100-Meter Dash Review – Mesmerising Animation of Young Athletes in Search for Mind-Body Elevation
Plenty has been written about the art of running, a healing activity with capacity for therapeutic unburdening. In the sphere of competitive games, however, the stress of contests can cause individuals to overlook of this ultimate goal. Reimagined from the eponymous manga, Kenji Iwaisawa’s mesmerising anime looks beyond trophies and medals to investigate the existential drive that fuels an competitor’s aspiration.
Plot Overview
The Sprint Story chronicles Togashi and Komiya, youth companions whose personal journeys separate when they go pro. Previously the quickest elementary student in Japan, Togashi helps the more uncertain Komiya with the fundamentals. As the pair progress into their youth and early maturity, Komiya progressively advances up the ranking of premier sportspeople, while Togashi is mired in a rut; both battle anxieties and insecurities. Encompassing more than 15 years, the narrative follows their internal hurdles, laying bare the struggles of an competitor’s existence, caught in a loop of public scrutiny, achievement demands and commercial obligations.
Creative Merits
Possibly it’s because of the source material, but the animation’s answer to these complex dilemmas is a bit simplistic; time and time again, a lead’s mental struggles just vanish after a lengthy conversation with a fellow athlete or mentor. But what the anime is deficient in narrative subtlety and tempo, it makes up for in dazzling visuals. Using trace-over animation, in which cartooning is traced over live-action footage, the film produces remarkably precise dash moments. The physical exertion of a race is on full display, and the suffering and elation of competition are imprinted on the characters’ bodies.
Memorable Moments
One particularly momentous race concludes in the rain, with sheets of charcoal lines that immerse the screen. Apart from conversation, these displays of stylistic brilliance encapsulate the almost spiritual high the film aims to provoke.
100 Meters is showing in the United Kingdom from November 16.
