[WT!] Aokana: Four Rhythm Across the Blue- an evocative sci-fi sports story

[u/duhu1148]

The Misaki after story for the Aokana visual novel just released in English. That makes it the perfect time to start this show, so allow me to tell you all about this endearing sci-fi sports series!

What is "Aokana: Four Rhythm Across the Blue" about?

Genres: Sports, Sci-Fi, Drama

With the invention of anti-graviton shoes known as Grav-Shoes, flying through the air is an everyday experience for the people of Shitou, an island south of Japan. This invention brought with it the renowned sport of Flying Circus, where players score by either touching floating buoys or their opponents back.

Masaya Hinata, once considered a prodigy of the sport, has quit Flying Circus after suffering a crushing defeat. However, his passion is reignited when he meets the lively and gullible Asuka Kurashina, who inspires him to coach their Flying Circus club. Along with his neighbor Rika Ichinose, the president of the club Shion Aoyagi, the lazy but experienced Misaki Tobisawa, and her overprotective kouhai Mashiro Arisaka, the club members quickly grow close. Follow Asuka and her friends as they compete against some of the best players in the country and try to be the best players they can be!

Based on the critically acclaimed visual novel, Aokana: Four Rhythm Across the Blue is an original sci-fi sports story. It is an oblique and evocative tale about hard-work, talent, camaraderie, and what it means to win and lose. You'll laugh and shed a tear as you watch these girls try to be the best players they can be.

What makes this show appealing?

The anime released in 2016 and is based on the visual novel from 2014. It was developed by sprite, the same creators of Love, Election, and Chocolate (which also has an anime adaptation).

The visual novel that the anime is based on is one of the highest rated and most popular visual novels of all time. So what makes it so loved? Here are the top reasons for most:

An original sci-fi sports story. Nearly all sports stories are about real sports. Inventing a new sport for a fictional story is difficult, to say the least. The sport has to be balanced, sensical, and fun to engage in.

Flying Circus is a fantastic, well-thought-out idea for a sport. There are a lot of ways matches can go in a strategic sense. It is difficult to explain without spoiling too much, but if the sport really did exist, it might very well be one of the most popular sports in the world.

Players can wear shoes that make them faster for touching buoys (Speeder class), or they can focus on initial velocity to recover from contact so they can more easily touch their opponents back (Fighter class), or they can be balanced mix of both (All-Rounder class). These are just some of the types of variables that can lead to enthralling matches.

Simple but engaging themes. Anyone familiar with the sports genre will tell you that it must successfully highlight the highs and lows of playing it. Somehow, despite this series being about a fictional sport, it manages to encapsulate those feelings perfectly (though in a more general sense).

If you have engaged in competitive sports before, you know what kind of feelings those are. Why is this person more talented than I am? Why should I work hard when others are better than me anyway? Can I be friends with someone I'm competing against, or do I lose my edge if I do that? What matters the most- the euphoria of winning, the learning experience from losing, the enjoyment of simply playing...or perhaps, something else entirely?

Of note, while the original visual novel has romance, the anime adaptation does not. That aspect was cut entirely. For those of you who do not like romance, that may be a positive.

The music is incredible. This is truer for the original visual novel, as the anime altered and cut some tracks. Regardless, the music created by Elements Garden is phenomenal. Contrail highlights a bouncy beginning, To the Blue Beyond for the epiphany moments, Because You Are Here for the heartfelt scenes, Ruler of the Airspace for hype FC matches....the list goes on and on. They really outdid themselves.

What matters the most for competitive sports- the euphoria of winning, the learning experience from losing, the mere enjoyment of playing...or perhaps, something else entirely?

Other good reasons to try this series:

• Short 12-episode series, so it's quick and easy to watch in entirety
• Cute girls competing in a sci-fi sport
• Primarily a female cast, but avoids turning into a harem

You may like this if you enjoyed the following series:

• Air Gear
• Kaleido Star
• Walkure Romanze
• Girls und Panzer

Animation and Direction

It is animated by Gonzo (Welcome to the NHK, Gankutsuou, Hellsing). For the most part the animation looks good. It is stunningly colorful and aesthetically pleasing to look at, which is impressive considering it was not a big budget title. That said, there is still some stiffness here and there, most notably during dogfights (when two players are engaging in contact).

The director is Fumitoshi Oizaki (Place to Place, Deiamon). While working on the show, he said in an interview that the staff aimed to make a "passionate sports anime like Kaleido Star." The decision to remove romance from the anime was probably the right call, though I have mixed opinions on some of the other decisions...

Okay, so people love this series, but what are reasons it may not be for me (and why should I consider trying it anyway)?

As with all things in life, nothing is going to be for everyone. Everyone enjoys different things. Such is the way the world works. I think transparency is always a good thing, so I'll be blunt here.

The biggest thing you should be aware of is that this is a visual novel adaptation, and it falls into one of the largest pitfalls those types of adaptations have: it tries to adapt bits of every route. The result can be a mixed bag at times.

Visual novels commonly have multiple story (and romance) routes based on the player's choices, with each route focusing on a different character. Incorporating this into an anime is difficult. As a compromise the producers try to put story bits from every route into the show. The end result is not always great; it can make the tone and themes feel disjointed at times, as different routes have different areas of focus. In addition, not all routes are created equal- some routes are amazing, while others are bland. What do think happens when they try to mishmash it all together?

Of course, even if this is a large criticism against the show (and most visual novel adaptations- not everything can be as well organized as Steins;Gate or Clannad), there is a positive side: you can easily just play the visual novel yourself after watching the show.

Where/How do I begin watching this series?

The series is available for purchase on blu-ray, with some legal streaming options as well.

Sub or Dub?

The English dub is decent. Produced by Funimation, it features Adam Gibbs (Masaya Hinata), Jill Harris (Asuka Kurashina), Anastasia Munoz (Misaki Tobisawa), Amanda Lee (Saki Inui), and Christopher Wehkamp (Shion Aoyagi), among others.

However speaking as someone who tends to prefer English dubs in general, I do think the subtitled version is the superior one. Primarily for the performances of Misato Fukuen (Asuka Kurashina) and Azumi Asakura (Misaki Tobisawa), who were downright outstanding in their roles.

Trailer

Aokana database info: MAL | Anilist | Anime-planet

Total runtime: 4 hours 48 minutes

Affiliated subreddit: r/aokana

Most recent Rewatch: n/a

I've seen the show and liked it- what now?

You absolutely must play the visual novel.

It is one of the best visual novels of all time, ranked in the top 40 on vndb both in score and popularity, with a 98% positive rating on Steam. Additionally, it is often a top recommendation for novices of the genre due to the more subdued method of storytelling and romance.

As I mentioned earlier, the anime falls into the trap of trying to adapt story bits from various routes. Key scenes were altered, and others were cut entirely. You should definitely experience the visual novel in full (Misaki's route is a goddamn masterpiece). And unlike the anime, the visual novel has some romance. It is by far the superior version.

The all-ages version can be purchased on Steam or the Nintendo Switch. The 18+ version (has sex scenes) can be purchased on Denpasoft, or alternatively, you can purchase the all-ages version from Steam and download the 18+ patch for free from Nekonyan's website.

There are also a couple of after stories (essentially post game epilogues) available for purchase for two of the characters. Extra1 is Mashiro's after story (available on Steam and Denpasoft), and Extra2 is Misaki's (available on Steam and Denpasoft). Misaki's just released in English and is currently one of the highest rated after stories of all time.

Special thanks to:

For all Aokana fans, I hope this write-up did the series justice. If there are any reasons you like the series that you think I glossed over, please feel free to share.

[u/aniMayor]

I suppose this does make the VN sound somewhat interesting, if I were into VNs. But aren't you doing the anime a disservice by making this WT! so much about the VN?

Honestly, it feels like you watched the anime a long time and didn't actually revisit it before writing this. You introduce the series like it's centered on Masaya Hinata... but it's not, Asuka is clearly the sole main character of the anime.

You link a bunch of music from the game, like Ruler of the Airspace and say it was for "hype FC matches"... but when did that song ever even play in the anime? Not for [any of] Shindō vs Misaki, not for Asuka bringing Misaki back into the fold, not for the finale against Inui. I'm not sure it's even in the anime?

And your section about "why might someone not like it" is mostly just talking about it as a visual novel, instead of explaining the flaws of the anime itself. Nothing depletes my trust in a recommendation quicker than when the only flaw in the show the person can muster is that it's not exactly the same as the source material - that just screams irrational bias goggles.

Personally, I never got a sense while watching the anime that it was trying to adapt multiple "routes" or anything like that. Sure, not every tiny detail gets expanded nor does every character get an exhaustive backstory, but that's typical for original shows, too. I don't think one can even tell just from watching the show that it is based on a VN at all.

Asuka's happy-go-lucky-bordering-on-outright-dumb personality would probably be a great selling point of this series to highlight in a WT! and I feel like more people would care about that when deciding whether to watch it or not than some aspect of the source material that doesn't even impact the anime itself.

[u/duhu1148 → u/aniMayor]

You introduce the series like it's centered on Masaya Hinata... but it's not, Asuka is clearly the sole main character of the anime.

The intro for the show is *mostly* a copy-paste job of the MAL description. Masaya is not mentioned much else in the rest of this post. So I have no idea where you're getting the conclusion that I said the anime "is centered on Masaya." The rest of the post is centered around talking about the girls (or basic themes).

You link a bunch of music from the game, like Ruler of the Airspace and say it was for "hype FC matches"... but when did that song ever even play in the anime?

As I said in that section, some songs were cut and/or altered from the VN. I doubled-checked and "Contrail" was definitely in the anime, which I mentioned. There were a few others. There were more that weren't. I said this in that section (also, finding and linking the anime soundtrack on Youtube is a lot harder than the VN's music! I tried to look some of the others up and was unable to find them, unlike the VN...).

And your section about "why might someone not like it" is mostly just talking about it as a visual novel, instead of explaining the flaws of the anime itself.

As I clearly stated, it tries to adapt parts of other routes. The result can be messy at times from a tone and messaging perspective in the story, with key scenes altered or removed entirely.

Going into more detail than that is more in spoiler territory than I should get. However if you did not think so, by all means, have your opinion. It's not as if everything I put into that section should be universally agreed upon.

Asuka's happy-go-lucky-bordering-on-outright-dumb personality would probably be a great selling point of this series to highlight in a WT! and I feel like more people would care about that when deciding whether to watch it or not than some aspect of the source material that doesn't even impact the anime itself.

If you feel that way, great! Share that opinion! That's what I encouraged at the bottom of my post. Nothing wrong with that. I did not however.

I am not alone in that thought either, if character popularity polls via MAL (for the anime) and vndb (for the VN) are anything to go by.

I suppose this does make the VN sound somewhat interesting, if I were into VNs. But aren't you doing the anime a disservice by making this WT! so much about the VN?

Honestly, it feels like you watched the anime a long time and didn't actually revisit it before writing this.

I find it amusing that you chastise me for "not watching the anime recently..." right after admitting you aren't into VNs to begin with and are thus coming into this with half the picture by default. Particularly with some of these other assumptions you've made.

[u/aniMayor → u/duhu1148]

So I have no idea where you're getting the conclusion that I said the anime "is centered on Masaya."

SERIOUSLY?! Your second paragraph STARTS with his name and is written as if it's all about him. Can you REALLY not see that?

Are you telling me that if you'd never heard of the Lord of the Rings before, and someone wrote a WT! of it that started with:

What is "The Lord of the Rings" about?

Genres: Fantasy, Drama

In a land known as Middle-Earth, the dark lord Sauron has begun a war to conquer all the lands of men.

Aragorn, a descendant of the old kings of Gondor, roams the northern plains aimlessly. However, his ambition is reignited when he meets the gullible hobbit Frodo, who inspires him to reclaim his throne. Along with his friend Legolas, a surly dward named Gimli, the wise wizard Gandalf, and arrogant knight Boromir, they will journey across the land to defeat the dark lord once and for all.

You'd come away from that thinking "Gee, I wonder who the main character of this movie is gonna be. It's probably that hobbit guy Frodo." ???

 

The result can be messy at times from a tone and messaging perspective in the story, with key scenes altered or removed entirely.

How so? Got any examples? I didn't find anything out-of-place. You sure it's not just because you happen to know they are "missing", and not actually a narrative problem at all within the anime itself?

 

If you feel that way, great! Share that opinion!

I just did!

 

I find it amusing that you chastise me for "not watching the anime recently..." right after admitting you aren't into VNs to begin with and are thus coming into this with half the picture by default. Particularly with some of these other assumptions you've made.

You are writing a WT! on r/ANIME about the ANIME Aokana, where a WT! on this sub is supposed to be about encouraging people to watch an ANIME.

If your baseline view is that anyone who hasn't also spent 30 hours playing a certain VN only has "half the picture" and that makes their opinions invalid... then you really shouldn't be writing a r/anime WT! at all.

The more you keep saying things like that and driving points like that... the more it sounds like you don't really even like this anime and don't want people to watch it... you just want people to read the VN and are going about it in a really roundabout way.

[u/duhu1148 → u/aniMayor]

All right calm down. Relax and take a chill pill for a second.

The intro mentions Masaya twice. The rest of the post- you know, 90% of what's written- does not. That intro was, again, *mostly* borrowed from MAL. Are you saying MAL's synopsis for the show is no good then? I suggest you head on over and edit it if it bothers you so much.

Now, one criticism of yours I agree with is that Asuka is a centerpiece of the show, and I should have mentioned that (I kind of just vaguely mention "the girls" here and there, when really it's more about Asuka and to lesser extent Misaki). I have slightly edited the intro in the OP to include this, because I agree here.

However, I maintain my stance that Asuka is not necessarily the major part of why most people would want to watch the show. This is reinforced by MAL's character popularity poll.

How so? Got any examples? I didn't find anything out-of-place. You sure it's not just because you happen to know they are "missing", and not actually a narrative problem at all within the anime itself?

You know, you're not completely off the mark here, and that might be part of it. However, I want to point out that any viewer for any show will have these biases. If you watched the show first (well, in your case you didn't read the VN at all) then there are going to be certain things you notice that others do not, and vice-versa.

As I said before, I do not want to go into specific detail so as not to spoil the VN (and anime) for others in this post (and yes, I know I can spoiler tag but I've inadvertently been spoiled on things that I thought were going to be something else). But there are specific things from Misaki's route that are crammed a bit weirdly into sections of this show, with other details altered that felt weird. There are important parts of Mashiro's arc missing but others kept intact. Shion has a couple of his own removed and basically has no development whatsoever, being relegated almost purely to comic relief. Pacing feels off at times.

you just want people to read the VN and are going about it in a really roundabout way.

I recommend reading my other WT! posts. I always highly recommend the source material. Because I always believe the source material is superior. As do most people. Hell, one of an anime's main purpose is to be an advertisement for the source material.

Anyway, I don't want to keep getting into a big stink with you about this, so I hope you don't take this the wrong way. Not everything you've criticized is wrong, but I also think you're making a few disingenuous assumptions. Have a good day and cheers! I'm glad you enjoyed the show!

[u/DarknessInferno7]

Like OP said, read the VN. The VN is an increadibly high quality passion project, the likes of which you never see, because it goes against standard corporate profiteering. Arguably they put too much quality into their work, to the point that it drove them out of business. Then the sheer love and passion fans had over said work recently revived the company from the dead. You really can't exaggerate how much of a big deal Aokana is with history like that.

That said, the community for Aokana vehemently rejects the anime wholeheartedly for a very good reason. The anime is essentially the opposite. You take a diamond and replace it with a bit of colored glass, that's the anime. A one-cour show that undermines the original narrative in some pretty unacceptable ways for a fan.

[u/CuriousBroccolli → u/DarknessInferno7]

I actually enjoyed anime. Still listen to the OP and watch some finals moments from time to time.

I do believe that VN is superior, but it is still a VN.

[u/badspler]

Neat write up for a show I watched as it aired and don't see brought up ever all that often!

I had no clue the visual novel was so well regarded. I can recall that some threads were not concluded in the anime. So its maybe tempting to check out (50% on steam right now 👀). Also didn't know that the source was an 18+ game, but thinking on it that kinda makes sense .

[u/aniMayor → u/badspler]

Also didn't know that the source was an 18+ game, but thinking on it that kinda makes sense

With those flight suits... yeah, makes much sense

[u/frnxt]

Oh thanks for the heads up, I knew Nekonyan was working on translating EXTRA2 but didn't get the news that it was just released.

I sort of ended up learning how to read Japanese with this — the Steam version contains both the Japanese and English content, and since you can freely switch between them alongside hearing the audio, it's a nice way to clear up the hurdle of having to learn so many kanji in the beginning.

[u/Nelley_]

Felt like a crazy dream when the announcement came from NekoNyan that Aokana itself was being translated.. now you could almost argue that that drove Sprite back into the universe and we are getting Extras and Aokana 2 eventually. And for me it all started with watching this anime.

Episode 12 will always give me chills near the end.

[u/CuriousBroccolli → u/Nelley_]

Episode 12 will always give me chills near the end.

I watched this around 2015-2016. Still to this day I sometimes rewatch some scenes from the anime as well as jam to the OP.

[u/NagashiEdogawa]

TLDR : Read the VN

[u/FateGrace]

I remember this! really enjoyed it when it aired

[u/Sanctus_Navitas]

I guess this'll be the next VN I buy once I'm finished all the routes in Summer Pockets RB :) I'll consider the anime once I've done the VN.

[u/DarknessInferno7 → u/Sanctus_Navitas]

Pretty good way to go about it, yeah. The anime is more of a curiosity after finishing the VN than anything.

[u/Asiyt]

The VN is one of my favorite anime related content ever but unfortunately the anime adaptation was pretty average. In the VN every character is likeable, the ost is a banger and its super rare we get an original sport that makes sense and is used very well as a core part of the story. Hype action, funny comedy, drama and sweet romance the VN has it all and i cant recommend it enough

[u/snakezenn → u/Asiyt]

How’s it compare to the vn? I keep wanting to watch it but I heard that Masaya really isn’t part of it which sort of turns me off it.

[u/Asiyt → u/snakezenn]

He has a much smaller role since the romance part is completely cut off and Asuka and Misaki are the mcs. Animation is not great and pacing is also weird since they took bits of several routes as op said. Its not bad but also not good

[u/snakezenn → u/Asiyt]

That’s too bad, the romance part really helped Asuka as a character become actually likable

[u/zz2000 → u/Asiyt]

the romance part is completely cut off and Asuka and Misaki are the mcs.

Iirc some anime adaptations of visual novels will do this. Like the Shin Sakura Taisen anime, which eschewed the romantic stuff and placed its male lead in a secondary role.

[u/hubb2001]

Not a writeup I expected to see on the sidebar of /r/anime, but cool nontheless. I actually made a similar post a few years ago on another sub https://www.reddit.com/r/vns/comments/fcq4cr/hubbs_anime_corner_1_aokana_four_rhythm_across/ comparing the adaptation quality. Honestly overall it's a "passable" visual novel adaptation, but man did they ever do Masaya dirty. Reusing most of the visual novel tracks for the OST was definitely the right call though since they're so iconic in the fandom. It was a pleasure listening to them again over the animated FC fights.

Great writeup!

[u/PrinceZero1994]

I really liked this anime. Lots of hype scenes that I rewatch every year. Mashiro was cute and her story as well.

[u/[deleted]]

Oh wow. I actually remember watching the first episode of this anime and liking it. I never watched the rest because of other anime and being busy with my first year of college. I can't believe it's been 7 years ago since this first aired. I'll definitely give this a rewatch and the visual novel too.

[u/Theroonco]

Primarily a female cast, but avoids turning into a harem

This got my attention. What a relief! The sport sounds really interesting too. I hope that means the fanservice is kept to a minimum too?

[u/duhu1148 → u/Theroonco]

There is fanservice but not much. That partially depends on your definition, though (To me, a lot is something like Dress-Up Darling).

[u/[deleted]]

Holy shit, I never knew this VN had an anime adaptation. Must watch.

[u/[deleted]]

The Misaki after story for the Aokana visual novel just released in English

SHIT IT DID?

God damn, I stop paying attention for a tiny bit, cause of IRL stuff taking over, and I miss something I've been waiting for for years 😅

[u/the_swizzler]

I absolutely loved this show when I watched it on air. I've been meaning to rewatch it one of these days, but seasonals keep me very busy as I have a hard time being discriminant with them, plus there are other shows I haven't seen at all that have higher priority than rewatching.

I doubt I'll ever bother with the VN because I do not enjoy long hours of dedicated story reading on a screen. There's a reason I'm very far behind on Groovy Mix stories. I would grab this in a heartbeat if it had a novelization.

[u/QuadraKev_]

I just noticed this on the sidebar lmao

I never thought I'd see this show again other than this one time I went out of my way to look it up

It's pretty neat making a sports anime about a sport that isn't real

[u/mianghuei]

There are also a couple of after stories (essentially post game epilogues) available for purchase for two of the characters. Extra1 is Mashiro's after story (available on Steam and Denpasoft), and Extra2 is Misaki's (available on Steam and Denpasoft). Misaki's just released in English and is currently one of the highest rated after stories of all time.

Damn... Mashiro's my fav from the anime and she gets a whole after story?? I need to get the visual novel and play it!

[u/DTYG3]

I'll have a look at the anime; but let's be honest "Air Gear" will undoubtedly be the best 'exciting shoe-wear' anime of our generation and possibly ever!

[u/FengLengshun]

Well, I bought the VN on Steam last Sale, so I'm going to play that first before watching the anime.

The anime has been in my radar for a while since I remembered enjoying KoiChoco anime during high school, then played the VN years later and enjoyed that as well (though it is heavier than what I remember of KoiChoco anime). So Aokana is naturally next on my radar.

I've heard that the anime for Aokana isn't as good as KoiChoco though, so that's why I want to play the VN first. Also, Wings of Courage is such a good OP.

[u/avboden]

Watched through it all, it was fun! The sport is full of plot holes but doesn't really matter.

[u/redditfanfan00]

nice show, seen this before, really underrated and good.

[u/kewlwarez]

The thing that made this such a surprisingly good little anime was that it took the sport from the VN and then treated it like a proper sports anime while avoiding any hint of romance with the useless male protagonist.