(L) Puraore! Pride of Orange

[Master_Yoma]

Well the team is coming together Kaoruko using her voice to communicate plays and Riko helping out Naomi

Yoko still cant put on makeup

[Infinite Zenith]

Images

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Infinite Zenith

Images

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

There's a lot of (deserved) confidence there .

[Kazu-kun]

Finally some actual hokey playing. Yu and Manaka make a good tag-team.

And we see how the Snow White or whatever that team is called is falling into the same bad habits again. They didn't learn anything from Yu leaving the team.

[Master_Yoma]

Well its good to see Naomi grow a little and stop relying on Riko an making some good plays because of it

[FlareKnight]

I'll at least give the coach props for actually benching Naomi. Though probably should have done that earlier, but still better than not doing it. Probably should have also broken up the lines a bit. Move Yu up to another line since the new girls are utterly not there after the injury. Yu at least is experienced enough to not let that completely kill her focus.

It really shows how bad the Dream Monkeys are though. They lose one rookie and the whole team can't do anything. It's a situation like that where the more experienced characters should be stepping up, but at best they can just keep it from getting worse. Although it would be weird to have characters we don't even know help steady things.

That's just the sacrifice they decided to make. Main characters got to drive the show after all.

Will admit it was fun seeing Yu chewing out her old team actually being proven right. They are just a weak-minded group that just leave everything to their star player and coast along. Lose that player and they fall apart since they don't know how to actually try.

Originally Posted by Master_Yoma

Well its good to see Naomi grow a little and stop relying on Riko an making some good plays because of it

I'm fine with that, although it probably should go the other way too. We are talking about the girl who literally quit hockey because Naomi wasn't playing it anymore. And then only resumed playing it after guilt tripping Naomi into playing.

Honestly I'd say the focus of the episode is the exact opposite. These two are becoming more reliant on each other rather than less. Neither has enough passion for the sport itself to stick with it if the other wasn't there. Really the theme was just Naomi giving her all and being less reserved. Giving maximum effort so they can win...so she can rely more on Riko to enjoy playing .

[FlareKnight]

I suppose it would have to be, but wow that's a small scale tournament. 2 wins and they are in the finals. It's kind of amazing that hockey is alive as much as it is there. Training all that time for at best a couple games and at worst one single game a year.

Definitely helps them out though. We can have a finals match without having to spend much time in games. That exhibition game, the one tournament game where Riko got hurt, and now the finals.

At the very least they've chosen the most dramatic opponent possible. It was a given that Yu's team would be there to face them. Kind of surprised the coaches didn't bother to scout the game since they'd be playing one of these two in the finals. But...I suppose Yoko had to work on her choreography for the victory dance or something instead.

It is comical how far beyond this level of hockey Maya is. Unlike Yu, she actually has the skills to literally skate through a team to score goals. If Yu's an elite player, Maya is a legitimate superstar. While I get the focus being on Yu's old teammates, I'm surprised Maya herself has had almost no characterization. How does she really feel playing on that team? In a game where it's hard for individuals to win games by themselves, she's actually doing it. Is she having much fun? Who knows. Maybe we'll find out next episode.

Now all that remains is winning the last game. There's no chance this show isn't ending on another miraculous dance and for that they have to win. Hopefully it's a solid finish.

[Master_Yoma]

Well its good to see Mami again but I thought she would of been back sooner but it looks like she found a new team but feeling down do to not playing that much

[Master_Yoma]

Well the big game between Dream Monkey & Snow White as started and the first point goes to Snow White

Well the stadium is much more packed then there other games

[FlareKnight]

I'm kind of surprised with a short tournament they could generate this much hype. But hey, at least they've got a good crowd for this one.

Obviously they'll be fine and win. No way this show is going to resist another inexplicable dancing on ice sequence. But how they get there could be fun. The other side has an elite star that is hard to deal with. The main characters have Yu...but she's kind of taken a backseat in terms of offence to Riko so can't expect her to carry everything. I'm sure they'll win out with teamwork minus the other players on their team that won't do much .

[Triple_R]

I've been a pretty big hockey fan since 1995, and a big anime fan since 2009 or so. These are two of my biggest loves, so it's wonderful to watch them finally come together here in Pride of Orange!

It's true that Pride of Orange isn't perfect, but it's at least competent. I think it does a pretty good job of showcasing the sport of hockey in this show, while also maintaining the typical strengths of good modern all-girls anime shows.

This is true also here for the final episode. There's a couple quibbles I could make, but overall, a really satisfying feel-good finale that appeals to me both as a fan of hockey and as a fan of idol anime.

All of the protagonist girls, especially Manaka and Yu, were strong and likeable to me. And even the antagonist girls were portrayed pretty well.

[FlareKnight]

As a fan of hockey and anime I’d like to say this series was a dream come true. But that would be a lie. It’s not terrible or anything. It’s just fine. A pretty functional series that tries to cover hockey. Just you know with impossible idol performances on ice. If you ignore the show never really acknowledging whether these girls can sing and that they’d likely break their necks dancing on regular ice like that it isn’t all that bad.

The show tried. It had real hurdles like not being able to develop the entire team besides 5 or 6 characters. Issue is the same for the rivals. The captain is the only one with any real character. The star of the rivals was fine but most of the show didn’t give her many lines or focus.

I’d say a 6/10 is how this goes. The first hockey anime could have been way worse. The main cast was a bit lacking and the idol stuff was off putting. But it could have been terrible and instead just ends up mediocre.

[Master_Yoma]

Well that was a good game everyone played really well and Kaoruko really pulled out the A game and stopped all those shots from Maya

7/10 Well it a shame they did really go into the other girls on the team

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

As a fan of hockey and anime I’d like to say this series was a dream come true. But that would be a lie. It’s not terrible or anything. It’s just fine. A pretty functional series that tries to cover hockey. Just you know with impossible idol performances on ice.

I'll admit I was "You gotta be kidding me..." when I saw them doing an idol performance on ice in one of the PVs for this anime.

One rule I've kinda developed with anime is that I'll give any anime one free ass-pull. I'll let one totally silly thing slide per show. And dancing on ice is definitely that one thing in this show, lol.

I can understand how somehow stricter about realism in anime would have a harder time with it, though, and weigh it more heavily against the show.

The show tried. It had real hurdles like not being able to develop the entire team besides 5 or 6 characters. Issue is the same for the rivals. The captain is the only one with any real character. The star of the rivals was fine but most of the show didn’t give her many lines or focus.

This is a fair criticism. One thing I would have liked to have seen more of in the last two episodes is more focus given to the full team of the Dream Monkeys.

Some of the reasons I'm a bit more positive on this show than most viewers probably are:

1. I was impressed with how they handled Mami. I was genuinely surprised when Mami left at the end of Episode 3, and how she left for real, only to come back once for a brief visit. I found that pretty bold for a character that was promoted as part of the main cast, and who was main cast in the first 3 episodes. This decision to have Mami leave also made the show feel a bit more true-to-life to me.

2. The hockey action wasn't explosively fun to watch, but it looked pretty accurate to me. They did cover some real hockey rules. It could have been a bit more in-depth, but it's pretty good for an anime that was kinda evenly split between hockey and conventional "cute girls doing cute things".

3. The characters were simple, but in some ways I actually found that refreshing. For example, most genki girls in anime often have a period of getting broken for a bit. For a change of pace, it was nice to see Manaka's characterization be really consistent the entire show.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I'll admit I was "You gotta be kidding me..." when I saw them doing an idol performance on ice in one of the PVs for this anime.

One rule I've kinda developed with anime is that I'll give any anime one free ass-pull. I'll let one totally silly thing slide per show. And dancing on ice is definitely that one thing in this show, lol.

I can understand how somehow stricter about realism in anime would have a harder time with it, though, and weigh it more heavily against the show.

This is a fair criticism. One thing I would have liked to have seen more of in the last two episodes is more focus given to the full team of the Dream Monkeys.

Some of the reasons I'm a bit more positive on this show than most viewers probably are:

1. I was impressed with how they handled Mami. I was genuinely surprised when Mami left at the end of Episode 3, and how she left for real, only to come back once for a brief visit. I found that pretty bold for a character that was promoted as part of the main cast, and who was main cast in the first 3 episodes. This decision to have Mami leave also made the show feel a bit more true-to-life to me.

2. The hockey action wasn't explosively fun to watch, but it looked pretty accurate to me. They did cover some real hockey rules. It could have been a bit more in-depth, but it's pretty good for an anime that was kinda evenly split between hockey and conventional "cute girls doing cute things".

3. The characters were simple, but in some ways I actually found that refreshing. For example, most genki girls in anime often have a period of getting broken for a bit. For a change of pace, it was nice to see Manaka's characterization be really consistent the entire show.

It's probably a good approach to give shows that. Although unfortunately I'd still have a problem with the dance sequence stuff for one reason...the show already used its free ass-pull with Japan being Canada in hockey during the first 5 minute of the show! Women's hockey is pretty straight forward internationally. You have Canada and the US on top and everyone else is a tier below. Have them beat Finland or something. That's a stretch but not ridiculous.

At least the last episode was the best one of the show. It was the only time it felt like they were really making a hockey anime. Sure I had to skip over the dance sequence to preserve that feeling. But so long as I did that it worked out fine .

I just can't give this show more than a 6. Because it was the first (and maybe the only ever) hockey anime I wanted it to be more than mediocre. There was just whiplash with this series. Going in I expected it to not be great. Then the trailers made it seem like it could be pretty solid with some nice character drama. And then the show started out with dancing on ice...I think that honestly killed the show. The amount of people that rolled their eyes and immediately dropped it likely isn't small.

Also if they wanted to mix hockey and idols...why not have the girls be in a school idol club? Or at least in a dance or choir club? Why are they in embroidery? How does that connect to anything? Mami's embroidered team motto could have just been a personal hobby of hers. It wouldn't undo the physical impossibility of the dance sequences, but it'd be something! Manaka already looks like a poor man's Honoka anyways so might as well copy the school idol thing too .

I can get the genki main character not breaking down as refreshing. Although part of me feels like Manaka is just a flat character. Kind of fitting the show overall. She's not actively annoying, but not interesting either.

There are moments I feel like I'm too hard on this show. And then I watch it and go "no I'm not." This show wasn't terrible. But it wasn't very good either.

[Kazu-kun]

It was a okay. Not bad but not actually good either. It could have used some more hockey playing, I think.

[EroKing]

[EroKing]

[FlareKnight]

If nothing else the characters weren't bad looking .