The Game of Ice Hockey – Intro
This blog post may contain minimal spoilers. Please read this only if you have seen this Episode.
EPISODE OVERVIEW
It all starts when Manaka becomes interested in a sport called the ice hockey. Then, she invited the girls to try out this icy sport game.
And until one day, the girls decided to take on to this ice hockey trial class. It was then hosted and organized by a pro ice hockey team in Japan, called the Nikko Dream Monkeys.
They found the ice hockey a difficult sport to play, since it also requires their skill and balance with their ice skates. But then, with their effortful practice and trial, will they able to handle it? This is where their journey begins — in becoming the winners of the all-girls ice hockey sport!
EPISODE REVIEW
Before we proceed to the review proper, let’s a have a background in this series!
Since this Anime is a combination of mix-media and sports, I found it out interesting since it somehow matches my interests. Yep, definitely, I am getting something like ‘Heroes versus Idols’ vibe here. Well, that was my note when I saw the cold opening of this Episode.
Alright, let’s proceed to the Episode Review! Here it goes!
For the animation part, some characters do look alike from their counterparts in some other Anime series that I had previously watched. I do not want to mention an Anime girl name from the other series here, but I think the reviewers other than me can. To carefully mention, Manaka does almost look alike with Miss C from that other Anime series, due to her hair color and style. That’s all. And then, the character designer for the smartphone game (Craft Egg), which features girl bands, had really added more sugar to this. Even just looking to their eyes make them so friggin’ cute.
So then, are we really getting a combination of sports-entertainment here? Basically, when these girls in a team got their win or victory, they can be the spotlight and they perform and dance in the middle of the ice rink arena (ice rink stage lol). So then, I can foreshadow that the other ice hockey teams, other than Dream Monkeys, can also do their victory dance when they win. And basically, the losing team shall never do or perform on stage, which is somehow I look it disappointing and humiliating. In short, when your favorite team either wins or loses, they can do or never do any live performances like this so-called victory dance. Is it kind of disappointing if your favorite team wants to perform on stage, yet they keep losing?
Characters part. Manaka Mizusawa can be a sporty-type girl that somehow goes on forward without even thinking once. With her entrance in the ice hockey sport, she is a type of girl, based from the color of her hair and eyes, who always keep her flames burning, even in the middle of the ice rink arena! But then, we can get to know her character more in the succeeding Episodes to come, especially in their upcoming smartphone video game to come out in the near future, in year 2022.
So then, we can get to know some other female characters as well who appeared. It seems we can get some other initial characters who shall be moved or be transferred to another ice hockey team, other than Nikko Dream Monkeys! One of them is Mami Ono, who shall be later transferred to another ice hockey team, as revealed in their official website. And also, we can get to foreshadow more characters which shall be appearing soon, as revealed also in their official website.
So things shall be getting a twist here, isn’t it? Remember that this is just the first Episode, and we expect something less. How about we expect something more than a twist? Basically, we are just expecting things to go on like a roller coaster ride!
But all I can say, the characters here are so cute, colorful, and bubbly. For the story part, they had integrated the ‘idol entertainment’ in their ‘ice hockey’ sport. But, all I can say that the idea of the story can be a half-disappointing, maybe because of their ‘victory dance’ thing.
Ice Hockey? A Canadian Sport, you say?
Ice hockey is a sport, and actually the first-ever ice hockey game was made a long time ago in Canada in the 19th century.
In a ice hockey game, each team consists of a total of 6 members. 3 are forwards, 2 are for defensemen, and the last member is a goaltender.
This icy sport is believed to be originated from United Kingdom, in the 18th up to the 19th century, which uses some simple sticks and balls.
Want this topic to be read more? You can read them further in Wikipedia.
SERIES INFO
Pride of Orange (2021, dubbed: PURAORE! (プラオレ!) -Pride of Orange-) is Japanese Anime series about ice hockey sport. This Anime series was produced by CyberAgent/EXNOA, and character designs were done by Craft Egg (known for BanG Dream! Girls Band Party smartphone video game). Animation style was done by C2C. This Anime series has been aired and streamed since October 6, 2021, with its first Episode.
In Tochigi Prefecture in Japan, at Nikko City, an ice hockey sport season has opened for girls who wanted to aim for the ice hockey world championships.
A female junior high schooler, named Manaka Mizusawa, has become interested in playing the ice hockey sport. While she invited her girls who were her friends, they entered and tried for this sport game.
Their journey for aiming their first win, indeed, begins when they had experienced the world of ice hockey sport!
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