Mar 10, 2024
First off AOKANA has a great concept and execution... in the visual novel. The anime removing romance has me feel less both towards characters and sports which you'd think would be improved cause it's given extra focus.
I finished playing both Aokana and EXTRA1 & 2 recently and they're all perfect imo, I've seen some people say the romance was a bit out of place at some points in the VN but this adaptation proves to me that "A story about girls flying through the sky and falling in love" (or something like that was shown at the Grand end credits) is a necessary part of
...
this story. Should also mention some people believe the romance is what makes some of the heroines (Mashiro and Misaki specifically become such amazing characters by the end of their routes and EXTRA's thanks to their relationship with Masaya). The adaptation mostly focuses on Asuka's route and the romance in that was much more minimal compared to others but even so the reason they are able to go against Inui (not spoiling who wins) is the trust they build as coach and player which the romance also serves to highlight and that goes for the other routes as well this isn't even my main issue with the removal of romance - it's how they make Masaya's relationships with the girls feel less important (once again weakening the coach and player trust), in the VN he's the one who fly's with Asuka without Misaki and that becomes a key part of her trust towards him, He changes Mashiro's grav shoes to speeder not Rika cause he's the coach and is making decisions for his players which allows Mashiro to put trust in him (this one specifically annoys me cause Rika's reduced to a side character which is accurate to this route but still why the side character in the anime). There's also the loss of all other heroines asking about what if they had been the one to put in effort which isn't just some harem thing it's them genuinely wanting to be good at FC and shows their growth in both trusting the coach and love for FC. There's also Masaya's trauma which even if both Misaki and Mashiro handle it best in the VN Asuka still does a believable enough job of getting rid of it only thanks to romance making it feel believable.
FC is presented much better in the VN as well and somehow feels more dynamic than this animation, plus artsyle is really good in the VN and CGs (especially EXTRA CGs) look amazing.
The music still being Elements Garden and Ray's ED let the music be a saving grace but even then it's mostly the same as the VN and Crossing Way, Wings of Courage, One Small Step and one of a kind are all better OPs (anime still has a good op just not great) with Millions of You and Happy Tomorrow (Both Mashiro EDs) being close to a-gain.
So my point is play the VN, Asuka's route is like a shounen, Rika's is the worst one but is still good and provides some introspection on Masaya, Mashiro's is just adorable romance and even more so is her EXTRA (enough that I replayed her route within a week of first finishing it), Misaki's is just pure sports drama mostly in EXTRA2 but still some in main game. Every single character in AOKANA gets their chance to shine as well just not in the anime.
AOKANA, EXTRA1 and EXTRA2 are all 10/10 maybe even more so for EXTRA1 due to Mashiro bias but this...
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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