Skate-Leading Stars

Skate Leading Stars seems great at first, but as it progresses it gets worse very quickly. It has a rivalry, an interesting beginning comeback, and a motive. However, pretty faces and odd rivalries are all there is. What's expected is skating and stunning visuals of the team's choreography, but even those aspects are barely even there. You'll see the start of a program and then it switches to the main characters, talking, background information, and hype. Even the sub plot of Noa and his attempt to publicize figure skating is poorly executed, which is a shame because there was a lot of wasted potential. The animation is mediocre as it doesn't have a chance to showcase the sport. Skate Leading Stars is what could have been another great underrated sports anime, but instead it's an attempt at another idol boy group from a different angle.

The plot focuses on five characters overall; Noa, Himekawa, Shinozaki, Maeshima, and Sasugai. From those five, the ones with the most development are not Maeshima and Shinozaki, despite their rivalry and main characterness. Instead, Himekawa and Sasugai are shown making the greatest changes in both their personalities and background. As for the rest of the characters, they're all portrayed as underdogs who are barely able to keep up with their aces.

If you're looking to watch this anime for the skating/sport, I don't recommend it. The skating consists mainly of the beginning five to ten seconds, the end pose, and maybe some scenes of the team in the middle of their sequence. There isn't a focus on music or technicalities either. It's very hard to call it a sports anime when you don't see the actual sport in play.

For those who want to see some pretty faces and team spirit, I guess this could be for you. True to the cover and official arts, the main characters are a mix of hot and pretty. The costumes are a little weird and over the top, from a technical perspective they are crazy impractical. Team spirit is a little lukewarm, there's not much to comment on. It's very hard to say what teams have good chemistry and how they work together, especially since you can't see how they skate together. There is an odd focus on the coaches however, and in a way you see more of their traits than with the kids.

Overall, I don't recommend this anime. It's poorly executed and flawed in many categories. There's little to no skating, which wastes the animation, art style, and over the top costumes. The character designs are appealing, but that's pretty much it. There's a lot of weird friendships and relationships dotted around the plot, and the teams are barely even shown making progress as a team. As for the opening and ending sequences, they suck. I don't like putting it that way, but there's no other way to describe them.