Review of Ace wo Nerae エースをねらえ

Initially, I had given this drama a miss since I wasn't too interested in Ueto Aya in the first place even though I do like tennis. And after the "strong" recommendations from friends who had watched it, I have finally watched it. Well, I must agree with the general view from my friends that this is entertaining but I wouldn't say that it is an all-time favourite for me.

For those who like Ueto Aya, you really have to watch it because she's quite cute (in the opinion of a fellow female like me) so I guess guys would probably melt under that kawaii-ness. At least I think she's more natural and easy on the eye as compared to predecessors like Fukakyon who tries too hard at times. Although I am very sceptical at how "good" her character, Oka Hiromi had become in the span of 1 year (I think the manga used 2 years to develop her character though), at least she was quite convincing towards the end as a good player but I won't say that she looked as good as what Oka is supposed to be.

Talking about the tennis skills, personally, I think Yoshizawa Yu, Sakai Ayana and Matsumoto Rio looked quite convincing as strong players. Ishigaki Yuma seems good but somehow, his footwork seems weird to me given that he keeps losing his balance and slides on the court. And the funny thing to me is that Sakai Ayana never ties her hair up during the match (wouldn't it get in the way?) and how Matsumoto Rio's hairstyle never crumbles even after a tough match. Well, no point reading too much into this since it's fiction after all. In contrast, Ueto always gets dirty and sweaty throughout the series.

I think the series is good in a sense that they do not let the characters display "unbelievable tricks" which would reduce the logical aspect of the story. At least the strong players seem like ordinary people after all. E.g. like Sakai Ayana's character, Midorikawa Ranko has a trick called Dangan Serve. She made it look quite convincing though and it's logical to have a high speed serve like that. Imagine if they introduce a lot of gravity-defying skills which needs a lot of CG (e.g. how they made Matsumoto Rio's role, Ochou-fujin pause while hitting a ball in the OP), it would be hard for me to stop laughing at those tricks in the drama.

On the whole, this drama would be suited for the following (in my opinion):
1) Ueto Aya fans
2) People who play or like tennis (not to pick up pointers though)
3) People who just want to watch an entertaining drama without doing too much thinking into the plot

Ratings for the entire season:

1) 13.7%
2) 15.3%
3) 12.4%
4) 12.7%
5) 11.3%
6) 12.9%
7) 11.7%
8) 14.8%
9) 14.2%

Average: 13.22%