Why are there so many of them nowadays?
Summary:
- Sorairo Utility, which initially was just a short special, received a TV anime announcement.
- It seems that there is a rise in popularity of golf anime.
- The studio behind the anime will remain Yostar Pictures.
Sorairo Utility — originally a one-episode short special released in December 2021 — has been announced to receive a TV anime. While no date is known, fans are already speculating about the series, as well as wondering why golf has suddenly become so popular.
People liked the original special
The special was received surprisingly well. Despite its short runtime, it does its best to introduce the viewers to the characters and create a friendly atmosphere. Sorairo Utility is essentially a “cute girls doing cute things” anime, following Minami Aoba, who is a beginner at golf.
An announcement of a TV series is more than welcome: while fans loved the special, it was just too short to remain in their memory. In fact, rumors of this announcement have been circulating for a while, and CGDCT fans are really happy about it: we haven’t got many of these anime in the past few years.
Why are there suddenly so many anime about golf?
One curious thing is how popular golf has suddenly become in anime. Two years ago, Birdie Wing: Golf Girls' Story was quite well-received by fans, praised for its ridiculous yet entertaining characters and competitive nature. Sorairo Utility leans into a different direction, and that’s not a bad thing, either.
Outside of Sorairo Utility, however, we have two more golf anime announced, which is very unusual. We had some golf anime in the past — Dan Doh!! and Pro Golfer Saru come to mind — but neither is really talked about anymore, and they didn’t air within a single year.
Other golf anime announced include Ooi! Tonbo — which is scheduled to air this spring — and Rising Impact. The latter is a very surprising adaptation, as the manga for it is from the 90s. Despite that, the choice to adapt it is somewhat understandable as the mangaka for Rising Impact has also made The Seven Deadly Sins (Nanatsu no Taizai).
This sudden popularity of golf anime can’t really be explained. The sport has been pretty popular in Japan, but not popular enough to receive mainstream attention. Nothing really changed in the past few years, so fans can do nothing but speculate.
Will it at least look good?
One thing fans really hope for is good visuals for the TV anime. Thankfully, they seem confident that this will be the case — the studio behind the project is Yostar Pictures.
They are heavily associated with game adaptations like Arknights and Blue Archive (the latter is airing next season, and fans already love how the trailers look). The original special was animated by them as well, which further cements the confidence.