DAYS

Episode 9

DAYS is a lot like soccer itself—not to everyone's taste. For some, it's too fast-paced, already in the midst of a game with the toughest team in the show's known world in episode nine. For others, the sparse animation can grind the story to a halt. Usually, I can acknowledge these flaws and still enjoy the show because of its engaging main character, Tsukushi, and his ability to bring out the best in his eclectic teammates. But when Tsukushi is cast to the sidelines as a passive bystander, and I'm stuck acquainting myself with characters I don't know or like as much, it's far easier to see the bad parts than the good.

Tsukushi is the glue that holds this team—and this plot—together. This week's episode covers a few disparate in-game mini-stories that are all united by Tsukushi's involvement. For example, onlookers observe that everyone on the Seiseki soccer team can run circles around Sakuragi, and it's because nobody wanted to fall behind tireless lap-runner Tsukushi. (Speaking of which, there's got to be more to soccer than just chasing the ball across the whole field—there are passes and goals and more complicated plays, none of which we've really seen yet.) However, Tsukushi's most direct influence on the episode occurs after Seiseki has been stuck on defense for a while. In order to cheer as loudly as possible, Tsukushi leaves Seiseki's bench and ends up on Sakuragi's sideline turf—the better to be closer to his teammates. The referee, who didn't seem to have either eyes or any red or yellow cards on hand last time they played—even though people were getting kicked in the face and stuff—feels compelled to give the hapless Tsukushi a talking-to. As usual, his clumsy but well-intentioned action gives everyone a reason to laugh, ease the tension, and unite around their unlikely mascot so they can play their best. But even in Tsukushi's most involved moment of the episode, he's still a bystander. He's our main character, but he's not doing much, and that certainly makes the episode less interesting. Even if they showed more of Chikako, who we've also really gotten to know, that would be great—but we're leaving our most familiar faces behind for most of this episode.

Without Tsukushi to root for, it's time to get to know the other characters. However, previous episodes have made it so we really only know these characters through Tsukushi's eyes. Kazama and Mizuki, who accomplish most of the action this week, are still fairly one dimensional. We know them as people Tsukushi idolizes, who in turn want to show off their skills to their admiring teammate. Kazama is a little more carefree, Mizuki a bit goofier, but there's not much that sets apart these two strong players. At least they're consistent, unlike Narukami, the shrimp that a flustered Tsukushi promised to root for last episode. Suddenly, sweet but competitive Narukami is downright sadistic, telling Kimishita, “It's so wonderful, hearing somebody's heart break.” I get that this a sports genre signifier that Narukami isn't well-versed enough in Sportsmanship and Friendship to be able to win this game, but it comes completely out of left field. Other times, there are good reasons for characters to be tough to get to know (Mizuki's not good with words, Kimishita doesn't like people that much), but it's already episode nine. I wish these characters would tell me more about their backstories, wishes, and fears so I can love them already. The eyecatch that tells me their favorite food and relationship status isn't cutting it.

Animation-wise, this show is struggling. In some places, it looks almost like a slide show. Most of the game is portrayed through still images, sometimes with white motion-lines overlaid. At one point, when Tsukushi is bowing apologetically to the ref, he pops in and out of vision. This stands in contrast to a plot that's moving too quickly for me to really love any of the characters except Tsukushi yet. I'm sure manga fans can tell me that Mizuki, Kazama, Kimishita, and all these other unintroduced characters with speaking parts become increasingly compelling as they become more familiar, but we're just not there yet. Without the show's one fantastic character in the spotlight, there's not much left to care about.

Rating: D

DAYS is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Lauren writes about geek careers at Otaku Journalist