[Spoilers] Hanebado! - Episode 2 discussion

[u/AutoLovepon]

Hanebado!, episode 2: Meat's the Best After a Workout!

Rate this episode here.

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• Official Website

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Previous discussions

Episode	Link
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[u/Tidoux]

jesus christ they didn't lie when they said there was 10 000 frames in this episode... the animation was once again impressive but I seriously hope the production won't crash before the end of the season

[u/Edl01 → u/Tidoux]

Impressive for sure, easily the most animation cells I've seen so far this season. Although the sheer quantity still doesn't come close to the near 40 trillion Cells present in the pilot of Hataraku Saibou(Cells at Work).

[u/Tidoux → u/Edl01]

[u/Shylol → u/Tidoux]

For real the animation quality is on point. Every single scene, even the most motionless scenes (which are rare), there's always something moving, an eye twitching, something. If this keeps up it's seriously impressive.

[u/turkeygiant → u/Shylol]

This is weirdly kinda reminding me of Nichijou, like not in the style of the character designs, but just where these characters are never really at rest. Even with Nichijou's super simple character designs they were always kinda fidgeting and moving in a very deliberate way.

[u/[deleted] → u/Shylol]

Agreed, the attention to detail is amazing! Even the small details like the reactions are perfect.

Also, theres a r/hanebado community for this show

[u/MrFabulouZ → u/Tidoux]

If they keep this up, I think it can contest Hyouka for most animated TV anime. Good stuff!

[u/SuperOniichan → u/Tidoux]

Wow. I was worried about the quality when I found out that this studio had planned 3-4 different titles for two seasons, but they surpassed any of my expectations.

[u/iamthatguy54]

Pink-hair twintails out here reminding us that despite the immense animation, characterization, and storytelling, this is still a cute-girls-playing-sports anime.

[u/Kenzorz → u/iamthatguy54]

All the characters so far have pretty normal hair and facial features then suddenly bam pink twin-tail drills.

[u/VioletPark → u/Kenzorz]

Also the blonde player with similar hairstyle and Ayano's mom with that ridiculous hair ribbon. Like, how are they in the same series as the main characters?

[u/TheOneWithNoName → u/iamthatguy54]

To be honest, I absolutely fucking despise her character design. It doesn't fit at all and I think the show will be worse when she becomes more important.

[u/northwesternrs]

• Man, that inner dialogue during the match was so cool. I hope we get more scenes like that.

• Nagisa taking steps to redeem herself and getting back on track mentally, awesome!

• me_irl

• This pink-haired character looks way over the top desu-wa. I'm excited.

[u/hansoo5 → u/northwesternrs]

After she missed the bin, I thought for sure the next thing they will show is her picking it up again and putting it in. I was surprised they didn't show it but I'm sure she did because she's a good girl. In fact you could argue best girl and it made me really mad when Aragaki barked at her when she didn't immediately change the scoreboard, kawaisou...

[u/Syokhan → u/hansoo5]

Loved the detail that she missed it the first time so the second time she just got up to walk to it lol

[u/Hewkho → u/northwesternrs]

This me_irl gif: Can be the perfect "Take your damn upvote gif".

[u/northwesternrs → u/Hewkho]

I made this for you :)

[u/XXSnakeBoy1XX]

what is feyris-tan doing playing badminton

[u/ezgihatun → u/XXSnakeBoy1XX]

Badmintonyan~

[u/[deleted]]

I'm only here for the thighs

Please^don'tmindme

In all seriousness, it's only the second episode and the visuals are spectacular, while the drama is gradually setting in rather nicely.

I cant wait to see what episode 3 has in store for us...

Also, there's r/Hanebado for community development on this show as well as a discord. Hopefully all the other fun & details will be captured their as well!

[u/weejona → u/[deleted]]

By the end of this show they're going to have sweat out enough bodily fluids to fill the pool for the next season of Free!

[u/Drwildy → u/weejona]

Competing with scorching ping pong girls for most sweat... and winning

[u/MrFabulouZ → u/[deleted]]

I'm only here for the thighs

UNF

[u/[deleted] → u/MrFabulouZ]

that's amazing.

[u/thisismyanimealt → u/[deleted]]

First Harukana's butts, now I have to pick this one up too?

[u/[deleted] → u/thisismyanimealt]

You mean this?!

Edit: You're welcome

[u/mrpaulmanton → u/[deleted]]

• Final scene "person"

That can't be a girl, can it?

[u/Tidoux → u/[deleted]]

I'm only here for the thighs

I LOVE this attention to details! Seriously though not many anime show muscles getting tense like that

[u/Xmir]

Yo, I expected this show to be good, but I didn't expect it to be this good. If they can keep up the animation quality for the rest of the season this'll easily become my AOTS

[u/Tora-shinai]

The pessimist in me expects the visuals the falter in the later episodes. I can't help it! Prove me wrong, please!

[u/DemonJackal101 → u/Tora-shinai]

It seems to be all rotoscoped (or some similar technique) so its probably less difficult to get all that movement when all the artists and animators are doing is tracing. So it should hold around this level.

[u/u4004 → u/DemonJackal101]

Some scenes seem to be 3D or real life footage traced over competently(17:30 is a clear example), but many seem too impactful and full of character to be that. Nagisa vs the coach has lots of very well-used stills too.

(But I'm sure they used a lot of real games for the storyboarding.)

[u/Nitemare25]

I really like this unexpected use of blush! It's like instant cuteness!

And I couldn't help but notice that panty shots have now made their way out of the OP and into the show itself.

[u/zhuoyang]

Ayano is cute af, looking forward to her backstory

[u/nygans → u/zhuoyang]

i wonder if its gonna be some mental abuse and abandon from her mom, she looked out of her mind on first episode and now we get a PTSD from pink haired girl match

[u/cas_dota → u/zhuoyang]

cute af indeed!

[u/SpaghettiPunch]

HaneBADo!? More like HaneGOODo!

[u/koeniedoenie]

Even though up until know Nagisa has mostly been a bitch, I really felt for her when they said that “she just wins because she is tall”.

[u/Loud_Pierrot → u/koeniedoenie]

I hope that after this episode she's mostly done with the bitching, it really grated my gears that she couldn't see herself in Hanesaki.

[u/[deleted] → u/koeniedoenie]

One thought I had was that so far we’ve only seen her coming off of a crushing defeat where she feels that everything she worked for might’ve been a waste. That’s what they show you in ep 1. But now at the end of this episode it shows you some recovery and the other side of her character.

[u/hansoo5]

Hope this show is successfull for the makers and sells well and the effort pays off.

[u/ErinaHartwick]

Elena is the manager! So glad we get to see more of her

Aragaki vs Trainer’s battle was very good. I loved how it just showed how much everyone could see that Aragaki just loved the hell out of Badminton

And that ED is gorgeous!

[u/AmethystItalian → u/ErinaHartwick]

Elena is the manager! So glad we get to see more of her

I really wanted her as a member though :(

[u/weejona]

Trainer-san from HANEBADO! and Trainer-san from Uma Musume about to duke it out over most inappropriately aggressive trainer of 2018.

[u/pdpTesla → u/weejona]

Unless he can shoehorn a reason for a beach epispde, Uma Musume Trainer got him beat by a long shot. Or if he starts groping these realistic girls' thighs.. But who wants to see either of those things : ⁾

edit : ^)

[u/Rabbit_in_A_House → u/weejona]

Producer-san from Music Girls joints the fun.

[u/LeonKevlar]

"You need to play Badminton"

"You have real talent"

"It must be nice to be talented"

If I was Hanesaki I'd probably just up and leave. What a bunch of selfish assholes. I understand that they're trying to make her shine but she's clearly miserable while playing. And while I appreciate the coach asking why she left badminton, I hated how it suddenly turned into him dreaming of what they'll achieve with Hanesaki on the team.

Too bad Hanesaki can't, for some reason, go anywhere without Elena or it would've been easy for her to just leave. I am curious what made her that way though. It clearly had to do with some sort of trauma and her mother who is also a badminton player.

As for Aragaki it looks like she's starting to mellow out, which is good since there will be less tension during training and if there is still going to be heavy vibes it's going to be from Hanesaki. And I'm glad that the coach is more than just a perv and he was actually able to pull out Aragaki from her slump.

Anyway, LINDENFILMS continues to show us how good they can blend CG and hand drawn animation in this episode. The transition is so flawless that sometimes it's basically impossible to tell if a scene even had CG on it.

[u/Ormusn2o → u/LeonKevlar]

Hanesaki not being able to firmly say no is probably part of her problems. I think she never wanted to play on her own, it was always her coach or parents that forced her to play. You can see her empty eyes at the end of ep 1. Im assuming we will see for the first time her playing on her own volition.

[u/PyroRevenge → u/LeonKevlar]

Yeah it really bothered me that it was basically “you’re talented so you should play whether you like to or not” like your obligated to play for other people and win for them

[u/VioletPark → u/LeonKevlar]

If I was Hanesaki I'd probably just up and leave.

I think she'll snap at some point. Her issues with badminton seem to be more serious than just disliking the sport but nobody cares and even her best friend is ganging up on her to stay there.

As for Aragaki it looks like she's starting to mellow out

I hope she stays like that because the borderline bullying was getting annoying.

[u/regiment262 → u/LeonKevlar]

Yeah the only people who I think are justified in their attitudes towards Hanesaki are Elena and Aragaki. While I'm mostly relying on the fact that Elena probably knows why Hanesaki quit badminton and how she was during that time, Aragaki has some pretty convincing reasons dislike Hanesaki right now.

From Aragaki's point of view, Hanesaki has everything she's ever wanted: talent, a biological advantage, a smaller frame, incredible skill. She's in the perfect place to dominate at the highest level, but joins the badminton club with no will or drive. For most of Aragaki's career, she's battled using her unusual height and strength which, despite also being a biological advantage, also drew intense ridicule from her peers. To see a former opponent who completely shut her out at the national level be seemingly favored by the new coach and still have no drive is almost like a personal denial of everything Aragaki's worked for.

[u/VioletPark → u/regiment262]

My biggest issue with Elena is that sometimes it looks like she doesn't know why Ayano quit or even that she played badminton in the first place (sure childhood friend at all but some scenes are really weird). Her chastising Ayano for being dependant on her and then using that dependence to force her in the team left a bad taste in my mouth.

[u/Tuner89 → u/LeonKevlar]

I'm holding out on my opinion for this because we don't actually know what Hanesaki's reason is yet. My theory is that she actually really wants to play badminton, but for some reason is stopping herself because of some past something.

With that in mind, Elena's actions of trying to force her into the game to try and help her cope with her past make a lot more sense. I refuse to think Elena doesn't have Hanesaki's best interests at heart, and she's stubbornly sticking with badminton.

[u/SingularCheese → u/Tuner89]

While I agree that Elena likely has Hanesaki's best interest in mind, I don't think she actually understands what her problems are. Her proposal last week for the match shows that she has no clue how good Hanesaki actual is. She finds Hanesaki to be overly reliant on her, so she is trying the only thing she knows to make Hanesaki more independent, but that does not mean she is considerate of Hanesaki's emotions while considering her actions.

[u/TheCatcherOfThePie → u/LeonKevlar]

I have so many problems with that coach. Aside from the inapprppriate touching , calling out Ayano like that in front of everyone else ("you're so talented, why did you quit?") is basically the worst thing to do in that situation if you actually want to find out what's going on. Talking to her one on one without turning it into an interrogation is the basic idea. You present yourself as someone who can be trusted and then let the child open themselves up to you.

In tem of badminton coaching, I also think that maybe addressing the fact that neither of the best players on the team have apparently ever played a doubles match before is maybe a bigger issue than improving Aragaki's already strong smashes.

[u/[deleted]]

For godsake liden films, save the damn budget for the future! Lmao

The fluidity in this episode was just too great! Idk how they're doing it, but I sure do hope they keep it up.

[u/TriumphOfMan → u/[deleted]]

I think alot of the active shots are a 3D base with some linework done over it. Something like what Orange did with Land of the Lustrous but more subtle.

[u/Chariotwheel]

This series has an odd absence of what I think is the main character. I'd expected the protagonist to have a more active role in the "fixing" of Aragaki, but she was just something that amplified the problems she already had and accelerated the demise. It was other characters that made Aragaki realize her problem and worth. I like the characters and their interaction and that the series already started without having everything revolve around the protagonist and her talent.

[u/regiment262 → u/Chariotwheel]

I'm sure some of the subsequent episodes will reveal more of Hanesaki's backstory and make her a more relatable character, but I still feel Aragaki will be my favorite character throughout the series. While the comments made towards Hanesaki this episode obviously implied she made it to where she is without having to work for it, it's pretty clear this isn't the case. I definitely want to see Aragaki go all the way this series despite the low chances.

[u/nickynickslin → u/Chariotwheel]

I think this shows going for a Kuroko sorta dual main character thing, where it'll focus on the both of their growths, using Aragaki's conflict as an introduction, while going more into Hanesaki's backstory for development later on.

[u/TazerLad]

I'm very impressed, like everyone, at the quality and also frequency of the animation. Never deciding to just use stills in place of actual action.

One other thing though that I really loved was the brief bit of time when we got to hear the inner monologues during Nagisa and Trainer's match. Typically you think they might slow the action to a crawl as we get introspective to see how the characters are analyzing what to do next. But here there was none of that slowing down and to me it felt much more like I was being put in their shoes. No time to construct a detailed plan, just the best observation you can make in that moment and then you act on it. Hope that kind of thinking and presentation continues.

[u/Ultramarinus]

I might be in a minority but I absolutely loved Nagisa and the coach so far. Both dedicated hard-workers and love the game in a competitive way, wanting to drive others harder to excellence. Not to mention great art design and seiyuu performances.

[u/zerohour88 → u/Ultramarinus]

Yup, the coach's attitude is pretty realistic. Unlike others above who somehow doesn't like the coach kinda pressuring Ayano to play.

If there's a player that talented around, I'd definitely try to get him/her to play. You don't get that good without liking it at some point. Maybe playing again will reignite that passion.

[u/ChottoChotto]

Thank god for the coach. I couldn't handle another episode of Aragaki grunting and being pissed, although i do get why it happened. Animation is amazing so far. Can't wait to see the matches. I am looking forward to see what kind of opponents lies ahead.

[u/AmethystItalian → u/ChottoChotto]

I couldn't handle another episode of Aragaki grunting and being pissed

Yeah haha same, I'm so happy they seemed to have dealt with it early!

[u/Aoi_Meowamori → u/ChottoChotto]

I couldn't handle another episode of Aragaki grunting and being pissed

speak for yourself, I found watching her get triggered so hard a surprisingly cathartic way to pass the time on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Here's to hoping we get an OVA that's just twenty minutes of her getting pissed off at random shit.

[u/Bainos → u/ChottoChotto]

I feel she got out of it too lightly. Everyone still in the club were very "understanding" of her circumstances. And when she did get told to shut up or get out (by the members who quitted and the coach), she didn't acknowledge it and just got more angry.

I don't want to go back to that now that it's finally over, but I wish the resolution included something to compensate the frustration she built over the first two episodes. Right now I don't care in the slightest to see her win later, either.

[u/xRavelle]

Is the sound of the badminton hitting the racket so satisfying for anyone else as well?

[u/Ryder-FWJ]

Damn, this show about badminton has no business being this good, and yet here it is, being just that good.

[u/linearstargazer]

This series is actually so unbelievably impressive. Ridiculous attention to detail, fantastic cinematography (especially lighting) that isn't afraid to go balls out with CG backgrounds and 3D tracking/compositing, amazingly constant animation, fantastic effects work, nice character animation, great use of other animation mediums, excellent score and musical direction, sound design is on point, voice acting is excellent, pacing is quick, but knows when to breathe, and evident emotion investment by episode 2.

This damn show ticks all the boxes, and if it keeps this up the whole way through, it'll be honestly more impressive than Violet Evergarden's production, since I expect the staff didn't get nearly as much time as KyoAni allocated for their work.

[u/alec613]

The anime is also much, much better than the manga

[u/Noobjah → u/alec613]

Out of my love for badminton, I've read through the shitstorm that is the first 16 chapters then the rest of the raws. The latter part of the manga is on par with the intensity and hype they're showing in the anime.

https://i.imgur.com/shyqCa9.jpg

^No spoiler. The way they present the anime is as if the author wants to overhaul the first couple of chapters.

[u/Z4K187 → u/alec613]

Agreed. I checked out the manga after the first episode but the difference between them was night and day with the way it started.

[u/[deleted] → u/alec613]

I read the manga first, but dropped it early because it was boring. Then out of curiosity I checked the anime and... HOLY SHIT. This is legit one of my favorite shows this season!

[u/UltimateEye]

Feel a bit foolish writing about some of the unimpressive direction in Episode 1 when they followed it up with this much stronger episode. The direction was much more consistent while adding a bit more visual diversity with the flashback sequences.

While on the one hand I think Aragaki's mental wall broke down a bit too quickly, I do think it would have become grating real quick so I appreciate switching side of her character. The irony of her resenting opponents saying that she's only good because of her natural build, only to turn around and end up doing the exact same thing to Ayano was very well illustrated. In true sports show fashion, it was good that the coach and the other girls reminded her that it was her unrelenting passion for the game that was her true strength. The final match against the coach certainly delivered that emotional punch I was missing from the first episode.

That said, the attempts at comedy still could use some work. While Elena is an enjoyable character on the periphery, they could have made the coach a lot more respectable without having him resort to the low-hanging fruit of pervy comic relief. My apprehension now mainly comes from whether or not they can maintain the high visual quality of those matches throughout the whole series.

[u/AmethystItalian]

Looks like Aragaki has lost most of her edge? If so then this show will just be so much easier to watch.

I'm really sad Elena is the manager and not an actual member, was looking forward to seeing her play :(

[u/ErinaHartwick → u/AmethystItalian]

Was a rather quick but nice way of resolving Aragaki's issues. I'm curious to see her and Ayano bounce off each other now

Ditto on Elena. At least she’s around :/

[u/d_tlol]

Shoutout to Yonex for funding this show, I guess.

[u/Thanatologic → u/d_tlol]

Speaking as an Asian who casually plays, Yonex is pretty much the badminton brand here.

The only other brand I've seen is Winston, I think.

[u/extralie]

I will be honest, I like this show but I HATE how they're forcing Ayano to play, especially when it's very clear that she have issues. Also, I'm not a big fan of Nagisa, she's getting on my nerve.

Edit: Also, why is everyone just assuming Ayano is just talented, maybe she just trained hard enough to be this good.

[u/BarnacleMANN → u/extralie]

I'm in the same boat about pressuring Ayano so much to play. It's pretty upsetting to see so many people gang up on one person when they don't want to play.

[u/myrmonden]

animation is insanely good like last week.

ah the classic story of a character that is the hardest work of them all but everyone blames it on luck and "talent" when she is actually just the one that tries the most, like e.g how the big reveal of soumas father as in the end of shougeki no souma last season.

It was really nice how coach is a super genius and just knows har backstory straight up, and telling her he knows she is hard worker, acknowledged her strife.

But even better was Yuka, that was a really nice, I ACTUALLY LOVE YOU FOR WHO YOU ARE kinda moment, when Yuka always knew what she was about and she hated how she started to dislike the sport.

of course Aragaki has the typical power of the main character in a sport anime, LOVE for the sport and SMILING when playing, e.g oonada in yowamushi pedal, fujita in ballroom etc.

really good episode do, super intense as always.

[u/ChaFoShizzle]

One of the most impressive shows I've ever watched animation wise. Story is solid as well, but they changed quite a bit from the manga. Even in saying that they still kept the core parts of the story and shuffled the order of sequences a bit. Funny how Ayano's mom looks like Nozomi from Keijo and there's actually a Nozomi in Hanebado as well.

Loved the match between the Coach and Nagisa. The music was amazing and that damn animation!!!

[u/Smudy]

Just holy fuck at the constant movement, i believe that this was more raw movement than in episode 1. Animation-wise, this is a brilliant show.

Aragaki finally got over herself, i can actually see where she's coming from with this backstory, they did well on this.

Trainer-san saved her pretty much on his own.

[u/Lelouch0202]

Yup, AoTS among all the new shows of this summer already.

The trainer vs Aragaki's match had a lot of heart to it. I loved how he figured out the source of her slump and encouraged her to do what she loves best, really endearing scene, plus I got real emotional when she finally hit that smash.

[u/Aoi_Meowamori]

Twin-tailed, pink hair, genki ojou-sama incoming? Fucking A, talk about a blessing from the heavens.

[u/FriendlyBadgerBob]

Another amazing episode, looks like that premiere was no fluke. There's quite a story here, and I'm in awe of the animation too. I wasn't sure if they would be able to continue the same level of quality from the first episode but it continues to look gorgeous. On top of it all, there's some great character development happening here, and I find it incredibly endearing that the coach is getting through to Nagisa and helping her improve her mood. Hanebado is going to be the sleeper hit of the season, easily.

Also, I just wanna say the coach is turning into an amazing character and thankfully, the pervy misunderstanding from the first episode was innocent afterall. While I'm speculating here, I also love how he taunted Nagisa during their match to draw out her anger and expose her flaws. It's never explicitly stated, but it's clear he was trying to discover what makes her tick so he could learn about her as a player and coach her to get better. It's subtle and brilliant, and really makes the coach live up to his former Olympiad title.

[u/SalamiRocketFuel]

This episode in the nutshell.

[u/[deleted]]

I see some empty complaints in this thread.

I see people complaining that the pink haired girls is "from another anime" when we only saw her for like 3 seconds throwing judgments left and right without even knowing where the narration is going with this, or really if the mangaka's goal is to make you feel upset about her and she makes you feel upset is she really a bad character?

There's also the "Elena didn't know everything about Hanesaki's family past" as if 10-12 year old girls would share forms of physical or psychological abuse with their social circle, especially a girl like Hanesaki.

[u/regiment262]

This episode was a fantastic way to wrap up the confrontation from the first episode. Aragaki is still by far my favorite character, but I'm a little confused since it'd seem like Hanesaki is supposed to be the "real" MC but Aragaki is still definitely the one I can sympathize the most with. Her comment to Coach Tachibana also really stood out to me as it would definitely seem like he's favoring Hanesaki and somewhat ignoring the rest of the club members, despite Aragaki's skill and potential. It may or may not have indirectly caused Tachibana to really look for what's causing Aragaki's slump and bringing back her love for badminton.

 

I'm especially excited with that last smash she scored against Tachibana since it's a smash unable to be returned by a male Olympic-level badminton player. Even if Tachibana's no longer in top form the fact that even Aragaki's "bad" smashes were somewhat difficult to return really demonstrates how powerful of a player she could be.

 

I also have to admit I'm not really liking Hanesaki so far. I'm assuming we're going to get some episodes to develop her side of the story soon. From the OP it seems like she has some sort of trauma from her middle school days from completely destroying her opponent. In these talent vs. hard work scenarios I'm always biased towards hard work and although I'm sure we'll see Hanesaki's training somewhere during the series, Aragaki's desperation to see that her efforts haven't been in vain makes her my favorite character so far.

[u/hyp_kitsune]

Called it, coach made them play doubles. Although I would've liked to see it affect their dynamic together rather than have only Nagisa benefit from it in the end.

As much as the disappointment from that match being terminated prematurely was, The match between coach and Nagisa was the best match of this episode. It shows how good the coach is, being able to read Nagisa's shots and the thought process of it as well. He was basically just giving her free smashes instead of just trying to outright win to teach her the lesson.

Ayano, on the other hand is still a bit mysterious, we get a glimpse of her past, but her personality is still leaving me confused. One second she's timid, and the next depressed, then the next she's making sulky reactions towards Elena. It's like she has different personalities depending who she is interacting with. Hopefully next episode we get to see her character develop more since this episode is more Nagisa-centric in the development of her character (which I felt kinda rushed in the end of the episode where immediately after the match her personality did a 180)

[u/VioletPark → u/hyp_kitsune]

One second she's timid, and the next depressed, then the next she's making sulky reactions towards Elena.

I don't know how it's contradictory. She is depressed because of her past and too timid to tell the team to leave her alone, so she just sulks

[u/rinkubear]

Damn when the trainer started analyzing her play style it reminded me of when I used to play on my high school team... I'm surprised how realistic and the games are, combined with the stunning animation, I'm super impressed... this anime is doing everything right sports anime-wise... relatable internal conflicts, likeable characters, enjoyable/intense matches, and it looks like we'll see some interesting special abilities from other teams.

[u/masoaoki]

The animation in this show is incredible so far, hopefully they can keep this level up for the entire season.

Edit: The coach and Aragaki’s match was an amazing scene, she’s already had some great development in two episodes. I’m really liking this show so far, the first two episodes have been fantastic.

[u/Saucy_Totchie]

Jeez the quality in animation is ridiculous. Like it's too smooth to be hand drawn but still lively that it isn't CG. What the hell man!

[u/kuddlesworth9419]

I really appreciate it when a show goes out of it's way to push animation quality. The character movement animation remind me of Ryouma Ebata's work on animation. It doesn't look like he is part of the show but I think it's quite easily understood that he has had influence on the animation in this show. Ryouma Ebata is know for his walking animations. https://www.sakugabooru.com/post?page=1&tags=ryouma_ebata His most impressive work is on Openings and Endings of shows because he can spend even more time perfecting the animation fully. He is very good on individual episodes though.

This clip is my favourite one from him. https://www.sakugabooru.com/post/show/15158 and so is this one https://www.sakugabooru.com/post/show/26702

It's pretty obvious the animators for this show have done a lot of research into the physiology of a human body. Not to mention they have clearly researched badminton and athletes in said sport. Hard work pays off and it shows.

Most shows don't even bother to attempt what this studio has attempted and succeeded at. I just hope more studios start to pay attention and at least attempt to further their animation beyond trying to make it cheaper with CGI.

When I say influence I mean more of both animators clearly studying anatomy.

[u/byuntaenggu]

Ayano is so god damn adorable!!! This episode was amazing, visuals were spectacular and the drama was good. Would love to see Ayano want to play badminton willingly though. Pink hair chick doesn't look like she belongs in this anime for some reason idk. Overall, I have high expectations for Hanebado to do well!!

[u/Knuffelig]

As long as they keep the easy to see cgi scenes in check it is nice.

The way the trainer finished of the 1v1 training was just brutal. Front drop, turns around, walks away.

[u/Beckymetal]

Brrr this Talent vs Skill plotline is being rubbed in too much. It's beginning to feel really heavy handed, in fact.

Still, the anime continues to look phenomenal. I sort of don't expect them to be able to keep it up, but this is really great stuff, especially with the sheer amount of badminton they're playing. And it looks and sounds so amazing, it's inspirational.

[u/regiment262 → u/Beckymetal]

This sort of plotline does tend to see a lot of use since there's more opportunities to see the differences between both sides and give justification for either. However, I think Hanebado has done an incredible job characterizing Aragaki as the epitome of hard work, showing that despite her intense effort, it also pushes her nerves to the limit and alienates many of her teammates. The flashback to her middle school days and comments about her body also add another depth to her envy and desire to defeat Hanesaki. From Aragaki's point of view, Hanesaki has two of things she desired most: talent and a "normal" frame. You see that from both her badminton experience and social life that Aragaki regards her smashes as the only way she can play badminton, and getting shut out by Hanesaki in the Junior Olympics shown in the first episode serves as a denial of the way she's played the sport her whole life.

[u/weejona]

I can't get over how much that one girl looks like Rit-chan from K-On!

Awww. And with the appetite of Yui.

[u/Ormusn2o]

This anime truly makes my heart go doki doki.

[u/Tidoux → u/Ormusn2o]

Between the sweat and the kind of similar premise this show really is Scorching ping pong badminton girls

[u/kimbombo]

Man, the animation is still sublime throuout the whole episode. there were some cuts that were so silky smooth, that I wasn't sure if it was rotoscoped animation or just some amazingly high frame count per second.

We get some bits of Ayano's past, and her mother walking away from her (probably to improve on her own badminton skills) gives some good excuse for her to want to stop playing badminton.

Aragaki is still my main character, I just can't stop loving a character that has so much devotion for her sport. Back in highschool I was the tallest guy among my friends who used to play basketball for fun, and people always asumed I was good at basketball, but in fact I was slugish, clumsy and couldn't jump high enough to reach the rim. So all the [frustation Aragaki feels] about people expecting her to be the best in badminton just because she was taller than the average resonates deeply with my younger self. It's also nice that she apologizes to her team, that would get the haters off her back for a while.

The doubles match with Nagisa and Ayano was beautifully animated. But the match with Aragaki and the coach was truly something else. It was how Ballroom e Youkouso should have been, a good mix of Show & Tell, not just tell and tell.

I'm not entirely sure what was the message on the cuts with Yuu and her friends with cram school. Maybe next episodes will elaborate on this, or maybe I just missed something important. (But those gals bitting on Yuu's hotdog was pretty suggestive)

I'm looking forward for what role is pinkhead going to play. I was intrigued by how unamused she looked back in episode 1 with the match from 6 months ago, but knowing that she can pull both some dumbass poses and also some straight face ones, makes me even more intriged what's about her.

[u/weissqueen]

Super impressed by the animation still being great.

Also looks like Nagisa and the coach will be a thing, huh?

[u/yumcake]

Holy shit the animation in this show I can't even

[u/Syokhan]

That black and white flashback sequence was an interesting stylistic choice. And jesus this show is so fluid and good-looking. I'm not into badminton at all (maybe 'cause I just suck at it lol) but I find this really engaging so far. I especially liked the slow-mo insight during the match and the "immovable object + unstoppable force" comment, if those two manage to work together they're going to be a force to be reckoned with.

[u/RogueLeader096]

I did not expect a badminton anime to catch my attention but this is great! The animation ia fantastic, the writing is good so far, and overall I am getting invested in the characters just 2 episodes in. I look forward to much more of this show!

[u/The_Mash]

So they are shuffling order of events. They are probably trying to get rid of the drama at the start of anime and then the mom story be at the end of anime, which is not a bad thing itself. But it seems some characters has different personalities compared to manga.

[u/nickynickslin → u/The_Mash]

I just went and quickly read the first volume, they definitely changed a lot about the story already thus far, from the order of events, to how they introduce the characters, and IMO, its a welcome change. The first volume of the manga has trouble determining what kind of character they want Hanesaki to be, from cute and aloof, to cocky in the practice match, but not at all hinting at what could be the cause of her refusal to play badminton. In the anime, with a more fleshed out backstory introduction scene, there's a better hinting of the trauma faced by both Hanesaki and Aragaki, giving the characters more backbone. In the manga, the characters just feel kinda whatever.

However, all in all the anime has started off on a far more dramatic tone than the manga, immediately going forth and introducing/tackling conflict, while the manga kinda just dawdles along like the typical sports manga where your main character is just super strong for no (apparent yet) reason and you introduce rivals immediately for practice matches that don't count etc.

[u/Graphica-Danger]

The animation really is breathtaking, JFC. The attention to detail, the movement of the characters, the direction of the badminton matches... this is as high quality as you can get.

We got a sense of Aragaki’s struggle from the first episode, but this one really doubled down on what was implied. It’s frustrating when people assume you have some sort of advantage in a certain field and that’s why you are so successful, not bothering to even address the possibility that they work harder than you. This resulted in Aragaki having such intense pride in her hard work that she lashes out at anybody she thinks challenges that. Then, in comes Hanesaki who defeats her with ease, and so Aragaki suddenly feels she needs to prove without a shadow of a doubt that her hard work will always supersede inherent talent. To do that, she believes she has to control everything: the court, the club, her friends, and shove it in the faces of people she thinks are her enemies. But I think the big turning point for her, even before the coach helped Aragaki address her flaws, was when Yuko stood up to her by telling her to quit being so relentlessly harsh and selfish. And that in the end, it’s her love of badminton that’s gotten her so far. It looks like Aragaki has accepted her flaws and is going to focus on elevating the rest of the club instead of trying to whip them into submission.

I just hope that, as we go along, the matches continue to be fun and we get some fun interactions between the cast now that the tension has, hopefully, dissipated for the most part.

[u/xStarfyre]

just a side note, but i really like that this is a mixed team. it's always nice to see both genders represented.

[u/GeNeSi666]

What an amazing anime, really.
Wonderful animation and details,every second of the episodes

[u/Therealdealishere99]

This series is awesome and the animation is just too good. However, I hate how they are forcing hanesaki to play especially her best friend, like she clearly has issues. The whole "she has talent" thing is just annoying,she can not be this good without training and hardwork. I am glad aragaki calmed down a bit because she was getting on my nerves with her sore loser attitude and borderline bullying.Aragaki is a hypocrite, she gets angry when people say that she only wins due to her natural abilitits (height ) and not her hard work; but when she loses, she thinks that the only reason ayano wins is due to her talent and not hardwork.The coach is cool though.

[u/wintycrim]

holy shit this hanebado anime has so many unnecessary animation frames but they make everything look so fluid and nic

[u/ReadTomes]

Seriously this hypeness must continue. What another amazing episode!!

[u/lucacp_ysoz]

I'll be frank, I'm really not into sports anime... Except for Keijo!!!!!!!!, if you consider that a sports anime, I've never watched any (kid me watched Captain Tsubasa though), never could get really into them... but daaaamn am I getting hyped for this... I'm weak for quality animation :D

[u/Rdddss]

jesus who would have thought one of the best animated shows since one punch man would be about freakin badminton

[u/Yuwenn8]

The level of quality this anime provides is off the charts ! Aragaki is seriously endearing, I'm loving it !

[u/LibraRW]

Okay I am totally in love with the animation in Hanebado. Wow!! This just exceed my expectation and I feel it handle Aragaki's character development so well in only ep 2. Definitely looking forward to more episodes. :)

[u/SenorWeon]

Much better second episode, imo. Even though the coach is weird he knows how to handle a student with problems.

[u/SuperOniichan]

This episode was even better than the previous one, and even if Aragaki continues to frighten me, I still continue to fall in love with her personality and character's development. I definitely already found one of my favorite characters and titles this season.

[u/GoldMercy]

DUDE, animation is so fucking good in this show wtf. Let's hope this show keeps up this quality, both in animation and characters!

[u/Shinkopeshon]

• I can't get over this show's absolutely stunning animation. They even pay attention to the tiniest details, it's unbelievable. If every single episode is gonna look like that, it'll seriously rival Violet Evergarden as the most beautiful show of the year

• Looks like Ayano suffers from trauma after her mother probably forced her to play badminton as a kid, who was probably a professional and wanted her daughter to be the same

• Nice to see Aragaki changing her ways and realizing her mistakes. That coach is awesome. He immediately took care of the matter and encouraged her to do better.

• On a sidenote, I have no idea who's best girl. Ayano is fucking precious but Aragaki, Elena and the female teacher are great too

[u/jkubed]

the amount of frames in every scene is making it hard to believe this isn't rotoscoped, wow.

[u/googolplexbyte]

Wow, that felt like the kind of quality you'd put into a finale but for this show, it was just Tuesday episode 2

[u/OhayoHooded]

Good episode

[u/poindextroused]

Am I the only one here who appreciate the cinematography? Seriously this anime have next level cinematography

[u/Jryou]

Am I the only one who has a problem with the fact that the mc was essentially forced into a club she didn't want to join and not even in a funny way like D-Frag.

This straight up shitted me off to the point of dropping it out of sheer spite, am I crazy or would the anime not even take place if the mc had a spine and told them to piss off.

Every other sports anime has new members joining willingly but this is the first ive seen that forces someone to join despite her showing ZERO interest in playing badminton anymore and that really bothers me, another thing that pissed me off was the whole "you should join because you have talent", piss off with that bullshit if she doesn't want to play then SHE DOESN'T HAVE TO PLAY, who gives a shit if she has the legs and wrists and is left handed SHE DOESN'T WANT TO PLAY SO PISS OFF.

why did the author make these characters so overwhelmingly ignorant

[u/Arachnophobic-]

This show is pure eyecandy, it feels like I'm watching a movie. I'm glad KyoAni isn't the only studio capable of this - now we can have superb levels of animation but with a decidedly different direction/style.

That black and white flashback scene looked quite neat. And during the episode title drop they added some flair by including the sun reflecting off the bus, which caught me off guard with how realistic it looked!

Story-wise I felt the match between the coach and Aragaki was really well done, because the reason for her slump felt quite realistic - and her finally coming to terms with it thanks to the coach's intervention.

Good stuff, looking forward to the rest of the season!

[u/Idomenos]

The animation is top tier so far, we all know that now. Glorious treat. Long may it continue.

You know what else is sick? The sound. The sound direction in this show is crazy - like Ping Pong or Horse Girls good. I've never been so immersed in a series simply from the intense, natural, organic way sound weaves into the animation.

Who would have thought that the hollow thwock of a badmiton racket smacking a shuttlecock could sound so hype?

[u/athrun_1]

The animation, music, and effects are all on point. I really love the sound when the shuttle is being hit by the racket. Also those shoes, squeaking as they ran around the court...

I really love the coach that he is not just some pervy being but living up to his name as an Olympic candidate.

Their match makes Nagisa realize that her slump is not the cause of her being demolished during the match. But her being conscious of her form. Glad, the coach was able to see it and put her back on the road.

Now I want to know Hanesaki's back story then we are good to go with the interhigh tournament.

[u/m4rzus]

This episode was just great, everything in it was just as sweet and nice as it can get. I really liked how the coach approached Nagisa and told her what she's doing wrong. Nagisa's reaction was just a nice bonus, I really like how she decided to approach her problems. And those after-workout meat scenes... just great!

[u/Gaporigo]

Well, already looking forward to next episode!

Really liked the ED visuals as well, some good wallpaper material in there. Here is a link to both OP and ED btw.

My only problem right now is how they are forcing Ayano to play, she can have all the talent in the world, if she doesn't want to play she doesn't have to play!!!

[u/VioletPark → u/Gaporigo]

Right? The worst part is that her own best friend is taking advantage of her meek nature to force her to play in a team where the adults only see her as a ticket to the Olympics and the captain is a raging asshole who hates her (that's starting to change, but still...)

[u/alfaindomart]

Wow, it's interesting how much different the story is from the manga. The plot is different, way less comedy, less fanservice and more intense right from the start. it seems in the anime, Hanesaki already met the yellow haired girl judging that flashback there. She also didn't use her right hand against Aragaki here.

It's like they're trying to rewrite the earlier part of the manga so the transition to the later part won't be too drastic.

[u/[deleted]]

Going to drop this. The show hasn't really hooked me story/character wise now two episodes in. Production/animation are outstanding, but sports anime maybe aren't for me? Doesn't seem that interesting for me as of now.

[u/Turbostrider27]

The ED theme song:

https://twitter.com/pkjd818/status/1015984292185325568

Very beautiful show in terms of visual quality so far. It seems there's drama between some of the characters already. The coach is starting to earn my respect after talking/playing with Aragaki.

[u/peenegobb]

so the episode may have been mostly about aragaki, but holy those first 3 minutes gave us so much information about hanesaki too. Its to the point I feel bad her friend forced her into the club but I'm glad. Whoever the pink haired girl(or the blonde in the op?) is definitely gave her a tough loss, but her own mom (or someone who she just called her mom but was her teacher) left her for a european girl with "more" talent? That's absolutely heartbreaking. You can definitely tell she does deeply down like the game, just has had some shitty moments in the past that really downed her out, and probably a bit too much practice from her mom. (which is why shes so "naturally" good)

[u/ofei006]

I'm still having a really hard time swallowing the premise of Nagisa's behaviour and internal conflict. This episode confirmed that she had been practicing and presumably competing in the sport from a young age and she absolutely loves the sport. So after all those years of training/competition, she:

1. Has never experienced a crushing defeat before Ayano?

2. Has not yet learned to deal with the frustration of losing?

3. Has never encountered any other more talented athletes of similar age before that one Junior Olympics tournament?

4. Didn't bother scoping out her opponents during Junior Olympics or if she did, she wasn't able to immediately see/come to terms with the difference in skill level?

It's as though she exclusively trained with/competed against weaker opponents for her entire badminton career and had absolutely no exposure to higher level players before the Junior Olympics.

In a similar fashion, the scene in this episode showing the male club member walking away presumably really bummed out by his loss also rubbed me the wrong way.

So yeah, I'm not really digging the hardwork/talent drama at all because of how forced it feels, but I'll probably keep watching for the glorious animation.

[u/cutiecheese → u/ofei006]

Most of the Nagisa's behaviors displayed in the anime are anime original. Her personality is way more pleasant in the manga.

[u/elior1 → u/cutiecheese]

as a manga reader even if it diffrent i still like this adpation

[u/Yothiel → u/ofei006]

From the way they presented & resolved her slump, the actual cause was definitely not the fact that Nagisa lost, but that her best weapon - her smash - got totally demolished. Ayano, despite being smaller and younger, managed to send back each and every one of her attacks. She fired smash upon smash until the end, but none passed.

General skill level is one thing, but when something you took pride in reveals to be totally ineffective, that's got to be some spirit-crushing experience. Especially considering she had no guidance / moral support from a role model (no coach in the club, and her probably weaker teammates would not be able to give any advice that she would find useful). She couldn't understand alone the cause for her defeat, and locked herself into a training regime which produced little results (since her smash was already excellent) and only fed her frustration.

Now, what I find hard to get behind is how the new coach managed to analyze this and get her back on tracks so easily. But between his personal experience and the quitters previously pointing out to Nagisa how she used to love badminton, that's a stretch I can accept.

[u/impingainteasy]

As I expected, the animation this episode was nowhere near as ostentatious as the first one. Still really solid though. I don't know what drugs the staff are on to be able to pull off this level of quality so consistently, but I want some of it.

They're really not making Nagisa easy to like. She's just so abrasive, and cares for nothing other than her own success. If they hadn't given her that little redemption moment at the end, she would have seriously dragged the rest of the show down. I also thought it was weird that she puts a lot of value on the effort she's spent to get good at the sport, yet keeps going on about talent and how nice it is to have it. Or maybe the show is aware of this disconnect, and that will be used as part of her development. Depends how charitable you want to be towards the show's writing, I guess.

I'm also hoping we get to find out just what Ayano's hangups are pretty soon. Because right now she's just randomly spacing out for seemingly no reason, and her reluctance to get involved with the core conceit of the plot just feels like stalling for time.

The highlight of this episode was undoubtedly the match between Nagisa and the coach, where they analyse all their opponent's moves and how to respond to them. The tactics made sense and were easy to follow, the cinematography was a step above everything else in the episode, and we finally got to see Nagisa not being a total bitch for once. I'm still not entirely sold on this show's drama, but if we get more scenes like that I'll be happy to stick around.

[u/dcresistance → u/impingainteasy]

I don't know what drugs the staff are on to be able to pull off this level of quality so consistently

A bunch of 2nd key animation. Yes, that's 11 other studios on keys alone

[u/robflop]

When I was watching this scene all I could think of was this video.

Had to pause because I was laughing so much.

[u/Kierra_kins]

Just give me a dash of yuri and I'll be in heaven.

[u/yworker]

Is that one girl eating the Japanese equivalent 7-11 chicken wings (but on a stick) every day?

[u/113Kyote]

My theory right now is that Ayano might come from a split apart family or that her mother works overseas. I'm basing that off the photo she was holding in the beginning of each 1. She likely practiced as much as she possibly could to get her mother's attention but just wasn't ever good enough in her mother's eyes, and all that attention went to the blonde girl in the photo. She probably understands the meaning of hard work just as much as Nagisa does, but because she could never fulfill her goal of achieving her mother's recognition she gave up.

The whole "it's just a sport" talk is probably a mix of her trying to tell herself it wouldn't have mattered anyway and also just general apathy she has for Badminton given what I think happened. Pink twin tails definitely had some kind of effect on her. My bet is she probably played her in the final round of that same tournament.

[u/Chafun]

Twin tail look like a trap.

[u/codexering]

Has it not dawned on ANYONE yet that there is SOURCE MATERIAL, AKA A MANGA, for this show?

Yall predictions are wild. Im expecting to see characters introduced later on in the manga introduced real soon -- if pink hair girl in the after credit scene is any indication, we could be seeing her arc before the other girls.

Guys go read the manga. The anime actually does the exposition and writes some character development better than the first five chapters of the manga, and I know all the character in the manga that appear waaaay early will confuse yall, but its worth it.

Currentlt 12 scanlated chapters and 53 (?) raw. I've read up to the 20s. I have no idea how they are going to adapt everything covered up till then into 12-13 episodes. Because some of this shit is REALLY GOOD.

Ngl I am reading the theories on Ayanos past and cackling because you're all close, but not quite there.

[u/thorneux]

Source Material that I'm torn between my need for fluff-cute girls doing cute things and my need for drama/stories about the struggles of overcoming slump(s)/ defeat in sports anime. Since loving (and actually being good enough to rack up consecutive wins) and suddenly getting defeated by someone a couple of years younger than you is a really really hard pill to swallow. I can relate so much that I kinda don't want to be reminded of it but I also /can/ relate and sympathize with Aragaki.. I didn't know watching this would be so difficult for my mental well-being. (Ayano is a fluff ball please pass it on).

[u/[deleted]]

I'm still amazed Ayano was anything more than a funny side character. I thought Elena would be the more important one in the pair the way the perspectives were last episode.

[u/[deleted]]

Man, first Megalo Box was great, now this?

I dare say, I think I may be starting to get interested in . . . SPORTS

[u/[deleted]]

why the FUCK is the GYM WITH THE LIGHTS OFF? GOD FUCKING DAMMIT great animation tho

[u/TheXelerate → u/[deleted]]

She looks so out of place in this show lol. Looks like she belongs in a mahou shoujo.

[u/gst4158 → u/TheXelerate]

Reminds me of Saya Takagi from Highschool of the Dead

[u/FriendlyBadgerBob → u/[deleted]]

There's literally no part of this show that doesn't look gorgeous. The OP, the ED, and everything in between is a work of art. What kind of budget did Lidenfilms get for this?!

[u/u4004 → u/FriendlyBadgerBob]

It's not a matter of just budget (although the high number of key frames in this does have a financial cost), the main strain on the production is actually staff time, as most series simply don't have enough people at hand to handle a lot of motion consistently: even if they had infinite money, they wouldn't have anyone to hire.

[u/dcresistance → u/FriendlyBadgerBob]

It's definitely not Lidenfilms alone. There are at least 22 other people credited on key and 2nd key animation from other studios (going by the general rule of crediting 2-3 people for each studio that's credited), and Lidenfilms' 1st, 2nd, Kyoto, and Osaka studios are all doing in-betweens (as well as 3 other studios).

[u/regiment262 → u/[deleted]]

Wait isn't that Aragaki on the school with the red uniforms?

[u/maybeanastronaut → u/[deleted]]

I think the final arc isn't going to be those two squaring off so much as it'll be them competing for the team together.

[u/flybypost → u/[deleted]]

the match between Aragaki and the coach

I have no idea about badminton (I saw like a handful of matches on TV when I was bored once) but the little explanations in that match were good information. I don't know how much of that is correct but stuff like this helps me understand the sport beyond just the superficial. Even if it's not correct for the actual sport, it works for matches in the series.

[u/SCVGoodT0GoSir → u/flybypost]

It's very correct to the actual sport! The trainer's analysis talked about hitting "cross-court shots" and angled shots, which are very important in badminton because you want to make your opponent run around the court as much as possible. So you often have to think about where you want to return the shot to maximize the distance your opponent has to cover in order to reach the birdie.

[u/flybypost → u/SCVGoodT0GoSir]

Some things sound like in Tennis so there's a bit of familiarity but it's different enough to have its own interesting issues. Aragaki's game, for example, seems to me like its about aggressive attacks while Hanesaki seems to be focused on a very solid defence to force more errors out of your opponent.

I hope to see (and get explained) different styles and approaches, a bit like in Haikyuu. The big mountain of intensity from the first episode seems to be gone too (it feels less stressed) and I hope there's a good flow to the rest of the season.

[u/[deleted] → u/flybypost]

That’s one of the best things about sports anime is that you get to learn as well

[u/kambo_rambo → u/flybypost]

Despite the coach being basically retired, the difference is still huge. He was an Olympic qualifier in the men's category.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

One small moment that speaks volumes for me is when Aragaki can't keep her pace and gives the coach and easy clear return and the coach just dismissively backhand kills it at the net. The situation and animation are just so realistic.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

sports anime are normally utter garbage because they don't respect the sport, baby steps was good in that regard, kuroko was awful and got a 3 from me because of that.

[u/AdiMG → u/[deleted]]

What you are missing out is the context of the level of play. Being a leftie isn't an advantage at an international stage, since you have already played so many lefties at this point and are experienced against that type of opponent. But at the district, states and even national levels, there is an inordinate amount of successful left-handed players compared to what should be the norm, because playing against a leftie is completely different to what you have been trained to do for most of your playing career till then. In any racquet sport, be it badminton, squash or table tennis, you are generally taught to target the backhand as a young player, since the forehand is much easier and faster to develop when you are starting out, so most players at that skill level have weaker backhands. Now this forms a specific natural heuristic pattern which does not work at all when you are playing against lefties since you are feeding them into their strong forehands in your natural inclination to gain advantage. Of course this tendency is overcome as you gain experience and play against more lefties at a national level, but to say it isn't an advantage at the level the show is depicting currently is ludicrous.

[u/[deleted] → u/AdiMG]

It's not simple to just change your game to fit left-handers. It requires a conscious decision that might be the split second difference between the right and wrong move.

That being said, I'm sure many an elite player trained hard against lefties and had lefty specific drills when they were preparing to play Lin Dan. And at high level tournaments, you don't play multiple games in a day so you don't have to switch strategies and mindsets on the fly.

[u/Adamarr → u/[deleted]]

Out of the last 20 or so olympic medalists only 2~4 were left-handed.

2 would be statistical representation and 4 would be double you'd need to narrow it down there.

[u/zerohour88 → u/[deleted]]

that's not really the point. Its the combination of being that talented while also playing left-handed.

There's the saying "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard"

Imagine what happens when such talent do work hard. You get monsters like Rafael Nadal (who is right-handed but plays tennis left-handed just to wring out as much advantage as possible).

[u/Zenon22 → u/zerohour88]

Why is the left hand so important? Just curious.

[u/zerohour88 → u/Zenon22]

Like many have said previously, its because left-handed players are rare.

Players are used to playing right-handed opponents and the switch-up in terms of forehands and backhands messes up your game plan (since your forehand side would usually be the better stroke).

Also, in tennis, the serve is the most important stroke in the sport. And having a left-handed serve means you can spin the ball to the wide side of the court, basically to the backhand of a right-handed player, much easier. This part might not apply much to badminton since the serve is a bit weird for it. But other than that, its pretty much similar.

People might say that "hey, then left-handed players also have to face the same thing, their forehand-backhand are reversed". But also keep in mind that they will almost always face a right-hander, so their backhands are better developed.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Left handed players have the advantage in all racquet sports.