Spring 2021 First Impressions – Burning Kabaddi

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Story Summary: Tatsuya thought he’d left sports behind after middle school. Irritated by the cliquish-ness he encountered as a soccer player, as well as by the undue pressure forced on him by adults, he decided to drop sports all together and reinvent himself as a live streamer. His fan count has yet to reach the double-digits, but Tatsuya remains optimistic. His dreams are interrupted, though, by a first-year named Azemichi, who knocks on his door and begs him to join the school kabaddi club. Tatsuya’s “no sports” policy is challenged once there’s a little blackmail involved, so he’s convinced to check out the club, if only once. One thing leads to another, and the combination of strategy and physicality that kabaddi demands is more interesting than he would have thought. After losing a bet, Tatsuya is forced to become a member of the team.

Impressions: Early on during this episode, Tatsuya quips that kabaddi, despite his own preconceived notions, might not only be the punchline to a bunch of jokes in anime and manga. Which is funny because it’s true; the only other time I believe I’ve heard of the sport is as the framing device for a situation that’s at least meant to be comical (In Chio’s School Road, if I’m not mistaken, where the character playing kabaddi was… not a good person). Always happy to learn something new, I appreciate the fact that much of the second half of this episode is devoted to the ins and outs of basic kabaddi rules and strategy. One might think that a bunch of muscly combatants facing off on a gym mat might not lend itself to to much nuanced decision-making, but knowing how a player’s height and skills weigh into their movement style can be the difference between winning or losing a point.

While the sport of kabaddi quickly proves itself to be interesting, I’m not sure I feel the same way about most of the characters. I find Tatsuya to be especially unlikeable. Much like Maeshima from Skate-Leading Stars last season, Tatsuya seems to have a cynical streak and a superiority complex, resulting in an off-putting attitude. I don’t want to say that all characters in every story have to be upstanding and approachable, but I’m not going to lie and say I’m not very exhausted by characters who are just grade-A assholes the majority of the time, especially when I’m supposed to feel invested in a new anime series starring such characters – one of many in a field of options this season. If I’m faced with a choice between a character I like or am interested in, and one who’s a jackass, I’ll likely choose the one with the character who isn’t constantly complaining or exhibiting an inflated ego.

Aesthetically, this episode is okay. Functionally it does a fine job of explaining kabaddi and gives a good impression of the ways in which it could be interesting to watch. As a young club, the kabaddi team has room to grow and get better. But there’s something about this episode that feels insincere, and if you asked me to explain just exactly what it was that gave me that impression I’m not sure I’d be able to. It’s as though it wants to disprove kabaddi as a joke sport, but somewhere deep inside the narrative doesn’t actually believe that to be true. I, much like Tatsuya, feel vaguely manipulated into participating and have been subjected to a lot of extremely aggressive bellowing by the characters, which makes the entire exercise feel forced; if kabaddi is so great, then why would you have to yell about it so hard that you burst an aneurism? Shouldn’t the quality speak for itself? That’s honestly just the vibe this episode gives off. I didn’t find it offensive or grossly incompetent, but it’s also not that charming or memorable, either.

Pros: As I mentioned, it was nice to get an explanation of kabaddi’s rules and such. I used to be the type of geek who pooh-pooh’d all sports due to some unaddressed gym class trauma from my secondary school days, but I’ve reached the point in my life where I genuinely find sports interesting (even if I’m still not willing to play most of them). It’s enjoyable to gain some insight into a new one.

Cons: The characters’ attitudes just feel overly-aggressive to me. I realize that the name of the series, Burning Kabaddi, implies some level of intensity to be had within the various facets of the narrative, but I’ve realized over the years that I much prefer the style of low-key sports series that hone in on the internal lives of their characters as opposed to ones that are more focused on action and intensity. This series feels very surface-level, dealing more with cool guys battling one-another and being bros, which is fine; it’s just not really my favorite.

Content Warnings: Minor blackmailing. Kabaddi is generally a very physical sport, so there’s some physical violence/tackling that comes along with it.

Would I Watch More? – Probably not. It’s definitely not bad, I’m just not feeling it.