Sports anime escapes a simple but effective engine: Take a spoonful of illegitimate children, show them collaborate in the pursuit of the Grand Prize, and steal their sad archives, their longings, their hurt, and their worries. A good sports anime is as tricky as a roller coaster – the arc is obvious, but when you're there, you don't give a shit because you cry.
I love sports anime because they are way too short for feelings. Sport, be it basketball, volleyball, freaking road race, acts as a magnifying glass for mathematics. A high school basketball game is actually a life or death game. The character relationships are on the rise because they all come from The Sport, too say no a graduate because I would literally die if they had to leave the party they loved so much.
Chest, A Netflix documentary that looks, uses the same ingredients to explode. But, unfortunately, the kids are real and I'm very worried about them.
The show focuses on the cheerleading team at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas. Navarro has won The Big Prize award 13 times but, from a true professional sports standpoint, these kids are under the brain. Chest introduces talented athletes who can make billions back, and then skip their stories to find their impact. The most famous member of the group, acclaimed “cheerlebrity” Gabi Butler, sweating and crying and fighting like everyone else, seems to have no purpose.
In Chest, as in sports anime, the stats are clear (Grand Prize, but also, and friendship there). Athletes are flawed, but they work hard – and more often than not, they reach their dreams and fall on their faces. In Chest, this results in real limits.
(Vol. Note: The following contains spoilers for the arcita arc in the first season of Yowamushi Pedal.)
Damage is a very common place in sports anime as it is, and in sports. The first season of anime biking Yowamushi Pedal ends with The Big Race. It is a challenging lesson for teams that train throughout the year. During the race, competitors are competed in one of the "death" games, eliminated with their black and white photos crossing the street. Yes, it's heavy. However and emotional terrorism.
My favorite episode is about Arakita, the big loudmouth who goes on the band's Opposition. He’s not a villain, but he’s still awesome. In this episode, the flashback reveals that Arakita was a pitcher until the injuries he sustained stopped. Outside of baseball, Arakita is full of disgust, and attacks everyone around him. Only the Hakone Academy basketball team can find a reason to live.
What sets Arakita's stories apart from the salinity of the truck is that, to me, he doesn't learn to love cycling. There is no regular period of recognition that helps her know that she deserves happiness. Every Arakita learns in sports how to move on – even if you hate yourself, even if you think you have nothing. Because you don't do it yourself; he does for the team.
Chest It's just a war. In one of the interviews, veteran Lexi Brumback tells the group he would be imprisoned if he was unhappy. Navarro's team provides him with the structure he needs to stay upright and small.
What sets you Chest without the lingering concern about what these kids will do when they graduate. I call them kids – they are all in their 20s, but they are very vulnerable. Me Chest it makes it clear that this is a game for young people, and their knees are frustrated. After the collective heartbreak, no Grand Prizes were left to seek. The cheerleader's career ends with graduation.
Knowing this, ministers of Chest they are hurting themselves with unbelievable injuries, and I'm emotionally drained, and full, and here I am. The cheerleader is told by the doctor that all his ribs can actually explode, and he still wants to compete! What the fuck!!
But it does make a reasonable amount of sense. If there is one thing I've learned in sports anime, it's that sports is about finding a family heft. Winning is a barrier, but friendship and drug addiction. Chest it does nothing to hinder that understanding.
