Now I am going to tell you why I enjoyed this anime, instead of breaking down every detail.
I must admit, the synopsis is bad. However, if the synopsis is holding you back from watching this anime, fear not. I feel as if they included some of the most irrelevant information possible. If you are even considering watching this anime, I hope that I give you the push to watch it.
This anime sort of follows a very "sports" arc where they train and hope to go to nationals. However, when watching the anime you find that instead of focusing on the "sports" aspect, you are more focused on the characters. That is what set it apart from any regular anime. I love each of the 10 main characters and their personalities make it easy to like them. They all are struggling with something in their life within the sport and outside. Although they don't like to show the weak side of them, each of them makes a commitment to change, especially our main character, Kakeru. When characters grow in anime, I think that has to be the most satisfying thing ever. Even though the anime After the Rain and Violet Evergarden have nothing to do with "sports" I still felt similar vibes from them.
When the anime tells you about who they are as individuals, seeing them succeed makes me happy/satisfied. Seeing things not go as smoothly as I thought was a nice change of pace. Within a race, anything can happen and if you aren't feeling 100% it won't change the fact that you are going to do the race still.
If you aren't sold at this point, this anime was developed by Production I.G. I am sure that you have watched other anime that have been made by them such as Attack on Titan, Kuroko no Basket and especially Haikyuu!! So why not watch this one as well? On top of that, this anime went from around a 7.4* rating from week one to 8.24* rating.
This is for the people who want individual marks on the aspects of things.
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Art - 9.5
Never gets in the way of things which is all I really care about. *It was beautiful*
Sound - 9
Opening 1 was amazing and Opening 2 was forgettable. Either way, it enhanced my experience rather than ruining it.
Character - 10
All of the characters I loved :)
Story - 10
Loved each of the backgrounds and what they had to do in order to overcome obstacles within their live. Finally, something about college stuff instead of high school. Lets go!
Enjoyment - 9
Basically the only thing that matters. The only reason this wasn't a 10 is because at times I felt the ending of an episode was a little bit lackluster.
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To everyone. At least give this anime a try as I think it won't hurt. What is also kind of weird is that the main character looks a little like Kageyama from Haikyuu!! I also liked the little bit of comedy in there as well, made it an added bonus. The drama is also totally justifiable instead of just starting random fights with no reason behind it. Although I tend to find my opinions unpopular, I decided to write this review because I just like writing about things that I enjoy. I hope that you can at least give this anime a chance and feel free to let me know your opinions about this anime as well.
*P.S*
If you are a runner, I feel as if this is a must watch. Without spoiling too much, we find out early on that Haiji, one of the main characters is injured and goes through a phase in his life where he is completely unmotivated. Any sports anime that has a character that I can relate to is always nice since I can feel as if I am not alone in the situation that I am in. Personally, since I have flat feet which can lead to a lot of problems, you always have to find a way to overcome and adapt. Prince is also relatable since we all used to be slow runners :)
