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Much has been recorded about the act of running, a therapeutic exercise with capacity for emotional liberation. Within the context of competitive games, yet, the pressure of competition can lead athletes to forget of this fundamental aim. Transposed from the eponymous manga, Kenji Iwaisawa’s spellbinding anime transcends awards and honors to explore the core impetus that fuels an sports star’s dream.

Plot Overview

100 Meters chronicles Togashi and Komiya, youth companions whose personal journeys separate when they turn professional. Formerly the fastest grade-schooler in Japan, Togashi helps the less confident Komiya with the fundamentals. As the duo progress into their teens and their 20s, Komiya progressively advances up the leaderboard of top athletes, while Togashi is trapped in a decline; both struggle with fears and doubts. Encompassing more than 15 years, the narrative follows their psychological barriers, revealing the struggles of an competitor’s existence, caught in a pattern of public scrutiny, achievement demands and endorsement requirements.

Creative Merits

Perhaps it’s because of the base story, but the movie’s approach to these complex dilemmas is rather superficial; time and time again, a lead’s mental struggles simply disappear after a extended discussion with a colleague or elder. But what the anime lacks in narrative subtlety and pacing, it makes up for in breathtaking graphics. Employing trace-over animation, in which animation is drawn atop filmed sequences, the film creates stunningly detailed dash moments. The physical exertion of a race is on full display, and the struggle and triumph of competition are engraved on the protagonists’ forms.

Memorable Moments

One especially significant race ends in the storm, with sheets of charcoal lines that engulf the screen. Beyond spoken words, these displays of creative mastery capture the near-transcendent euphoria the animation aims to provoke.

The Sprint Film is released in Britain from 16 November.