Ahiru no Sora

Ahiru no Sora might come off to some as a similar series to the likes of Haikyuu, with a very short player competing in a tall man’s sport, but that’s about where the comparisons end. Ahiru no Sora is definitely a different kind of story to Haikyuu, and I think you’ll be disappointed if you jump into this expecting them to to scratch the same itch.

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The thing that draws me in most about this story is its approach to passion and commitment. It’s the rare case of a manga acknowledging that not everyone can have that extreme passion that drives characters like our main protagonist Sora, especially when they’re only familiarising themselves with the sport in question. Even more impressively, it doesn’t criticise those characters for not matching the level of commitment that the more passionate characters have. Instead, it’s strangely compassionate and seeks to make the readers understand and empathise with these characters. Now that’s not to say that it’s unable to be critical of its characters—on the contrary, when these characters mess up (and oh boy, do they mess up) the series is more than willing to punish them severely for it—but it definitely prioritises compassion and it never demeans its characters in the process. Its way of criticising the characters tends to have a bit more of a... melancholic undertone. This series is as much a delinquent redemption story as it is a basketball one, and that’s really apparent here.

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I also love that this series takes full advantage of the sport being played. A lot of sports series shy away from characters changing positions, but since basketball is a sport where positions aren’t actually mandatory, this series opts to do something fun and has players’ roles drastically change depending on who’s on the court at any given time. That gives the matches a really fun energy and keeps them from getting stale, which is important as the matches in this series can be a little long.

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Ahiru no Sora is a series that, despite playing around with the format of basketball in a fun and naturalistic way, always places its characters and their growth ahead of the sport itself. For some readers, that will be a flaw, or even a deal-breaker, but for me it really makes the series stand out from the pack, as one of my favourite sports series to date.

When trying to make a realistic style manga, there are a lot of ways to go about it. You could focus on some really heavy issues or you can start focusing on the cute parts more than the serious ones and follow the usual slice of life format. Ahiru no Sora is a mix of these 2 and sadly, it isn't a very good one.

Ahiru no sora has a lot of things it does badly than the other way around. When the best thing about the manga is the art then there is a very big issue here and I'll show you most of the things it did wrong.

First, the pacing. The manga has horrible pacing, a match takes way too long to finish that you could spend 40+ chapters in one match, it takes a lot of time between each match and it doesn't even use that time well. It mainly is about one of the characters getting character development out of nowhere in the middle of the match every single time.

Second, the realistic approach. This manga is supposed to be realstic but it just isn't done right. The idea of a team that was just made after years of no training and not playing together yet they all have that wonderful natural talent is just way too convenient. I liked that the mangaka makes it apparent that they should lose but playing every single game and losing right at the end everytime is just random. There is no severe beating and all games are close which is not realistic at all.

Third, the characters. Out of the top of my head, I only like 3 characters of the anime, Sora's mother, Sora and Nao. The rest are just fine or downright horrible.
For the good characters:
I really liked Sora's mother because of how well written she was and I also liked Nao and Sora because they were represented very well as hard working characters that actually display emotion and try to achieve something.

For the bad ones:
Chiaki is the genius guy who can do anything because of his talent and the same thing with Kenji. That was their whole personality and they get very little character progression.
Madoka is the type of girl that goes to your house, sucks you off and then leaves after telling you she has a boyfriend.
Kaname is the calm character that has no special features about him other than being tall.
Even a character like Momoharu who wasn't a bad character at all, was pretty much downgraded Hanamichi from Slam Dunk.
It's like almost all the characters are so one-dimensional that you are either X or Y.

Fourth, the romance. I could go on and on about the badly written romance but it would take a lot of time which isn't really worth it. For a small brief on it, read my description of Madoka.

I sadly gave a lot of time to this manga which made me really disappointed, I watched 29 eps of the anime and I went to read the manga to continue the experience only to be faced with a very big disappointment. I remember disliking the manga so much I was literally skimming through the chapters only to just drop it because of how bad it turned out to be.

Overall, I would give the manga a 3/10. Really disappointing manga for what could have been a classic.
Wouldn't recommend it to anyone including hardcore sports/basketball manga fans.

I'm French.

In life, sometimes that is a disadvantage. In the case of Ahiru No Sora, which isn't fully translated in english but is in French, it's a blessing.

I think a quote from the manga that summarize and explain its thematics the most is made by the author himself and Toby :"The future doesn't exist". This applies both to the perception of the world, the story and the characters. Many times, the manga will do Flash-forwards, showing us the futur of these characters after the end of the manga's story. This shows us that, clearly, the result isn't the important part of the manga. It's the journey.

Nao, the manager, says it well herself during a flash forward : This isn't the story about an underdog team that topples the nation. It's about boys doing their best to redeem themselves. To become athletes, to become good persons. And these characters, these boys, are exceptionally well written.

This is, yes, a basketball manga. But it's also about love, interpersonnal and other. Loving a sport, loving doing your best. It's incredibly beautiful and it takes its time.

Now, don't come into this manga expecting players that are top tier or insane basketball plays. This manga is about a no-name school that, yes performs well to a certain degree, but will inevitably fail in their pursue of the interhigh. This was never put into doubt. They'll lose, maybe even before making it to the main tournament, the nationals.

But it's not a bad thing, it's good.

It's good because it helps the realism of this manga. It's good because it shows us that even though they will lose, them doing their best and striving toward a goal is what's important. Winning is cool, sure. But striving to accomplish something is big, especially for so many delinquents, depressed, yips touched people.

So read it. The art is great. The story is magnificient. The characters are among the best you'll ever see in a sports manga. It's great. One of my favorite manga ever.

Read

Just read the manga, this is the second best Basketball Manga after Slam Dunk in my opinion (without superpower of course), the story starts by the Main Character Sora Kurumatani who went to highschool with no official basketball club. He gathered all the member by himself (some of them are gangster, who can't play & just start to learn, but some others are ex player which is experienced, reliable & cool )

Fyi: The main character height is only 149cm, (Sora The Wingless Duck) . but still play basketball and became heart & soul of the team.

The character is what shine here.

The Story is about how they struggle to aim for Interhigh, with some new members, meet other basketball team which all of their ace are cool,

Just Read it till the Interhigh Elimination. Maybe around VOL 10,11 or so., and you will surprised,

I read it more than 30 times, purchased 40 volumes, and the whole online edition. From the perspective of a fan who has read thousands of Japanese mangas, Hinata Takeshi is one of the best Japanese manga artists, and AHIRU NO SORA is undoubtedly the best basketball manga after SLAM DUNK.
I don't know how AHIRU NO SORA performed in other languages, but the Chinese version gave me a very good reading experience. The content of the 35-38 volume single-line book is comparable to the most exciting part of SLAM DUNK.
I love all the characters in AHIRU NO SORA. Takeshi Sensei's description of emotions is not inferior to the best youth manga. As a person from East Asian culture, the world in Ahiru no Sora is completely realistic.
I have played basketball before. Although I did not consider about being professional player, I have received some professional training when I was young. Takeshi Sensei’s understanding of basketball is the best among Japanese manga artists. The players and games he created are imaginative but realistic, due to his previous experience in high school basketball.
I highly recommend that readers who like sports manga and youth manga consider Ahiru no Sora.