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Season 1 - Review
Review in bullet points:

The Good:
- Chihayafuru has a bit of everything: rivalry, friendship, love, and competition.
- Well paced and keeps you interested the whole way

The not so good:
I actually could not think of anything that stood out as not so good maybe the art (see art section in full review).

... Full Review:

Story: I think Chihayafuru takes a typical sports anime plot and turns it into something unique and fun to watch. You watch Chihaya grow as a person and a caruta player and while the plot of a character getting better at a game they love isn't exactly new the journey there is always exciting and this is especially true with Chihayafuru.

Art: I think the art is unique. It isn't my favorite, its very beautiful but a lot of the characters kind of look the same. Every scene kind of looks like it has a instragram filter on it. Don't get me wrong its great art and I could never do anything half as good but it isn't what I would recommend about this anime

Sound: I like the opening and close. The rest of the music suits the moods of the anime and get you hyped at just the right moments.

characters: I absolutely love Chihaya as a character her upbeat attitude is something I always look for in characters. Its refreshing but isnt overwhelming, they show that she can get insecure, anxious, and sad. The other characters shine just as bright for me. Each have their own reasons for playing caruta.

Enjoyment: Full disclosuer this is the third time I've seen season 1. I'm a fan of Chihayafuru I think it mixes the right amount of playing Caruta and exploring the lives of the characters. I never find myself skipping episodes on a rewatch.

Overall: I wouldnt say this show is innovative or something completely new but it did what it did well. I found myself routing for the players to grow and win.

Review in bullet points:

the Good
- The show takes time to explore the friendship in a refreshing way
- The music was pretty good I ended up looking up the soundtrack (https://open.spotify.com/album/4HI88CNTz7ffVGcOR17Oqb?si=yY8QZJHfTESuztk2Tue1jA)
- I enjoyed some of the over the top "sports anime" themes

the Not So Good
- the sport (Rugby) took a back seat to the characters
- Some of the over the top "sports anime" themes were a bit too much
... - The overall plot felt a bit slapdash

the Point
- Its not a top sports anime for me I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. If you are curious it isn't too bad.


Full Review:

Story: In a time when sports anime is used to define practically any anime that involves sports this anime sits somewhere in the middle of an actual story about sports and a story with sports. I can't say I learned anything about rugby but i could feel that the intent was for this to be a story about a bunch of guys who became friends through a shared determination to go to nationals. I would say that the plot left something to be desired in terms of actual direction but the detours it took on it way to nowhere where fun to be a part of.

Art: Full disclaimer I'm not an artist in any way so I cant review this critically but I can tell you I thought the art was pretty good. The weirdly shaped heads were not as hard to get used to as I first thought. All the characters felt a little different.

Sound: I this the music was pretty good. It went well with the situations and leaves you feeling hyped. I think the music was a bit of a shining point for this anime.

Characters: I mentioned a bit already about how I believed the character relationship really carried this anime. There was just too many of them. I felt like i learned too little about all of the characters. It felt a bit like they couldn't decided between trying to get a flow for the plot going or explore the complex relationships between the team members. The characters themselves felt a bit too defined Gion was the gung ho newcomer who was overexcited and that was really played up. Each character had a "thing" and sometimes the characters personalities felt forced down your throat.

Enjoyment: I definitely felt like I dragged myself through some of the episodes. This show definitely had its good moments but honestly not enough for me to say I really enjoyed this show.

Overall: I think this show had some potential but it still fell short. If you are expecting a full on in your face sports anime this show wasn't really it for me. I think this show tried doing too much and didnt really accomplish any of it.

Review in Bullet Points:
- A more realistic than usual sports anime no one seemed to need super powers to play
- Main character is likable and fun but the rest are fairly forgettable (sometimes all you need is a good main character)
- The plot really drove this one for me it felt organic and well paced

Main Review --
Story: Baby Steps is close to exactly what you would expect of a "Sports Anime" Including main character growth, relationship development, and some heated matches that last a couple episodes. The story is well paced and doesn't spend too long on any one story point.

Art: I'm not any sort ... of artist so I feel weird commenting on it. Its good nothing stood out. If you are watching this anime in 2020 its definitely starting to get a little dated but nothing that would stop me from suggesting this anime.

Sound: Not memorable. I can't even picture the music. On the plus side it didn't disrupt the anime either.

Characters: The characters in this show feel both well developed and a little underdeveloped at the same time. While we get to see the main character grow as a tennis player there isn't much too it. The other characters are interesting enough but the highlight is definitely the heads down hard worker main character Eiichiro.

Enjoyment: I found myself wanting to see what happened next and if the hard work of the main character would pay off. At no point did this series drag for me. I liked the more realistic aspect to the way tennis is played in this. There was no plays or hits that were hard to watch because it was just so unrealistic. I thoroughly enjoyed this anime.

Overall: I'd say that this is in the top half of my favorite sports anime list. It focused on the sport and the development of the main character and didn't feel like any of the characters needed super powers. I enjoyed watching the analysis of the games through Eiichiros eyes