Review of Hanebado!

I REALLY wanted to like this series, but I really need to remind myself that stunning visuals cannot carry an entire series and if it was based on just the animation then I would easily give this something like a 9 but it really must be mentioned it's major flaw of it's writing. The only real reason that I have put this as an 8 for my own anime list is because whenever I look back over what I have watched, personally if something is higher than a 8 that means it's truly very enjoyable and memorable for whatever reason. It's strange because I could putthis as a 9 as a reminder to myself that this series has amazing, fluid animation combined with what I'd say was great sound design and together could be a pure basis on why to watch it, but after some consideration I feel like a 7 is better suited just because the writing simply counteracts that 9 in such a way that if I were not to consider it then it would simply be a disservice to people who want an honest opinion on if this a good series or not.

Story
For starters, throughout the 12 episodes I was repetitively questioning what the main thrive of the story is. With Nagisa, one of the main characters, I can completely understand that she wants to improve because of facing defeat and waking her up to the level she needs to reach, however with Ayano, I have no clue what I'm supposed to be understanding. She has some strange complex about her mother that makes her amazing at the game of badminton yet personally to me makes no sense why the fact that she gets so competitive or out to prove something. She says that the only reason to play badminton is to win and to prove that she can be the best without her mother, yet she gets presented as if she's someone to root for when she arrogantly has no sense of social skills what so ever and doesn't think when she speaks and comes across as a complete asshole, yet we need to feel sorry for her being abandoned as if it's completely reasonable to be the way she is only when playing badminton but somehow two faced when not playing to be a normal girl. Is she a main character or what because I'd much rather she be a stepping stone for Nagisa rather than be someone who is probably Nagisa's main reason for not being better in the first place with her constant dickish criticism.

Art and Sound
The animation is awesome, no doubt about that. No problems with the sound that make me want to mention anything wrong with it, so it must mean it was pretty good as well.

Characters
So with the story segment of this review I suppose I haven't really stated what the story was besides these two girls trying to become the best for debatable reasons at least in regards to Ayano, which is either because there is just no story or because the characters are written so annoyingly that it just makes the story as a whole of Nagisa becoming a great player less clear.

For me, the worst thing about this series is the characters. The other so called badminton players apart of this school club are so bloody useless it hurts and I cannot remember any of their names. First of all, you've got Nagisa's friend who is basically there just to root her on because she's terrible at badminton in comparison. Then you have Ayano's friend, who is useless because even though she's been friends with her for years and introduced her to the school badminton club after her long absence from the sport she doesn't take any responsibility for looking after her or being that one trusty person to keep her in line. Then you have all the other bimbos in the club who aren't important at all, because they're either terrible at the sport or most crucially just are there to be on the receiving end of Ayano's dickish personality yet act like they've been friends for ages and are surprised she's been so antagonist to any support or team spirit. Literally everyone watching can see how much of an asshole Ayano is and there is no reason to be friends with her at all, it's like these other characters just have some internal AI to always try to saying friendly things and get it smacked up in their face yet will keep trying to approach them with the same attitude without even addressing the fact she's an asshole.

For example, Miss Short Girl whos name I cannot remember who's terrible at the sport. Keeps calling Ayano Ayanon or something because of ONE time on a bus where she came up with it on the spot while the team were out on some kind of training camp. Ayano on that trip displayed no real sign of being one of the girls besides occasionally being obliviously cute and apart of one photo she doesn't even embrace. This girl I'm talking about throughout the whole series is like "Keep it up Ayano, I'm rooting for you." and Ayano is like "Shut up bitch i don't need you, leave me alone" yet in the next scene with them together in a similar badminton situation she's straight back at it with the "Keep it up Ayano." Sure, she's just being a nice person I guess and isn't the conflicting type but she and others are on the receiving end of this abuse and throughout the whole series hardly anybody punishes her for it or tells her "Stop being a little cunt and be our friend, we'll help you with your abandonment issues with your mom and teach you to live on your own without weighing on a childhood trauma."

It's so frustrating, because even the team coach is like "Hmm Ayano is acting pretty weird" yet doesn't address her or realise the fact that's she unhealthy for herself and the team even when she's downright telling people to basically fuck off. And don't even get me started on her mother. What's the game plan here!? Is she in the right for leaving her daughter or not and why did she actually leave in the first place? All we know is that as Ayano was a child she abandoned her and adopted a new child in a different country. What? WHY? Then she comes back and is like "Ooh you've gotten pretty good at this badminton sport that I've taught you" even though she left with no warning or reason and comes back with no reason or warning. Her adopted child doesn't even matter either, just to remind Ayano of her complex that she needs to get better for...providing she's good at badminton in front of her mum to punish her for leaving her? Are we expecting that Ayano goes to the Olympics, wins all her games and as she stands there with her golden medal she's like "Take that Mum, I did it without you." Then what? Is that her story complete? I don't even know. Why not just get a firm beating by her team to realise that they're together and simply play badminton to get good while also having fun like Nagisa.

Overall
I could really rant about Ayano for a decade and why everyone besides Nagisa is stupid. Maybe I've been blind in some aspects and not emphasised points, but I'm writing this as if people reading it have also completed the series and can understand why Nagisa's drive is much more understandable than literally anyone else.

Pretty much, I feel like this series could have been much better had they made the mother an actual antagonist who left for selfish desires because her daughter wasn't good enough for her and turned Ayano into a sort of redemption story properly because they try to make this a psychological thing but it's never even addressed and just played off at the end as "Hey, I'm having fun playing against you Nagisa for you are a worthy, challenging opponent" but basically meaning that it's alright that I'm a dick to you and also meaning that she's still gonna be a dick to everyone else because they aren't good enough.

This entire series is carried by it's stellar animation, and is it's saving grace. To be honest, for anyone considering watching this series, it's not absolutely awful in it's writing. I think that it's passable as it's just a necessary context for the characters to be playing badminton and in turn a reason to show the great animation, so I'd still recommend to watch it if you want to watch something about badminton and have your eyes pleased because you'll most likely forget about the story until the end and I'd say it's much easier to enjoy the series as a whole if you just put Ayano and her mother as a constant antagonist and Nagisa as the protagonist to root for as opposed to having them on some kind of even footing.
7/10