100 Meters Review – A charming anime for young athletes looking for physical and spiritual advancement | film

MMuch has been written about the act of running, which is a therapeutic exercise with the potential to trigger cleansing. But in the context of professional sports, the pressure of competition can cause people to lose sight of that ultimate goal. Adapted from the manga of the same name, this charming anime by director Kenji Iwaisawa looks beyond trophies and medals to investigate the existential drive that motivates an athlete’s ambition.

100 Meters follows Togashi and Komiya, childhood friends whose life paths differ when they become professionals. Togashi was formerly the fastest student in his class in Japan, and helps the less self-confident Komiya with the basics. As the duo enters their teens and twenties, Komiya steadily moves up the rankings of top athletes, while Togashi is stuck in a slump; Both battle fears and insecurities. Spanning more than 15 years, the story traces internal obstacles and reveals the struggles of an athlete’s life, confined within a cycle of public scrutiny, performance expectations and sponsorship demands.

Perhaps it’s down to the source material, but the film’s response to these complex dilemmas is fairly easy; Time and again, a character’s inner doubts simply disappear after a long conversation with a peer or elder. But what 100 Meters lacks in narrative precision and rhythm, it makes up for with dazzling images. Using rotoscoping, where animation is traced over live footage, the film creates stunningly detailed playback sequences. The physical exertion of speed racing is on full display, and the pain and joy of competition are etched on the characters’ bodies.

One particularly important race ends in rain, with cascades of gray smudges engulfing the tyre. More than any dialogue, these explosions of stylistic brilliance encapsulate the almost spiritual sublime that the film aims to evoke.