The world of corporate badminton is not as easy as it seems. Although considered a former child prodigy, Mikoto Shiratori has not been living up to his potential as a badminton player for Mitsuhoshi Bank. Due to a past incident, Mikoto tries to transition from playing doubles to singles; nevertheless, he fails to produce positive results, much to his employer's dismay.
After being fired from the bank, Mikoto is recruited by the Sunlight Beverage corporate badminton team. Surprisingly, not only do practices start in the evening, but he also has to work in the sales department of the company by day. While this is not a novel arrangement, Mikoto had thought he was invited solely to play sports. To make matters worse, he is forced to compete in doubles despite his reluctance.
Struggling to adjust to his new professional life, Mikoto begins to doubt his decision to join the company. However, as he learns more about his latest teammates, he might just find the strength necessary to advance his badminton career.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
NomineMalum
"To Succeed In Life You Must Learn From Failure" why is this quote used in my review? Well it relates to the theme of this anime which I'm going to make an opinion on so that answers your question hopefully. This review is going to be divided into 4 sections that correlates to the Story, Art, Sound, Character and Conclusion: PLOT When it comes to the conventional idea of sports anime there is always that one main idea of reaching for your goal or to become the best in the world. Well the plot in this case is somewhat in that line but let's just say it's a bitmore... unique per say. This is a badminton anime which of course is rare to the sports genre as it has been a very very long time since we ever got one. The plot is overall really compelling because the main character, otherwise known as Mikoto Shiratori want to learn from his past incidents and turn it into a great success for him both mentally and physically.
ART
No question that when it always comes to sports anime they always have this raw essence of great 2D/3D transitional movement in their characters and overall animation. This anime here, Ryman's Club is another one of them. It clicks every time I see a shuttle being hit by the backside of a racket which oozes my hearing aids oh so well. Trust me this anime is something else...
SOUND
The music in this show is pretty good, otherwise great. I have nothing else to say other than that really because this anime is already too good in terms of the plot perspective.
CHARACTER
SOOOO RELATABLE
Mikoto Shiratori was fired from his previous acadmy called Mitsuhoshi Bank. Despite being mentally broken down another academy called Sunlight Beverage wanted to recruit him.
MENTAL HEALTH is a big factor when it comes to main protagonists and how they challenge or learn from dire situations. This MC is no different because he has to go through a transition. Not only does he do that but also he has to work in the sales department of the company by day. This is really a stressful thing to do in terms of focusing on two things in your life but... Mikoto is built different. Wanna know why Sherlock Holmes?
Reason 1:MIKOTO OVERALL LOOKS BACK TO HIS PAST
Reason 2:HE LEARNS FROM HIS MISTAKES WITHIN THAT PAST AND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM NEXT TIME
Reason 3:HE LEARNS FROM FAILURE FROM THAT PAST TO TURN IT INTO A SUCCESS FOR THE PRESENT
Reason 4:HE LEARNS TO VIEW LIFE IN A DIFFERENT WAY REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE CHALLENGES MAY BE
Reason 5: HE'S BADASS
And that my fellow anime fans is what I love about Ryman's Club
"Mental Health is not a destination, it's a process. it's not about how you drive but most importantly where you are going overall"
CONCLUSION
I love this anime. It hits different than any other sports anime that I have ever seen thus far. It taught me a lot about how to learn from mistakes in life even when you want to become a professional at the one thing you love: BADMINTON
I think I might do some badminton in the future you know HAHA
THANKS FOR READING MY REVIEW EVERYONE
CrimsonKing25
Salaryman's Club is simple but it does so much with it's story, characters, and art. Combine that with a sport like badminton and the determination and conviction Mikito, Tatsuru, and the other characters have, it makes the show all the more enjoyable. Is this the most accurate rep of badminton? No, not by a longshot. (the same can be said with other sports anime) Is it enjoyable? Yeah, I would say so if you throw your suspense of disbelief out the window and enjoy it for what it is. When I first heard about it, what intrigued me the most was that it's a sports anime witha cast of adults. And not just adults, but salarymen. And both Mikito and Tatsuru gave me good impressions at first glance so I stuck around and I'm glad I did.
What makes Salaryman's Club stand out to me was the combination of corporate work and badminton. I like when sports anime has lots of slice-of-life aspects mixed in with the competitive scene of sports because it gives the characters more time to be themselves and live out their lives. It's a nice break in pace as well as letting us see more of the character's personal lives outside of sports. I was invested in how Mikito, Tatsuru, and the rest of the gang worked to make beverages and the shenanigans that ensued. And when they were playing badminton, I was hooked on how competitive it was.
Speaking of, I never thought I would get so into a sport like badminton but I did. Each match, whether it was a practice match or a competition, I loved how each time, our boys were so determined to not only win but try their best and improve on their weaknesses. Seeing them rise and fall felt so believable and how they reacted to certain events or insecurities felt all the more real. This is what makes Salaryman's club so great.
Mikito and Tatsuru were by far the best part of the anime. They're complete opposites in every way but its their differences that makes them a pretty great team, both on and off the field. Tatsuru is more relaxed and carefree and Mikito is more reserved and somewhat aloof but what they have in common is getting the job done and doing their best. Mikoto does have the tropes of being a skilled player held back by trauma, but as the series goes on, he does grow in trusting himself and Tatsuru. As for Tatsuru, he really was my favorite. He may seem carefree but underneath that exterior is a man who cares for the team.
As for the art and animation, it was done exceptionally well during the matches. The fast movement of the players, their swings, and the shuttlecock, all of it was sublime. Aside from the animation, I did like the art style of how the characters looked, making them distinct and pleasant to look at. (Looking at you, Tatsuru)
I only had one qualm with the anime.
The other characters of the Sunlight Beverage team are good characters and they have good enough screentime. The issue is that when they have their time in the spotlight, they become somewhat one-note after. Even some of their rival teams can be categorized as having one distinct personality and nothing else. I think the worst would have to be Usuyama. He reminds me of those characters in an RPG that joins the party last and doesn't get that much development before they fight the final boss or an optional party member. Weird analogy, I know, but that's what he felt like to me. I didn't find him all that interesting and even though we do get a brief backstory with him, it was short and almost forgettable. There were some stand-out rivals but for the most part, some don't have much going for them.
Overall, Salaryman's Club is simple yet effective. It does what it sets out to be, a sports anime with corporate life. It's easy to watch and very much enjoyable. Definitely recommend it.
KANLen09
What do you think of when you put badminton and animation together? Do you get bad-ass badminton with fast-paced action and pristine quality at its best? If this is what you're thinking, then welcome onboard, because studio Liden Films is back at the badminton animation game once again with Ryman's Club a.k.a Salaryman's Club, a portmanteau of the corporate work life and the actual sports club that actually exists in Japanese culture. Combined with the impressive work of Liden Films that badminton is the ONLY sport that this studio does produce right. But in order to understand Ryman's Club, you have to first understand how itworks. The Island of the Rising Sun is no short of unique things like these, and this is integrated in Japanese culture as the so-called "Club Badminton" that is in the same way, most of the club players are also employees (or salarymen in Japan's context) at the company they represent, so they'll be guaranteed lifetime employment after they retire from badminton. They would still be able to work for the club's sponsor company which is usually major companies (NTT East, Tonami, Nihon Unisys to name a few), they receive monthly salary just like all other employees in the company, which makes it different from pros in other parts of the world who mostly earn from prize money, sponsorship deals, endorsement, commercials, national caps salary etc. while Japanese players have stable income (salary from club company) on top of sponsorship deals, endorsements, national caps salary, commercials and prize money (while players from other countries could get most of their prize winning, Japanese players will receive theirs after a cut from the national badminton association). Some interesting tidbits worth sharing since the idea behind Ryman's Club is from one that has been existing for quite a long time in Japan.
In Ryman's Club, we get 4 teams which are fictional portmanteaus of the real-life companies:
- Sunlight Beverage (Suntory Beverage & Food);
- Tomari Transport (Yamato Transport, only replace the two cats logo with a lion);
- Unisics (Universal Music with their logo being inspired from Asics); and
- Mitsuhoshi Bank (Mizuho Bank with their logo being inspired from both Mizuho and Mitsubishi).
But the story itself is bog-standard that's conceptualized out of someone's performance boot and dark history that got him out of his former company, and right into a fresh new company whom recruited this same person to play on their team. This person is Mikoto Shiratori, a badminton prodigy with the ability of foresight, and someone whom went through his own dark episode from young times of playing doubles and causing his teammate to get injured, to playing for one of the top-ranked companies (Mitsuhoshi Bank) and only to get the boot because "failure is not an option". His next venture into Sunlight Beverage is a means for a re-start at getting his life together, but not before he'd meet his future partner: Tatsuru "the Badaryman" Miyazumi, his boss and doubles partner, whom had been drunk the day before his first official day at work, only to resurface his PTSD of his young badminton days when he was about to let go of his past behind. Being a relentless request from Tatsuru himself, Mikoto is introduced to the SunBev team of Coach Yasuomi Ono, Koki Takeda, the Saeki brothers Toya and Sota, and their formerly team ace Toru Usuyama of the East, and therein sets the journey to overcome past traumas and be a better team through teamwork. Believe me, it sounds simple, but it does the entry-level job application enough.
Of course, how can you have protagonists without antagonists, and there are a fair few bit of players within the same reign of issues that they face. The only few people whom have a backstory to them are the doubles team of Mikoto and Tatsuru, along with Usuyama, and they exist from the strongest adversary team ever: Mitsuhoshi Bank. Mikoto's history with the team with the Bakugo-like character of Takuma Kirishima; Tatsuru's history of playing with Izumo Naohiro as a doubles team (before Mikoto made his entrance); and Usuyama of the East and Ibuki Sentaro of the West, the team singles aces which have an extensive history behind them to face off for years before the former would quit and sacrifice his badminton to focus on his work and family. Mikoto also has Tomari Transport's Azuma Tachibana as a former player of his young badminton team, whom is there to check up on Mikoto when he got back in the groove of playing badminton for another company's team. Other than that, the requirement of 6 players per company team creates the same derivative that you would expect of any sport that needs a minimum amount of players just to play ball. Again, simple story, backed by simple characters and intended motives, nothing to really complain if the execution is done decently.
You know the drill: when it comes to sports shows, studios like Production I.G. and MAPPA have made a name for themselves adapting high-profile shows like Haikyuu! and Yuri!!! On Ice respectively. And Liden Films have also made a name for themselves when the studio produced Hanebado! back in Summer 2018, proving that they ARE the go-to studio for badminton anime adaptations turned into beautiful and striking sakuga animation. And 3.5 years later, we're seeing the same with Tokyo Revengers episode director Ami Yamauchi and Sarazanmai series composer Teruko Utsumi's work, which thankfully other than the missteps of Hanebado! in the story department, this works great and hand-in-hand with the overall package. If there's a strong department in this show, Liden Films has done it once again to deliver good performance.
And what's a good series if it doesn't have good music, and this bumps the extra atmosphere with the show to good effect. Given Mafumafu's musical calibre, I don't really need to mention if you've heard a good 2 or 3 songs that this Vocaloid producer has produced, but it's Novelbright's OP that really slaps. A double thumbs up.
Ryman's Club is what I like to call: simplicity at its finest. In every predictable twist and turn, there's the direction from Ami Yamauchi with the skills learnt from Tokyo Revengers to twist things on its own shuttlecock and racket, so going into this series being her debut directorial show, I'd say she accomplished a work well done to keep it simple, working and executed properly.
This is a well-rounded show, all things considered.
TitusPullo
If you liked Hanebado or Run with the Wind, you will like Salaryman's Club. All the main characters are likeable and have something memorable about them. In Japan, corporations ofttimes have sports-arms, and this anime covers a Badminton team at a beverage company. The dual role of being a Salaryman and a badminton player is very exciting to see, since this is the first anime I've seen that covers this dynamic. In one episode, they're in an intense badminton match, and in the next episode, they are doing a SWOT analysis for a business proposal. The pacing is perfect. The episode will be over before you know it, and haveyou craving for more.
Subs, especially typesetting is god-tier for CR subs. Whoever is in charge for TS this anime is a G. If only more typesetters followed his example.
Soundtrack slaps and sets the mood well.
10/10 on all counts from me.
Devinitas
As an adult, keeping up with your exercise arguably holds even more value than when you're a teenager. But being an adult, the toll life has already taken on your body can also show. You can get injuries you don't recover from as swiftly anymore, if you're gone from your sports for a while you may be gone for good. There also isn't any money in it if you're just doing it because... you can. No matter how good you are, it'll pretty much always be for fun only. Nevertheless, there is a lot of value to be found! Ryman's Club is clearly made by someonewho loves sports stories, but may not have loved that most of them end with a high school graduation. In those stories, the characters spend years together, growing as a team, chasing their dream of competing in a big torunament, if not the national one, but eventually, they'll have to graduate from school and ultimately enter the workplace. And much like Class S stories - in Japanese societies, dreams and ambition can often end with school. People are expected to be serious. And because of that, characters in these stories tend to treat the sport as everything that matters to them. Their entire life revolves around training, tournaments, or at best hanging out with their teammates. The matter of school usually takes the back line, maybe as a "funny" filler episode about how everyone's failing school and has to get back on track, or else they won't be allowed to continue playing. Characters can also get downright reckless when it comes to their health - neglecting sleep, training from dawn till dusk. They are pouring everything they have into their sport. Though once you've graduated... where do you go from here? Like sure, once in a while a narrative about a single character and their career in their chosen sport comes to mind, but especially in more team-based stories, that's usually it. Maybe you get a cheeky future-episode about the characters meeting up, now having careers and familie and such, and that's about it.
And to that effect, Mikoto, the first of the main two characters we're introduced too, might have as well come from one of those stories. He picked up badminton when he was a child, and even developed amazing observation skills because they help him perform better. He and even seeked a company known explicitly for its strong team - and was then prompty fired for underperforming at work.
The show delights in having the coworkers in his new company point out to him that he IS supposed to be working and wasn't hired only so he could play in the corporate badminton team - forcing him out of his fixation on the sport and actually engage with his coworkers and team members, and, as a consequence, life as an adult overall. And from there, the show becomes a fun Sports-SoL-Hybrid and pretty much equally divides its episodes between the characters training, playing in tournaments and such, and having them work as salarymen for a beverage company. Selling products, developing new ones, marketing, getting drunk together and brainstorming... it's all here. And with that groundwork, the show manages to present very human, if not terribly complex characters. Everyone gets their own arc about adult problems - like struggling to get back into an old hobby after your life changed with marriage and kids, comparing yourself to your siblings and how they were faring since graduation, struggling to fulfill your own potential. It's all a bit basic, but it helps greatly to acquaint the viewer to characters who may just mirror your own coworkers in many ways.
And likewise, these characters have to mangage adult problems as well. They have injuries and insecurities to overcome, as well as responsibilities like a family, but approach them with the understanding and reasoning of an adult. They know they can't just run on a broken limb, they have to learn to adjust and allow themselves to heal, or to move on. They help each other out and talk - and not in a dramatic, overly emotional fashion. It grounds the show in realism - save for maybe two, three little things that seem just a tad too anime in parts.
For example, the two main characters, Mikoto and Tatsuru, met when Mikoto was a child - they have a 10-year-gap - and that encounter inspired each other to keep on pursuing badminton. Tatsuru then found out about him, and convinced his manager to hire him which is just a tad bit odd. At that point, them meeting each other again throgh sheer coincidence, or because they've been following the same path - like how Mikoto met his former middle school partner in a tournament again - would have perfectly sufficed. It's not a huge distraction by any means, but doesn't quite fit in with the more subdued nature of the other relationships in this one. And of course you have a climax with the future of the team at stake.
But I found myself willing to look past all that because the rest of this show was just so pleasant. It's nice to see adults hanging out for a change. It's nice to see that you can enjoy and continue to be ambitious in your chosen sport even if your body may not be able to keep up as easily as when you were young. Heck, you can still even aim for the world championship! Sport is important. Sport is fun! Playing with others is fun! Just remember to sleep enough, drink enough and arrive to work on time.
Raentri
Maybe i'm too lenient with my anime ratings lately, maybe not, if I am, maybe that's a good thing. Or maybe there's just too many good anime lately. I've been trying to be less stingy with my ratings and more personalised so that's probably why. If I adored an anime, there's no need to be *so overly critical that I give it a 9/10 instead of a 10/10". No I adored and loved this anime, it was incredibly made. I should just give it a 10/10. The music choice and a lot of the scenes and personalities and so many things were just so good. Thisanime made me cry, this anime made me laugh, this anime made me smile. Not many shows can do that. I love the characters, I love the story, I love the art, and I love how much of an emotional rollercoaster this show is to watch. Loved Ryman's Club :D
TastesGoodYo
I've got it at a 10. A personal 10. Do I know much about Badminton? Not really. Not at all in fact. Do I agree with others that the animation could use some work? You betcha. For me though, it's still a 10. Why? Well... simply put, it feels like corporate life. I feel like what this anime captures so perfectly is corporate life, especially in a way that doesn't alienate western corporate employees. A lot of younger fans or fans in different industries might not get, but it feels genuine. Enough preamble, this show really gets down to the nuts and bolts of whatit is like to be an adult who works a full time job, has outside of work commitments but still for one reason or another want to play sport. In a post-haikyuu age where everything is highschoolers (granted this was long before haikyuu but y'know what I mean) it feels fantastic to have an anime about people just having no time to go to training, or letting work distract them from what they love. If you look at it from this lens, it will surely feel a lot more like a drama about employees rather than purely sports.
This show could have surely benefitted from being a 2 part series or 24 episodes, giving time to explore the main characters or other teams more, but in what little time it has we get a sense of how all of these young men see the sport and how they try to make room for it in their lives.
azumarillo
This felt like a slower pace, more mature Haikyuu. I liked the tragic backstories and trauma resolution, as well as the inter-office drama subplot. It was something really easy to throw on in the background while I did other things. The animation wasn't particularly stunning and I could not pick the characters out of a line up if you put a gun to my head, but the storyline was gently compelling enough that I continued to hit 'next episode' whenever the last one came to an end, and effectively got through the whole thing in one sitting. I also appreciated that they didn't try tobe more than they were; they weren't hoping for the Olympics or anything, so everything mostly got solved by the end. It was also refreshing to have an anime's cast largely be adults or close to, rather than high school/middle school kids.
Would I rewatch? Probably not. I might recommend it to someone who enjoys sports anime with latent "subtext" though lol.
GleefulViolin
This is a grown up sport anime! That's what I like to say.. Not 100% true, but isn't wrong either. First of all, this is the first badminton anime I have ever watched. Being a huge fan of badminton sport (I used to play it when I was in elementary and middle school, but growing up I kinda stopped playing since I had to focused on something else) that I follow any badminton tournaments on TV. So, when I found out they finally made a badminton anime (I know this isn't the first, but this is the first I'm interested in), I have to watch it. Tomy delight, this anime also set up in workplace instead of school, unlike most sport animes. I mean, I like sport animes so much but most of them are setting up in school (which I could relate to 10 years ago), but now I'm a working adult so I feel kinda disconnected whenever I watch sport anime (guess I envy the character's youth, ha!). Hence, I was super excited when I knew about this anime!
Anyway.. On to the review~
I was expecting the anime would focus on technical aspects of badminton sport, but it is not. As a fan of badminton, I'm not a stanger to the game and its terms.. But I can say that those who aren't fans of badminton will follow the game and its terms easily. Since this anime is setting up in workplace, there will be conflicts and issues related to the workplace that the characters have to solve. This is something I'm looking forward actually.
The characters are adults in early 20s to early 30s, so they have responsibilities outside their "hobbies". Yep! Some people think just because they're working adults now, their interests in sport is just meaningless hobbies which is wasting their time. Must I remind you this badminton team is part of corporate team so they're workers on the corporate they are represented. That is why I said what I said at the top--this is a grown up sport anime.
So far, the anime is only focused on 4 corporates teams.. And for some reasons, all characters from those different workplaces are linked one way or another. This is also the caused of some conflicts.
With only 12 episodes, I feel the anime is lacking on the depth of relationships between each characters (I mean it's there, but I feel like they're just grazing the surface). I think they can be explored more if the anime got at least 16 episodes. I would love to watch it if they had 25 episodes! Isn't it saying enough how I like this anime?
In my opinion..
The story is very good (can be explored more),
The art is good (can be improved here and there, but I like the variety of art style on this anime!),
The sound is very good (both Seiyuu and sound effect are very good--especially the sound of shuttle being hit! -- it's therapeutic),
The character is good (should be developed and explored more for the emotional depth),
The enjoyment is GREAT! I will totally re-watch this!
So, it's totally very good overall~~ I highly recommend it!
Based on the last episode, the possibility of season 2 is high. But who knows? If so, hopefully it will be soon.
iwa_chaaaaaan
This was a rather silly sports anime, especially because it involved a less popular sport (at least in the where I'm from). I thought it mixed the actual playing of the sport with regular life of a salaryman/badaryman really well. The character design is not my favorite, I'm still trying to figure out why and what I actually like lol. Oddly, the studio that made this, Liden Films, also animated Tokyo Revengers, a style I also didn't like but which looked different from Salaryman Club. Go figure. The depiction of movement, however was very good. There were, obviously, times when they took some liberties inless crucial moments, but overall the animation of action I thought looked really smooth. I wasn't even bothered by the super digital looking slow-motion close-ups of the birdie striking the racquet.
The protagonist, Shiratori, was a mix of Takeru from Run with the Wind and Haru from Free! Stubborn and obstinate, out for revenge on those who presumably wronged him, then swooped under the wing of an outgoing, gregarious senpai who shows him the real meaning of badminton and friendship!
I did reeeeeeallly like that this was a show about adults, however young, with jobs. I feel like so many sports animes focus on school-aged and college kids (not unlike the two other shows I mentioned above). So it was refreshing to be shown a relatively new slice of life. I LOVED the main storyline of salaryman part of the show. Shiratori, a complete novice in the world of business, much less the beverage business, wins a pitch to create a new soda. Hilarity ensues. I frickin' lost it when the badminton team used SWOT analysis on Shiratori's idea. XD Also really laughed whenever the team went out drinking and Shiratori made a fool of himself. Also also really loved that everyone thinks Shiratori's favorite soda is the worst the company makes.
The badminton itself I think is pretty good. I am familiar with the sport, having played it in gym class, but I didn't think the show was either too esoteric or too simple. As a said before the action was illustrated very well. They matches were generally pretty predictably but I have long since stopped expecting the unexpected when it comes to sports anime. That being said, there's an all-time, code geass-level twist in the last match. idc if you don't think it is, but it left my jaw on the floor lol.
Overall not the best but def worth a watch for an fan of sports or salarymen.
makotoplz
Ryman's Club was just the right amount of episodes and the perfect mix of sport and.. well, lessons. I'll admit, it's your typical sport anime, with life lessons and character development and tense moments. You'll find the same character tropes and the same kind of drama. But, it still does it well. In just 12 episodes you'll find that you actually like pretty much every single character. They speed run some things and at times it'll feel rushed, but the attachment was still there. There were some moments I wouldn't have been able to predict even if I tried, so it kept me guessing untilthe end.
Watch enough sports anime and you'll pretty much have watched all of them. But that doesn't take away from the enjoyment of good, well-developed ones. Ryman's Club feels like it's targeted at an older audience. Just slightly. The work-play balance is a pretty clear theme. Although understandably, the anime does teeter towards play a lot more. But you might find that you're watching this at just the right time, when you think you've moved past things you had a passion for and "grown up". You'll find characters at totally different life stages and totally different situations, that it does make it slightly different to other sports anime.
It's a solid 8, maybe just shy of a 9. Highly recommend, and hopefully there's a season 2. The ending definitely hinted at one.
Mayokawa
Overall: 8 I can see there was quite some investment to make this anime, the quality is quite good. Story: 7 Good for an original anime, with a blend of sports and SoL elements. Art: 9 I really don't have any complaints about the animations; maybe I'm a bit lenient in this aspect. At least it suits my personal taste and I can't point out what's unpleasing. Characters: 8Likable ones. Good.
Enjoyment: 9
Pretty nice, I enjoyed it, the animation was good, especially the matches, they’re entertaining. It’s like a typical sports show, but not boring. Well, and like many sports shows, somehow the last boss opponents would conveniently have a mental issue and not perform their best. Personally I don’t really a fan of that type, it decreases the fulfilment a lil bit. It reminds me of how Hanesaki in Hanebado beat Mashiko, who also coincidentally has some flashback over surpassing their brother. Or how Joe in Megalobox beat a Yuri who just underwent a torturous operation. Just to say, because I also think it’s inevitable setting for the underdogs to win. Overall 7 out of 10, but I add 1 point cuz, yeah, my soft spot for SoL of growing teens/adults coming out if their shells in life and, of course, Badminton matches (damn I love seeing my fav sports in the spot light). If you expect something groundbreaking, or profound, deep stuff, maybe set your expectations lower. Expect it to be more of a Slice of Life, there’re heartwarming moments between the characters, and not a complex plot. If you can dig this kind light-hearted and “friendship” type of anime, then you can reserve it for a chill weekend.
BehindtheSpace
I have watched many sports anime, and played many too, especially badminton. Although, I absolutely adore the sport, when another badminton anime gets announced aside from hanebado, I was excited. But to my point of view, ryman's club is just like your typical sports anime, but they added the workplace system to makes it more unique. Aside that, they really have nothing much going beside, but somehow it is more enjoying to watch than hanebado because most of the characters here are more mature. However the animation is mediocre, they animated the movement very strange in some parts and to my eyes, some even lookidentical moves and they somehow bluffed the whole dynamic movements thing a little overboard I'd say. At the end of the day, the skills and movements are not the huge things portraying most sports anime, because they are just a fiction, but it would be nice to make them more accurate. 7/10, an enjoyable anime to relaxing and watch during the weekend, I'd recommend but don't look out for this anime as a serious one, it wouldn't serve you enough.
RudolfTostarrica
I have no interest in badminton nor in sales, and I still watched this and enjoyed it. This show was an interesting watch because it has both the spokkon characteristics, surrounding the badminton team and competitions, but also the more slice of life, adults at work kind of stuff. There is nothing very surprising here, but it’s an easy watch with some uncommon touches here and there. Both the company stuff and the sport and personal trauma of the characters are enjoyable. The “action” is good enough, with very decent animation and art. The characters have distinct personalities. A nice watch overall.
thestarsailor
Ryman's Club is an interesting sports anime, both because it isn't common to see professionals playing their sport instead of high schoolers, but also because these are Badaryman, badminton + salaryman who play in leagues and are on contracts attached to corporations, and work their day job with the company. The team is a point of corporate pride and there are some contract bonuses for the employees who do it. I guess badminton is the right mix of skill but relative low impact on the body for players who are at least 22 and not getting pro-league contracts. Seeing that balance play out for Tatsuruand Mikoto is fun to see, as while the sport has more focus that the work-related episodes, their job does define the context for everything else, as well as where they talk with each other.
There aren't long rallies and writing doesn't do anything surprising for the characters. I don't know how to describe it well, but it felt like Haikyuu did better for its team. Those are the main issues, but it's still fun to get into and Tatsuru and Mikoto have the kind of relationship that makes it all work. It's got a fun OP, and for the kind of ending that wraps up everything nicely with a bow, it has a nice, light second season hook, nothing crazy, but leaves something interesting in the future if a second season comes around. Badminton is a fun sport and getting to see this is nice.
YaThor
as an Indonesian, we support badminton expecially the mansdouble the 1 ranks world Kevin Sanjaya & Marcus Gideon the longest 1 ranks in the world. story: 6 art: 8.9 sound 7 character 7 enjjoyment 7 overall 7.4 about the anime knowledge i give a 7 point that's a good lesson for a common people, and i shoock for the exchange player it's like the reallife i give a 8,5 point. about allure story it's normal like the drama of story in main character just like normal people, that's different for the star in realife, but still good to watch. the middle story it's give me little shoock for the duo brodther andlittle brother was in the duo like not in real life professional, but for show it's maybe normal to do that duo,
about entering the ending its the incident senior, miyazumi and staff and that 1 girl for the drama for miyazuma to pending the miyazuma duo to not face the number 2 world it's a wise choice, i give 8 point for not make them face to face, but the brother duo winning againts the number 2 world is like nonsense mind blowing.
bulkyhog
I love badminton. I played it at a highly competitive level for almost 7 years of my life, commuting an hour to my club 5 times a week where I dedicated buckets of sweat and even more hours to a sport I loved. Unfortunately, many people frown upon badminton. It’s a tricky sport to play, which makes it trickier to understand and appreciate. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that of all the sports out there that anime could cover, badminton is one of the most underrepresented. That’s why I’m grateful for shows that push badminton into the spotlight, because it’s truly one ofthe best sports out there.
But that’s also why I’m very disappointed with Ryman. Just like Hanebado, there was a lot of potential it could live up to. But unlike Hanebado, it fell flat on its face much more quickly and much more heavily in a way that makes the show extremely tough to watch, not only as a badminton fan, but also as an anime fan.
I think a basic requirement for sports anime is serviceable (get it) animation. Haikyuu is a perfect example. Its first few seasons? Great animation which elevated everything else. The last 2 seasons? Piss-poor animation which drags everything down. Even Hanebado, which had such boring attempts at melodrama, horribly faked conflicts, and lacklustre characters, was still an enjoyable watch thanks to its amazingly accurate (within sports anime ofc) portrayal of the sport and the stellar animation.
Is Ryman’s animation any good? No. It’s horrible. You rarely see any rallies aside from the final few episodes. Instead, they’re cleverly cut to make you think shits going on but really its just lack of animation/budget/effort. And even when they do animate “epic” jump smashes, diving saves, or clever net play, the animation is so fucking stiff, I don’t even know if it’s handanimated or done with CGI. Ruins the immersion in the sport when you see janky limbs making janky shots.
And without good animation to prop it up, Ryman just becomes a hard-to-believe, angsty story. I’m not even gonna touch on the attempts at a “story” because it’s just quite sad.
Don’t get me started on the inconsistencies either. There’s supposed to be “powers” like foresight, but only MC has it. We’re also supposed to believe the power structure they have set up: an Olympic/top BWF calibre player can be bested by 2 bums? Very nice. Instead of tapping entirely into super fantasy like Kuroko or plausible realism like Hanebado, Ryman tries to have its cake and eat it too. Ultimately, it ends up falling short here as well, just like everywhere else in the series.
But I think Ryman’s biggest fault is its refusal to properly elaborate on the complex strategies that are actually behind the sport. Shot selection, location, angle, speed, footwork, pace of play, and coordination with your partner. Just applying these to singles alone is complex enough, but it gets even crazier in doubles. Because Ryman chooses to dumb the narration/discussion down, what you’re watching is just a watered-down, unexciting version of badminton. Sure shots are going here and there, but why? How, why, and when do players change their tactics and strategies? Instead the explanation you get is “How about I attack you instead!” or “He’s using that devil drop, killer!” I get that you’re trying to make it cool and all, but really it just sounds lame because people who don’t play badminton won’t have a clue what’s going on and people who actually know enough about badminton will be even more confused as to what the fuck is going on.
3/10 for being a bad anime overall. +5 for showcasing badminton, my favourite sport. -5 for ruining badminton, my favourite sport.
Antara666
I watched the series without much high expectations. I am not a huge fan of the sport Badminton but I do know the basic amateur knowledge. SO this review POV is from an amateur without much technical knowledge on the sport. If you are the same, then please read ahead... In a nutshell, if you want to learn about the sport and it's technicalities, this is not the right anime for you. However, if you want to pass some leisure time, like sports in general and are a office worker, then I would suggest to try it out for the sake of it. Overall, it's a one-timewatch anime, so I would probably not think about this anime again in future. Which also means that the impact of this anime is not that huge.
Art- The art style was average for me. The strangest part for me was that they failed to make the lead team members distinct in their physical characteristics. Quite a few characters have the same hairstyle, same facial features with a slight difference in hair tones. Honestly, in initial episodes, you might feel confused about which character is which if you are not paying enough attention. But you can tell, that the production team tried (in vain) to make as many characters pretty and flashy as possible.
Story & characters- Overall, they did attempt to bring the story and plot together. However, when you mix two major professions, sports and office worker in an anime, it's important to keep the right balance of each aspect. One would think, how a salesperson who has one of the most tedious job that impacts your physical stamina would keep up in a continued basketball practice, especially when you are ageing. Well the anime does show the age aspect in certain characters. However, except a few of the main characters with just a slight glimpse in their past, the character development is extremely subtle, if any at all. The past is what makes a person into a sport that they could care about. For that, you will need to show the viewers enough to understand each character's personality and why they play the sport. It's crazy how one of the ML almost does not even get their past featured enough. This flaw in itself makes you fail to connect to the characters as you should be able to. The story itself is pretty rushed. Has quite a few obvious loopholes (that no one bothered to do anything about). Personally, it felt that enough thought or efforts was not put into the sport itself as it should deserve. We know barely anything about the rivals in the matches except for their relationship with the MLs and yet they failed to justify that relationship enough. [Personally, this fact itself made it a little frustrating and didn't grab my attention in any of the matches except the final game]. The series DOES NOT do justice to Badminton, DOES NOT show the intricacies of the sport and neither does it show enough of the matches that lead to the ultimate game. It's almost before you know it that the team reaches their last game.
Music- Decent overall, but not particularly catchy.
The whole anime overall just felt extremely rushed and half-assed efforts at presenting the sport and story. There might have been a budget issue, I don't know. But I can tell this much, the anime had potential if done right.
Hence, I was simply glad the show ended without making me feel sorry that it did end. It failed to grab my attention and made me click next episode just to make it end. Nonetheless, the anime has it's comedic moments throughout, makes you like only 1-2 characters (for me Miyazumi), but it's not enough to make you last.
So I will suggest that you watch this if you have enough time to spare. Or else, please do go for all the other amazing sports animes out there if you wanna watch something worth your while.
Butteranium_0509
As someone who played badminton regularly in primary school, Ryman's Club looked like it would do a good job at presenting the somewhat simple sport. I say somehwat because although on paper it looks simple, there is more than what you see on TV or spectacting a live match in the gymnasium. Ryman's Club job was to illustrate elements & rules of the game in layman's terms but it didn't, the show didn't even need to spend an entire episode explaining the basics of badminton but instead throws you right in. Someone who has no idea what Badminton is would have no clue what wasgoing on screen, the lack of any actual badminton rallies further enforces that. If this was a purely Badminton sports Anime, this show would have gotten a much lower rating than a 6/10 and this is me being nice & lenient towards it.
What compelled me to give it this score is because its simply just refreshing, seeing that almost all Sports Anime are set in High School, barring a few exceptions like Run with the Wind, Ryman's Club's setting in a corporate environment gives the viewer a different perspective of what older or mature people are like in Sports & just getting a sneak peak at the corporate world, even though the story overall very simplistic, to a fault actually.
There was very little depth to the story, it is very predictable and stereotypical like for example Mikoto's backstory, while it is not inherently bad, I wish the show took time to explore it a little more in detail, not just throwing in flashbacks for the sake of it. The simplistic nature of the show also meant that the characters also weren't properly fleshed out. I feel as though good characters in Sports Anime particularly are important because it allows the viewer to be able to put themselves into the character's shoes & sympathize with them while also having a connection with said character. At the end of Ryman's Club, I didn't feel any sort of attachment to any of these characters, while I do understand & sympathize with their struggles and past trauma, I couldn't relate to them as much as other characters from other Sports Anime, like Haikyuu or Chihayafuru.
Touching on visuals & animation here, I do like the artstyle of the show, its simple yet does the job as it appropriately portrays a slightly more mature yet laid-back setting (idk if I made sense there). The Animation could be better, there were some scenes in the Badminton rallies that were abit wonky when it came to joint movements especially, there were definitely some inconsistencies. But overally, the artstyle & animation get a pass, nothing groundbreaking but it gets the job done.
Overall, Ryman's Club had a lot of potential as a Sports Anime with a different perspective/twist on it but it definitely failed in doing some of the basics of a Sports Anime & had defiencies in other areas. However, being someone who rates Anime based on pure enjoyment, I definitely did enjoy watching the show, for better or for worse or maybe my taste is too simple to the point where a simplistic show like this can dig enjoyment out of me.
