🔗 Share this article

Plenty has been written about the practice of running, a restorative movement with potential for cathartic release. In the realm of competitive games, however, the pressure of rivalry can lead athletes to forget of this primary objective. Adapted from the original graphic novel, Kenji Iwaisawa’s spellbinding anime transcends awards and honors to explore the inner motivation that drives an athlete’s ambition.

Plot Overview

100 Meters traces Togashi and Komiya, childhood friends whose personal journeys diverge when they enter elite competition. Previously the speediest young pupil in Japan, Togashi helps the more uncertain Komiya with the essentials. As the pair enter their teens and their 20s, Komiya steadily accelerates up the standings of premier sportspeople, while Togashi is mired in a rut; both struggle with anxieties and insecurities. Spanning more than 15 years, the story tracks their internal hurdles, exposing the difficulties of an sports professional’s journey, trapped in a cycle of public scrutiny, performance expectations and sponsorship demands.

Artistic Strengths

Maybe it’s due to the source material, but the animation’s answer to these complicated problems is a bit simplistic; repeatedly, a lead’s mental struggles simply disappear after a lengthy conversation with a fellow athlete or mentor. But what the film falls short in plot refinement and tempo, it makes up for in stunning imagery. Using rotoscoping, in which drawn art is drawn atop real-life video, the movie produces exquisitely intricate dash moments. The athletic effort of a dash is visibly evident, and the suffering and elation of contests are imprinted on the athletes’ physiques.

Impactful Sequences

One notably pivotal race ends in the storm, with cascades of monochrome brushwork that engulf the screen. More than any dialogue, these bursts of artistic excellence encapsulate the quasi-enlightened elation the movie aims to provoke.

The 100-Meter Anime is showing in the United Kingdom from 16 November.