Well, let's just say this is yet another disappointing anime to write home about. We've been getting a lot of those lately and my hopes and dreams for the future have been nigh diminished. But enough about my self-pity, let's get a move on and see why exactly this show fails at nearly everything.
Story: 4
A weak part of this anime is the story. I mean, it's an anime about badminton. What more can one want? Here's an idea: how about a realistic depiction of the sport? With actual tournaments arc? And not individual matches here and there in the first half and then one boring tournament that focuses on only 2 of the characters? Quite frankly, there is nothing to even compare this to - story-wise it's a dry dish. No spice, no flavor.
Art: 7
Nothing spectacular but nothing bad either. I found the art to be satisfying and enjoyable. I didn't go "OMG" and my jaw certainly didn't drop but it was "ok". Minus the unrealistic amounts of sweat comign from the bodies of those teenage girls. I mean, you'd reckon they were playing badminto in a sauna with the amounts of sweat protruding from their pores.
Sound: 5
Was there sound? A forgettable OP, even mroe forgettable ED, almost no thrilling soundtrack during the actual matches. In other words - mediocre.
Characters: 2
Yet another weak point. Probably the worst thing about this anime was its character cast. We have 2 main protagonists and... that's it. Pretty much 0 development for the rest. (sure, we get some dramatic training sessions with some minor characters that - guess what, go nowhere). On top of that we have contradictions left and right. To finish off, we have absolutely scum characters trying to act all righteous.
A mother that abandons her child and goes abroad to play mommy with some other girl. One could say that Ayano gets NTR'd by some danish chick. That's a new...
We then have Ayano herself, who goes from being an absolute monster of a badminton player, to being an average schoolgirl that hates badminton, to then being a psychotic badminton player, to being an average school girl again. If I was even a mildly-proficient doctor, I'd lock her up in an institution.
Her counterpart, Nagisa, is your typical "hard-worker" that overcomes everything. As if... give me a damn break, people. If this anime wanted to shove this "hard work beats talent" crap down our throats, they should have renamed the anime to "Hard-working sweaty teenagers beat the shit out of a badminton shuttle". You go try to play a 3-set badminton game with a blown-out knee against a far stronger opponent, and try to score a point. Then come and tell me about all that hard work that paid off.
And my least favorite character is that danish NTR chick who goes to Japan to fight Ayano because ?she has some ?beef with her?? I'm really not sure about her motivation. She then basically mentally insults Ayano with that little speach about "Mom only cares about winning", ONLY to come a few episodes later and try to be all friendly and family-like with the girl, who's life she single-handedly ruined. Talk about being the lowest of scum...
Enjoyemnt: 2
The only way I could have enjoyed this anime less was if they added bad CGI. Which is saying A LOT.
Overall: 4
Again, the rules of mathematic prevent me from giving this anime a lower score. And I would have, believe me. This is one of those rare times, when I actually think MAL's score is being TOO generous.
As parting words, all I can say is: Watch at your own risk.
