basics and improve. She knows she’s not gonna be winning a green jacket or any big competition anytime soon, but that doesn’t matter. The only competition is herself. Ayaka got into golf because of her social media presence and need for validation before eventually realizing she loved the sport and wanted to grow at it, but also promoting sustainability in the sport. Haruka is more of your traditional golfer who has had success at the amateur level. Golf, like any other sport, can be whatever you make of it. It doesn’t have to be a life or death ordeal! I just found that sort of approach to the game very refreshing and it only enhanced my viewing experience. All the relationships and ways of doing things in this show are so healthy and wholesome!

From a technical standpoint, the show looks great. The golfing matches are well animated, the background art is gorgeous as are the character designs. It’s a very pretty show with a great cast. What else can you ask for?

It sucks that this show ended because I was empty over Birdie wing, this came and filled the gap and now I’m empty over this. Luckily it seems like the studio are not done with this series and it’ll be continuing in one format or another so there’s that to look forward to. I fell in love with the cast and with the game of golf even more after this. One of the best shows of the season no doubt. Sorairo Utility gets a very easy 10 out of 10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Marinate1016 (456)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Apr 8, 2025

Naneo

Recommended

This anime is all about comfiness and relaxation of golf. This anime doesn't bring out the competitiveness of sports, but rather the enjoyment we get from playing them. If you're expecting the same level as Haikyuu, this might be not for you. But don't let this stop you to try and dive into this kind of genre. Because me myself always have a great time whenever I watch an episode. Every episode is filled to the brim with joy and happy moment. Perfect watch honeslty, though some might say the pace of the story is very slow, but I love it.

Story open up with ... our MC girl tryna find her new hyperfixation because recently her favorite gacha game is closed, and she found golf, and she continue to play it until the last episode. That's it guys, that's the story. We get to see her strive to be better at it, we get to see her fail at it, we get to see her buy her favorite club, we get to see her spend countless yen because apparently having golf as a hobby is very expensive. The everyday life of a high school girl doing golf. I mean her hobby is kind of unique tho, because there's barely any student who can afford it after all. That's why the characters in this anime is not plenty.

The main characters consist of 3 golfing girl, 2 of which are still in high school, and 1 is a full fledged working adult. I am now in the age of where people around me are expecting me to work, so it is always nice to see a representation of them in Slice of Life genre where its dominated by students because when you're in the working age, your daily life really consist of well, working. Overall they're all great, the main characters. Very likeable to the point I want to have them as a friend irl. Supporting characters also pop up here and there every other episode. While the main characters are just your normal Japanese girl, the supporting one often come with a quirk to make them instantly memorable even though they're only there for only an episode.

Never skip the OP or ED song because they are very catchy. To the point I save them in my song playlist in YouTube. The opening song will make you hype for what to come in this episode, makes you feel that burning desire to actually doing what you want, for example your hobby. It has a nice meaning to it. Meanwhile the ending song will be the one that comfort you after a session of doing it. They both compliment each other and I love it. One thing I notice is that the animation are different. Between the anime, OP, and ED. It is very noticeable that's why I notice it. The only reason I could think of why they do this is because pure artistic choice. Like I said, the opening is more lively so they put brighter color to match. The ending is a mellow one so they put darker color to match. Honestly I can't stop talking about how beautiful the animation is.

Greatly enjoy the series, waiting every Saturday to watch it on YouTube. And then after that, I get to see everyone reaction of the episode by going to the comment section. Such a nice weeked close off I should say. So should you watch this anime? Definitely, give it a try even though the pace is very slow. But that is also one of the appeal though, slow but steady progress never betrays. I mean our MC girl here achieve her big goal in the latest episode. While other sport anime usually take about three episode, before going into a tournament and all. So that's all I can say about this anime, thank you for reading :)

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Naneo (65)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Mar 21, 2025

Cynthesia

Mixed Feelings

In spite of it's quest for "special uniqueness" Sorairo Utility doesn't manage to stand out in any meaningful ways. While certainly not an explicitly bad show, what's provided is entirely average.

Spin the wheel on any given season's slice of life category and you have very good odds of ending up with a show like this. The main character is unsatisfied with how average her life is and takes up a unique hobby which leads to a path of self improvement. Given this is a slice of life, the uniqueness of the premise (or lack thereof) isn't inherently an issue and choosing golf as the driving ... force is certainly a unique choice. The onus then lies on it's characters in order to carry the blunt of it's quality factor and to this regard to performs... serviceably.

First off you have the main character Minami who is your standard introverted nerd character. Overall she does alright at being a cute little goofball but doesn't manage to bring much in terms of chemistry or quirks to elevate her to memorable. Many of her mannerisms feel stock and while she has the occasional moment it leaves much to be desired. Her companions: Haruka and Ayaka are equally whelming. Haruka is the most fleshed out of the three, given a bit of backstory which feeds into the central themes of the importance of finding something you enjoy quite well. Ayaka has the least presence of any of the characters. She's supposed to be an influencer character but this doesn't really feed into the show all that much aside from an episode and a half of filler content.

Unfortunately since the crux of slice of life anime, especially ones which don't have an extravagant gimmick such as this, comes from the level of chemistry within the core group of characters; Sorairo Utility ends up suffering as a whole because of how basic the cast ends up being. This isn't helped by the fact that the seiyuu, especially for Minami, don't feel as though they're bringing their A-game (or lack experience in general). Minami feels extremely flat or unintentionally awkward in her delivery which ends up limiting any given scene's potential. Haruka and Ayaka end up fine for the most part but as a whole they don't ever deliver anything to elevate the viewers experience. Again, the performances are not necessarily bad, it's just that they're really average.

This rings true for pretty much every other aspect of the show as well. Nothing really manages to stand out, not the artstyle, not the scenarios, not the ost, it's all so very average. So much so that it doesn't leave much to comment on in either side of the spectrum. It's a pleasant little show to kill some time with but because of it's complete lack of distinguishing features it fails to cement itself anywhere on the spectrum but the middle.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Cynthesia (48)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Anime You Might Have Missed (4)

by Konatose

50 Entries · 7 Restacks

AnimeFeminist Anime Recommendations 9

by Chiorashi

25 Entries · 3 Restacks

Sports Anime (Girls Cast)

by YuikoKira

29 Entries · 9 Restacks

Winter 2025 Simulcast List [Update 2/23]

In this thread, you'll find a comprehensive list of television anime acquired for simulcast release during the Winter 2025 season. Anime series licensed for hom...read more

Jan 1, 1:41 PM by Snow | Discuss (13 comments)

Q1 2025 Anime & Manga Licenses [Update 3/12]

In this thread, you'll find a comprehensive list of anime and manga licensed in the third quarter (Jan-Mar) of 2025. Winter 2025 anime which were licensed befor...read more

Jan 1, 1:39 PM by Snow | Discuss (5 comments)

	Poll: Sorairo Utility (TV) Episode 12 Discussion KANLen09 - Mar 21	38 replies	by perseii »» May 17, 11:20 PM
	Character songs with series animelatonina - Feb 24	4 replies	by _zilly_ »» Apr 10, 3:05 PM
	Poll: Sorairo Utility (TV) Episode 3 Discussion Pranksteure - Jan 17	25 replies	by RGreatDanton »» Apr 8, 12:43 AM
	Poll: Sorairo Utility (TV) Episode 2 Discussion IzanaSolos - Jan 10	24 replies	by RGreatDanton »» Apr 8, 12:35 AM
	Poll: Sorairo Utility (TV) Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 ) KANLen09 - Jan 3	58 replies	by RGreatDanton »» Apr 7, 12:58 AM