Tl;dr: The show is long, the pacing is relatively slow, the art isn’t the focal point but if these things don’t really matter to you you are going to have a hell of a good time. This show focuses on character and story.
Story:8 Not exactly the most original but there’s a slight twist to it
There’s a lot I want to talk about with Ahiru No Sora but like 90% of it are massive spoilers so I’ll just say that this show focuses on character development. We really zoom in on a group of people who, for one reason or another, either get into basketball or resume their basketball career. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses and it's really fun to see them grow as a team, to get better, and to become better friends. You don’t have to even know the rules to enjoy the show either, it explains any niche rules immediately so you’re not lost for too long either
Art 6: I’ma keep it 100% with you, the art is probably the lowest part of the show
The art actually started out pretty nice, a lot of work clearly went into the show. Character design was significantly different from almost anything I’ve ever seen and there was a sense of uniqueness while watching it. Animation, however, started to dip towards the middle and dropped every couple of episodes. That being said, this was on average and there were a couple of moments when the animation went up which was a little jarring towards the end because you’d have like 4-5 panning shots before someone does some crazy crossover move at around 60 frames per second.
Sound 9: I liked all the openings and endings
There really isn’t too much for me to talk about here, the openings were great, the endings were great, the… basketball sounded great. I never know what to put in the sound section because you never really run into an anime that sounds BAD.
Character 10: Character was, of course, the focal point of this anime.
Of course, I’m going to give the character section a “10” on a character-focused anime. Everyone in the show had their spotlight and was fleshed out. You can really see the group chemistry change within the group every episode either for better or for worse and everyone goes through their own character arc which was nice to see. You also see their improvements in each game after they go through their own trial. All around a good time.
Enjoyment: 7 Now this is where the 50 episode count really starts to take its toll
When it comes to the overall enjoyment, 50 episodes really starts to drag on. That being said, not being able to watch this show after watching it every week for almost a year is really a punch in the gut. I don’t know what it would be like to binge-watch it but I’m definitely going to miss this show.
Overall: 8 Loved every second of it.
One last thing, if you’re expecting a lot of anime… well don’t because there isn’t
