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Very Average Joe

Anime ● Review: Puraore! Pride of Orange

English Title: Puraore! Pride of Orange

Japanese Title: プラオレ! – PRIDE OF ORANGE –

Director(s): Anzai Takebumi

Screenwriter(s): Machida Touko

Studio: CAAnimation & C2C

Released: 2021

Runtime: 12 episodes, ~23m each.

Starring: Masuda Riku, Moriyama Yurika, Hongou Satomi, Sagara Mayu, Kitamori Saika, Shioiri Asuka, Aoyama Yoshino, Komatsu Mikako

My Verdict: Lack of hockey action or any appreciation for it. Doesn’t work as a slice-of-life anime either. Lost opportunity.


Puraore! Pride of Orange

● Set in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, the plot begins with four girls in middle school who are part of the embroidery club: Mizusawa Manaka, Yanagida Kaoruko, Ono Mami and Mizusawa Ayaka, younger sister of Manaka. Wanting to try something new, they attend a trial hockey lesson at the local rink run by Coach Matsunaga Youko. The rink is home to the Nikko Dream Monkeys.


● The opening scene, a teaser of sorts, is set sometime in the future showing the girls playing against Canadians. No offense to the Japanese but that is… well, ambitious. If these girls playing at a high level in what seems to be merely a few years is not jarring enough, cut to after the game and the girls break into an idol performance on the ice. Right. It may be anime but to mix idol performances with hockey is at minimum borderline offensive.


● The premise of Coach Matsunaga wanting to recruit new players is understandable. But her wanting to attract more crowds by trying to get the girls to dance and sing (if and after they win) is utterly stupid and pointless. If this is an anime about figure skaters who want to introduce elements of idol culture into it, then that would be more plausible.


L to R: Yanagida Kaoruko, Mizusawa Ayaka, Ono Mami and Mizusawa Manaka.
L to R: Yanagida Kaoruko, Mizusawa Ayaka, Ono Mami and Mizusawa Manaka.

● Thankfully, not much idol activity is seen throughout the series, in effect proving that it is unnecessary in the first place.


● As the four girls learn and train to play hockey, Mami moves to Tokyo. Of course, to fill up a complete line (and a goalie), two girls from another school, Saginuma Riko and Takagi Naomi, also join. To add a little drama, highly skilled Kiyose Yu quits her team and moves into town.


● Although all the girls look different and they do have different personalities, it is difficult to remember all their names quickly. This is partly unavoidable as one needs a minimum of six characters for a line and goalie. But then again, there is no need to make all six girls main characters.


● There is no point elaborating, but they all follow the usual templates. For example, Manaka is the energetic and impetuous lead character.


● One particular problem is that their faces and hair are too obscured when they have their helmets and facemasks on, so it is difficult to see who’s who. This is particularly difficult during practice when their jerseys have no name or number.


Kiyose Yu
Kiyose Yu

● Despite the above, the series goes to the other extreme of practically ignoring the rest of the team. They may not be main characters but they need to be shown more and given a line or two during practice and games.


● The series tries a little to be slice-of-life but there isn’t much character or relationship arcs. The pacing is mostly too slow, only to awkwardly rush at some point. For example, the first two episodes are in effect the same thing. Granted, the plot follows the girls as they learn to play so it would be unrealistic if this happens too fast. But then a montage of their training is shown. This device is more suitable in a feature-length film but crude in a series when the overall pacing can be better managed in the first place.


● There is a lack of hockey action. Training merely shows a little skating and some passing. No other skating, stickhandling or positional drills are shown and there are almost no discussions on strategy or tactics, let alone being incorporated into the storytelling. Not hogging the puck and teamwork is a theme but it is superficial.

● During the games, it simply switches from close-ups of faces, skates and sticks to body shots. No cool skating or stickwork action is shown. There are rarely wide shots to give a sense of player positioning and the flow of the game. Even if these games are not broadcasted, conventional broadcast angles can be used along with dramatic close-ups to better tell the story.


● It is admittedly semi-realistic in that it has no fighting just like today’s NHL.


● By the way, the league these girls play in are non-contact. There may be such leagues at their age group but this is anime. Let them hit. It’s hockey.


● The environment, including the rink, is rendered well enough. As already mentioned, the main characters are sufficiently different from each other although the characters sometimes don’t match the environment very well. The animation (motion) is fine normally but is sometimes awkward when they are skating.


● The sound effects and editing are generally not bad, although the layers aren’t there when there are multiple skaters on ice.


● Overall, this is a lost opportunity, especially given there are no other hockey animes. It’s as if the writer and producers don’t appreciate what hockey is. There is hardly any real hockey action and there is no hockey humor. Whether it is the sport, the characters or their friendships, the pacing is slow and then whatever needs to happen just happens—often the audience is told through clumsy dialogue or flashbacks rather than shown through the whole storytelling. It fails to be a hockey anime and it doesn’t work well enough as slice-of-life either.

 

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