‘Rising Impact’ Season 1 Review- A Bogey

This anime aired in 2024.

Rising Impact is a sports comedy anime produced by the Japanese animation studio Lay-duce. It was based on the manga of the same name by Nakaba Suzuki.

Gawain Nanaumi (Debi Derryberry) is a young Japanese boy living in a small village who loves the game of golf. He is scouted by former pro-golfer Kiria Nishino (Abby Trott), who offers to train him after she witnesses his talent. Entering an amateur, his talent shines, but he is beaten by prodigy Lancelot Norman (Kieran Regan), who becomes his rival. As Gawain continues to gain notoriety, he is recruited by the Japan campus of Camelot Academy, where teacher Aria Sayfort (Courtenay Taylor) coaches. When he hears that the school will enter a small tournament with other schools, he wants to prove he can enter and win.

The animation is pretty good. Lay-duce is known for anime in various genres, including the teen drama Tomo-chan Is A Girl. They definitely do a good job with the character designs and with the sporting sequences. The animators certainly do what they can with the material, but they were limited by the sport of golf, which, let’s be honest, does not have a lot of action.

Sports anime can take an event and use drama, training, and larger-than-life opponents to make it addictive. Hajime No Ippo is a perfect example. Unfortunately, Rising Impact, despite its cool title, does not reach that level.

While it features all the usual tropes, including an idealistic main character, a brooding rival, a group of haters, a kid with a crush on his teacher, a harsh tutor, and a chance win that brings the protagonist closer to their goal. Plus, the exciting music that ramps up your emotions.

The problem is with Gawain. While they tried to make him younger than a usual sports anime protagonist, he is just a little too annoying. He is overly jovial, too excitable, and, no offense to the excellent Derryberry, but she was not right for the English version of the part. Gawain sounded too much like a girl instead of a plucky boy. This made his voice a bit grating, especially if he was yapping, which was a lot. Perhaps if they had gotten someone similar to Bryson Baugus, it would have been better.

Unfortunately, this anime was a bogey. While it had a good premise, its chosen sport was just not interesting, and the protagonist was a bit annoying. I may stick with it because the finale teased a battle with the American team.

Check out the trailer below:

PARENTAL CONCERNS: Minor foul language, Crude humor, Sports violence

This review is based on the dub from Studiopolis.

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