When I think of sports anime, I imagine multi-season shows packed with cliffhangers, underdogs, and close matches, all pushing the mantras of "never give up!" and camaraderie. However, when I was browsing Netflix and stumbled upon a standalone sports anime movie, I felt deep down that this would be different.
Why did I feel this way? Well, for starters, how could a not-even two-hour movie convey the character development, story arcs, and themes that are crafted through each episode of a multi-season show? Plus, it was a standalone original story, not supplementing an existing work. But this is exactly why it felt different — for a standalone sports anime movie to work, they had to abandon the norms and instead focus on something deeper — something untouched by the typical sports anime.
I may not have any coherent thoughts about all of this, but I wanted to write something down. I took note of a couple of themes that I perceived throughout the movie… actually, I'll provide my raw, unedited notes below:
the sports anime route is perfect: the themes contradict the typical “never give up!” and camaraderie mantras of sports anime, instead highlighting individuality, personal growth, and retaining the “never give up!” mantra across time while allowing for personal challenges — never give up! in the long run
distance
distance between the talented and untalented
distance between their levels of determination
talented and undetermined, untalented and determined
the talented have to be pushed to succeed — komiya is the one to push togashi
the untalented push themselves to the limit — komiya’s shoes, the way he always falls over, etc…
distance shown in the scene at 28:44
time & change
time (distance) can cause drastic changes
nigami’s view of track and field changed drastically after his injury
time limit on the talented
dedication
burnout
for the talented, competition and fun coexist, until they don’t — increased pressure, expectations, and they forget why they started doing it in the first place
different viewpoints
everyone has different reasons to do something and different challenges along the way
it’s interesting to see how these people with different viewpoints interact, push each other, and struggle with their challenges
Well, there's quite a lot here that I could flesh out and discuss… but I think I'll leave it like this for now. I don't want to turn this into polished or developed writing.
I wonder why I'm writing this in the first place. I never meant to start a blog of any sort, and I'm not actually writing anything substantial about this movie. But I feel like there's something here that fulfills me.
