🔗 Share this article

Plenty has been documented about the practice of running, a healing activity with potential for therapeutic unburdening. In the sphere of professional sports, however, the strain of competition can lead athletes to forget of this primary objective. Adapted from the original graphic novel, Kenji Iwaisawa’s spellbinding anime looks beyond awards and honors to explore the core impetus that spurs an competitor’s aspiration.

Story Synopsis

100 Meters follows Togashi and Komiya, childhood friends whose personal journeys split when they enter elite competition. Previously the quickest elementary student in Japan, Togashi helps the more uncertain Komiya with the basics. As the pair move through their teens and their 20s, Komiya consistently improves up the leaderboard of premier sportspeople, while Togashi is stuck in a slump; both battle anxieties and insecurities. Covering more than 15 years, the tale follows their internal hurdles, laying bare the struggles of an sports professional’s journey, caught in a cycle of societal observation, achievement demands and commercial obligations.

Creative Merits

Perhaps it’s down to the base story, but the movie’s approach to these intricate issues is a bit simplistic; frequently, a character’s inner doubts quickly dissolve after a prolonged talk with a peer or a senior. But what the film is deficient in narrative subtlety and pacing, it makes up for in dazzling visuals. Using live-action tracing, in which drawn art is traced over live-action footage, the movie generates exquisitely intricate dash moments. The bodily strain of a race is visibly evident, and the suffering and elation of rivalry are engraved on the athletes’ physiques.

Unforgettable Scenes

One notably pivotal race finishes in the downpour, with sheets of charcoal lines that overwhelm the screen. Apart from conversation, these displays of creative mastery capture the near-transcendent euphoria the animation aims to evoke.

The Sprint Film is in UK cinemas from the 16th of November.