Join us as we view new pilots this season. See where they fit on the highly-scientific Rock-or-Suck Scale…
- FAIRY TAIL SEASON 2 -- BLACK BULLET -- THE COMIC ARTIST & HIS ASSISTANTS
- ONE WEEK FRIENDS -- MUSHI-SHI: THE NEXT CHAPTER -- BRYNHILDR IN THE DARKNESS
- CHAIKA THE COFFIN PRINCESS -- CAPTAIN EARTH -- NO GAME, NO LIFE
- THE IRREGULAR AT MAGIC HIGH SCHOOL -- MEKAKU CITY ACTORS -- MAJIN BONE
- DAI SHOGUN : GREAT REVOLUTION
It was odd to see BABY STEPS labelled as ‘slice of life’ on
CrunchyRoll. I generally view sports shows being in a separate genre, but I
suppose when we’re talking about anime, anything about normal
human beings doing things normal people do is technically a
slice of life. On the other hand,
grouping two of this season’s sports shows together maybe reveals something
about tone…
HAIKYU!! is definitely more of a shonen in the SLAM DUNK mold. Hell,
it’s got no less than two exclamation points in its title. These guys aren’t
taking baby steps - - they’re jumping up to the net and spiking the ball with
furious power!!
Both series are about underdogs: small, meek freshman who suddenly get
really good at a sport after a bolt of inspiration. The key difference seems to
be goals, though. HAIKYU!! has already set up volleyball rivals for our hero
and his team to vanquish. BABY STEPS is more of a profile of how a
borderline-Asperger’s kid successfully applies his obsessive compulsions to the
court. It ain’t PRINCE OF TENNIS. The only ‘foe’ in sight is the annoying kid
on the tennis team who’s sabotaging our hero’s prospects with his love
interest.
So, same basic premise, but significantly different executions (and
both of them a world away from KUROKO’S BASKETBALL and its over-the-top
mythologizing of a junior high ball team).
I usually have a soft spot for sports shows because they make me think
fondly of my own experiences, playing on school teams. They’re also easier to
review than ‘standard’ slice of life shows because there’s inherent conflict to
speculate upon from episode to episode. Will our volleyball team beat those jerks
from the next district? Will our tennis ace win the tournament? And so on.
The stakes aren’t
earth shaking, but they are still stakes which are more distinct than ‘Who’ll
reach an emotional breakthrough this episode?’
That said, I still prefer BABY STEPS out of these two. Maybe it’s
because marathoning HUNTER X HUNTER has made me wearier in regard to stats and
game theory and all that. The notion of a kid reconciling his mild learning
disability (?) with his athletic pursuits and his love life holds more angles
of interest for me than him just shutting down the next opponent. It hits the
right sweet spot (pun intended) because you get all the ‘feels’ of the slice-of-life
melodrama, while still having at least some task-specific conflict to keep busy with.
Anyway, that’s my spiel on both of these pilots. They’re definitely two
of the better ones I’ve seen this season but, as I said, I’m probably biased.
Might be a good time to re-open the discussion about sports anime. What do
you lunatics think about the genre? When
does it soar? What makes it sink? Name me some good ones and some bad ones.
Watch "Tennis and Notes" and "The End, the Beginning" and decide for yourself. -
About the Author
 | Tom Pinchuk’s a writer and personality with a large number of comics, videos and features like this to his credit. Visit his website - - tompinchuk.com - - and follow his Twitter: @tompinchuk |
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