Rising Impact, the first anime adaptation of Nakaba Suzuki’s celebrated manga of the same name, will premiere Season 1 exclusively on Netflix in June next year, followed by Season 2 in August. Embodying friendship and hard work, the manga captured hearts and minds in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
In Rising Impact, Gawain Nanaumi is a third-grader with an incredible love for baseball and making the ball really fly. In a chance encounter with a female professional golfer, Kiria Nishino, he learns that golf will allow him to hit a ball further than any other sport.
Using his physical strength and keen observational skills gained from living in a rural mountain area, he manages to hit the ball to such an impressive distance that it rivals even that of professionals. With Kiria’s help, the new golf enthusiast enrolls at Camelot Academy, a prestigious school for both skilled and aspiring golfers from around the world. Gawain wants to be the best professional golfer in the world but there are other golf prodigies with extraordinary skills that stand in his way and he has to face various trials to overcome them.
“I never imagined that, after 25 years, my debut work would be adapted into an anime on Netflix!” says Suzuki, who also penned the famous fantasy manga series adapted into anime, The Seven Deadly Sins. “The production team meticulously recreated the illustrations, demonstrating an extraordinary love for this project. As the author, I am truly overwhelmed. The artwork and direction are simply outstanding, and the voice actors delivered performances that perfectly matched the characters.”
Star-studded voice cast
The teaser trailer gives a sneak peek into the stellar voice cast who are bringing the Weekly Shonen Jump series (1998-2002) to life:
Misaki Kuno voices Gawain, the gifted golfer
Yumiri Hanamori (Yamada Asaedon Sagiri in Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku) takes on Lancelot Normal, Gawain’s greatest rival, a putting prodigy who can find a path to the tee from any distance.
You Taichi (Chainsaw Man, Bleach: The Thousand-Year Blood War) portrays Kiria Nishino
Atsumi Tanezaki (Anya Forger in SPYxFAMILY) voices Kiria’s younger sister, Kurumi Nishino
Katsuyuki Konishi (Tengen Uzui in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba) plays Kai Todoin, the boy with the highest grades in the academy.
Shunsuke Takeuchi (Olaf’s second Japanese voice actor in Frozen) takes on Riser Hopkins, another elementary schooler who boasts the strength of a professional golfer.
Yuto Uemura (My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, Bungo Stray Dogs) voices Liebel Ringvald, a sixth-grade boy who has the skill to overwhelm even middle-schoolers.
Kaede Hondo (Ya Boy Kongming!), who won Best New Actress at the Seiyu Awards, portrays Yumiko Koizumi, a junior champion with an impressive backspin.
Yumi Uchiyama (Oshi no Ko) takes on Platalissa Bonaire, a girl just as talented as Koizumi, who aims to achieve an accomplishment great enough for her to return to her home country of Britain.
Eiji Takemoto (Golden Kamuy) voices Wanglian Li, a player who understands the course better than anyone else and is skilled at reading the wind and weather.
Rising Impact is directed by Hitoshi Nanba, known for his work on Fate/Grand Order: First Order and Golden Kamuy, with Michihiro Tsuchiya as the screenwriter, recognized for series like Major and Bakuman. The character design is led by Kiyotaka Oshiyama (Studio DURIAN), and the musical score is composed by Masaru Yokoyama (Yowamushi Pedal, Chihayafuru, Urusei Yatsura). Animation production is handled by Lay-duce, collaborating once again with Suzuki on this highly anticipated project.
