100 Meters Review – Mesmerising Anime of Young Athletes in Search for Mind-Body Elevation

Plenty has been documented about the practice of running, a healing activity with ability for emotional liberation. Within the context of professional sports, yet, the pressure of rivalry can lead athletes to forget of this primary objective. Transposed from the original graphic novel, Kenji Iwaisawa’s enthralling anime looks beyond trophies and medals to explore the existential drive that spurs an competitor’s aspiration.

Plot Overview

The 100-Meter Film chronicles Togashi and Komiya, childhood friends whose life paths separate when they turn professional. Formerly the fastest grade-schooler in Japan, Togashi guides the more uncertain Komiya with the essentials. As the pair enter their adolescence and adulthood, Komiya progressively advances up the leaderboard of elite competitors, while Togashi is mired in a rut; both battle anxieties and insecurities. Encompassing more than 15 years, the story tracks their psychological barriers, exposing the difficulties of an competitor’s existence, locked in a pattern of societal observation, performance expectations and endorsement requirements.

Creative Merits

Perhaps it’s down to the source material, but the movie’s approach to these complicated problems is a bit simplistic; repeatedly, a lead’s mental struggles just vanish after a prolonged talk with a colleague or elder. But what 100 Meters falls short in plot refinement and tempo, it redeems itself with in dazzling visuals. Utilizing rotoscoping, in which drawn art is drawn atop real-life video, the film creates exquisitely intricate dash moments. The bodily strain of a sprint is on full display, and the suffering and elation of competition are etched on the protagonists’ forms.

Unforgettable Scenes

One particularly momentous race finishes in the rain, with cascades of grey strokes that engulf the screen. Apart from conversation, these flourishes of creative mastery embody the quasi-enlightened elation the animation aims to inspire.

100 Meters is released in Britain from the 16th of November.