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*REPUBLICATION*

So, another sports anime, this time about a sport I have never even heard about, a sport which I thought was made up before I did some more research into it, but as it turns out, it's pretty interesting....

Story - 5
Storywise I think the anime has been lacking. We’ve only been introduced to the sport and characters in not the most interesting way, and all they have done is train and do some practice matches. If this somehow gets another season I really hope they finally go on the tournament they have been talking about (but obviously not yet participated in.)

Art/Animation - 4
The animation is ... definitely not the selling point of this anime, the style is pretty good for both the characters and their surroundings. But movements do often look choppy and unnatural, that's if there even is any movement at all… Yet they have pretty good looking animations of things like gears, chains or fire which represent different elements and tactical moves in the sport. Now I’m not an animator so I don’t know if it's as simple as just focussing on the characters movements instead of these tactical visualisations, but I think it would have done the show great justice. Does it impact my viewing experience, yes it does, you still experience a rush of sensation while watching, but the extreme hype that beautiful animation brings with it, being able to actually see exactly what the players are doing is not what you’ll get from this show.

Sound - 7
Let’s just get the OP out of the way quickly, it's decent and I won’t skip it, but it is not really that good either. The Indian-inspired OST on the other hand is quite surprising, and fits this originally indian sport amazingly well. It's able to hype you up even with practice and explanation. Other sound design is just what you would expect from a sports anime, and does just a good job in conveying a bit of extra emotion in action packed moments. The ED is definitely better than the OP I would say, it's catchy and very fitting.

Character - 7
Shakunetsu Kabaddi revolves around Tatsuya Yoigoshi, a once nationally recognized soccer player who is now a first-year student at Noukin High School. Though through time he developed a hatred for sports, he has abandoned his previous aspirations in sports to become a famous livestreamer on the internet. One day, Souma Azemichi, a first-year on the kabaddi team, seeks to recruit Yoigoshi and spontaneously interrupts his livestream. His obsession with live streaming fits his character and other character traits such as his loneliness perfectly. Most other characters are likeable, but also feel a bit cliché, recognizing a lot of characters plus their traits almost straight up from Haikyuu.

Enjoyment - 6
For my own enjoyment I feel like there is not much to say… There just isn't any interesting story to really hold on too, and the lack of story and animation is killing it for me. Though the sport is quite interesting, I would watch another season purley because they hinted at a tournament coming up.

Overall - 6
Countering a story which has not been really interesting thus far and a lack of animation, sound design and the characters save this series from being ultra mid tier. So I would only recommend you watching this if you have either a high interest in sport anime or an interest in kabaddi.

If you are interested in watching this anime I would recommend getting some sort of introduction to the sport first, seeing how it can be a bit difficult to understand immediately. The YouTube video “It's Time You Knew About Kabaddi: The Ancient Game That's Gone Pro” really helped me understand a lot more about Kabaddi, it's a great introduction to the sport and if that got you interested I would recommend you give this show a chance.

*REPUBLICATION*

Okay, so I'm aware of the criticism this show has been gotten, and let's be honest here, sexual predatory and harassment are serious problems. But even when keeping that in mind I still think this show is pretty good...

Story - 7
Yes... I am enjoying the story, even though I know Ryou, a 27-year-old fictional male character that fell in love, is chasing Ichika, a 17-year-old fictional high female character. Even though I know Ichika has said no multiple times, I think we all need to keep in mind that these are animated pictures we are talking about. It's not even like Ryou is physically attracted ... to her, it's more an emotional attraction that started out because she saved him from -spoiler- and gave her lunch to him. They also are starting to warm up to each other, and Ichika doesn’t seem to be bothered by his presence that much anymore, she even seems to feel the same way about Ryou as he does about her. Of course I leave it all up to you how you want to interpret this show yourself, but for me it's just a normal comedy with some romance aspects, and it is succeeding in being what it wanted to be.

Art - 7
Artwise it's looking pretty good as well, it's not really an unique style, but I personally have not seen a show in this style for quite a while and so it's pretty refreshing for me. I was surprised when I saw how detailed the scenes like the supermarket scenes were, and if only the entire anime was with that quality artwise it would easily be an 8/8,5. But understandably most scenes were just average with some scenes that don’t have much details at all. Character designs are pretty neat as well, they fit with the rest of the artstyle and I must say that Ryou’s suits (and sister) look amazing.

Sound - 7
Tell me the OP is bad and I'll say you're crazy, oh boi this might just be the best OP of the season. ACE COLLECTION did not disappoint! As far as the OST and sound effects go it's all decent enough, I wouldn't call it anything new or special but it gets je job done and doesn't feel irritating at all. The voice actors are all doing a decent enough job as well, and their voices all fit their character pretty well, the quality seems to not be quite up to modern standards though, but that doesn’t really bother me personally. ED is not quite my taste but it fits the show perfectly.

Character - 7
Ryou, a 27-year-old with a business job, good salary and is good with the girls. After certain events in episode 1 (which I will not mention due to spoilers) he falls head over heels in love with the 17-year-old high school student, Ichika. Now we will get into the topics of sexual predatory and harassment again... because the dynamic between this duo has been how Ryou tries to approach her with many different methods, while at the start she responds simply disgustedly, including telling him "No" multiple times. Still, I feel like this dynamic works, seeing how it releases loads of comedic and pretty cute heartwarming moments. I feel like Ryou is not a bad guy at all, and if he noticed that Ichika actually would suffer from his actions he would probably stop. So would this be ok in real life? No, of course not don't be crazy, but this is still fiction, and in my opinion this isn’t going too far for a piece of fiction, if you decide you yourself don’t quite know how to deal with a series like this you can always turn it off. For the supporting cast the most important character up till now has been Rio (Ryou’s younger sister and one of Ichika's friends), she has been the one controlling a lot of the situations that occur during our main characters' lives. She is really supportive of her brother's love, she sets them up to be alone with each other and tells her brother about Ichika. Though she also draws a clear line when telling her brother that if he takes things too far she will stop him immediately! The other supporting characters have at this point not been well enough introduced to me for me to be able to talk a bit about them. Masuda is another side character, a friend Ryou know way back from high school. Naturally he knows a lot about Ryou and occasionally helps out Ichika, his character is lots of fun to watch and he most certainly adds to the enjoyment of this show. Kai, a classmate of Ichika and Arie, a colleague of Ryou, are more or less the alternative romantic partners, they both try to gain their crush’s attention. Although they might come across irritating to the people in favor of the Ryou and Ichika relationship, they do add some more depth into the show and are in general pretty entertaining to watch.

Enjoyment - 8
Yes, as stated before I'm actually enjoying this a lot, from the comedy being right up my alley to the refreshing artstyle, fun characters and a banger of an OP. Though the spring 2021 lineup might be incredible and there are better shows, this one is one we cannot allow to go by unnoticed.

Overall - 7
Overall I would definitely say this is a 7 (good) show up till now, nothing is really feeling cliché and it is exactly what it wants to be getting my laughs and “awws” out of me .
So if you think you can get past the sexual predatory and harassment barrier I would definitely recommend you go give it a try!

I’m a fan of most genres of anime, and love myself a slow paced, wholesome, slice of life anime every once in a while, just to take my mind off of things… And wow has Super Cub surprised me, it exceeded all my expectations, it was love at first episode!

Story - 8
The story is about a second year high school student named Koguma, she doesn't lead a very interesting life. She has no parents, no friends and no hobbies to keep her daily life interesting. One day, she acquires a second-hand Honda Super Cub motorcycle and rides it to school. As time goes by, not ... only does Koguma have a new adventurous life going on all sorts of adventures with her adorable Super Cub, she also forges precious new friendships thanks to her precious little motorcycle. The story, adapted from a light novel, is definitely original, but isn’t anything too special by itself, it's a girl… riding a motorcycle… But combine it with the subjects listed down below and things become really interesting.

Art - 8
Artwise Super Cub has been quite stunning, it’s not the best I’ve ever seen and might be a little bit low-key at some points, but it’s still beautiful. Most scenes just fit the chill, slice of life genre/feel perfectly. Leaving me even more impressed were the great details on the close up shots of the motorcycles, I would be lying if I told you guys I don’t want to buy a Super Cub, just like Koguma’s after seeing only 4 episodes. And wow does the CGI look amazing, although it looks a bit choppy in some scenes where she for example takes a turn, it looks amazing and blends in perfectly everywhere else. Character designs again fit perfectly with the show, it’s also incredibly soothing seeing all characters have realistic hair colors, and still giving off a cute wholesomeness vibe with their typically big anime eyes! Luckily there has not been a single moment of ‘fan-service’ yet, personally I feel that would totally ruin this show, but if that's something you are looking for, this ain’t it for you.

Sound - 9
I think when it comes to the sound in this anime, it was probably a bigger thing while producing than you might think. Because let’s be real here, there are a lot of different ‘motorcycle sounds’ that they needed to use here, from parking it to riding a clear or bumpy road, you can all tell them apart perfectly by just keeping your ears open. I also love how they perfectly adjust the sound and its volume of the distance of our point of view to the motorcycle! For the OST I don’t really have any complaints as well, it's super cute, and peaceful at the moments it has to be, it's exactly doing what it has to do! Now let's finish off with the OP and ED here, they are really good and fitting, especially the foremost should be punishable to skip when watching the series.

Character - 8
So our first and most main character is Koguma, a girl whose smile makes your heart melt. She doesn't live the most interesting life though, she has no parents, no friends and no hobbies to keep her daily life interesting. But as she buys a second-hand Honda Super Cub motorcycle and rides it to school, new ‘adventures’ will be entering her life. She meets another Cub owner named Reiko, who is a lot more outgoing and ends up reaching out thus beginning new precious friendships thanks to her precious little motorcycle. She gives Koguma loads of information and tips about motorcycles, which Koguma takes to heart. The dynamic between these 2 main characters we have been seeing in these first 4 episodes has been great and just way too wholesome, I’m excited to see the third main character enter the story.

Enjoyment - 10
I have been astonished by how good this show is and how much I am enjoying it right now! This is the 24 minutes of my week where I can truly just relax, take my mind off all the stress life is giving a lot of us, and just enjoy these cute and wholesome girls doing cute and wholesome things. Seeing them enjoy their Cubs as much as they do, really makes you feel just as happy and satisfied as they are, but also makes me feel worried when Koguma feels worried, and scared when she’s scared.



Overall I think this anime right here is a hidden gem for sure, it is precisely what it wants to be and does a great job entertaining while being extremely chill and not containing any real action! And so I do highly recommend watching this show if you just want to relax and take a break from stressful life or all the hectic anime that are and have been airing recently. Of course if you are interested in Cubs or motorcycles in general for that matter, you already know this is a must watch for you!