Just finished this series... liked it... reminds me of that
Hibike Euphonium! series at times, as well as many others... but as others say, the look of the characters is usually the same from the same studios, add in the same characters across the anime industry and I can never tell them apart... mostly....our MC wears glasses, so that's different!
IMO, this is of course rather standard fare for its storyline/set of characters... all well written for its intended age group... but of course, the setup of the girl next door, the great friends saving the MC, etc... total fantasy stuff that is rather common to the genre, so
.. but they mostly used the characters well and pushed the right emotional buttons as expected... the mother as a meany was an interesting touch, which they softened near the end when we understand, in her conversation with her friend, why she was pushing him so hard... before she...!
That scene and others could have been tweeked a bit for better flow and exposition etc... but hey, this is the anime industry, perfection isn't often found in the production budget! <_< At least that seems to be the most common excuse, though there are those that standout, usually from previous works... manga, LNs, RPGs etc... the closing musical performance seemed as if it was using the entire score for that piece... maybe it did, but it was too long.. somethingthat needed an edit and used much like they did in the
Nodame series... just the highlights of a piece of music were used to push the story, not to display the performance itself... but that was only really done that last time... I think the others before it in the competition were shortened.. .I've seen this issue before... not a new problem... as the scene gets too artistic... Gene Kelly in those he starred/directed etc in .. the main dance scenes were simply too long... good, but too long, too much symbolism in the styles used for bg and in the dance styles etc.... oh well.
But the story was well told.... at the end, the note of explanation is given which I think proves my point about the initial setup... our MC having those friends isn't very likely.... since childhood we are led to believe, definitely the girl next door, but the other sport star boy as well.... seen that guy from
Shugo Chara... but the same character looks show up all the time, which is again, why I can't remember most of them... they are all the same, with the same sounding VAs.... to me anyway, which is why a different one really stands out... like the MC in glasses... he looked rather normal compared to all the overly beatiful kids around him... well, most of them... the two main opponents from the competition were ok characters, the typical good looking thing... though the way they got better in competition against him was a nice and real touch.
After seeing
Cross Game a few times, it really got my attention the first time the trio heard/saw her in the hospital... definite foreshadowing there... I just didn't see the trio together... maybe the girl next door and our MC, but not the jock... as they just wouldn't be coming and going from school and their activites at the same time etc... which is why grade school friends fade away, same after switches in schools, or after graduation from HS, college, a job at any level etc.... but outside of the usual tropes, the story was pretty good IMO.... if you like this genre of course.... in my mind, either the writing is good or it isn't... and most are working with these tropes/cliches etc as a basis or platform that hopefully springboards into something original.. but that is really rather rare in any 'art' form, as all of life is based in them, which is why we can connect to them in the first place.
Overall the pluses outweighed the negatives, which were mostly of a marketing to norm or audience type anyway.... targeted audience being mostly jr high to high school, right? for most all anime in general? the 'adult' stuff usually really sticks out because of this... aka
Rakugo.... which has its own tropes to deal with, less so it seems due to the rather untapped storyline... but they all come down to how efficiently the essentially exploit the emotions of the viewer... be it anime, song, dance, sports, politics, religion... all a matter of marketing the product... and I thought this one did a good job within its chosen limitations.
PS... there actually were a few adults.... his mom's friend being the main one... the other coaches were used ok as well.... which does add a touch of reality to the fantasy elements... gives it more depth, as all the lines don't have to come from the mouths of 'babes'... so to say.
Funny PPS... on Youtube... the often used Hitler scene about this show's ending:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q_W6gDbXJA
