Forum - View topicFutsal Boys!!!!! (TV).
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 11509 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Futsal Boys!!!!! (TV) Genres: drama, sports, tournament Themes: school, soccer Plot Summary: In a world over a decade after futsal has skyrocketed in global popularity, Haru Yamato watches the championship of the U-18 world cup and is inspired by a Japanese player named Tokinari Tennōji. He joins the Koyo Academy High School's futsal team with the goal of becoming a player like Tennōji. There, he finds friends, and together they face their rivals. Jan. 9, 2022 (Sundays; FUNimation) ---------------------------------- I actually didn't know that futsal is a type of indoor football/soccer, but I put "soccer" in the themes as a broader label for people to more easily identify. Last edited by Tony K. on Fri Feb 11, 2022 1:56 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Gina Szanboti
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1-3
This seems to be ticking off all the sports drama boxes very methodically. The moody prodigy, the genki newbie (who secretly has the sport in his bloodline), the outstanding player who's given up on the sport, the steady captain to guide them all, and the elite, too-good-for-you rival school (Adelbert?  ). It's not unpleasant or anything, but there's not anything new here besides the sport itself.
I had to laugh when the rival team came on court in ep 3. Their official uniforms are mostly cotton candy pink, and where "our" boys have vivid red, navy, yellow and teal hair, they're all pastel to the max in lilac, mint, wheat and dusky rose. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11715 |
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4
I guess this isn't a single-elimination tournament? The ref was super patient about letting them have their flashback reunion and soul-searching "do you want to play or not" plus "then go suit up" ten minutes (lucky he had a full goleiro's kit on in the right colors and everything...under his street clothes? I suppose they had to have stopped the clock for all that (injury time out? But he kept playing, so...), but do they do that in futsal? Hardly anything stops the clock in soccer/football. Oi, it's corny enough that they all have named skilz to shout and flashy transformations, but annoying as hell that the color commentator uses them. I could actually do without him altogether. Just once before I die, I'd like to see a soccer anime where the ball hits the net and bounces off or drops normally, instead of spinning for 30 seconds in the back of the net (just 5 sec in!). Ace of Diamond spoiled me by finally abandoning the wobbly deformed pancake pitch trope and giving me the most beautifully animated round baseball in flight that I've ever seen (even if they still do the hanging spinners for fouls hitting the backstop), so I know breaking with the old ways can be done. Hope springs eternal... |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11715 |
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5-6
No heroes, man. Tennōji makes Sakaki look like a good-will ambassador. Watching this right after Ryman's Club, I could really see the huge difference in animation. Namely, there's not a lot of it in this. I had sinking feeling around the fifth time they showed us a shot of that bridge for no apparent reason, along with some really odd transitions between some camera angles. So much so that I actually looked up to see if this and Skate Leading Stars were done by the same studio (they weren't). I'm thinking the production might already be in trouble, but at least no parking lots or A/C vents, yet. I suppose another sign of low budget might be the number of seiyuu among the main cast with only a handful of roles or whose only credit is this. But the writing is just so sloppy about the details. Like the whole first and second eps revolved around the futsal pitch in the park, which apparently was in such high demand that people were practically fighting for court time. And yet when Sakaki and Yamato have it out, the place is abandoned in the middle of the afternoon. Plus Yamato was all "don't want to tell anybody about my daddy issues" one minute, then the next he's chatting about it to anyone and everyone like it's no thing. Helluva turn overnight. Anyway, I guess it's starting to get better, plot-wise, maybe? |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11715 |
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7
I totally don't get Sasaki's stance of "I won't pass to someone who can't get to my passes." That makes no sense. If you know they can't close the gap between where they are and where you want to pass to, it's on you to pass to where you know they can get to. If that's gonna be a bad place, pass to someone else. Like, in football, if the receiver is at the 40 yard line, the quarterback would be an idiot to pass to the 15 yard line unless he intends an incomplete. But that's what Sasaki seems to want to do. The volleyball was actually a good lesson. If you're setting, you have to put the ball where the spiker can hit it, not where you wish they could hit it. Sure, you can push them to exceed their comfort zone, but if they just can't get to the set, you've failed, not them. Anyway, the entertainment sector team was...entertaining I guess. Still can't get over how weird the animation in this is. They seem to be padding for time in a way I've not seen before, by holding every closeup and reaction shot for an extra 4 or 5 still-frames before the next angle. My player has a tendency to stutter a bit as it is, but afaict, in this case it's 99% in the product rather than the playback. It sets my teeth on edge. Has anyone else noticed this? (she asks to the empty room) |
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Princess_Irene
ANN Associate Editor
 Posts: 2676 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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I have! I ended up catching up in this and one other show because it's cold and my twenty-year-old cat would not be moved from my lap. I can't decide if the odd animation choices or the gaping holes in the plot are a bigger issue for me. Or, you know, some of those really weird uniform choices. I don't think I'll ever get over the pink-and-zebra-stripe ones. (Or is that supposed to be white tiger stripes?) On a similar note, is there more grunting in this than in other sports shows? I feel like there're a lot more effort noises, but it also could be that there just isn't quite enough action so that the sounds stand out more. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11715 |
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Hmm, no, I haven't noticed the excessive grunting.
 I think I tune it out, because all kinds of anime add unnecessary grunts and noms and uhs, I guess because they don't trust the silence? And in sports anime, grunts are the go-to vocalizations when you don't have anything to say.
On the flip side, my all-time favorite sound thing a sports anime has ever done was in Ace of Diamond (sound design and OST were good, to make up for the complete lack of animation I guess), when Miyuki is returning to the plate after a conference with the pitcher. He's thinking about the two oddball pitchers he has to wrangle, but in the background, you can faintly hear him chuckling to himself out loud. I can't remember when I've seen an anime overlap inward and outward vocalizations from the same character at once. Edit: and having just said that, I was rewatching Psycho Pass and there was Makishima (also played by Sakurai!) thinking while background panting from running. So I imagine there's a lot more of that I've just never noticed. (/talking about other anime since this series isn't giving me a lot to work with) Yeah, I think those were supposed to be white tiger stripes, but it was the pink on all the pastel boys that tickled me. Anyway, thanks for letting me know I wasn't imagining things. And thank your cat for me for making you stay put.  I hope you're both toasty.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11715 |
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8
I guess the boy is slowly learning, but jeez this show makes him look pretty vacant. If the writing in this was better, I'd wonder if they're trying to paint him as neurodivergent, but if that actually was their intent, I'm afraid the show just isn't up to handling that with any grace. Kind of a missed opportunity here. Color commentator is extra colorful. So Momomi's play is "weird" because they make unpredictable movements and use unexpected techniques? In other words, they're good.  I kinda like them better than "our" boys. They certainly have more energy, of a more tolerable wavelength than Yamato's manic pixie vibe.
The best thing in this episode was Koumori's trident piercing.  Very cool. I've never seen one like that. Now I want one. 
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11715 |
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11
So we finally find out what Sakaki's deal is. And it does nothing to salvage him as a character, it just makes him look even stupider as a person and a player. I mean, if he'd decided that because of this he would never pass to anyone ever again, that would just make him a bad player. But singling out Yamato not to pass to makes him a bad player and an idiot. Like, if he considers Yamato to be a friend he doesn't want to lose, then essentially refusing to play with him is no different than if Yamato quit. Either way, Sakaki's closed the door to being friends with him. So they're not friends, which makes Yamato just another teammate like the others, which means Sakaki has nothing to lose by passing to him. I can't get over how moronic this is. Also can't get over those fancy uniforms Tennoji's school wears. They all look like refugees from a marching band. I guess everybody hates Tennoji, huh. lol |
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