Depth of feels is a good way of thinking about it! Someone should totally make an X/Y graph with "sportiness" on the X axis and "feeliness" on the Y axis and plot each sports series on it. And then they add a Z axis called "lifeiness" and make it 3D. XD
I am really sad that Daiya is part of the "series with way too big casts" group, since I had such high hopes for it :/ It just gets so emotionally flat after a while, doesn't it? Someone told me to watch Crossgame if I want more feely baseball that'll make me cry (and it was a guy who told me that) so I'll have to eventually check that one out. Right now I'm watching Princess 9!
I have never seen the SD anime either to tell you the truth! The manga art is so good and the anime just doesn't move enough for me--it's really old, and the heart is there but you can see that the budget isn't always enough. I bet they'll remake SD into a new anime one day, so I'm waiting for that. The manga is amazing though--I highly recommend it.
Chihayafuru is amazing but the manga is still ongoing, just a warning. The anime only has two seasons so far and hasn't gotten to the bed stuff yet.
Yes, HnG really does smash all classifications into a million pieces (in a good way). It has a huge cast, yet somehow it doesn't fall into the trap that other shows with big casts fall into (and I'm not just talking about sports series). It's sporty but also feely and it does both equally well. I don't know how it balances everything so well, but I guess Hotta Yumi is just a phenomenal writer. I think it helps that we have her plus Obata Takeshi doing the art--I think the fact that she has a lot of time to think about the story and do good research and consultation makes such a difference. Plus a Shounen Jump-level budget doesn't hurt.
Speaking of budget, holy crap HQ seems to have it in spades, and it's probably the best-animated long sports series I've ever seen. They reuse shots a lot and there are some slow moments (I thought the end of the third season was disappointing that way) but overall, wow. It totally makes it worth watching even if you've read the manga. (Meanwhile I feel like the manga art has gotten less detailed and not as good overalll....)
In conclusion, production team structure and budget matters, and big casts are almost impossible for most writers to handle well XD
Dreamwidth FTW! Apparently LJ is all scary and Russian now
I am really sad that Daiya is part of the "series with way too big casts" group, since I had such high hopes for it :/ It just gets so emotionally flat after a while, doesn't it? Someone told me to watch Crossgame if I want more feely baseball that'll make me cry (and it was a guy who told me that) so I'll have to eventually check that one out. Right now I'm watching Princess 9!
I have never seen the SD anime either to tell you the truth! The manga art is so good and the anime just doesn't move enough for me--it's really old, and the heart is there but you can see that the budget isn't always enough. I bet they'll remake SD into a new anime one day, so I'm waiting for that. The manga is amazing though--I highly recommend it.
Chihayafuru is amazing but the manga is still ongoing, just a warning. The anime only has two seasons so far and hasn't gotten to the bed stuff yet.
Yes, HnG really does smash all classifications into a million pieces (in a good way). It has a huge cast, yet somehow it doesn't fall into the trap that other shows with big casts fall into (and I'm not just talking about sports series). It's sporty but also feely and it does both equally well. I don't know how it balances everything so well, but I guess Hotta Yumi is just a phenomenal writer. I think it helps that we have her plus Obata Takeshi doing the art--I think the fact that she has a lot of time to think about the story and do good research and consultation makes such a difference. Plus a Shounen Jump-level budget doesn't hurt.
Speaking of budget, holy crap HQ seems to have it in spades, and it's probably the best-animated long sports series I've ever seen. They reuse shots a lot and there are some slow moments (I thought the end of the third season was disappointing that way) but overall, wow. It totally makes it worth watching even if you've read the manga. (Meanwhile I feel like the manga art has gotten less detailed and not as good overalll....)
In conclusion, production team structure and budget matters, and big casts are almost impossible for most writers to handle well XD