At first glance, this seems like a story told in a billion anime. A dynamic transfer student arrives, joins a dead or dying club and revives it into a top competitor with a real chance of winning “the big game.” What’s the difference go all out The aforementioned “bubbly transfer student” isn’t actually the main character of the movie – instead, she’s the catalyst that kicks off our protagonist’s story.
Our heroine is Etsuko, a depressed high school girl. Growing up hit her hard. She began growing rapidly at a young age – making her physically superior to all her peers, regardless of gender. She is a celebrity in the school and is the fastest/strongest kid in the school. But when other children began to grow up rapidly (and then entered puberty), she was left behind. She goes from strongest to weakest. No matter how hard she trains, hard work alone cannot defeat talent. Instead of accepting her limitations and playing for the fun of the game, she gave up all physical activity entirely.
It is through this lens that the film focuses on the physical aspects of growing up and how it affects a young person’s developing personality. Etsuko started the film with a teenage mentality, believing that the effort was pointless. Why waste energy if you have no chance of winning? The moment victory looks impossible, she simply shuts down.
However, after being forced to join the rowing team, she hits a moment where everything clicks – she and her teammates come together, the runners hit high, and she’s exactly where she wants to be. Suddenly, she began to strive for the simple pleasure of doing so with other people. Even as other team members got better — and her own physical limitations began to affect the team’s success — she knew technology could make up for a lack of strength.
But when bad luck, teenage hormones and some questionable decisions all attack her simultaneously, all the old ghosts come back with a vengeance. She felt that not only was she unable to do what needed to be done at the level required, but she was also holding others back – objectively making the team worse.
This is an extremely realistic depiction of how someone can suffer from such mental distress. Even if we think we have overcome our doubts or inner weaknesses, they still come back again and again in new forms when we are at our most vulnerable. There is no easy cure. What’s more, sometimes, no one can offer any help – you just need time and space to get over it on your own. The film does a great job of following one man through this journey, getting to the heart of the matter in a way that everyone can understand.
On the visual side of things, go all out It is a fully 3D animated film and does not try to be a 2D animated film. Instead, it takes full advantage of 3D features. There are tons of unconventional camera angles and moves that wouldn’t be possible in the real world. Character models are filled with tiny animated details, from the movement of hair to fluttering fabric, and the lighting and shadows are spot-on. So while it’s clearly 3D animation, it definitely doesn’t look or feel cheap.
The best part of the music isn’t the soundtrack (which is good enough), but the narrative songs from the fictional world. We hear songs through the store radio, or sounds from Etsuko’s headphones, which add an unexpected sense of realism to the world on screen.
in the end, go all out It’s the story of a girl who finds meaning in her sport beyond the joy of winning—and finds a reason to give it her all despite her own physical limitations. It’s a story that strives to stay grounded in its message—never succumbing to narrative tropes that pander to its audience, which in doing so detracts from the realism it wants to portray. It’s a solid movie with an equally solid moral – and one that many of us can apply to our daily lives.
