Look at this, the fluidity of the motion, the smoothness of the animation, this is something
that to me makes me want to watch it, be entranced by it.
If I took this moment, and had to say that I found a single flaw, I would say...
DOES NO ONE KNOW WHAT THE HELL A SPORTS BRA IS?
Heck I’m a guy, I don't even use them. But I know what they are and how useful they can be
Specifically for sports, hence the name SPORTS BRA.
But I forgot that sometimes anime is made by people thinking with their dicks, so sure
let’s have one of the incredibly talented badminton players have a larger than average
chest and just decide to not wear a bra on that day.
MAKES TOTAL SENSE.
So let’s start off with some context, I am not a sports person.
I used to joke back in high school that I only enjoy sports that involve a controller,
but let’s be honest, that's not even true cause button mashing while playing melee
doesn't really count as a sport either.
I don’t really follow much live sports either. Whether it be like sport sports or e-sports or what have you.
I’ll tell you if you really ask me that I am a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs for
hockey, but really since I don’t actively follow them this is just so that when and
if they eventually make it to the cup again I can happily say I’ve been a fan of them
without wavering unlike some other people who will jump the bandwagon constantly.
But I can say that sports in anime has been something I’ve had a passive enjoyment with.
Unlike real sports, the anime versions have characters and stories that can help elevate
the stakes in a game far more for me then just the sport itself.
They give me a reason to care about the stakes in a game beyond some kind of blind devotion
to a team or the sport itself .
So it’s a real shame when the overarching story is so garbage.
Maybe that came off a little strong, Hadebado is not a bad show, despite having the word
bad in the title, because ha ha FUNNY JOKE.
No, the biggest problem with Hanebado is it’s overarching story, true, however with what
we have been presented before us so far I can see enough potential in the rest of the production
to make up for that.
So what is Hanebado actually about?
Well like many sports anime that I have watched the story follows a badminton prodigy named
Ayano Hanesaki, who due to various factors in her life and backstory, has decided that
Badminton is no longer a thing she wants to do.
Trouble is, when you are a prodigy at something you don’t want to do, you get other people
passionate about it upset because you are not utilizing your potential and it’s a
complete waste.
Now at the time of writing, this show is not done, and a lot of the show’s story up until
this point is examining why Ayano does not want to play, as well as the teams attempts
to skirt around it.
Which is a shame for a multude of reasons.
First being, Ayano’s story is not good, hell Ayano is not a very good protagonist.
I don't like her.
Most of her motivations and problems revolve around her mom, and without spoiling too
much her mother...one of the worst people at parenting that I’ve seen since I last time I read a CLAMP manga.
She’s not like Medusa bad but then again this is supposed to be a semi-grounded
in reality story about a high school sports team.
So there are limitations on how bad this mom could be, and she skirts the line really hard.
So now the motivations of the show’s protagonist pull us out of the narrative for how just
insane this concept is.
The reasons this is really annoying is twofold, both because the wrapping of the show far
exceeds the story it’s trying to tell, and the fact that in episode one we are given
a much better story that the narrative quickly pushes aside.
I shouldn’t have to talk about how gorgeous the animation for this series can be.
You saw it at the top of the video, you’re seeing it now, this is probably the best animated
series of this season without too much question, and a decent contender for best of year in
the same regard.
But in episode one the story focuses a lot not on the character of Ayano, but on the
High School team captain Nagisa.
Nagisa, baring the aforementioned problems with wardrobe, is a much better character.
She has her own problems at the start sure, problems that are quickly dealt with narratively
which leads to a massive development of her character….only then to push her to the
sidelines to make way for mama’s girl Ayano and her prodigy plot.
Nagisa is quickly and unceremoniously moved into the supporting character role, which
was somewhat confusing for me considering her prominence at the shows start.
Why start so heavily with Nagisa only to then pivot within two episodes?
Hopefully the remaining episodes rectify this.
That hope is why I’m not totally sold on just dropping the series.
Like I’ve been harping on it for the last couple of minutes but there were several times during
my watch through of these few episodes, where I really was gripped by the episode’s story,
where I was excited to see where it was going.
So here’ how I’ll try to explain it, the show’s overall plot, as it has been presented
to us, is not good.
I really don’t like Ayano as a character and her backstory is all that moving.
It’s reached that point of horribleness that rips me out of any immersion I might have by thinking
there’s no way a parent can be THAT bad.
That all said, the show has been very good with their one-off episodic stories, the thrilling
sections of plot that are focused on very particular moments, the matches between players for example.
Even if the motivations for those matches are tied to that overarching mess of a narrative,
the show knows how to pull me into the story; it just doesn’t have any idea of how to
keep me there.
It grips me to the screen with this tense battle of personalities between characters,
and then loses me when the characters are quickly pulled into a bathhouse for the censored
tits and unnecessary fan service.
There’s this whiplash that stops me from truly enjoying the good parts of what this
show has to offer.
But because I see those good moments, because I feel that tension at times, I don’t
think I’m willing to give up on the series just yet.
Like I can see the possible end of the line where the train that is this show falls off
a cliff because that backstory has to be dealt with eventually and I can’t see how
they'll be able to deal with that in a satisfying way.
But hell, I’ll probably keep taking the bait anyways for the amount of effort and
passion that I see being put into the animation because if nothing else my god is this series beautiful.
So that’s where I stand, there are many problems with Hanebado, and I honestly don’t
think that it'll fix them by the end of the series but there’s enough here that’s stopping
me from writing it off entirely.
It's frustrating, I'll tell you that.
So if you're interested in this potential train wreck of a show then you can go watch it over
on Crunchyroll if you have access to it, with a simuldub version available from Funimation
and links will be down below in the description as per usual.
Thank for joining me on this First Reaction.
Let me know down in the comments what you have been following this season.
And maybe I will see it! Maybe I'll be like "That is amazing! I should do something and talk about
this show!" and then I might! We'll have to see.
And thank you to my patrons, who make these videos possible.
You guys are amazing.
Until next time, WATCH MORE ANIME!
And stay frosty everyone.
Later.