Friends Haru and Makoto are starting their first year of junior high when they are faced with a very important decision – they need to figure out which school club to join. Already regular competitors at their local swimming club, the two are not that interested in joining the swimming club at Iwatobi Junior High […]
2.43 – Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Team – The Complete Collection at a superficial glance sounds like another volleyball anime trying to cash in on the enormous success of Haikyu!!, but the reality is it throws a slightly more josei approach to the storytelling that helps it stand out as unique. Set in the […]
A figure skating prodigy in his youth, Kensei Maeshima left the sport after yet another loss to his rival Reo Shinozaki. Years later when Shinozaki announces that he will be leaving behind his solo career to join a skate-leading team, Maeshima is compelled to follow his rival into the group sport after some convincing from […]
Five years after his Megalonia win against Yuri, Joe has disappeared from the public eye following an exhibition match with Yuri’s new protege Edison Liu, and is once again fighting in underground matches. A far cry from his heyday as “Gearless Joe”, Joe is now using megaloboxing gear in the ring and boxing under the […]
Referred to fondly as ‘The Samurai’ by his fans due to his ponytail, Jotaro Aragaki is an olympic-level Japanese gymnast who has been losing relevency as he grows older and can’t keep up with the new generation of gymnasts. When his coach suggests retirement, Jotaro attempts to break the news to his daughter Rei during […]
Tamayomi: The Baseball Girls heads down a well-trodden sports anime mould, in this instance looking to explore the journey of an all-girls high school baseball team aiming to make it to the top while starting from nothing. Yomi Takeda had given up baseball during middle school after finding herself discouraged that her team mates weren’t […]
In the late 19th century, genius misfit and inventor Appare Sorano and skilled samurai Kosame Ishikki find themselves stranded in the middle of the ocean when Appare attempts to flee Japan to avoid arrest for a series of inventions gone wrong. Rescued by a passing steamship, the two wind up in Los Angeles, with no […]
How Heavy Are The Dumbbells You Lift? has garnered a bit of a cult following for seemingly bringing together a combination of obsessive sports anime, humour and a reasonable whack of fan service. After watching the series I’m inclined to agree, but the balance between these elements leant a little bit harder in one particular […]
After a disastrous first appearance at the international Grand Prix Final, Japan’s number one figure skater Yuri Katsuki struggles to pick himself back up. Easily susceptible to the pressures of competition, Yuri experiences crippling bouts of anxiety that affect his figure skating, and as time goes on his repeated poor performances in the rink lead […]
Having begun their first year of college in Tokyo, Haru and Makoto cross paths with old friends from their Iwatobi Junior High School swim team during a swimming tournament. While it is a warm reunion with their old teammate Asahi, it is much more difficult to make amends with Ikuya, an extremely talented swimmer who […]