Saturday, January 7, 2012

The Knight in the Area First Impressions--I'm Not Sure if He Likes Soccer

Area no Kishi The Knight in the Area First Impressions Screenshot 1

I was all ready to write this off as Generic Sports Anime #47284391, but parts of this episode make me think that there might be something more to it.

Area no Kishi The Knight in the Area First Impressions Screenshot 2 Area no Kishi The Knight in the Area First Impressions Screenshot 3 Area no Kishi The Knight in the Area First Impressions Screenshot 4

I picked this up on a last minute whim; before now it wasn't on my radar at all, to the point where I even completely forgot to put it into my season preview. Now after watching the first episode, I'm mildly optimistic about it. Yes, there are parts of it that do play to the stereotypes, but once you brush back the cheese there is something that could be genuinely entertaining here. There's a lot of room for improvement though, especially in the animation. This anime really likes speed lines. And blur. And still images. (Please see the above screenshot on the right for ALL THREE AT THE SAME TIME.) It also has a fondness for animating the soccer balls in CG, which makes them look like they're slowly falling through water, i.e. not how normal soccer ball physics work. But despite this, there are parts of the plot that are interesting. I like that the main character's problem seems to be mental, not a lack of experience or skill. I also liked that his brother wasn't putting up with his defeatist attitude. At the moment, I'll keep watching to see where these plot threads go.

Images from Crunchyroll.com.

4 comments:

  1. You sure he likes soccer? I don't think they were hinting at it through the episode AT ALL.

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  2. They should have mentioned it a bit more to clarify.

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  3. Great series indeed! I'm also not a soccer fan, and is funny to see my country right in the start (hoo Brazil), but the plot seems nice!

    I would love to give a chance to this.

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  4. Yeah, it looks like one of those shows that isn't particularly excellent in any department but is entertaining anyway.

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