Jun 16, 2022
The reason I decided to watch HnS is because I've heard it's LGBTQ+ friendly (and I'm always looking for that, especially in anime/manga), and the clips from the show that I've seen involving the protag supporting a non-binary character to be who they are, and talking about a transwoman who he sees as family were very inspiring. So I sat down, watched it, aaaand... it's melodramatic as heck.
I expected a show that focused more on the drama than the sports which I wanted, because I'm not exactly crazy about sports in general, but... I didn't think the (melo)drama would be so bad. Actually no,
...
the stuff with Maki and how his abusive father affects him is fine, but when almost all the kids have parents that are abusive or twisted in some way, it becomes ridiculous. It's not even handled well.
The stuff with Nao was especially bad because he decided to have a change of heart out of nowhere. Most of the characters had weak arcs, like Rintaro's arc that led nowhere as far as his selfesteem issues goes. I liked how they handled Yu, they are probably the best character in the show other than Maki. The problem with Maki is that he's a bit of a super human who can do almost anything and everyone are amazed by him, which isn't the case with Yu, so in the end, I would say they are probably the best and most realistic character in the show.
The biggest offender is that ending. Like, I get it, sometimes life isn't sushine and rainbows, and sometimes one can have a great day only to have found out that they lost their job or someone they knew suddenly died... life sucks like that. But this isn't life, but a STORY, and a story needs a conclusion. You can't end the story this way and expect that anyone would be satisfied with it. If it was based on a manga or if it was getting another season then fine, but it's an anime original and no s2 in sight, so why not end it properly when they had a chance? Even a happy, cheesy ending would work better than what we actually got.
If this show did get a s2, or an ova, or a movie, I would watch it, but only because the ending left me frustrated, not because I'm excited for more.
I don't feel like I could recomend this show. The drama isn't well written enough, the sports stuff isn't that exciting and the main characters keeps abusing the same trick to try to win, and while the art style is cute, the animation isn't that great. As far as a drama focused sports series goes, Ping Pong is WAY better and more memorable, so I recomend that one instead.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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