Sorairo Utility

This anime is all about comfiness and relaxation of golf. This anime doesn't bring out the competitiveness of sports, but rather the enjoyment we get from playing them. If you're expecting the same level as Haikyuu, this might be not for you. But don't let this stop you to try and dive into this kind of genre. Because me myself always have a great time whenever I watch an episode. Every episode is filled to the brim with joy and happy moment. Perfect watch honeslty, though some might say the pace of the story is very slow, but I love it. Story open up withour MC girl tryna find her new hyperfixation because recently her favorite gacha game is closed, and she found golf, and she continue to play it until the last episode. That's it guys, that's the story. We get to see her strive to be better at it, we get to see her fail at it, we get to see her buy her favorite club, we get to see her spend countless yen because apparently having golf as a hobby is very expensive. The everyday life of a high school girl doing golf. I mean her hobby is kind of unique tho, because there's barely any student who can afford it after all. That's why the characters in this anime is not plenty. The main characters consist of 3 golfing girl, 2 of which are still in high school, and 1 is a full fledged working adult. I am now in the age of where people around me are expecting me to work, so it is always nice to see a representation of them in Slice of Life genre where its dominated by students because when you're in the working age, your daily life really consist of well, working. Overall they're all great, the main characters. Very likeable to the point I want to have them as a friend irl. Supporting characters also pop up here and there every other episode. While the main characters are just your normal Japanese girl, the supporting one often come with a quirk to make them instantly memorable even though they're only there for only an episode. Never skip the OP or ED song because they are very catchy. To the point I save them in my song playlist in YouTube. The opening song will make you hype for what to come in this episode, makes you feel that burning desire to actually doing what you want, for example your hobby. It has a nice meaning to it. Meanwhile the ending song will be the one that comfort you after a session of doing it. They both compliment each other and I love it. One thing I notice is that the animation are different. Between the anime, OP, and ED. It is very noticeable that's why I notice it. The only reason I could think of why they do this is because pure artistic choice. Like I said, the opening is more lively so they put brighter color to match. The ending is a mellow one so they put darker color to match. Honestly I can't stop talking about how beautiful the animation is. Greatly enjoy the series, waiting every Saturday to watch it on YouTube. And then after that, I get to see everyone reaction of the episode by going to the comment section. Such a nice weeked close off I should say. So should you watch this anime? Definitely, give it a try even though the pace is very slow. But that is also one of the appeal though, slow but steady progress never betrays. I mean our MC girl here achieve her big goal in the latest episode. While other sport anime usually take about three episode, before going into a tournament and all. So that's all I can say about this anime, thank you for reading :)

Sorairo Utility — It may not be CGDCT at its finest, but it's still a rather ambitious effort on its own. Ask anyone who's been watching anime for the last few years, especially when it comes to sports, and they'll definitely tell you that the sport of golf has seen its fair share of niches, with executions that are, for the most part, so-so. From Bandai Namco's Birdie Wing franchise to Nanatsu no Taizai's author Nakaba Suzuki's Rising Impact and the oldie series of Ken Kawasaki's Ooi! Tonbo, the ball-and-driver sport has garnered its own fandom, though miniscule at best. And from the same entity that broughtyou the likes of Azur Lane and Blue Archive comes the video game company Yostar with its first original work that has now become a full-fledged anime: Sorairo Utility. Helmed by newbie director Kengo Saito, it started off as a New Year's Eve TV special closing out the year of 2021. Taking 3 years of development with the same core staff, plus a brand-new staff team alongside Yostar's animation studio division, to finally make the IP a reality. And for the most part, it's serviceable. Sorairo Utility is every bit the TL;DR version of golf in the traditional CGDCT style, while not having much plot to go by (of the likes of Birdie Wing: Golf Girls' Story), it can still be enjoyed to a degree. The case of newbie Minami Aoba, who seems to be bored with life and only fixated on her gacha games, which came to a sudden close; she is forced to look around for something else to do. But while her energetic enthusiasm doesn't translate towards sports with heavy emphasis, it soon takes one coincidence with a stranger requesting her to try out golf at the nearby driving range, and although Minami struggles ever more the same, at least the feeling of playing golf gives her a sense of rejuvenation that she'll come to love the more she conducts herself in the sport. Through the ogling of the "old trio men" who also regard the driving range as their place of recreation and a recommendation to try out, Minami's hobbies get sorted out by Haruka Akane, whilst her more popular friend, Ayaka Hoshimi, soon turns up to up the ante, making them the trio of golf girls just having fun with the sport. More than the excitement of the "old trio men" of Masao "Masa" Tadokoro, Chosuke "Cho" Tanabe, and Tetsuhiro "Tetsu" Tanaka, it's Minami picking up the sport that sees her not just being playful with the sport but also being someone who plays unorthodoxly against what others have been practicing with experience of the sport itself. And it's not wrong to see someone just starting out and experimenting with the ways that she can make her newfound hobby fun; that's what matters after all for her being taught by both maestros of Haruka and Ayaka how to play and master the sport herself. For the most part, it's every bit CGDCT-like, and I don't know about you, but I feel comfort not having to be bombarded by some nonsensical plot and the show knowing not to take itself seriously for a good time. Honestly, fun and games go hand-in-hand, so simplicity truly is best for a bare-bones but simple show such as this. It's finally great to see Yostar Pictures implement and improve from the TV special 4 years ago of the full product that was once just a featured short film. And while I wouldn't go as far as to say that production was amazing, it did justice in serviceability, and I'm all content for some good animation. Music is plenty fine too, not too much and not too little to affect quality as a whole. And for an upbeat OP, I have to say that the unexpected pairing of Masayoshi Ooishi and Airi Suzuki just works out of the screen, defintely loved the song for what it is. The introspect reflection with Moeka Yahagi's ED is also good, but it's just there. The quote of "simplicity at its best", sums up Sorairo Utility perfectly, as a show that could be picked up and tried out to see if it does anything for you. So, just embrace the close warmth of the CGDCT friendship, and hit the small balls with the utility clubs for a beautiful time.

In spite of it's quest for "special uniqueness" Sorairo Utility doesn't manage to stand out in any meaningful ways. While certainly not an explicitly bad show, what's provided is entirely average. Spin the wheel on any given season's slice of life category and you have very good odds of ending up with a show like this. The main character is unsatisfied with how average her life is and takes up a unique hobby which leads to a path of self improvement. Given this is a slice of life, the uniqueness of the premise (or lack thereof) isn't inherently an issue and choosing golf as the drivingforce is certainly a unique choice. The onus then lies on it's characters in order to carry the blunt of it's quality factor and to this regard to performs... serviceably. First off you have the main character Minami who is your standard introverted nerd character. Overall she does alright at being a cute little goofball but doesn't manage to bring much in terms of chemistry or quirks to elevate her to memorable. Many of her mannerisms feel stock and while she has the occasional moment it leaves much to be desired. Her companions: Haruka and Ayaka are equally whelming. Haruka is the most fleshed out of the three, given a bit of backstory which feeds into the central themes of the importance of finding something you enjoy quite well. Ayaka has the least presence of any of the characters. She's supposed to be an influencer character but this doesn't really feed into the show all that much aside from an episode and a half of filler content. Unfortunately since the crux of slice of life anime, especially ones which don't have an extravagant gimmick such as this, comes from the level of chemistry within the core group of characters; Sorairo Utility ends up suffering as a whole because of how basic the cast ends up being. This isn't helped by the fact that the seiyuu, especially for Minami, don't feel as though they're bringing their A-game (or lack experience in general). Minami feels extremely flat or unintentionally awkward in her delivery which ends up limiting any given scene's potential. Haruka and Ayaka end up fine for the most part but as a whole they don't ever deliver anything to elevate the viewers experience. Again, the performances are not necessarily bad, it's just that they're really average. This rings true for pretty much every other aspect of the show as well. Nothing really manages to stand out, not the artstyle, not the scenarios, not the ost, it's all so very average. So much so that it doesn't leave much to comment on in either side of the spectrum. It's a pleasant little show to kill some time with but because of it's complete lack of distinguishing features it fails to cement itself anywhere on the spectrum but the middle.

PT-BR and ENG review PT-BR O CGDCT do ano é sobre golfe e nem tem golfe direito. O anime molda-se na relação das três "heroínas", como é cantada na abertura, com o golfe e os problemas da vida. Uma das várias qualidades do anime apresenta-se na leveza do tratar dos assuntos, soa parecido com a relação do Minami(MC) com a vida, bem percebido esse tom no ultimo episódio. Vindo de um anime de garotas fofas fazendo coisas fofas, não é esperado grandes narrativas e é isso que o anime entrega, mas quando precisa trazer um tom mais sério a estória a direção do Saitou surpreende de maneirapositiva. Tudo que o anime faz é extremamente bem dirigido, bem conduzido, nada enfadonho e muito menos tediante, poderia passar horas falando sobre cada cena dramática do anime e sua direção criativa/artística. Por isso, minha nota(8). Obs: Hoje em dia não me importo tanto com as notas, porém elas servem suficientemente bem para tecer uma régua no que é recomendável assistir ou não. Essa é a minha opinião apenas. ENG This year's CGDCT is about golf, and it doesn't even have golf. The anime is based on the relationship between the three "heroines", as sung in the opening, with golf and life's problems. One of the many qualities of the anime is the lightness with which it deals with the subjects, it sounds similar to Minami's (MC) relationship with life, this tone is clearly seen in the last episode. Coming from an anime about cute girls doing cute things, one doesn't expect great narratives and that's what the anime delivers, but when it needs to bring a more serious tone to the story, Saitou's direction surprises in a positive way. Everything the anime does is extremely well directed, well conducted, not boring and much less tedious, I could spend hours talking about each dramatic scene in the anime and its creative/artistic direction. That's why I gave it a score of 8. Note: Nowadays I don't care so much about the scores, but they serve well enough to make a rule about what is recommended to watch or not. That's just my opinion.