Type: Boys of Swimming
Synopsis: A group of quite frankly RIPPED high school boys decide to restart their school’s swimming team. They mainly do this to reconnect with their old friend Rin…who goes to another school…and seemingly hates their guts now. They get Rin’s boy crazy sister to be their manager, their homeroom teacher and former swimsuit model to be their faculty sponsor, and the pizza man to be their coach. Plus, their all based on animals. Plus, plus, I’m pretty sure their this close to making out with each other.
Pros: Did I mentioned that these boys are RIPPED. Seriously, the got that weird V thing on their hips. What is that V thing? It is the top of your hip bones? Is it like a secret muscle only beautiful people know about? Ah, anyway, the show has stellar animation and pretty funny moments. It’s not an outright comedy, just about 85% of it. My favorite gags were Gou’s fangirling over the boy’s muscles, and Miho’s desperate attempts to hide her modeling past. The rest is melodrama, which mostly consists of slightly hurt feelings, but in that “I feel bad because I think I made someone else feel bad” way. Empathetic guilt. Not overwhelming, but predictable.
Cons: The opening is misleading. If it was meant as a joke, it definitely overstayed its welcome. Also, not a fan of Rin. He was way too whiny, even when he won. He’s also very weird looking. Every character is based on an animal and Rin is based on a shark. That’s cool, until you notice that Rin’s teeth are all pointy, so whenever he has a sad moment, he looks just plain silly. And he cares about swimming way too much. This is technically a sports anime, so that type of character is to be expected, but still. No one in Umisho got that crazy.
Watch it?: Sadly, no one makes out in this…yet (4/5)
MVP: Rei Ryūgazaki
Should have totally been a Swan, not a butterfly
Best Episode: Ep.4 “Captive Butterfly!” (I also only know butterfly)