Ryman's Club

What got me into this anime series was the simple fact that it is a sports anime that (finally) does not take place in a high school setting. I was curious to see how well the anime's creators could work both a corporate environment and a sports club into the fairly small screen time of twelve episodes, which they pulled off. By having a male lead, everything feels more adult. Some of the issues are more interesting than the typical high school dramas. Even the bromance is somehow more acceptable. On the other hand, the constant jumping between the office and the badminton court was distracting, and it did not feel very coherent. It felt like the two environments (work and sports) conflicted with each other rather than complementing each other. There were moments when it worked; some issues linked the two in an interesting way. On the other hand, the anime series contains certain tropes, and one of the plot arcs that was meant to raise the stakes and intensify the conclusion was too predictable. Fortunately, the end itself was quite good and full of atmosphere. I was quite surprised how much I enjoyed it, considering that I watched most of the season with icy calmness. Even though this anime series shows various tricky relationships between the players (former teammates and siblings), you do not feel any intensity, so I thought the rivalry did not work. The badminton part did not appeal to me that much. A lot of stuff is going on off-screen, and we only see the occasional short exchange. I think the sport should be one of the main focuses in a sports anime, so I found there was not enough actual playing. It was impossible to show everything without more screen time, so bearing that in mind, Salaryman's Club ends up a good show. 6.3/10. (17/04/2022)