The cicadas are singing a summertime symphony when they are suddenly disturbed by a thudding sound. The dull thump repeats over and over, displacing the indolent hum of the insects from the soundscape with a driving rhythm to give the early morning hours a sense of direction and purpose. Gradually, we draw nearer to the… Read More First Impression: Ippon Again!
Losing a match leaves a bad taste in your mouth, especially when it’s the prefectural finals and a win would have led you to the nationals. It’s even worse when you had a shot at a tying goal, but instead you passed the ball to a teammate who missed. Would things have turned out differently… Read More First Impression: Blue Lock
In a world that otherwise looks very much like ours, aspiring singer Hiyori Hayama is working part-time as a messenger, using the Extreme Gear technology that allows her to jump and run seemingly powered by a bolt of light. But Hiyori is having much less success with her music, to the point that her agency… Read More First Impression: Extreme Hearts
Hideto Tsuji is not okay. Playing video games in cooperative mode, he keeps having flashbacks of his time as a middle school soccer star. He was the glorious shooter with the top goal count, up until this blond player who made the perfect passes left the team. The sudden change in attitude of the audience,… Read More First Impression: Shoot! Goal to the Future
Aoi Ashito has enough natural talent to carry his backwater middle school soccer team to victory single-handed. He also has enough confidence for an entire 11-man team, and more besides. Given his short temper and proclivity for grandiose claims about his abilities—“I am the reincarnation of Ronaldo in his prime, though he’s still alive! I… Read More First Impression: AOASHI
If an anime not already on my radar is going to pull me in, sport elements, I’ve discovered, are the way to do it. During my lunch break today, I saw that Heroines Run the Show had just premiered and I decided to give it a try upon learning that the main character, Hiyori Suzumi, moves to… Read More First Impression: Heroines Run the Show
Eve doesn’t play golf; she just hits a ball with a stick to make money. The U-15 hustler needs that money to pay off the corrupt cops in her run-down Southern European town and keep her found family from being busted up and farmed out to foster care or worse. With the help of her… Read More First Impression: Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story