Fanfare of Adolescence

As a fan of horses, and horse racing, I was extremely happy to see they finally made a real horse racing anime that wasn't Uma Musume pretty derby. This anime has decent visuals and a Sawano OST, but unfortunately due to one scene in Episode 1 with semi BL vibes a ton of homophobes ended up dropping the series, not realizing that (1) most sport anime are "fruity", consider the Top Gun volleyball scene and (2) this is definitely NOT a BL anime. Story - 7/10, Character - 8/10 Our main character, Yuu, decides to drop out of his idol group to become a Jockey! A semiimplausible premise unless he really loves horses because while being an idol is hard work it's also very glamorous and comes with a huge fan base of girls! The jockeys in the show are distinct in personality, background and looks, which let this anime actually have a good story with lots of different types of friendship. There are many subtle themes interwoven in this coming of age anime that will resonate if you've ever been through the type of situations these boys are facing, some of which are fairly common, like:- * Living up to your parent's or society's expectations of you vs. choosing your own path * Pressures for a female to "set the bar" for others * Money is a constant concern * Do what Daddy wants and life will be easier * After trying hard at something, maybe this isn't really the field for you? * How, when and under what conditions is quitting the right decision? Art - 7/10 The visuals in this are inconsistent. Overall the look of the anime is pretty, with some bits being ground breaking and gorgeous which actually elevate the profound philosophy sections of the anime designed to make viewers go "aaaah my heart". If the entire series were like this it would be an easy 10/10! Unfortunately some of the horse CGI is sub par and looks wonky, especially the bits where they are going into the gates. That CGI looks like some gambling game in terms of quality - staid, wooden and unrealistic. Then the horses start running and it looks like real racehorses. So I have mixed feelings because it's either great or wonky, hence inconsistent. Sound - 10/10 This anime with Sawano OST would have been the best OST of Spring 2022 if not for the existence of Paripi Koumen / Ya Boy Kongming! Second place to that is good. The Op, Move The Soul by J01 is an amazing bop! The ED is an amazing bop! Listening to those brings to mind J-pop or K-pop idol songs. They're contemporary and excellent! The Insert Songs and instrumental songs are top notch, especially when paired with the amazing visual bits. The OST is probably the best thing about this anime. Enjoyment and Overall - 8/10 Overall I really enjoyed this hidden gem. Yes it's a niche subject matter even for sports anime but it does expose some of the dark side of horse racing in a limited fashion, there aren't much in the technical aspects of running a successful stable but the jockey parts are done well. This is bishounen which I enjoy immensely, with the resolution of their stories and the relationships with Episode 4 having one of the best training arcs in a sports anime because of several profound conversations that were had. This isn't going to be for everyone, but if you like decent looking anime with sports, friendships and deeper thinking on themes set to an amazing OST then this will be right up your alley.

This anime exceed my expectation, I originally watch this because it's boring so I can grinding game while watch this so I can understand why the rating is low. But this anime is stay true to the title from beginning till the end. I expect the ending to be like that if it will stay true to the title and my prediction turn out to be true. Review about story: Gunjou no Fanfare or Fanfare of Adolescence is really how to describe this anime. This anime is talking about their struggle as jockey-wanna-be until they become real jockey in last episode. Along the way oftheir journey, they choose their own path. That's why this anime more focus on their road to be jockey, their training, and people involved in this industry so they can learn and develop to be jockey or find their new purpose. This is not anime about them have race again and again like in some other sport anime so don't expect it to be like that when you watch this. This title also explain why there is time skip in this anime, it's because this is talking about their growth, we are expected to see their most crucial development (In this case when they enter the high school and time skip one year to when they are assigned to training center, skip again to when there is mock exam, skip again after graduation). Unlike some people here who love anime with competition every episode, I enjoy more on relationship between people involved in sport anime so this type of anime is perfect for me. This anime more focused on 2 characters, Yuu and Shun as maybe you expect from first episode but they also show us a bit about other characters and their struggle. Characters: I think characters in this anime is not shallow but also not complicated too. . This is what often happen in anime sport that only 12-13 episode, they need talk about some characters in short amount of time so the characters won't be too complicated or they focus on one character but it will be in depth. This anime is the first option. We see what's on their mind, their problem and we even know a bit of their past but it's still not enough for me to be able to say they make a deep characters. But at least this anime really stay true to the title and show us their development. Sound: Okay, the sound is sawano hiroyuki so it's good. It really make the characters shine more with his OST. The opening is catchy like Korean boyband song and the enidng song also sound good. I think the weakness of this anime is that it's not clear. It's kinda hard to follow sometimes for someone who don't know anything about horse race. Other example is the information given to us is not clear, sometimes only implied for example the power of Shun. Like wtf is that and how you can give it to someone like XD

this is the first anime i watch that surrounds about horse racing and the characters training to be a jockey. i think it is somewhat an enjoyable anime but i think it could have been better if it has been expanded and developed further. like for example, it feels very fast-paced with the one year later, six months later etc. you totally don't know what has happen in between to reach that part. also, there isn't much about the each and every character's background to understand why they want to be a jockey. overall, i think it would be better if it had focus more on theirtraining in school, like how each of their lesson helps them in being a jockey etc. like some episodes feels more focus on the character's personal issues than the actual plot but with only 13 episodes, it feels a wee bit redundant.

I'm so happy that I watched this anime. Its really masterpiece for me. Totally different from some anime sports that highlight the drama between character and their situation, but in this anime they still focus on the match, technique, and many things that related to horse race. The character also didn't trap in their situation so deeply but they manage to make their own solution through it. Their drama also related our real life and how the staff can manage to compress the story in just twelve episodes is amazing, salutt!!!! Really love this anime, and the ending is still remain in my mind, that'sso wonderful yet deep, opening and ending song is my favorite too, love it!! I wish they can make another season to show how they live their life after graduation, I trully believe this gonna be amazing just like this season. Also sorry for my bad english teehee~ Ahh really I'm burst into tears againn, it's really the END.. C'MON :"(