New Netflix Inspiring Anime Makes the Most Boring Sport Exciting

Rising Impact follows the story of Gawain Nanaumi, a boy who wants to become a professional baseball player so that he can hit a ball the furthest in the world. However, his dreams take a sudden turn after meeting a professional golfer, Kiria Nishino, who’s taking a vacation to the countryside. When the two talk, Kiria shows Gawain that golfers usually drive balls further than baseball players, and the latter becomes obsessed with learning golf so that he can become the furthest-driving player in the world.

Using nothing but his physical strength and sharp observational skills, which he acquired from living in rural mountains, Gawain manages to hit the ball to such an impressive distance that it rivals professional players. However, his goal is often hindered by other golf prodigies with equally extraordinary skills attending the same academy as Gawain does, which ultimately doesn’t bother our Rising Impact protagonist because he’s not competing with others—he’s competing against himself, set on being the best he can be.

What makes Rising Impact stand out from many other anime is the fact that it’s adapted from a manga that’s more than 25 years old, and the adaptation effort came as a surprise to the manga’s original artist, Nakaba Suzuki. If you think you might’ve heard that name before, that’s the very same artist responsible for penning one of the most famous manga series that has been adapted into anime—The Seven Deadly Sins. In fact, the author stated that the production team working on a quarter-century-old manga adaptation showed extraordinary love for the project.

And that love is reflected in the meticulously recreated illustrations, as well as the artwork and direction that are simply outstanding, with voice acting performances that perfectly match the characters they’re meant to portray. The series is directed by Hitoshi Nanba, credited with Fate/Grand Order: First Order and Golden Kamuy, with Michihiro Tsuchiya as the screenwriter, recognized for series like Major and Bakuman. Animation production is handled by Lay-duce, which is collaborating once again with Suzuki on this highly anticipated project.

From what we know so far, Rising Impact has dropped only the first season of the series on Netflix, with Rising Impact Season 2 scheduled for August 6 this year. We still don’t know whether those two seasons cover the entirety of the anime, but that doesn’t really matter at this point, considering that many are just now getting familiar with the IP.

So, if you’re in the market for a funny sports anime overflowing with positivity and featuring a rather interesting protagonist, you might find Rising Impact entertaining. Season 1 of the show is currently available on Netflix.