Extreme Hearts

[Liddo-kun]

episode 9:

tense final moments in that volleyball match. Michelle crying when they are about to lose.

I just realized volleyball needed 6, so they still had one robot in the team. As expected, the opponent scored through that robot first. lol

anyway, they won. Looking forward to Rise next performance.

Maika, the leader of Link Dolls.. hard to explain, but she gives off a vibe similar to the girls in Cinderella Nine anime.

Looking forward to the match next week.

[Lukes YGO & WS on YT]

Down 28-4 and Hiyori is also down injured.

I wasn't expecting a really bad start like that.

I guess it adds more drama and interest for next episode leaving us wondering what will happen next and if they can somehow pull off a miracle win.

[stray]

This whole episode screamed of something bad happening. I think they're in the national competition no matter what now though.

[FlareKnight]

Geeze, what a way to end the episode. Kind of a strange approach. But I guess it creates some good drama heading into the next episode.

Kind of expecting Sachi to pull off something dramatic considering her declaration in this episode. All the more so with Hiyori down and injured.

[Liddo-kun]

episode 10:

the volleyball game between MayBee and Link@Doll is closem but MayBee is just too strong.

anyway, a bit of relaxation before the final. It's so nice to see Rise and Snow Wolf girls go to the hospital to cheer up the kids and old people.

friendship with Snow Wolf allow Rise to have a backup band + people who tune up their robots for free.

final game looks bad with Hiyori getting a knee injury... nasty cliffhanger.

looking forward to next week.

[Liddo-kun]

episode 11:

intense final moments there. It was truly a hard earned win for Rise. I did not expect Hiyori to play through with her injury. Also being friends with the Snow Wolf girls helped a lot here.

my only complaint is when Hiyori was being given first aid for the injury.. they had to sub one robot into the team. Feels like plot armor that May Bee was not able to take advantage of a robot being there.

anyway, looking forward to the performance next week.

[FlareKnight]

I was really split on this one. Part of me was good with the old playing through injury and gutting out a win side of it. And the other wanted to see Hiyori pay a serious price for being absolutely reckless. Obviously this tournament matters. But they've already done a good job getting eyeballs and ears on Hiyori's music. If she screws up her foot or ankle it's going to impact her musical career which was the main point of doing this in the first place and is going to continue after any tournaments conclude.

Also I love how 19 minutes into the episode they have an occasion to even mention fouls "and one" shots . I kind of found that funny since they've mostly just presumed everyone knows how all these sports work anyways.

It would be kind of fitting if Hiyori was physically unable to appear in the performance. But it's the last episode and we're probably never seeing these characters again, so she'll definitely be there .

[Kazu-kun]

Funny how I had no expectations for this show but it ended up being pretty solid with a pretty good and dramatic climax. It's almost the exact opposite of Lycoris Recoil, a show I had a lot of expectations for that ended up being a disappointment.

[stray]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

It would be kind of fitting if Hiyori was physically unable to appear in the performance. But it's the last episode and we're probably never seeing these characters again, so she'll definitely be there .

I'm sure there will be a mobile game or something if not a season 2 eventually. Seems weird that something more hasn't been announced yet.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by stray

I'm sure there will be a mobile game or something if not a season 2 eventually. Seems weird that something more hasn't been announced yet.

I could definitely see the game happening. Although odds of something like that making it globally seems a long-shot at least not until several years later so I definitely wouldn't notice. Season 2 is possible although not sure it will happen. Maybe if a game does come out and does well.

[stray]

I didn't really see myself following a sports/idol anime at the beginning of the season but that was a rather fun ride. Final episode was definitely all about the idols. Nice to see Snow Wolf become part of the group more and more. Episode ended on a preview for... something but we'll see what gets announced.

[Nachtwandler]

Funny thing that it actually may be better without idol part. I get that idols are popular and it was used as a plot kicker but still. All in all it was a good show, not great but good. They'll probably make a game or manga out of it. I doubt it will be anything else but I hope we'll see something new from Tsuzuki soon (after all, new Nanoha and Dog Days instllations were quite long ago).

[serenade_beta]

Spoiler for final thoughts:

It actually... wasn't bad. Considering there is another anime out there that is supposedly Idol x Something else and utterly sucks, I think separately, the idol part has a good amount of hand drawn scenes and is pretty cute, and the sports part is pretty good to watch too.

However, I still don't see much reason to combine the two together, and frankly, these high school girls are extra-ordinary being able to do so many sports, school, and idols all at the same time. Frankly not believable.
Also, the robot thing is so... fluffy. Their abilities, the fact you can use them against humans, etc.
So if you think more deeply about the story, it's kinda fantasy, but still, I think it wasn't that bad for these types of anime.

8/10

[Liddo-kun]

episode 12:

so much dancing this episode, I enjoyed watching May Bee performance. Hiyori is so happy she cried.

and they're saying it's not the end. Maybe there might indeed be a season 2. Hopefully, sales would be good so they get funding for another season.

[Kazu-kun]

Not perfect, but better than Lycoris Recoil at least.

8/10

[EroKing]

[FlareKnight]

This was alright. The concert stuff was a good way to finish it up.

Not sure that I expect more from this show in terms of another season. It was solid, but nothing overly special either. The early going was pretty good, but it was pretty normal the rest of the way. Nothing really stood out. But I respect the effort to try and smash music and sports together like this.

A decent 6.5/10.

[Infinite Zenith]

While this series has heart, the musical piece wasn't strictly necessary, and the concept would have worked sufficiently well with ordinary sports. Having said this, the idea of mixing the sports up as a tournament is sufficiently unique, and the characters work well enough together. However, from a thematic standpoint, Extreme Hearts is very weak: Hypersports doesn't sell the idea that "teamwork makes the dream work" any more effectively than ordinary sports would.

Having said all this, this is the weaker of the two music-oriented series in the past season. The other music-series is superior on the basis that there was a legitimate reason for their to be music, and that piece was tightly integrated with the theme: using music to bolster morale in a world troubled by an extended conflict provides a very clear aim, one which Extreme Hearts completely lacks. In the absence of music, Extreme Hearts would still work, whereas in the other series, music is an integral part of things. Overall, if one had limited time, the other series would be the preferred option every time: the world-building is better, there is a solid reason for why everyone gets to sing, and the characters' struggles are more relatable. Here in Extreme Hearts, the stakes just aren't there by comparison, and while the performances are better-animated, this alone doesn't offset things. Between this and the other idol series of the season, the other series wins hands down, making Extreme Hearts feel like a waste of time by comparison.

[FlareKnight]

One thing I will give Extreme Hearts...is that I liked the cast more than the other idol focused anime of the season. It definitely is the one that needs the musical element the least. Could have made it work with just the sports with just different stakes needed. It didn't keep me the whole way through. But that initial push in the opening episode was sweet. A girl that was struggling to get her music heard and a sporty fan that ended up full of determination to take her to a stage where she could be heard.

Wasn't a great show. But there were elements in it I liked.

[Nachtwandler]

People still try to recreate UmaMusume success forgetting that idol part we're almost non-existent in the anime version.