Story;3
Strides story is a simple one, three people meet on the first day of high school. Two, with the intention of joining the renowned Honan High Stride club, and one who was forced into joining. These three are our stories main characters, and throughout the 12 episodes of this series, we see them grow as athletes, as people, and as friends. EXTRA emphasis on the friend bit. Advancing this group's friendship is a massive part of the story. as they work to their goal of winning the renown "End Of Summer" tournament. On their journey the race many times, getting just a little bit better every run. now if I made it sound better than I rated it, here's why. Strides story is ONLY what I said, there's not much to it. Race, get rivals, get better, repeat. And every god damn episode they spend half the time talking either about Yagami's (the character who was forced into it) brother who is the king of high school stride, friendship, or running. While all of these plot points are what drive the characters, it gets a bit too repetitive.
Art:7
it looks decent usually, which is 75% of the show. But, when stride kicks in the art gets quite good, not amazing stuff but it took time and effort to make all of those complicated race courses, tracking shots, and a seemingly 3D environment. You can tell that plenty of time was spent animating this show, and none of it spared by CG characters. The character design is, well its good but its very cliche. however, it does fit the character types they set out, and everything looks pretty good so no real complaints here.
Sound:4
The opening was... well it was pretty good and got the tone set for the show well, but the use of English was. Interesting to say the least, and i found it kinda broke the mood of what's actually a pretty good op. Background tracks, none of them really stood out to me, I didn't actually notice them there to be honest, which is a good thing! They blend in well and didn't break immersion. Actions scene tracks, there was one particular one that when listened to actually brings back the emotions of the show with it. which I consider to be a success in a musical sense. The ending track, it had a good groovy feel to it and showcased everyone's favorite rivals, Saisei High. The track had stylish animation to boot, and I would listen to it again.
Characters:3
Like I said previously the characters a VERY cliche. You've got your upbeat comedy relief duo who are more emotional than they show of nerd in glasses and a girly boy. A manly captain who cares more for his team than he lets on. Your long haired mysterious cool guy alumni that talks about the wind constantly. Your overly cheerful girl who always says Ganbare! And tries her best to "keep up." Then your have your two main characters, the competitive rivals that get better because of each other. All very cliche and not much in the unique department is shown here.
Enjoyment:6
Now while I wasn't a fan of most of the stuff this series did, and admittedly, I texted through half of it. But when everyone was running at their best, I'll admit I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. While the concept is unique, everything that was stride was just blah. But if you're into shows that showcase nice animation and rivalries, I actually think its worth a try.
Overall:5
I kinda already did an overall in my enjoyment sections. But I think that I liked this show, even though I hate super cliche shows like this it wasn't THAT bad. give it a shot, but be warned, the show gives off some pretty god damn gay vibes. be careful.
With that i end my review, i hope i helped in some way on whether or not you decide to watch Stride. Thanks for reading if you got down this far and sorry for it being so long!
