Rising Impact Review: A Decent Enough Anime On Golf

Rising Impact Review: For all sports anime fans, Netflix has brought a new addition to the sports anime lineup with Rising Impact. This is an ONA and only the first season of the whole series, so let us see how it fared.

Rising Impact Overview

Rising Impact is the first anime adaptation of Nakaba Suzuki’s celebrated manga. Nakaba is also known for his other works like The Seven Deadly Sins, Four Knights of the Apocalypse, etc. The first season of Rising Impact has been released exclusively on Netflix, followed by an upcoming second season in August. The manga, known for its themes of friendship and hard work, captured hearts in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The manga was first serialized in Shueisha’s shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from November 1998 until February 2002, with its chapters compiled into 17 tankōbon volumes. The new edition volumes of Rising Impact began publishing on May 2, 2024.

The anime adaptation is produced by Lay-duce, directed by Hitoshi Nanba, with scripts written by Michihiro Tsuchiya. Character designs are crafted by Kiyotaka Oshiyama, and the music is composed by Masaru Yokoyama.

– Rising Impact Review Contains Minor Spoilers –

Rising Impact Review and Recap

This series talks about a sport that hardly ever gets highlighted or explored in anime. The story begins with Kiria, a professional golfer visiting the outskirts of the Tohoku region of Japan. But her trip turns into something special after she comes face to face with an eccentric foreign boy, Gawain Nanaumi, who oddly enough speaks fluent Japanese that too in Tohoku-ben.

One thing leads to another, and Kiria inadvertently ends up being an inspiration to him. Gawain aspired to be the best hitter in the world and hence was into Baseball, but when he saw Kiria hit a golf ball further, Gawain tried his hands at it. Needless to say, Gawain turns out to be a natural, and that is how his journey to become a pro golfer begins under the guidance of Kiria.

This series showcases golf in a very engaging way and makes you interested in the sport. Even if you have no idea about the rules and regulations of the game, the show tries its best to relay the information to its audience. But, as it is not very easy to portray intensity in anime with a game like golf, the usual hype you feel watching other sports series like Blue Lock is missing here.

The characters are indeed unique, with Gaiwain being a ball of sunshine and optimism. He never loses hope and always tries his best in everything. His bond with his mentor is very strong, whom he respects yet teases a lot. Plus, he gains ample rivals to keep his competitive spirit afloat throughout the series.

We also get some dose of comedy, which works at times. A running gag is the more-than-friends nature of the relationship between Gawain and Kiria. However, considering the tendency of the author to go for huge age gaps between couples, it might not be just for laughs.

Again, you can spot names of historical figures like Gawain, Lancelot, Tristan, Merlin, etc, here, but do not confuse these with the characters from The Seven Deadly Sins universe. Nakaba clearly has a preference towards Arthurian Legends, and it shows in his works extensively.

The conclusion of this series is not a very satisfying one, as we got cut off from the most essential tournament. Thankfully, we know that aspect will be covered in the next season, which has more new characters and severe challenges.

Verdict

I liked this series, but I did not connect to it that much, mainly because I am not a big fan of the sport. But someone who likes golf or wants to know more about it will significantly enjoy it much more. As an anime, this is no doubt a very well-animated series that is visually appealing and has nice music. So, I would suggest you see this series first and then decide whether to continue it or not.

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