Hanebado: The Badminton Play of Ayano Hanesaki!

I watched episode one of this series, and I have to say - it is extremely well animated. Both the visuals and the actual movement of the characters are really good. The problem is that the story is a bit unfocused and uninteresting. I'm probably not going to continue watching, though I think it does have some potential.

This anime series is set in the world of high school badminton. Ayano Hanesaki is the daughter of a champion player and played herself till an incident caused her stop playing and be abandoned by her mother. As the series starts she is asked to join her high school badminton team. Initially she isn't keen but soon agrees and gets back into the sport. It isn't long before she is one of the best players. A real rivalry develops between her and third year, team captain, Nagisa Aragaki.

This is a solid enough series. The matches are dynamic in a way that makes one think one is watching a real match where the result isn't pre-decided by writers. These scenes are very exciting, especially in the final, as players are treated as protagonists making it a guess who will win. Unfortunately when not playing there is a bit too much personal drama; everything is serious. Initially Ayano is a sympathetic protagonist but the more into badminton she becomes the less sympathetic she is... it may be believable that somebody wanting to get to the top of a sport would take it so seriously but it doesn't make them likeable. Overall I'd say this was a solid enough series but not really a must see unless you really like sports anime.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.