One series that is getting rave reviews (from me at least) is the men's gymnastics sports series Backflip. Filled to the brim with wonderful animation (I even like the CG gymnastics routines) and a story that is slowly unfolding, Backflip is proving to be the underdog series of the season.
In this series, the first episode starts with a kid named Shotaro who is finishing his junior high career as a perpetual bench warmer on his baseball team. He is definitely an athlete, having already done swimming and soccer as well, but now he finds himself lacking in direction and is unsure what to do with his high school career. That is until he stumbles across a men's high school rhythmic gymnastics meet and sees a routine by Ao High School who, even though they don't win, still impresses Shotaro to the nth degree.
So much so, in fact, that when asked what he wants to do with his high school career by his parents, he decides to attend Ao High just so that he can join the rhythmic gymnastics team! This story will be a coming-of-age teamwork story about a young man attempting to find his place on the team as the resident newbie and in the world at large.
Telling an original story that can't be spoiled by anyone, studio Zexcs is handling the animation with Toshimasa Kuroyanagi serving as the director. They are working off scripts written by Toshizo Nemoto. The series is scheduled to run for 12 episodes.
Is Backflip on Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, or Funimation in English Sub or Dub?
As of Tuesday, April 20th, 2021, the only place to watch Backflip legally is on Crunchyroll where it is streaming weekly in its original Japanese with subtitles. There are currently no announced plans to stream the series with an English dub, but we will update this article should this change.
Backflip is an amazing series so far and while they haven't done much with the overall story yet, it's still just so fun to watch and I predict there will be many tears shed by the time this series comes to a close as these teammates grow closer together and bond over their shared love of the sport they're competing in.
Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!
Anime