Oct 12, 2025
100 Meters is a very personal piece of media.
As a big fan of Madhouses adaptation of the author’s other work, Orb: On the Movements of the Earth, as well as a longtime former Track and Field athlete, my expectations for this movie were high. Somehow, they were all shattered by the time I finished the movie.
The cinematography is amongst the best I’ve witnessed in the medium; the statement “these characters behave like real people” has never been more applicable to an anime. Conversations flew naturally as characters dynamically interacted with each other, sprinkled in with subtle character movements. During the race and training sequences, each
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runner had a slightly different running form, each character mounted into their blocks at the start of the race at slightly different ways and cadences, and each character had unique running shoes that corresponded with brands that I used to look for in Footlocker myself years ago. This is all thanks to an unbelievable usage of rotoscoping technology placed on-top of stellar, hand drawn looking background art, a feature sorely missed in many modern anime. These kinds of things culminate in a very particular scene (you’ll know it when you watch it) depicting the preparations a set of runners perform up until the moment before the race starts; the entire scene a single, jaw dropping shot in the likes of which have not been seen in any animated media I’ve consumed.
The cinematography could not be complemented better by the narrative told within it. The story centers around the athletic journeys of the sprinters Togashi and Komiya. The former is a natural athlete with an unheard-of proficiency for the 100 meter sprint, the latter a promising athlete with an undisciplined technique. The two bond over their shared passion for the sport but eventually go their separate ways.
Where the interesting themes of the narrative start to shine begin when the two begin high school. The philosophies the two runners develop to tackle the sport begin to flourish as they encounter success and tragedy as they compete. Komiya focuses on results, statistics, and performance, Togashi however, is purely driven from his success. Once Togashi begins to fail to perform, his mentality towards the sport drastically changes. This mentality towards self-betterment is examined thoroughly by the film; this is also when the movie began to feel personal. Togashi spends a fair amount of his future career “getting by”, competing but not performing. Running to pass time, not to learn and improve.
The idea of putting so much time into something you love, only to end up going through the motions of what used to be why you shot out of bed in the mornings is a terribly disgusting, yet horribly relatable feeling. Countless sports, arts, hobbies, and interests of our youth tend to be forgotten or set aside as we age; much of this stems from hitting “the wall”. That time you fail to attain in the 100-meter run, that drawing technique that seems to escape your abilities, that level of proficiency you just cannot seem to achieve when learning a new language. The wall presents Togashi’s first feeling of true defeat, much like you and I. How Togashi overcame the wall will differ from how you and I might overcome the wall, but to do so requires reawakening the discipline, fascination, and love you had for this activity when you started, just like Togashi did. After all, his final race in the film finishes with a smile.
Thank you for reading.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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