Review of Hanebado!
Bad(minton) Sportsmanship. I'll say this straight off the bat. If you're the type of person who enjoys sports anime and sakuga you are going to LOVE this show. The animation is stunning. Matches are fast and tense thanks to the use of fast camera angles, slow-down shots to emphasise power and rotoscope animation which makes the characters (and all of the sweat [and Nagisa's boobs]) practically leap out of the screen. From the racket swings to the contraction of muscles to the speed of the shuttlecock, I honestly couldn't believe that this is a Lidenfilms production. The presentation is gorgeous and I give my complimentsto the team who put this show together.
On the surface it presents the theme of its story as 'talent vs practice' but by the end of episode 3, you'll start to realise that this a show exploring the psychology around bad sportsmanship and how it affects the plays both on and off the court.
The first episode introduces team captain Aragaki Nagisa who, after being crushed at a tournament by an unknown player goes on a tirade against her Badminton club members, taking out her temper and frustrations on them on and off the court.
We are later introduced to Hanesaki Ayano who seems shy and reserved on the service, but when she picks up the racket again it becomes evident that she's incredibly talented and naturally gifted with good eyesight which she uses to take out her unresolved parental abandonment issues on whoever is unlucky enough to face off against her.
The other main players have their on over competitive quirks and this makes for tense, nail-bitingly and most importantly primal feeling matches.
The show is very committed to reminding you of this theme. Whenever one of the other less combative club members tries to calm things down with the whole "We're a team. Let's get along." speech another character will immediately shut them down and the scene's tension will elevate further. No optimistic, shonen sports protag-kuns here.
However, this dynamic makes it difficult for the viewer to truly root for any of the main leads. Characters like this in sports anime are usually the antagonist for a reason. Izumi Riko is the closest we get to a supportable character and later Aragaki Nagisa, but this might make it difficult for some viewers to stay invested in the overarching story.
I also think that some plot threads weren't finished or resolved properly by the end of the season and I would be interested in a second season to capitalise on everyone's character development (which there is a lot of.)
As a show, this might not be for everyone. As a sports anime though this is a must-watch. It's a really interesting change to the sports anime formula. It has a few issues here and there, but damn is it fun to watch in motion.
8/10 Great