Hoop Days (Dear Boys)

Hoop Days (or Dear Boys depending on the title you prefer) is a sports based anime about basketball. I often tend to find with sports anime such as this one that when you have seen one you've seen them all. The truth it, I still think that's true, however, it doesn't mean that I don't find them entertaining. The general theme in a lot of these types of anime is the idea of perseverance, overcoming adversity, and determination. This show displayed all of these themes.

I won't go into a tonne of detail and ruin the story, simply because I think it is one of those shows that is worth the time watching. Personally I managed to get through this whole series in 5 days; it was that good. There really wasn't anything special or different that I would say people should rush out and look for. Hoop Days did for basketball what Hajime No Ippo did for boxing. All of the characters were underdogs who nobody had faith in. Essentially it took one new player coming into the school to turn things around and get them all to play basketball again.

The show follows the Mizuho boys basketball team as they progress through the Prefectual basketball tournament on their way to the Japan nationals. Along the way they become rivals with Honmoku East and the two teams play their hardest so they can meet in the Prefectual finals. Like any anime they obviously do both make it to the finals. I won't spoil the end and tell the outcome.

There were a lot of positive elements in this show besides the story that make it very entertaining to watch. The animation style is much newer, very much on par with what you would see in Gundam Seed. There are a lot of clean lines on all of the characters and colour use is very bright and vibrant. The cast of characters is fairly small, however, each character is developed quite well. A big plus in my book was the music. The soundtrack used in the show was very well utilized. I tended to find that the music made me feel like I was right there during the games.

As a whole, the show was really well done. If I had to pass any kind of criticism it would be that the ending came too quick. It felt like the writers tried to wrap up the entire story in one episode. I tend to enjoy it when the story is winded down as the end approaches, rather than dropping in as much as possible in 20 minutes and calling it the end. The door is definitely open to create a second season based on how everything was left. Personally I wish they would make another season, however, I do doubt that will happen.