Of all things, MeinMMO demon Cortyn has been enchanted by a sports anime. Because Birdie Wing manages to make even boring golf great.
The world of anime is big and colorful – there is basically something for every taste. Even though I give pretty much all series a chance, there is one genre that I usually just ignore: sports series. I find sports like football, handball or volleyball incredibly boring to watch “in real life”. When everyone sits screaming in front of the TV at a World Cup, I usually fall asleep out of boredom before kick-off.
Accordingly, I was always skeptical about sports anime. As a child, I watched “Kickers” or “Mila Superstar” for lack of alternatives – but I was never really enthusiastic about them.
But now it’s hit me. Because after much hesitation, I watched “Birdie Wing – Golf Girls’ Story” – and it was everything I never expected.
Birdie Wing – Golf Girls’ Story – Unexpectedly great anime
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Birdie Wing tells the story of two young women who have a passion for golf.
Aoi Amawashi is considered an up-and-coming professional talent at a Japanese school and is currently gaining her first experience at well-known national tournaments. She is partly exploited by her mother, who primarily wants to increase the awareness of her company, which produces sports products.
Opposite is Eve from the fictional European country of Nafrese. She also plays golf, but for completely different reasons: She earns money playing dubious underground games in order to support her friends, who in turn look after children who are in the country illegally.
However, Eve’s life takes a dramatic turn when she accidentally plays a game against Aoi – for the first time in her life she is really challenged and the two immediately develop a rivalry and vow to have a real duel in the future.
But thanks to Eve’s “underground golf” activities, she becomes the protégé of a mafia boss and has to play games for him that are intended to resolve conflicts between the parties without bloodshed – and in the process she finds herself in the line of fire.
Birdie Wing thrives on its great characters. Regardless of whether you take the two protagonists Eve and Aoi or the numerous supporting characters such as the crazy Vipére, the mafia members or the veteran golf trainers – they all have interesting and comprehensible stories with exciting twists and well-founded motivations.
Of course, Birdie Wing also has what we like to call “anime nonsense.” Because the different characters have different “special moves” that they use when playing golf. Be it Eve’s “Rainbow Bullets” or other powers of her opponents, which are mostly just a symbol of their years of practice and the focus they put into the sport.
What’s more, Birdie Wing is simply a wonderfully complete experience. The anime comes to a worthy and satisfying end without it seeming rushed or giving you the feeling that there has to be a second season.
I’m sure there are many people like me. If you don’t like sports shows in real life, you’ll probably avoid anime too. But that was, at least in this case, a mistake.
Birdie Wing was a thoroughly well-rounded and compelling experience that has opened my mind to sports anime – something I no longer thought would ever happen.
I can only recommend the series to you. It doesn’t matter whether you like sport, great characters or simply a captivating story – and you’ll learn a few golf terms along the way.
I never found golf particularly exciting. That has changed thanks to Birdie Wing.