Those who derive all of their entertainment and lasting impressions from anime out of said work’s production values alone, those in the so called Sakuga Community, have always interested me, because while their commitment to technical quality is something I deeply share and respect, their equally unshakeable lack of concern with every other aspect of the work has perplexed me to no end for as long as I can remember. I mean, no matter how beautifully made it may be, I just can’t imaging enjoying a show if the plot composition, character writing, visual direction, or even just the music or color design alone isbad in any combination. These are the people who convinced me to watch a show as embarrassingly incompetent as Fate/Apocrypha for its action sakuga alone, and watching a show that heinously awful just to see a few flashy fight scenes which I could’ve just as easily seen on sakugabooru is something I will happily never do again. In light of this resolve, however, I for some reason decided to watch a show as melodramatic and cheaply written as Hanebado just for its ambitious athletic choreography and gorgeous animation direction, and this review will detail to you the sad reality of this mistake.
The direction, the shot composition from storyboarding, the digital and hand-shaded lighting, the angles and framing, the perspectives and editing, the aforementioned choreography and base animation, and just about every other facet of the visual presentation this monster has to offer was spot on perfect every time it absolutely needed to be so, and while it could be called mildly inconsistent, the average quality of artwork and animation will still blow you away. Directing often done in perspective animation of the birdie dashing like lighting back and forth across the court with quick, intense, energetic frames of the characters’ enlivened faces intermittently flashing onto screen. Powerful storyboards punching in the impact of the birdies ricocheting off the rackets like bullets off plate metal, the muscle it takes to vault for wide shots like the athlete’s life depends on it, and the beats of sweat leaping off the athlete’s face when they switch directions to dance across the court faster than the in-betweeners can even draw them. Never does the spectacle slow, drop detail, or pan across stills, thusly spending every waking second zipping around the court and the players atop. I cannot stress just how much time, money, and manpower was clearly expended crafting these brilliant sequences. Do you remember the documentaries of Production IG staff meticulously studying professional volleyball players to animate Haikyuu, or Silat martial artists to animate Psycho-Pass? If not for the fact I know and can evidently see LIDENFILMS rotoscoped half the matches, I would’ve sworn similar amounts of Herculean effort was put into the production of Hanebado, because it’s just that beautiful.
As for the rest of the show, well, it’s pretty not great.
Our protagonist is a girl named Ayano who is the daughter of the most decorated female badminton athlete ever to grace Japan, and with such expectations rested upon her shoulders and with such big shoes to fill, she has been raised for the sole purpose of playing badminton and living up to her mother’s lofty ideals of her development. As if such an overblown conceit wasn’t already embellished enough on paper, Ayano is portrayed as a being an almost literal “badminton monster”—which I know sounds hysterically stupid, but seeing as they actually use this descriptor multiple times in the anime verbatim, I’m going to stick with it—who will periodically flip her crazy switch in tense matches which literally makes her eyes dilate like a psychopath and also makes her hair turn messy like a rabid animal. I guess I could take this seriously if her mother beat her or something abusive to warrant this level of distress, but every single flashback to her childhood shows her and her mother happily practicing badminton with no stakes and all smiles, so when the show suddenly cuts back to present day with Ayano looking like she’s ready to murder her opponent over a simple practice game, I can’t help but wonder how she became so comically overdramatic. And it’s not just her either. Her opponents are just as outrageously overreactive and unbelievably over-the-top. For example, one of Ayano’s early competitors is a Danish girl who pushed aside her life and home country to move to Japan for the sole purpose of beating Ayano and winning her mother’s favor. How any of these personalities and character motivations are supposed to be believable or realistic in the slightest bit is beyond me.
Despite the badminton matches being absolutely stunning on a visual level, the script which stands meekly behind them can only be compared to that which you’d find in your standard shounen battle manga. If I had to give an example, I would say Fairy Tail, but all shounen battle manga have their own version of the infamous Power of Friendship, or what I like to call the-writer-is-a-hack-and-the-main-characters-are-just-going-to-win-now-for-no-good-reason-other-than-the-fact-it-will-make-all-the-kids-and-teens-self-inserting-as-the-carboard-cutout-of-a-hero-feel-good-about-themselves. And, of course, Hanebado has its own version of this as well. Instead of following the examples of critically acclaimed sports anime such as Haikyuu, Baby Steps, or Hajime no Ippo, shows wherein the cast has to work for their skill and success with blood, sweat, tears, and precious time, Hanebado will just haphazardly throw characters in your face with predetermined skill sets which you’re then just supposed to accept with no questions asked. At no point in the show does anyone actually sit down and explain HOW or WHY someone is a good or bad player even though everyone is continuously using badminton terminology without explanation or demonstration. After watching the aforementioned shows Haikyuu, Baby Steps, and Hajime no Ippo, I know the rules of Volleyball, Tennis, and Boxing like the back of my hand, but after watching Hanebado, on the other hand, the only thing I really understand about badminton is when the birdie hits the ground, someone gets a point.
And speaking of the ostentatiously contrived script, I forgot to mention the people who are competing in this show only win or loose when they WANT to. As I just mentioned, there isn’t any progression in the characters’ skill sets, so the element of surprise which ends up deciding the matches is—you guessed it—their emotions. If Ayano is feeling unmotivated or corrupt, then she looses, and if Ayano is feeling determined or righteous, then she wins, and this is true for every single character in the entire show. If the lesson they have to learn involves suffering defeat, then they loose, and if the lesson they have to learn involves tasting victory, then they win. Skill and most certainly technique simply do not matter in this anime. Like, oh my god, you don’t even know. There’s a match towards the end of the show wherein the opposing player knows, in no uncertain terms, her opponent has a weak knee. Her coach knows this too, and he advises her to make her opponent run side to side in order to blow out her already weakened knee so she herself can score the win with ease, and she then decides to ACTIVELY DISOBEY HIS OBJECTIVELY HELPFUL INSTRUCTIONS AND DELIBERATELY PROCEED IN A MANNER IN WHICH SHE KNOWS FOR CERTAIN SHE WILL LOOSE THE MATCH, because his strategy, and I quote, “was not the badminton I wanted to play.” I suppose you could make the argument this allows the thematic depth of the show to shine, but when said theming is the same paper-thin conversation on hard work versus talent which you see in every sports anime ever made, the integrity of the script and consistency of the logical progression is hardly worth sacrificing.
In the end, despite having sought to never do so again, I finished a show I didn’t enjoy just for some pretty visuals, which I guess—if for no other reason to mention than to give myself an excuse—paints a really ugly picture of the fact most anime are so utterly lacking in technical quality, I would become so starved for a polished product that I’d just settle for this. Now please don’t go interpreting my bitching too far, though, because Hanebado is not complete and total failure. Its character art is really nice even if the designs themselves are cliched at best, its music was quite invigorating and the hype opening theme and animation were just as much so, the voice acting was really well-done and emotive even if the dialogue itself was pretty milquetoast, and the pacing was legitimately good. But again, if you’re looking for appeal at a level deeper than the absolute surface, you will be sorely disappointed with Hanebado. If you’re sick of being recommended the latest popular success by A-1 Pictures or Bones only to watch it and find it to be ugly as sin, just as you should, then check this out with your brain turned off to ease the pain, but beware, because if your brain accidentally comes alive, you’ll find yourself quickly confused, annoyed, and then immediately bored and turned off once again.
Thank you for reading.
KrKrunchyman
September 30, 2018
Not Recommended
Ever wonder what the female version of Haikyuu!! would look like? No, you say??? Alright, then…..carry on. Its just, this anime bears some resem—….oh, you still don’t care. Okay. I’ll just leave you alone…. F—k you! I’m writing this review whether you like it or not.As regular as the seasons change, another sports-genre anime has graced our computer screens for what seems like the umpteenth time, the flavor of the month being: badminton. Not the most exhilarating sport in the world, but it definitely has intermittent moments of shock and awe (much like Hanebado!).
Following in the footsteps of its male counterpart, Hanebado! is a semi-serious sports anime that deals with the psychological consequences of youth athletics. As the story progresses, we begin to learn that each girl is plagued by a personal shortcoming that impedes their progress as an individual player. These visceral, psychological battles become the focal point of the entire series, making the girl’s opponents, more or less, inconsequential, as they are primarily focused on their own internal “demons” (i.e. battling themselves). An excellent example of showcasing this internal struggle happens in episode two, where chalkboard animation is used to emphasize the duality of Aragaki’s height “advantage,” provoking her to overcompensate in other facets of her game. Not only is her height an emotional weakness (as other children call her a “beanpole,” and make fun of her masculine appearance) but it turns out to be a physical one, as well. The astute coach for Nozomi employs a strategy to force Aragaki to move from side to side, putting an enormous amount of stress on her knees, resulting in overexertion and possible injury. But due to her commitment of staying true to herself (i.e. overpowering her opponent through strength), she is able to circumvent this clever scheme.
Of course, this is all well and good for our protagonist, but a more pressing dilemma emerges during the match, because while Aragaki simply needs to impose her will — her identity, if you will — on the game, Nozomi comes to the realization that she has no identity. Her entire career has been dictated by “guidance” of her coach; thus, deteriorating her passion and creativity for the game. The themes that Nozomi and Aragaki experience are quite typical for teenagers in high stress, athletic competition, yet the resolution of said themes felt a bit artificial, too romantic. Is it truly believable that Nozomi’s coach would transition from yelling at her profusely (like she’s a red-headed step—…you know what, I’m just going to stop right there), to accepting her new perspective on badminton in the middle of a match — literally, on the drop of a dime?
Quixotic happenings aside, Hanebado! suffers from the same deficiencies that infect its male counterpart, those being:
-Random comedy from which there’s no reasonable explanation.
-A character (i.e. Ayano) with “superhuman” ability that cannot be matched by anyone else.
-The EYES of Ayano and Hinata both resembling a predator stalking its prey (both are small in stature, as well).
-Displaying unrealistic feat’s that are not attainable in real life for the sake of entertainment
-[Insert 5th point here — too lazy at the moment, its 3:30 in the morning]
Hanebado!, in all seriousness, had an extremely promising start with interesting conceptual ideas about the psychological consequences of competitive athletics; yet, with each passing episode, it quickly decayed into a bizarre, nonsensical comedy with a weird daughter/mother/step-daughter dynamic that was particularly unappealing for the viewer. Furthermore, the amount of melodrama was off the charts, with an innumerable amount of peaks and valleys, making even the most mundane task feel like it was a life or death situation. Ayano’s metamorphosis from a timid, reserved girl, to a heartless, animalistic human hybrid was remarkably far-fetched, not to mention tropey. It seems the desire to emulate its male counterpart was too strong, reducing Hanebado!’s effectiveness as a compelling story that can stand on its own weight.
StStark700
September 30, 2018
Mixed Feelings
Sometimes, I wish sports anime gets more attention whether it’s swimming, basketball, soccer, tennis, or anything competitive in nature. Sure, there was Free! from these past few years but it clearly had an audience from the very beginning. Badminton is a one of those sports where it doesn’t get too much attention, at least not on an international level. Yet Hanebado has its own fame when it comes to selling its sports drama. I would have originally watched this show just for the sheer competitiveness feeling. However, Hanebado persuaded me to invest into its character cast from the first few episodes. We meet a colorful groupthat includes Ayano, Nagisa, Riko, Elena, among others. From my initial impression, it reminded me of characters trying to make a name for themselves. But as more and more the story progressed, it felt like some really were pushing themselves to the limit. The most noticeable character is Ayano where she enter an insane beast-like mode when she is motivated. Some of her matches are noticeable of being extreme such as the case with Kaoruko. While Ayano is a main character, I find it difficult to root for her. The show chronicles her personality as being overly competitive to the point where it can toxic to watch her matches. On the other hand, I do think that Ayano is able to bring out the nature of badminton to a level that people were not anticipating for.
It’s probably easy to overlook some other characters at first glance but the show does attempt to bring out the best from others. Nagisa is another noticeable name that I ended up rooting for late in the story. As a way to prove herself, she pushes Ayano to her best in one of the most intense matches in the series. We also got to learn a bit more about both girls along the way. But unfortunately, I can’t really say this series makes Ayano likable. It’s like there’s two completely different characters of her – one that evokes fear and another that behaves like a casual schoolgirl. It’s much easier to relate to the latter. Ayano’s competitive side often reaches to a point that is unbelievable in this show. I find it even baffling at how she deals with depression because her past shows a case of abandonment.
Realism, in fact, does exist to some extent in the show. The characters skill sets are easily watchable as it’s not hard to tell who can beat who before a game is even over at times. But on the contrary, some matches feel like it didn’t live up to expectations with curb-stomp like moments. I also have some problems with how much characters changes, not just in the case of Ayano. For instance, there’s Connie who develops a meaner attitude after facing off against her. Regarding Ayano herself, it seems no one really tries to help her change either. This extends to their coach, Kentarou Tachibana. I’m not going to lie, this guy is hard to accept. He helps out Nagisa with her own problems but doesn’t attempt to do the same for Ayano. The show did make him likable in the beginning but his development doesn’t get enough attention.
As you may have guessed, Hanebado isn’t going to spoon feed you information much so you’ll have to learn along the way. Badminton isn’t an overly complex sport but it does require a lot of attention. To me, the pure competitive energy of the sport is enough sometimes. The series sells its drama this way during the matches. It’s a bit strange though. The more I watched badminton, the more I feel like this show mixes in psychology during the storytelling. Every match feels like there’s something at stake such as a player’s pride. As one of the positives in this series, every match carries an emotional weight that I think is worth watching for. If only the main character cast could be worth talking about just as much in a positive light.
That isn’t to say the series is unwatchable even with its questionable character roster. Jumping into Hanebado is a visual feast to the eyes with the production quality. There’s a lot of fluidity in the motions of the characters. Every movement in the series felt real and important especially during key moments of the matches. This ranges from the clever camera angles on the muscles to little details like body language. Character designs also look clean that gives each character a distinctive look. Ayano is an exceptional case once you see both sides of her character. That also leads to character expressions that I see very much as impressive. Ayano’s personality is highlighted with how she reacts to her friends or rivals. Others show their emotions without holding much back. Even during lighthearted scenes, there are moments that defines characters for what the creators wanted them to be in this adaptation. The theme songs (particular opening) contains a variety of dynamic camerawork that is admirable. It’s stylish that enhances the energy of the show. The ED theme song contains carefully crafted framework and artistic coloring. Definitely very thought provoking like a work of art.
There’s not too many sports series that hooks my attention and Hanebado did that in the beginning. While I still can’t forgive the character destruction of some of the cast, there’s definitely a few that are worth watching. You can be the judge on who to root for. For a show with sports competitiveness, there’s the feeling of emotional stakes. I did hope the series took better care of its characters in terms of their development and personalities. But Hanebado is a watchable. It’s not perfect by all means or even outstanding. Yet, it has an ability to tell a dramatic sports story.
