Anime Digest
“Gonjou No Fanfare” is a sports anime by Lay-Duce Studios. It aired in Japan from the 2nd of April 2022 to the 25th of June 2022. The title translates to “Fanfare of Adolescence.” The anime is sports anime about the story of a 15-year-old competing in horse-riding as Jockeys. The story revolves around three 15-year-olds who aspire to become Jockeys and join a prestigious horse-riding academy. The narrative begins with Yu Arimura, also known as Yu Otonashi, deciding to leave his idol career and become a jockey and study in a horse riding school. The story then progresses into the audience getting introduced to the other 5 students who enrolled in the prestigious Horse Riding Academy along with Yu. The anime focuses on the struggles of these 15-year-old aspiring jockeys. Throughout the anime, the audience also starts to live the love these 15-year-olds have for horse-riding. Will the peculiar academy affect Yu’s perception of horse-riding? Will these 15-year-olds end up becoming what they aspire to be?
The Feel-Good Part
The exciting part of the anime is the ideation. The anime focuses on a unique idea, 15-year-olds aspiring to be Jockeys. This is not something we usually see. Due to Horse-riding being one of the only ways of official gambling, we don’t see kids aspiring to go into such fields. This is what makes the anime intriguing.
The Disappointing Factor
The disappointing bit about the anime is the plotlines. The anime tends to frequently drift away from the main story, horse racing, to the side stories of the characters. This seems unnecessary in the anime and ends up distracting the audience.
In-Depth Analysis
In Japan, Horse racing is one of the few ways of official gambling. The popularity of this kind of gambling has become pretty much a part of the Japanese culture today. The anime is not an overly appreciable anime but is decent. It has its pros and cons. The filmmakers have given a proper backstory to set the scene up for the audience. They have also been able to successfully give depth to each and every character of the anime. But, at the same time, There are times when the story keeps deviating and ends up focusing on side stories that seem unnecessary. This makes the audience bored in their viewing process. The anime is well made but could have been made with lesser episodes instead of having 13 episodes.
Star Power
The casting of the anime is the cherry on the top. The voice actors have done a great job in portraying their characters fully. The voice acting makes the anime more realistic in its approach.
Overall Opinion
The anime is at least a one-time watch. The anime might get boring in between but will pick up its pace and keep the audience entertained. It is something you would want to watch when you want something light.
