Of all things, a sports anime has enchanted MeinMMO demon Cortyn. Because Birdie Wing manages to make even boring golf grandiose.
The world of anime is large and colorful – there is basically something for every taste. Even if I give pretty much all series a chance, there is one genre that I usually just ignore: sports series. I find sports like football, handball, or volleyball incredibly boring to watch in real life. When a World Cup is on and everyone is screaming in front of the TV, I’m usually already asleep from boredom before the kick-off.
Accordingly, I have always been skeptical about sports anime. As a child, due to a lack of alternatives, I watched “Kickers” or “Mila Superstar” – but I was never really thrilled about them.
But now it has caught me. After a long hesitation, I watched “Birdie Wing – Golf Girls’ Story” – and it was everything I never expected.
Birdie Wing tells the story of two young women who share a passion for golf.
Aoi Amawashi is considered an upcoming professional talent at a Japanese school and is currently gaining her first experiences at renowned national tournaments. She is partly instrumentalized by her mother, who mainly wants to increase the recognition of her company that manufactures sports products.
On the other hand, there’s Eve from the fictional European country of Nafrese. She also plays golf, but for quite different reasons: In dubious underground games, she earns money to support her friends who are caring for illegally residing children in the country.
However, Eve’s life takes a dramatic turn when she inadvertently plays a game against Aoi – for the first time in her life she is truly challenged, and the two immediately develop a rivalry, vowing to deliver a real duel in the future.
But thanks to Eve’s “underground golf” activities, she becomes the ward of a mafia boss and has to play games for him that are supposed to resolve conflicts between the parties without bloodshed – and she finds herself in the line of fire.
Birdie Wing thrives on its great characters. Whether you take the two protagonists Eve and Aoi or the numerous supporting characters like the quirky Vipére, the mafia members, or the seasoned golf coaches – all have interesting and relatable stories with exciting twists and well-founded motivations.
Of course, Birdie Wing also has what we like to call “anime nonsense.” The different characters have various “special moves” that they use in golf. Be it Eve’s “Rainbow Bullets” or other abilities of her opponents, which usually serve only as a symbol of their years of practice and the focus they put into the sport.
Additionally, Birdie Wing is simply a wonderfully complete experience. The anime finds a worthy and satisfying conclusion without feeling rushed or leaving the impression that a second season is definitely needed.
I am sure many feel like me. If you can’t really get into sports programs “in real life”, you will probably avoid anime as well. But that was, at least in this case, a mistake.
Birdie Wing was a thoroughly rounded and captivating experience that has made my attitude towards sports anime much more open now – something I never thought would happen.
I can only recommend the series to you. Whether you like sports, great characters, or just a captivating story – and you will also learn a few golf terms on the side.
I never found golf particularly exciting. That has changed thanks to Birdie Wing.
