- Genre : Comedy, Slice of Life
- Studio: Pierrot
You know what. I like this show, I don’t care what you say. No it’s not *good* but it’s no where near as bad as what my opponents would have you believe. This short sightedness is why I’m going to win the Winter Games!
I’m not going to try to hide my bias this week. My occasionally blind devotion to Sports!! anime has been well documented in this blog and this week’s episode of Sanrio Boys was essentially a condensed version of that. We hit all the standard tropes my friends, except we did so in a single episode instead of 75 and let me tell you, it was glorious.
We knew that things with Shu and the soccer team were not all rosy but I for one wasn’t expecting the reason to simply be: because Shu’s a jerk. And not a misunderstood bad boy or anything, just a jerk. I really liked that. Showing lead characters in a negative light is always risky. If you don’t do it right, you risk losing the audience forever. But when you manage it, it can really set apart a character and I must say, I appreciate a show that takes the risk.
Taking a big step back from being a straightforward Sanrio commercial, this week’s episode had almost nothing to do with the titular company or their array of intellectual property. We saw Shun’s use of a Hello Kitty charm for good luck but all in all, it was very secondary to the plot which dealt mostly with a young man’s attachment issues and how it can make him act like an insensitive thug. The episode made no effort to soften it’s protagonist as it painted everyone else as reasonable, caring people trying to deal with a spoiled brat who refuses help.
***If you’re actually following the point tally, you may notice that some of the points given contradict what I’m saying in this post. It was decided that the accuracy of the predictions doesn’t have to be too exact and as long as one element or the general idea is there, we would attribute the point. So, no the Hello Kitty thing wasn’t an issue at all but Shu did have some friction with his teammates.
Or every Sports!! anime “ace” character except for Asahi who is pure sunshine. If we must draw Haikyuu comparaison’s then Shu is obviously Kageyama. Like super obviously. I mean, they could sue. Naturally, the show is going to keep dedicating an episode to each main character until we have our entire ensemble, which means they need to cram entire backstories in 20 minute segments.
I won’t lie, Sanrio boys isn’t exactly the most adept at this. The narrative is often clumsy and very heavy handed. It inevitably veers into melodrama (with the stakes particularly low this week, I found the dramatic bridge scenes absolutely hilarious.) You need a pretty sturdy appreciation for sap to truly enjoy the series. If you’ve ever read any of my Idol Boy show reviews, you know where I stand.
Another fairly harmless, extremely fluffy episode. We quickly got reminded about the value of team work and the worth of unity over individuality. About how your teammates will always welcome you with open arms if you make the effort. About the importance of communication. You know the drill. Although still not back to the charm of the first episode, the series seems to slowly be making it’s way back. The melodrama is fluffier and takes up much less space. The characters are evening out. I am still hopeful for future pleasant episodes.
The last few minutes of to Hase’s classmates and friends from episode 1 and I suddenly realized how much I liked these guys. I hope we see .a bit more of them, their two man comic relief shtick is delightful.
Predictions:
Plot: We will find out that the shota chara has trouble making friends
Character: Hase blushes
I have a feeling my esteemed opponents will not be able to dedicate quite the same attention span to this series as I do. This will give me an edge. You should see what I mean by checking out Astral Gemini, Leap and TPAB’s posts!
