Anime Summer 2024: RISING IMPACT, I Wanna Be the Best Ever!

Have you ever known a really irritating kid who thinks he's better than everyone else? If not, meet Gawain Nanaumi.

Rising Impact
All 12 episodes of the first season are now streaming on Netflix. The second season will debut August 6.

The first title out of the box for the Summer 2024 anime season, Rising Impact debuted June 22, but I have yet to watch more than the first three episodes.

I tried, dear reader, I tried, but the show tried my patience for watching even that much. In my periodic deep-dives into anime series, I've encountered this scenario many times before, and I've learned that an irritating character is not likely to become less irritating over time.

Likely, the manga series by Nakaba Suzuki is a good read. I say that because the synopsis, which drew me to watch in the first place, is promising:

"Third grader Nanaumi Gawain lives with his grandfather in the mountains of Fukushima. He practices baseball with his friends all day long while dreaming of becoming the best hitter in the world.

"One day, he encounters a female professional golfer named Kiria Nishino and becomes enchanted by golf after hitting the ball over 300 yards on his first drive. Afterward, Kiria helps him move to Tokyo and enroll at Camelot Academy, a world-famous school for junior golfers.

"There, his innate talent for golf blooms as he ruthlessly (emphasis added) competes against gifted rivals from all around the world!"

For me personally, watching people play golf is relaxing. It's a beautiful setting, nobody's in a rush, and an element of friendly competition is inherent to the game. On the professional level, it can be fascinating -- and occasionally gruesome -- to watch highly-skilled athletes doing their very best, and then failing, often, and repeatedly.

Watching an abrasively irritating kid play golf, who's always yelling and stomping his feet and yelling and declaring how good he is? It just makes me glad I'm not his parental authority and am not legally required to spend any time with him.

The animation is good, and the settings are beautifully rendered. Nothing else about the show appeals to me, I'm afraid.

Summary: Skip it.