Love All Play

Love All Play is not a very good sports series as it fails in several key aspects. Not even the excellent last two episodes, which are proof that the creators still have got what it takes, managed to save the final impression. So, what's the problem? One of the important aspects of any sports anime is how well it introduces and depicts the sport in question. As for badminton in this series, we don’t get to see much of the game itself, and not much is shown of the exchanges between the two opponents apart from the last two episodes. We get to see the shuttle only when it’s going toward a player who either hits or misses it, followed by a cut to the other side of the court, showing the same situation. There are hardly any exchanges taken from the side of the court, from the top, or even a view from behind either of the players, which makes the game choppy and boring. It makes sense – animating a sequence in which the shuttle flies from one side to the other and the players have to move in reaction to it is complicated and expensive. It's just that when most of the badminton matches look dull and worse than the ones in Hanebado! or Salaryman's Club, it's not a very good look. Another important thing that a sports anime should master is the atmosphere of the matches and tournaments. This is where the show fails spectacularly. Most of the matches take place off-screen, 90% of the tournament is reduced to saying something like "All right, we made it to the semifinals..." with not even a single shot or a stupid montage showing the way to the top. You get just a couple of shots from a match (the quality of which I've already discussed) and a bunch of bullshit from supporting characters who are trying to describe all those cool things that are happening on the court. It's a similar problem to the dancing in Ballroom e jókoso - you don't get to see any actual dancing, just a few almost static shots, with everyone around raving about how breathtaking it is. I don’t like this lazy and economical approach to storytelling that kills the atmosphere, doesn't build tension, and is just plain boring! The budget seemed to have been bigger for the last episode, and you can really tell the difference. Another thing that a sports anime should handle well is the introduction of the main character, his motivation, and his gradual rise to the very top. You need a reason to root for the main character and want to experience the journey with him. There’s not even that. First of all, I hate to say this but Mizushima is extremely dull. He doesn’t seem to have a strong desire to win, and the only time I could root for him was in the last episode. And there's not much character growth either, just the occasional obstacle that is overcome by saying that everything is OK, we just need to concentrate better and, ideally, go for a run. When the hero's main rivals on the team seem more interesting than the hero himself, it's not a good sign. Sadly, most of the secondary characters aren't particularly fleshed out either, and nothing very interesting happens around them. All too often, you just don't care what's happening on screen. Perhaps the only exception is Macuda's determination in the last but one episode. There are far too many characters surrounding the main character and terribly few characters opposing him. You only learn the bare minimum about his rivals from other schools. On the other hand, given how the matches are presented and how quickly they pass, it’s not really necessary to know more. You don’t even find out that much about the characters around the main character. They mostly serve as commentators of supposedly epic moments happening on the court... The only thing I liked about the whole series was the head coach, who was the only one who got enough space to convince me that he knew what he was doing. Konpei the cat was also great as Ramune, giving probably the best performance on the set... The animation wasn’t anything special, corners were cut wherever possible. The music didn't impress me either. What was also unfortunate for the show is that it was aired at the same time as Ao Ashi, which does most of the above well and gets better with each new episode. This, on the other hand, was a constant supply of boredom, and the only improvement came at the very end. I did manage to make it to the end, and the last few episodes were at least a small demonstration of an average sports anime, but on the whole, I’m giving it a 4/10. (2022.09.24) (kevesebbet) (több)