I watched this yesterday! And I was very apprehensive going into it because my friends Tina and Josie had watched it the weekend before and told me that they do so many stunts and that my anxiety is going to go haywire. They were in fact 100% right. I was in anxiety hell the entire time BUT I also super enjoyed myself and (unfortunately for the actor's health) I wanted to see them do more of the sport. But we're already jumped ahead so let's go back to the very beginning which is the story.


Official Website
Official Twitter
News Coverage 1, 2, 3


Story

Prince of Stride is a game but also an anime (only 12 episodes) that aired in 2015. The first Episode/Stage leans more towards the game's story BUT you can still follow it if you only watched the anime like I did.

I really liked the story in this Episode and I enjoyed how much comedy they added into this compared to the anime! It was very funny and I was laughing hard a lot of time and even giggling quietly during other parts because something would amuse me. I paid a lot of attention to characters in the background rather than whoever was taking the main stage at the time because it was far more interesting and you saw more character development that way in my opinion.

Episode One of the stage covers character introductions, reviving the Stride club, their trial race at their school, and versus Mihashi, we also got the whole idol performance and Saisei meeting too. There were a few new scenes I think but now I can't remember exactly.

Theatre

I was super lucky to get 5th row and I was smack in the middle so I missed out on the boys running byside me -- they used the entire spare space in the theatre as their spaces to run. BUT then again I had no one to the right of me at all and there was a big gap between me and the two girls on the left so technically they DID run past me xD I was shocked though that 5th row was that empty yet everything behind me was full! What happened to the people who got such good seats at the front?! Moving on...

OH! AND I went on filming day!

Music and Opening

The music leading up to the show starting was really good! Totally got me in the mood for running and in the mood to watch this epic sports show. FYI Stride is not a real sport but I so wish it was! It's a combination of relay running and parkour << how amazing does that sound! And the actors have been training and learning Parkour for over 9 months in preparation to not fuck up or hurt themselves during these shows, which I'm very thankful for but it didn't ease my anxiety!



Also speaking of the music they used the anime song for the opening and the ending - check it out here! << who doesn't feel like running at full speed when they hear this?! It's so pumpy and great! Which made me flail inside so hard! The opening scene itself is impressive because they're ALL running around the stage doing parkour during the opening (with that song!) and it's more fascinating and mezmerising than it is worrying in a way. There's SO many of them and so much going on that you just want them to keep doing the opening scene over and over so you can see what each actor/character does xD and I cried okay! I cried at the freaking opening! Just the whole using this song and I really like the anime and seeing this hectic but entertaining opening and seeing Izaki as Riku, it was all a bit too much for me and I cried - I have no shame! xD

Staging and Functions

The stage itself by the way is CRAZY. They have three BIG apparatuses at the back of the stage which have a gap between them so they can jump between them. Then we have some smaller and different types apparatuses that come on and off the stage throughout the play such as steps and ones with slanted handrails as well as a few pummel horses (gymnastic apparatus).

I want to give HUGE props to all the POS (Prince of Stride) team who were constantly shifting the apparatuses every few seconds so it looked like the boys really were traveling over the city to the different locations. They had to move so fast and so in time or else the boys, who would be running AROUND the theatre to give the staff time to change it around in seconds, wouldn't be able to slow down or edit the choreography really. And once they had finished moving the apparatus they would have to hide under them and hold them in place! That's absolutely crazy and takes talent, power and perfect timing to pull such a thing off! Amazing.

The Sport

I really really really do wish Stride was a real sport! It looks so epic! Can you imagine them doing this at the olympics or something! I understand it's difficult to close roads and stuff, especially in Japan for sports events and it probably has a high injury risk than most sports but omg this would be epic! And I want to be a part of it!!

Even when I saw the anime for the first time I was like: I WANT THIS TO BE REAL!!! And I want to do it!! << I think this mindset is what helped my anxiety while watching it; it was impressive and I was too busy thinking 'damn why isn't this real and why can't I do it' to be worried about them hurting themselves but I was pretty shook up after that one guy fell << explained later.

Also I feel like, because the Epsiode 4 final venue hasn't been announced yet, they should do what they did for Tenimyu Sport Events and finish it off by doing an actual course around an arena. I know this would be very strenuous on their health and would probably mean they'd have to rev up their exercise scheme but like I want more! I want to see them really do stride! Not just running around a theatre. A proper course for them to run around is what I want. I don't need ANY dialogue or ANY story in episode 4, I just wanna see them do an actual stride race in an arena xD


Characters and Cast

The cast is too big to list in one go so I will just list the character and actor as I go through and comment on them, their performance and the characters:

( ( Honan > Saisei > Mihashi ) )

Goods



My Character Ranking

I vaguely mentioned 'ranking' in this review but basically; I originally had a ranking when I first watching the anime but after rewatching the anime and seeing the stage my ranking has changed completely and I want to share it with you all now, I'll just do top ten cos most of the characters are a blur and don't really care for:

Kuga
Takeru << this is HUGELY thanks to Jin's influence in the stage
Reiji
Kohinata << huge actor influence
Kaeda
Riku
Aoi Shima << actor influence
Heath
Ayumu << actor influence
Himemiya Yuuri*
Banchan
Natsunagi Toya*

*These are not in the stage yet.

SO I ended up with 12 so what! I'm sure this ranking is NOT set but currently I'm really feeling Kuga from the anime and I'm super all about Jin's Takeru in the stage. Riku used to be my first but after rewatching the anime and seeing the stage, he's now a bit too childish for my liking.


RANDOM PHOTO!!



Sho-san from TokiEnta (the company MakiChan is part off and TokiEnta is like my LIFE atm. As a company I love them!) went and watched it the day before me!! He's in the same company as Kishimoto who plays Heath <3

Overall: This was super fun! I was a fan of the anime, I fangirled hard when it got announced as a stage and I was not disappointed! It was so much fun and the stunts were great and the coordination between staff, cast and timing was awesome! Naturally seeing them run acorss the stage and jumping over giant apparatuses my poor heart and anxiety was high BUT luckily it was more than impressive enough to make me even consider watching the second episode full of anxiety too xD Aoki Jin was the biggest surprise for me ^_^
Rating: 8.5/10

I've finished all my anime for the season! Granted it was only 2 anime but here we go!
As always be aware because SPOILERS!




Boku Dake ga Inai Machi [ Japan - 2016  9/10 ]


( ( the feels! ) )


Overall: Entertaining, suspensful, mysterious (it's especially mysterious if you're not very logical and don't pick up on the hints about the murderer), and I could not stop watching! There are some moments that seem very stupid and illogical but pushing that aside, I loved this so much and the ending is amazing! Also Satoru x Kenya! <3


---



Prince of Tennis Stride [ Japan - 2016  8/10 ]


( ( I need more!! ) )


Overall: I enjoyed every minute of this and I love the concept of the sport and really wish it was a real sport! I enjoyed the characters and the races (the animation is also amazing!) and I need more!


---


One final one I want to mention is Sushi Police. I got about 3 episodes into the anime before dropping it. I didn't like the animation, I didn't like how it was set in America and the conept itself was interesting but wasn't executed well in my opinion. The shorter animes tend to not be that great anyway. So I stopped watching it.

That wraps up my anime for Winter 2016!!