I finished watching Rising Impact in less than a week after it was released officially on Netflix. It has the same name as its manga written by Nakaba Suzuki, who also wrote The Seven Deadly Sins. Rising Impact manga was from the late 90s and early 2000s, and the anime, specifically the ONA (Original Net Animation), was just released this week at June 22. In Netflix Japan, it’s now at Top 5 in TV shows.
Because it was on the charts this week, I couldn’t help but get curious of the anime. Why is everyone watching this?
Rising Impact is a sports anime focused on golf and our main character is named Gawain Nanaumi, a young boy who lived in the countryside of Fukushima. One fateful day, he encountered a city girl who came to the mountains for an onsen vacation but she got lost along the way, so our boy led her to the inn. She learned of Gawain’s dream of becoming the number 1 person to make the ball fly, that’s why he liked playing baseball. Kiria Nishino, the city girl, told her about how golf can make the ball fly further after hitting it. Amazed by her demonstration, Gawain switched from baseball to being so passionate about golf.
Because it’s hard to be a professional golfer in the mountains, Kiria invited Gawain to her home in the city, which Gawain accepted. This young country boy is now in the city, learning more about golf and meeting more people who play the sport. Will we be able to see amazing things from this boy? Will he be able to achieve his dreams?
It’s your typical school and sports anime. But I think this was the first time I’ve seen an anime about golf. Usually it’s the famous sports that’s always been the focus of sports animes. This time, it’s a sport very popular in Japan. Though I haven’t heard of a school dedicated for golfers. Probably there really is..
Watching the anime made me know more about golf. I realized that I only have little knowledge of this sport. The anime could get technical in explaining some details but it’s not something that will bore you. Our main character is a little kid and kids don’t like long boring explanations. I’ve learned a few terms and how the game is played but even after watching the show, I still don’t know how the score is calculated. I guess I’ll have to google that or watch again.
Gawain and the rest of the supporting characters are all okay. There’s a bit of character development and they all have improved their skills at some point. The rest of his classmates and schoolmates are great players, but he’s also great and he got talent. It’s like these great players are all in one prestigious golf school but Gawain and another character are stronger and talented and they were not in that school from the start.
There are unnecessary love teams like Gawain and Kiria. I mean Gawain is in elementary and Kiria is already an adult. How can they pair them? It’s a bit off in terms of age and how minor the guy is. Luckily, there’s little screentime for them both so this loveteam might not ship any longer.
The animation is normal. It’s like any other great sports anime out there. The characters have their own skills, and how it was portrayed is just like how you’ll see those basketball skills in Kuroko No Basket or how you’ll see those special abilities in Haikyuu.
It doesn’t feel like I was watching an anime from a manga of 20+ years ago. Sure sometimes I wonder why there are no smartphones in the anime, but I think they don’t have to have that. They don’t need to modernize the story to make it an anime of this generation.
Since it’s by Netflix, there are many languages for sub and dub. You won’t have a hard time understanding their conversation or the story. Some animes out here on Netflix have only Japanese subs or no subs at all, but since this is licensed by Netflix, lucky! That’s also one reason why I kept watching the show.
There’s season 2 coming on August, still in Netflix and from the trailer which was shown at the last part of the season 1, we’ll be introduced to more outstanding characters. I hope they’ll have more challenges and I’ll be able to learn more.
I didn’t really know that golf can be played by people at all ages. This anime opened my eyes to a new world - the golf world. They say that golf is only for the rich but is it? I’ve seen a lot of practice ranges and golf schools around here in Japan. The show really made me change my thinking about golf - now those establishments I see here makes sense. Probably if I pass on those, I’ll think of the anime and the characters of the show.
If you’re looking for a sports anime to watch, a golf enthusiast, or just a person who wants to know about golf, you can count on Rising Impact. The name behind the anime is also explained well on the show. It didn’t gave me a lot of excitement (like waku waku level excitement) but it’s also not the boring kind. Overall, it has its charms and it’s fun to watch. I’ve mentioned I’ve finished watching in less than a week since it’s release, that’s how fun this anime was for me.
Let me know in the comments if you’ll watch it and how you find it. 😉
Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！