Suzuka

This anime is one to watch if you enjoy lots of drama, followed up by a nice ending. although the story revolves around sports, the actual sport theme comes second to the romance of this anime. this anime consists of no violence or action based themes which was one thing i was disappointed in, but it made it up for its amazing story line and unique characters. as the story progresses you really get to feel what the main characters are feeling and that is what really brings you into this anime. i highly recommend this anime to anyone who is into drama and romance.

We all have that anime that struck gold with us upon first viewing just as we were burrowing downward towards a rabbit hole. We also may have that same anime, once an absolute favorite, fall out of favor over time. It should be more than assumed that Suzuka was that for me. The show hasn’t entirely fallen out of favor for me over the past 7 years or so, but I wouldn’t quite again refer a friend to watch this either. But there was a time where I was referring my friends to watch this. Asking that they sit down and watch a few episodes with me since there was nothing else I could provide us to rid of boredom. I sold this show as being a smarter romance, sports anime than its contemporaries. I not only gaslit those friends into thinking they were about to watch something like Haikyuu, before that show was even adapted, but I was also blinded myself. Suzuka was shown to me at a time I was new to anime. I was ignorant to the medium and the what to expect other than what I knew from watching Toonami, Adult Swim, and the stigmas that trailed along from it all. I wasn’t against anime and manga, but I didn’t quite consider myself “all in” with it either. I had friends show me stuff before. Friends who were apart of the casual Ghibli guild and friends inside the cult fo cosplay; I had a myriad of sources showing off the best anime had to offer at the time. It wasn’t until around Suzuka, however, that it all started to click with me. I must also deflate that last sentence and say Suzuka wasn’t what won me over, nor would I credit it being a major factor in why I felt that infectious otaku sensation, but shows like Welcome to the NHK, Beyond the Boundary, Neon Genesis, and funnily enough Sword Art Online. Suzuka did however provide a deeper connection with me as it felt so removed and separate from the anime I was watching. It was the first slice of life, sports, and romance anime I watched plenty of and inevitably became enchanted with its simplicity and interlaced drama. I was stricken with the mundanity of our character’s lives, that of Yamato and Suzuka, and the pitfalls they fell into for the hedgehog delima they share. I feel like nobody, that once knew it, remembers this show. Perhaps that’s because there truly are much better shows out there that have a wider appeal and aesthetic to themselves, but I can say for myself this show was presented to me with a coat of paint that didn’t match the accents. What I mean is: Suzuka is not a sports anime and it’s certainly not a romance anime either. Like shows, outside of OG Gundam, that are labeled mecha, the mechs involved in the script are used to enhance said script. They are used as props to elevate the key themes and overall plot for the essential characters’ stories. The narrative is essentially the same but with big-ass robots fighting each other being a metaphor for the duality of mankind’s love of life, or whatever. Suzuka does this with sports. Yamato’s love language to Suzuka is his ability to run really fast, but, again, this isn’t a romance (at least not in the way I feel other shows are handled). No matter how smooth Yamato can spin dash into Suzuka’s rear view as she pole vaults over the emerald hills, he will never exceed past her blind spots (the sports in which they play at their high school making up only a small fraction of the overall show). This isn’t a spoiler, and I’m only generalizing, but this is a dramatic take of teenage relationships between two friends that, at first, can’t seem to connect. This show is certainly no subversion either for it definitely has its tropes and well handled elements to those tropes, but the show get so different to everything I had watched previously, in a time when I wasn’t as hyper aware of anime and during a time when I felt most vulnerable too and was able to self insert so easily, even making the same dumb decisions Yamato found himself in. And Yamato isn’t even dumb. That’s one of the best parts. Even today I genuinely believe both Suzuka and Yamato behave like realistic teenagers and not like complete idiots. Macross comes to mind in terms of a well handled relationship between two characters and in Suzuka our two main characters are tasked to make mature decisions and even tackle deep, tragic topics and handle them well without the writing completely taking dump over any of it for a punchline. I still enjoy both of their characters too and like how things end up so patiently and methodical by the end of the show. I think Suzuka deserves just a little more credit is telling a cute story that involves teenagers in a drama (and that’s not teenage drama that I’m referring to either). Suzuka though does stumble about a lot. It’s art is boring to look at and has no real identity to its style and aesthetic. When Suzuka was brought to my attention, I was told the animation and art where really good, but none of it really is. It’s mediocre at best. I don’t quite see how this 26 episode show wasn’t allowed a larger budget but that’s not up to me I suppose. The music is rather boring and despite a single tune, I found nothing of note about this show having a good soundtrack with some tracks overstaying their welcome and other times being awkward, dead silence. But it’s not just that. Suzuka has some of the more boring and annoying characters I’ve laid witness to. The first episode introduces us to an egregious scene where Yamato is caught off guard by a sexual deviant senpai who surprises him by unrealistically teasing him as she is naked with her giant tits hanging out. Pure comedy. Stuff similar to this happens a few other times but aside from those the show is inoffensive. Yamato’s chad friend evens him out and at least serves a simple purpose to show Yamato’s maturity and contrast is well enough but he quickly gets lost in the background to make room for the most unremarkable and unnecessary love interest just to create further tension and therefore extending the love triangle between Yamato, Suzuka, and Suzuka picture frame into an actual love triangle with Yamato, Suzuka, and this home wrecker. I don’t think anyone shipped those two and nobody who watched this whole show came out of the other end thinking it was a good idea in the first place either. Without getting on that tangent, I do wish to express the relationships between Yamato and the others all conclude... with satisfaction, in my opinion. I don’t want to sell Suzuka as a romance anime because if you’ve watched good romance anime you’d probably say “this just ain’t it,” but I dig it. I like Suzuka as for the love that the characters ultimately have for each other. I fully admit that I’m still insufferably defensive to a degree with this show and would rather fail to properly commit to the idea that this show is anything less than a 6. But it’s also not a 7. But I do like this, and I think if provoked about this show again, I’ll recommend it once more.

Compared to other romance anime, this one is a little bit older but i really like how the characters are portrayed in a realistic and even traditional way. I love a romance where there arent too many characters to keep track of and theres plenty of drama mixed in with some comedy. This anime teaches a valuable lesson about not giving up on the things you want, and the main characters actually have likeable personalities. It takes itself seriously so it makes it easier to take the anime seriously. It has a similar feel to white album 2 in the sense both the main female leads are cool, confident, hard working, and hold themselves to a high standard.

This show is about romance. Nothing more, nothing less. A simple plot but will catch the watcher's interest if romance is his or her cup of tea. The story is good for many reasons, although sometimes cliché when it comes to the twists. Many different romantic feelings are expressed throughout the series, a lot of it being a display of what the characters are thinking. Several relationships go up and down in terms of intensity, commitment, and questioning whether the relationship is healthy. I will go ahead and say that I thought the story was perfect regarding pace. Nothing ever goes too rushed or too dragged on. Also, each episode will keep watchers wondering what will happen next, in a very natural way. The only flaw about the story was the abundant predictability of it. It didn't bother me much though. I think there is some predictability that is necessary in storytelling, especially if it is relating by any means to romance. I adored mostly every bit of music in the show, setting the correct mood most of the time. In comedic moments, happy/sad moments, etc. I think it was what is expected for a light romance story. The main character, Yamato, was very interesting to me. He was very determined and joined a sports team mainly for the purpose of winning the heart of Suzuka, who I thought was a likable character as well. This is mainly because of her attitude and clever thinking regarding what Yamato's goal was after all. I purely enjoyed the series from start to finish. But I give this anime an 8 because it obviously won't appeal to everybody due to some cliché drama and events. Personal enjoyment doesn't determine the score

I still really enjoyed it but I wish I hadn't read the manga first. I am surprised at some poor reviews and scores since, in my opinion, this is exactly what I expected from a drama/romance and slice of life. The sports thing was a bit tacked on but it was nice to not have a series, for once, where it is so focused on a single subject and you see how their feelings for each other affect their day to day activities. I wish it had a second season so we didn't have to cut off EVERY side story [from the manga] that wasn't directly related to the two mains. *spoilers* [mostly in the manga tho] The manga and anime are almost frame for frame for a very long time. There's some side stories that got pulled which were, admittedly, extraneous to the point of unnecessary but would have been enjoyable. If these had been included we probably would have gotten a second season which would have also covered after Asahina and Yamato got together. I thought that the pregnancy was where Yamato really showed us a lot more about himself as a caring person, and it would have been nice to see the animated wedding.

This is more like anime analysis between friends than actual review! Suzuka is definition of teen romantic drama. As I get older it’s harder for me to endure some aspects of it, but there wasn’t any obvious problem in case of Suzuka. Well... maybe except of an MC. Still the combination of sports and romance is new to me in anime genre and it was working well. To be fair at some times parts which focused on sports thematic interested me more than this whole love situations. STORY:7/10 Plot of the show is nothing super-original as it has lot of aspects of classical teen romance like tsundere FMC, love triangle, rejections and settle downs,being confused about own feelings and plus some tragic past. On the other hand as soon as athletics came upon a screen I always found myself to be more interested in the episode so deffinitely plus for sports anime enjoyers, but be aware as it is not main focus of the story as it’s more like nice addition. Romantic sideof the story tends to be overly dramatic which also makes it unnecessarily complicated at some times. On the other hand teen romances tends to be just like that so fair enough! Thing is that from the beginning it’s obvious where narrative goes and how things ends up as it’s typical for shows of this type, so basically you are here more for the process then culmination. Then you need to ask yourself if the characters and their development are interesting enough for you to give it a chance which you find out right after few episodes. Warning! Don’t expect much of an development until latest parts. Otherwise story has a nice flow uniting sports and drama. Plot is light almost type of slice-of-life with every day life problems of main heroes. I was little bit dissapointed as I was hoping for some development of an MC in terms of fidning out more about himself and his goals. If narrative incorporated more of his personal grow I would be able to empathize more with his character and he would make better person not only himself, but also for Suzuka. Characters:6,5/10 First of all Suzuka as the show is named after her. To be fair I’m not that fond of an toxic tsunderes so my transparency cannot be guaranteed. She is cold, harsh, closed in like a turtle and annoying, but neverthless inside she cares for her close ones even for the little puppy named Yamato who still runs after her like a stray dog. In story it was obvious that she was tsundere type before the accident of the senpai, but this tragic situation only amplified her behaviour and spacing. All of this is making sense as I was in similar situation and understand her worries. On the other hand dwelling on past won’t change anything as she herself understands in the end, moves on and like this has most impactful character development. Thing is that her behaviour is sometimes so extreme as she can switch off from acting good to Yamato to acting like a bitch as it almost seems like she’s bipolar. This was probably my major issue with her as sometimes it seemed unreasonable and without impulse, putting aside her at times ruthless nature. Yamato my guy yea... If I had a dollar for each time I wanted to punch my screen because of this idiot. Now seriously who acts like that and more importantly WHO writes an character like that? This fella single handedly disrupts my viewing experience. Type of guy who doesn’t think about his actions and it’s impacts as soon as it’s late. He is dense, stupid, SIMP, empathetic like a dead frog, loud, annoying, low-key selfish and persistent in really toxic way. Whole personality of his is that he likes a girl and that’s it. Throughout the whole show he does basically nothing for himself as all of his actions spins around Suzuka, Suzuka this and Suzuka that STFU! How she can like somebody this pathetic? Don’t get me wrong girl isn’t perfect and has plenty of her own problems, but at least there’s tragic reasoning for her behaviour while all our MC is doing is constatly making stupid mistakes and then wondering what he did wrong and pitty himself like a baby. How he acts while dating Honoka was another proof of stupidity, but at least he properly broke up with her as it was the least she deserved, what a sweet girl which is too good for him. You know it’s show about teenage romance so one cannot expect super mature development and characters I get it, but Yamato is easily in top 10 biggest toxic SIMPs in anime. Honoka is a typical nice girl which is good at chores and smart. Unfortunatelly it’s obvious from the beginning that she never had a chance in competition for Yamato as it’s easily predictable where things are heading to. Normally she would be my number as I don’t have the patience to deal with tsunderes, but needless to say there’s something missing in her character to the point she seemes little bit too bland or artificial. This cannot be said about Suzuka which is bossy and harsh, but not without reason and this makes her more humane. Side characters were alright especially Miki which was supportive for her friends and mainly Suzuka although she had little bit of an crush on Yamato herself. She is cheerfull and maybe little bit too much impulsive at some times, but that is part of ther charm. Same can be said of Hattori which advices are like russian roulette as sometimes he’s spittin some real life shit and sometimes you wish he wouldn’t speak at all. All meant in good, because in the end he is funny character and probably true friend to Yamato. Others are not that worth of a mentioning as they mostly alright maybe except the blond chick Yuuka which pissed me off. You really don’t want to hear lessons from adult woman which comes drinking every second night to the apartment of an minor. ART:8/10 There is something about these 90s and millenial anime which always caught my eye. For sure the art work is nothing special, but it has this classical millenial fresh breath which perfectly fits narrative. Honestly if there was all that sparkling overly shining efects as many of nowadays romance anime has, it would do only harm. Authors manage to find a good balance between application of some effects like that and still staying simple. MUSIC/SOUND:7/10 On point throughout the show and nice atmospheric opening. ENJOYMENT:6,5/10 Sometimes the toxicity and irrationality was little too much for me to handle, whether we're talking about Suzuka switching in her behaviour or completely disgusting traits of an MC. To be fair Yamato was the main reason I had serious anger issues while watching the show. Still there were more enjoyable aspects in the show then bad ones, but unfortunatelly the negative ones were so major I cannot rate too much high either. OVERALL:7/10 If you look for some typical high-school romance anime with sports sub-plot it’s a valid choice. Just keep in mind that you need to endure some simping and tsundere clichés. Otherwise Suzuka has a lot to offer for average romance anime enjoyers. If you like vibe of older animes the better for you.

Suzuka is one of my favourite animes. Even though its concept is really cliché i still can't get it out of my mind and move on. It is everything you can want from a romance drama with its heartwarming SoL moments to the track competitions which almost makes it feel like a shounen anime to heartbreaking drama, this anime is a masterpiece in my eyes. Objectively, it has a lot of flaws (which is why i gave it an 8). Its story is really cliché, sometimes it stretches the drama like rubber band and gives its characters unnecessary background drama most of the time. But that doesn't matter. There is a reason I can still remember the names of Yamato Akitsuki, Suzuka Asahina, Miki Hashiba and Yasunobu Hattori without looking it up even though i watched/read this a year or so ago while I can't remember the name of the mc in an anime i watched two days ago. That's because Kouji Seo really knows how to write his characters! They feel like living human beings that doesn't always respond to your expectations and make their own decisions and you will love them for it. I loved everything he wrote but in my opinion Suzuka was his masterpiece. Anime only adapts the first third of the manga so don't forget to read where it left off, it only gets better!

Animations are very dated and the resolution is pretty low. However some of the backgrounds are pretty good and the characters are well drawn... as long as they're in the foreground. Characters in the background are certifiably jank. Speaking of jank, the running animations. Some of the running animations are okay, but a lot of them are not very fluid and janky. The characters have depth, but they tend to be a bit cliche. That and the quality of the character depth is somewhat lacking. The story is kind of basic and cliche, and it would still be pretty decent if the show was eight episodes long. Unfortunately it's not, so the plot just rinses and repeats the same points until literally the last five minutes of the final episode. It gets a little old to say the least. The pacing from episode to episode is actually pretty decent though, and holds your attention. The pacing moves along the plot at a decent pace, but too bad the plot is circular. Voice acting is fine, the casting is fine, but the performances are pretty average and unimpressive. The soundtrack is pretty solid, but the op and eds are a little dated and average. Also it would be nice if we could leave the songs in Japanese, but they don't sound awful in english, even if some of the lyrics are trash. Overall it's a somewhat decent rom com, kinda cute, but really rough and dated. Also, Suzuka is not a very likable, she is kind of a baby throughout the entire show. If you really like rom coms though, this might be a worthwhile watch for you. If you're more interested in the sports... don't bother(although I will say what information is given about running is decently accurate). 6.05/10

Suzuka is an anime with the rhythm and aesthetics of its time. I think her protagonist is an excellent example of what she defines to be a Tsundere, with solid development and noticeable gradual transformation. The secondary characters contribute in the right measure and the idea in general makes sense. The main problem is Akitsuki. The story is told from his point of view and the reality is that in the 26 chapters that this anime lasts we see little growth, self-criticism and desire to be a better person on his part. The only thing that matters to him is to be reciprocated by Suzuka, and he can't achieve anything in life if he doesn't receive her support or approval generating embarrassment in the viewer at times. However, I must admit that Yamato's thoughts and attitudes correspond to those experienced by any young person at that age. I just would have liked to see some development and growth on the part of this character. The anime changes as the episodes progress: in the first half it gives the idea of being an ecchi comedy, something similar to what we see in Golden Boy. This all collapses as soon as we first see the second ending, the drama kicks in and at times we think Akitsuki has matured enough to be able to properly address a woman (wrong, even in the last episode he's still immature in this regard). To summarize, I think this work is a good example of what goes through the mind of a young man when he is in love, but represented in a rather flat and, at times, exaggerated way. I recommend watching it if you are used to romantic drama, otherwise you may end up leaving the anime.

first of: the story, i know its probably not what you would like things to go however i think its a great story it shows the problems different young people can have in romance, their emotions etc. The story is not predictable at all its not boring and i watched it 8 times already and i am still not bored even though i know the outcome cause to me a lot of scenes are enjoyable to itself in my opinion. there is a developement in character and it teaches us great lessons. it has highs and lows, funny moments and sad moments. moments of anger and moments of relief. The art is old now i guess so i gave it a 6. sound, i mean the opening song is not bad but yeah i stay with 6 Characters: The characters are probably the reason why i watched this for 8 times or so already. i really like the contribution, each and every character brings to the story, without it. it wouldnt be as good. i really like the interaction in a lot of situations so thats why i can watch it over and over again cause to me it never gets boring. They have a past and reasons they are what they are. and as i said the develop. so to me 10 out of 10. without the characters it wouldnt be as good. overall its not my best rated for enough reasons but my personal favourite anime so i wanted to create this review to share why!!

SPOILERS AHEAD Today I'm going to complain about this show and don't get me wrong, I'm not going to complain about how bad this show is (which in fact is a really good show), I'm going to complain about how irritated I've felt because of the main character's behaviour. Therefore, I've to remark the fact that Suzuka is sometimes unpredictable in terms of the plot, which is really bizarre considering the large amount of cliché romance anime that exist. The plot makes some really good turns, but in the second-half of the anime, everything goes back to a fresh start. With that I mean, at the beggining there were Yamato who loved Suzuka and Honoka who loved Yamato, then by the end of the first-half of the anime Yamato starts dating with Honoka until they break up over nothing at all, therefore coming back to the same situation as in chapter 1 with the only difference that now Yamato and Honoka have an awkward relationship. And what happens to Suzuka? Well, nothing at all, she's just being a tsundere who can't do anything else but lie to herself and be a dick to Yamato in almost every situation. Then you'll ask me, but what's the problem? Well, the problem is that Suzuka keeps being a dick for 26 chapters until she somehow manages to say "Well, I guess I've to recognise that I love Yamato". She's been getting on my nerves for quite a long while, so it makes me feel as if to she doesn't really deserve being with Yamato at all. Even Honoka in a matter of 6 chapters did more for Yamato than Suzuka in the whole anime. But hey, it wasn't that bad as a whole but it still nags me that she has ended up being with him, although I've to say that otherwise instead of "Suzuka" it would have to be called "Honoka", so damn, I just don't care about the outcome anymore. On the other hand, the music is great, the BGM is pretty cool in all the aspects and the OP and ED are both nice. The art is pretty mediocre comparing it to actual animes but I guess it isn't bad, it's just regular. And the characters, well, as I said before, they're pretty good, despite being complete dicks in some situations. To end this, I'd reccommend this show if you'd like to see a different focus in romance (although I've heard somewhere that Love Hina's plot and Suzuka's plot are suspiciously similar). To be honest, I started watchin this anime with really low expectations and it managed to surprise me in many ways, so I really appreciate that.