In sports anime, the shortest guy on the team is usually the most enthusiastic— aspiring volleyball star Hinata in Haikyu and champion swimmer Nagisa in Free are so excited about competing, they don’t worry about their size. Kenji Gion (voice by Stephen Sanders), the hero of the broadcast series All Out!! (2016), hates being short. He has a major meltdown if anyone makes a crack about his size.

On his first day at Jinko High, Gion rescues fellow freshman Sumiaki Iwashimizu (Justin Briner), who’s being bullied by upperclassmen. Iwashimizu has been playing rugby since middle school. Although he’s a good player, he’s haunted by the time he accidentally injured his best friend during a game. Iwashimizu stands 6’2”; the frustrated Gion dubs him “Tree Trunk.” Of course, Iwashimizu rejoins the team and Gion follows suit, although he’s never played rugby.

Rugby has been described as the closest thing to a demolition derby humans can participate in and survive. Its fast pace and often chaotic-seeming plays attract Gion. Although rugby players are generally tall and muscular (Ryujin Zanba of the rival Ryoin team is 6’4” and 215), people with any body type can play. And, more important to Gion, there are no designated clean-up hitters or ace spikers; whoever has ball in a given moment is the star.

Gion throws himself into game, eager to tackle every player he sees. His small size enables him to hit the bigger guys low, knocking them off their feet. He has energy and determination to spare, but he doesn’t know to channel those qualities; he has no sense of strategy or teamwork. Tree Trunk slouches across the field ineffectually, showcasing his lack of confidence. The whole team needs direction, which is why they’ve done so poorly in interscholastic matches.

Captain of the squad is big, intense Takuya Sekizan (Christopher Wehkamp), who sports weirdly bleached corkscrew curls that make him look as if he’s just been working at a lathe. Chunky assistant captain Mutsumi Hachiouji (Brad Smeaton) treats the squad members with more kindness. The team’s snitty faculty advisor ignores them or makes fun of them. Sekizan and Hachiouji struggle to provide leadership, but they clearly need an experienced adult’s guidance.

In an effort to salvage the season, Sekizan invites ex-professional player Shingo Komori (Christopher R. Sabat) to serve as unofficial coach. Komori is a typically hard-nosed, no-nonsense Japanese father figure. His workouts are structured and tough. The players build strength and endurance–and begin to function as a team, rather than a collection of individuals.

Working from the 2012 manga by Shiori Amase, director Kenichi Shimizu and his crew avoid many of the clichés of sports sagas. Gion isn’t prodigiously gifted, although his dedication is unmatched. (He has exceptionally strong back muscles—from hanging on high bars, trying to stretch himself.) Nor does he turn into the come-from-behind star of Jinko’s first match. Gion learns and improves slowly and laboriously. The budget for the series was obviously too limited for the filmmakers can’t show all the action play-by-play; they suggest what’s happening on the pitch using pan, actions lines, quick cuts, etc.

All Out!! suffers from a plethora of characters: A rugby squad has 15 players, and it’s hard to keep track of all the guys from Jinko High, not mention their rivals, siblings and friends. The viewer doesn’t get enough time to care about many of them. Even Gion feels a bit underdeveloped as a character, and his friendship with Tree Trunk lacks depth.

Rugby is not especially popular in the United States. Team manager “Ume” Hoakai (Jeannie Tirado) lectures Gion about the rules and other players discuss their positions–giving clues to viewers unfamiliar with the game–but non-rugby fans may still feel a lost at times. Continuing the trend toward more ecumenical fan service shots, the opening credits feature close-ups of the players’ buns in tight shorts and their pecs straining against their jerseys.

All Out!! Part 1
Crunchyroll/Funimation: $64.98 4 discs, DVD and Blu-ray

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Charles Solomon

Internationally known animation historian and critic, Charles Solomon has written over 15 books books including Enchanted Drawings: The History Of Animation, The Art of Disney's Frozen,The Making of Peanuts Animation, and Tale as Old as Time: The Art and Making of Disney Beauty and the Beast .

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