okay so, i'm gonna have to divide this review between two distinctions: how good this anime is and how much i enjoyed it, because sadly in this case those are two distinct fields. let it be stated for the record that dna ranks on my top ten favorites list, maybe top five if i really think about it, solely based on my level of enjoyment. this review will focus more on an unbiased evaluation of the quality of this show
technically speaking, this anime is heavily lacking in one very important thing: visual appeal. the animation is mediocre at best, though i understand that in order to produce consistent episodes at the rate they were at the time for the like, 70+ they had, they had to make some sacrifices. still, i feel like the show could have capitalized on its timing better and created better visual content. i honestly felt like i was watching a slideshow half the time. the characters were almost always standing still when they weren't hitting/throwing a ball (even then, those were mostly just still images with some lines to indicate intense movement) or running. i felt like the most camera movement we ever got was a powerpoint transition pan across a field of still characters at like ten frames per second. so basically, to summarize, the animation in daiya no ace is shit.
i don't really pay as much attention to sound as i should in animes, so my opinion here is limited. i'm pretty easy to satisfy in this regard, so the basic sound effects were done well enough and the music was always distinctly befitting the mood and the voice acting left nothing to be desired, in my opinion.
the story's... tricky to describe. like obviously it's sports and we wanna go to nationals and the seniors are graduating and the main character needs to Get Gud Fast, but there's just so much in between all of that and i honestly can't really complain much about it. it lends itself to the character development of this show, which is honestly the Sole Redeeming Factor of this otherwise average show. but anyway, while the show is just a constant oscillation between games and practice and the rare chill episode, it seldom feels redundant. there's always a new character to focus on, or a new pitch to be learned, or a new fielding trick someone's gonna try, or an injury or enemy or something, so while the entire focus is literally just baseball and you know by the amount of episodes that they win a solid amount of times, you still end up at the edge of your seat for every play because there's always something new to look forward to.
the characters are what really make the show worth its salt. the main character is kind of an annoying, emotional, "my entire life is baseball even tho i kinda suck" kind of twat that i honestly still don't find very enjoyable, but at least his character isn't only prescribed to that narrow trope. his flaws overwhelm his virtues at first, but as the story progresses he's shaped into something far more complex and, dare i say, interesting. i've always been notorious for falling in love with side characters though, if you can really call anyone on the main team that, so let me sprinkle in a little bit of my favs in here. the thing that i think makes daiya actually not a shitty anime is that it takes basic character tropes and expands on them in an interesting, diverse way so that every character has his own individual "voice," so to speak. for example, there's a "shy, humble little brother" kid that's friends with mc, but that base set of traits is developed into something more like "a shy, humble little bro that is in no way lacking in self confidence, is assertive and direct and keeps people in line while simultaneously being constantly considerate of others and maintaining a carefully balanced image of absolutely sweet and cruel as hell". i could probably spend hours doing this for like 30 different characters but ill summarize with this: the characters and their developmental arcs are pretty much the only thing i watch the show for, and they are absolutely worth your time.
so yeah good eats my friends see you on the flipside
Screenshots
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