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Plenty has been documented about the act of running, a healing activity with ability for emotional liberation. Within the context of elite athletics, however, the pressure of competition can cause individuals to overlook of this fundamental aim. Adapted from the same-named comic, Kenji Iwaisawa’s mesmerising anime looks beyond awards and honors to investigate the existential drive that spurs an athlete’s ambition.

Plot Overview

The Sprint Story traces Togashi and Komiya, youth companions whose career trajectories diverge when they go pro. Once the quickest elementary student in Japan, Togashi guides the less self-assured Komiya with the essentials. As the duo enter their youth and early maturity, Komiya consistently improves up the leaderboard of premier sportspeople, while Togashi is mired in a rut; both battle anxieties and insecurities. Spanning more than 15 years, the narrative tracks their internal hurdles, laying bare the struggles of an sports professional’s journey, caught in a loop of media attention, performance expectations and endorsement requirements.

Artistic Strengths

Perhaps it’s down to the original work, but the movie’s approach to these complicated problems is rather superficial; frequently, a character’s inner doubts simply disappear after a extended discussion with a colleague or elder. But what the film is deficient in plot refinement and tempo, it makes up for in stunning imagery. Utilizing live-action tracing, in which animation is drawn atop real-life video, the movie generates stunningly detailed running sequences. The physical exertion of a sprint is on full display, and the pain and the joy of rivalry are etched on the characters’ bodies.

Impactful Sequences

One particularly momentous race ends in the storm, with torrents of monochrome brushwork that immerse the screen. Apart from conversation, these displays of stylistic brilliance capture the quasi-enlightened elation the film aims to inspire.

The Sprint Film is released in Britain from November 16.