~Episode 123.13~

Prince of Stride Alternative

Studio: Madhouse

Premiere: January 5, 2016

Genre: Sports, reverse-harem

Airtime (GMT+9): Tuesdays at 23:00

Episodes: TBA

Summary:

It's a story seen through the eyes of our main character, Sakurai Nana (Hanazawa Kana), a hardworking and fearless girl who has moved alone from the Hokkaido countryside to the cityscape of Tokyo. There, Nana becomes the manager of her new school's Stride club. "Stride" is a team sport that involves players who run various relay races in towns – like a mix between marathon and parkour – and Nana is determined to form a Stride team to bring them to the "End of Summer," a top competition hosted alongside other competing schools across Japan. With that goal in mind, she recruits the cool and stoic Stride prodigy, Fujiwara Takeru (Okamoto Nobuhiko), and the friendly and energetic Yagami Riku (Kimura Ryouhei), along with several others, in hopes of working together to bring their club to victory.

Own opinion:

The more promotional material I read and watch, and the more Prince of Stride reminds me of Kyoto Animation's Free! So I stopped looking for more source material. However, this is an adaptation of an otome game, and there are not many success stories from adaptations in that genre. But there's enough here to look forward to, especially if you're a fan of the recent selection of sports anime, or if you enjoyed Ishizuka Atsuko's previous works (Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, No Game No Life, Hanayamata).

Rank: 4 over 5 stars