There are two things I should probably mention here. First of all, I don’t like sports very much. It’s not that I dislike sports per se, and I enjoy watching the occasional football and basketball game, but understanding player statistics and which strategies work best always feels like it requires more time and effort than I’m willing to put in so I can do it from a distance Appreciate them.
The second is that I really like most sports anime. Now, this may sound contradictory to the first point, but while I have had trouble getting into sports on a technical level, I have an easier time understanding the story of someone’s journey into a sport that ended up fundamentally changing them life, or how to bring a group of conflicting personalities together. Heck, some anime pique my interest in sports through sheer enthusiasm. As long as a series can deliver that passion, or have enough elements to make up for deficiencies elsewhere, there’s no limit to what kind of stories can be told through sports. I bring this up because serious! Not an outright bad show, it failed to make golf exciting. This is one of the most boring sports animations I’ve ever seen.
The basic point of this story is very simple. We follow a man named Igarashi who moves to the remote Tokara Islands to start over after a scandal ends his professional golf career. There he met a naughty girl named To and became friends with her.Nbo nicknamed him “Igaiga” and revealed that she has an extraordinary talent in golf. Igega realized she could have a promising career as a professional golfer and tried to convince her to leave the island and go to the outside world, but lost her parents at a young age and lived on the island with her grandfather Afterwards, she had no intention of leaving.
As with most sports anime, what I just described here might play out in the first one or two episodes before getting into the real meat of the story, but somehow all of this plays out within its 13-episode runtime . It’s not the worst set-up for a prologue, but its conflicts aren’t interesting enough to justify waiting so long. It could have been about a third of the length without losing much.
If the show was good at making golf exciting (as much as you can, anyway), then a slow start might work, but its biggest problem is committing the worst sin any sports animation can commit : There is a lack of good opponents for the protagonists to fight against, or in this show, almost none. Because most of the story here is about whethernbo will pursue a career in golf, and most of the actual golf time involves her wandering around the island’s courses alone while Igega gives her advice. But since she almost always plays alone, it’s hard to visually understand how she differs from other golfers. The story can only pause to comment on some of the unusual tricks she is performing before repeating itself. The only time we see her confront other people all season is when other residents bring her niece Tsubara to the island to help inspire Tonbo, but even so, To isn’t that interestingnbo also lacked a competitive spirit and did not begin to feel the desire to win until the end of the game. It lacks real stakes and feels slightly less boring than ToNBO’s solo adventure.
However, as a sports anime, what really drags this anime down is that it’s so technical. Golf isn’t the most exciting sport, so a series like this bird wings and Influence continues to rise The compensation is by being as flashy and exaggerated as their presentations can be (even if said presentations often involve overly complex golf courses and golfing superpowers). The show takes a more realistic approach to golf. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but said method usually involves every actionnbo will explain in detail what makes it special after the performance. It’s not hard to follow, and it does mimic the feeling of listening to sports commentary, but when it comes to truly showcasing what’s exciting about the sport, I can’t think of a worse way to do it. I find myself giving up on it almost every time.
Now, some of these issues could be remedied if the show were compensated elsewhere, as there are plenty of excellent sports anime in which sports play a minor role in character relationships or interpersonal drama (Crossover games or Run with the wind are some very solid examples). Unfortunately, there’s not much to do there either. arrivenbo and Igaiga are the only two characters to receive significant attention, and between them, most of the attention is focused on ToNBO and she muster up the courage to leave the island and head out into the outside world. While her arc isn’t entirely terrible, and the show does enough to show why she’s so attached to the other islanders, it’s not enough to stretch it out over an entire season. Even when we finally climaxed, I was happier to see it end than to feel emotional about ToNbo is survived by her friends and family.
It doesn’t help that, while his intentions are not malicious, there are parts where it feels like Igeiga is more concerned with seeing Toto.nbo to reach her potential as an athlete rather than trying to do what is in her best interest. Although they have plenty of energy, this imminent motivation makes it difficult for them to support Igeega’s proposal. Igaiga isn’t that interesting either, as that’s the most we really get from him besides his training with ToLooking back at his past as a former pro and how he was humiliated when another golfer asked him to fix a match, Igega hesitated to accept a bribe and they both got caught . Otherwise, he’s here mainly for comic relief, playing Tonbo is either causing mischief at his expense, or he is unable to understand certain aspects of island life that others are used to. While fish-out-of-water jokes aren’t entirely unfunny, you can only do them so many times before they start to get boring.
We don’t get much from the other island residents in the supporting cast, and while they’re all likeable, they mostly just serve as part of the background rather than actual characters. The only exception isnbo’s grandfather, who tries to guide her in figuring out how she’s going to live without him when he eventually dies, but even that’s mostly an extension of ToThere’s more to Nbo’s arc than anything that really sets him apart. Beyond that, the most we get from the villagers is towards the end of the show, where one of them wants to marry the island’s nurse, but she’s incapable of having children and the two of them have to put aside their fears of how to get married . While I did find myself intrigued by it, the fact that it was so close to the end of the show only made me wish it had more side stories like the other islanders. The fact that one of the best things it has to offer has nothing to do with golf at all really speaks to the extent of its failure as a compelling sports show.
On the technical side, the production of animation OLM It’s acceptable, although basically not that impressive. The show never descends into outright awfulness, but lacks any interesting visual direction or flair to help any of the golf segments stand out, which only brings them down further when it comes to making golf look exciting. Some poor subtitle work also holds the show back, as it lacks subtitles for any on-screen text, and the translation is a bit too literal in places, which results in some clunky sentences at times that can be a bit difficult to parse.
The rough localization also extends to its dubbing. While only one episode is legally available to watch on Tubi, this one leaves a lot to be desired, as it’s filled with awkward pauses, stiff line readings, and performances that sometimes feel like they’re barely trying to match the characters’ emotions. It’s also completely unsigned and doesn’t do much to inspire confidence). It’s not entirely hard to listen to, but even as someone who usually defaults to dubbing, there’s probably not much reason to check this out beyond simple curiosity. Since the rest isn’t available in the US for some reason, it’s not even a particularly good secondary option.
I can’t say I hate it serious!but I was extremely bored with it, which in some ways makes it even more disappointing. There’s nothing particularly unpleasant about it, but it fails to sell the appeal of golf or become a decent sports drama. Since this season is more or less just an extended prologue, the series will likely get even more exciting once we see more of ToNBO golf career. But even if it does improve, I don’t know if it’s worth the trouble to achieve it. I can’t think of any real reason to go out of my way to watch this one, and as a sports drama it offers so little that you’d probably be better off watching an actual golf match.
