100-Meter Dash Review – Mesmerising Animation of Young Athletes in Search for Mind-Body Elevation
Much has been recorded about the practice of running, a healing activity with potential for emotional liberation. Within the context of professional sports, however, the strain of competition can lead athletes to forget of this primary objective. Adapted from the eponymous manga, Kenji Iwaisawa’s spellbinding anime looks beyond prizes and accolades to investigate the existential drive that drives an athlete’s ambition.
Plot Overview
100 Meters chronicles Togashi and Komiya, childhood friends whose career trajectories separate when they go pro. Once the fastest grade-schooler in Japan, Togashi helps the less confident Komiya with the fundamentals. As the twosome move through their teens and their 20s, Komiya progressively advances up the leaderboard of top athletes, while Togashi is trapped in a decline; both struggle with anxieties and insecurities. Spanning more than 15 years, the story documents their mental obstacles, laying bare the challenges of an athlete’s life, locked in a loop of public scrutiny, achievement demands and endorsement requirements.
Artistic Strengths
Possibly it’s down to the source material, but the film’s response to these intricate issues is rather superficial; time and time again, a lead’s mental struggles quickly dissolve after a lengthy conversation with a colleague or elder. But what the film falls short in narrative subtlety and tempo, it redeems itself with in breathtaking graphics. Utilizing live-action tracing, in which cartooning is traced over real-life video, the movie creates remarkably precise running sequences. The physical exertion of a race is on full display, and the struggle and triumph of rivalry are engraved on the characters’ bodies.
Unforgettable Scenes
One especially significant race concludes in the storm, with sheets of charcoal lines that overwhelm the screen. Beyond spoken words, these displays of creative mastery embody the near-transcendent euphoria the animation aims to evoke.
100 Meters is showing in the United Kingdom from the 16th of November.
