Sangacu no Lion - Season 1

Okay, this show finally convinced me that it deserves an above-average rating, even if it took me an incredibly long time to get used to the pacing and put up with all the humorous interludes, which at times spoiled the mood and atmosphere and were often in stark contrast to the serious stuff the anime series was aiming for. Anyway, it is true that you really do not see much of this kind of thing, and that even though the pace is slow and the development of the main protagonist is even slower it still manages to engage and make you think. There is an outsider, a man wrapped up in his own world, which slowly opens up to us and we are able to penetrate his world, which is depressing on the one hand, and, on the other hand, sometimes quite beautiful. Everything is explained mostly in allusions, you have to make a lot of assumptions and try to empathize with the characters. There are a lot of supporting characters and you can find out stuff about all of them, however, again these characters are introduced gradually and very slowly. All in all, it is a pretty deep, complex, and fairly well-crafted look into the life of one man dedicated to a sport that might not be everyone's cup of tea, and I imagine there will be many who give up after a few episodes. As for the style of animation, it is very distinctive and I cannot say I liked it. The soundtrack, however, was very good. So, on reflection, and given the fact that I eventually got to know the main protagonist and discovered some very interesting characters (like Shimada and Souya...) I am ending the first season with 7/10 and will continue watching more episodes in the fall of 2017. (2019.12.17)