#Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun

[kouraiba]

maturing is retiring from shōnen anime and moving onto sports anime… (clean freak! aoyoma-kun and haikyū!!)

[anime-of-the-day]

World Cup Anime of the day: Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun

Alt title: Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun

Released: 2017

Idolized and respected, Aoyama is quite impressive, especially at soccer. But Aoyama has a problem. He’s a clean freak. And soccer is kinda dirty. He also avoids physical contact. Because it’s dirty. Despite all his quirks, he is probably one of the best soccer players Fujimi High has ever had.

[crexmpuffff]

just realized the x reader fandom for "Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun" is non-existent lmaoo

[obscureanimeoftheday]

Obscure Anime of The Day:

Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun

Aired: 2017

Genres: Comedy, Seinen, Slice of Life, Sport

[thecanadianweeb]

made this in like 9th grade or something.

[megane-boys]

Today's Megane is: Narita Shion from Keppeki Danshi Aoyama-kun

[beyondthegate]

Our animation spotlight for this week was Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun. Similar to the currently airing Apothecary Diaries, the series uses a lot of chibi-style animation to elevate its comedic points. Have you seen this series?

[n0nespeciai]

Aoyama looks so cute! (Clean Freak Aoyama-Kun!)

LIKE LOOK AT HIS POSE ITS SO CUTE!! LIKE IM DEAD- HE'S RADIANT! CAREFREE! DREAMY!! AOYAMA! THE FRAGRENCE!! 😩😩

[rewordthis]

This results in a wayward ball he sends somewhere behind the school fence. 'Great! Awesome even! Now he also needs to go hunt for the goddamn ball... Just freaking perfect!'

[ZaizenAo | Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama- kun]

This week’s word is…

✨ PERFECT ✨

Find the word in any WIP and share the sentence containing it. Reply, reblog, stick it in the tags, tag us in a new post, or keep it private. All fandoms, all ships, all writers welcome.

[miyamiwu]

I follow 3 different YouTube channels for their fun Blue Lock reaction videos, but this guy’s reaction was so real man:

He fucking cried 😭

Are we cooked? Are we cooked? (sobs) Oh fuck, this be—I swear. I don’t wanna put it on anything, like, I don’t wanna swear to something but, like, I’m not joking—(ugly laugh-cry)—not joking. I’m not joking. This U20 game better be better than anything from Jujutsu Kaisen season 2. It better be better than Zoro vs King, Gear 5 Luffy, Tengen vs Gyutaro. It better be better than all that. I’m not doing this shit, bruh. I’m not.

I feel you, man😭. People had very high expectations for Blue Lock season 2. “Anime of the Season,” “Peak Lock,” and whatnot, but 8Bit so far has not yet delivered anything that has met those expectations. Now, we’re all hoping and praying that they’re “saving the budget” for the actual U20. And with how the first few episodes are just delivering the bare minimum, we’re desperately holding onto the belief that U20 is going to be amazing and that all this disappointment from PNGlock would be worth it.

I’m trying to be positive here and look at the good side of the anime, but we really shouldn’t have to be settling for crumbs just because the studio is rushing to release the season when they’ve just released EpiNagi earlier this year.

Like, it’s fucking ridiculous that it’s come to the point we get hyped over the smallest movement in a sports anime that’s supposed to be full of it 😭😭😭

There should be some balance here. They can skimp on the budget on the pre-U20 episodes, but it shouldn’t reach to levels where they’re left with nothing but panning PNGs, underwater filters, and slide transitions. It would’ve been more acceptable if they have given us quality like that in Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun, a mid soccer anime with mid animation, because that show at least has some actual movement.

And before you say, “Just don’t watch the anime if you’re gonna complain,” let me grab you by the shoulders, look into your eyes, and ask you:

Are you seriously contented with this kind of “animation”?

Complaining is not always bad. Complaining is not always negative. Complaining is not always toxic.

People complain because they want a change for the better. Is wanting something for the better that bad?

If nobody in history ever complained, then the word “accountability” wouldn’t exist in our dictionary.

I admit that non-fans hating on Blue Lock animation just to ride on the hate train is too much, but as someone who loves Blue Lock, how can you not feel any pain or rage in seeing the half-assed work being done on the show?

Anger is just one way of grieving and coping. And people get angry because they care.

The fact that the fandom is raging over the animation quality is proof that Blue Lock is loved.

We’re angry with the animation because we care.

So let’s just hold each other’s hands and not fight one another. The problem is not between us fans, who just want the best for Blue Lock. The problem is with the studio.

This isn’t the first time 8Bit has done a disservice on the show, and I doubt it will be the last. They can’t keep getting away with this.

[cbookn]

Clean Freak! Aoyama Kun (2017)

[transcendersmedia]

Making sports into drama (and games?)

An anime analysis from a game design perspective

I admit: I am a great sports anime nerd (and I’ve previously written about the volleyball anime Haikyuu and its fandom) – something that also affects my thinking around game design. What makes sports anime so good – better than watching the sports themselves – is that they usually combine the thrill and achievements of those sports with portrayal of the characters performing them. For me, that adds an invaluable component, since I’m also a character and fictional relationships nerd.

Ookiku Furikabutte - manga by Higuchi Asa

I’ve categorized the series based on how much of the dramatic content focuses on the game or sport itself and how much it relies on other factors, such as relationships between characters outside of sports. I’ll put my main focus on the series that primarily revolve around the sport. Many are based on manga, but not all. (Whether the series originates as manga or not might actually also affect the content, but it’s not something that I’ll go into in this post.)

Categorizing the shows

Series where the drama is primarily built around the content of the sport:

Ookiku Furikabutte/Big Windup (baseball)

Diamond no Ace/Ace of the Diamond (baseball)

Haikyuu!! (volleyball)

Kuroko no Basket/Kuroko’s Basketball (basketball)

Series where the drama is built around a combination of the sport’s content and other factors:

Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteru/Run with the Wind (running)

Tsurune: Kazemai Koukou Kyuudoubu (archery)

Yuri!!! on Ice (figure skating)

2.43: Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu/2.43: Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Team (volleyball)

Days (soccer)

Re-main (water polo)

Ping Pong the Animation (ping pong)

Series where the drama is primarily built around content outside of the sport:

Free! (swimming)

Hoshiai no Sora/When Stars Align (soft tennis)

Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun/Clean Freak Aoyama-kun (soccer)

Cheer Danshi!!/Cheer Boys!! (cheerleading)

Bakuten!!/Backflip!! (rhythmic gymnastics)

Taisou Zamurai / The Gymnastics Samurai (gymnastics)

It’s interesting to see that the focus on sports content could in part be related to which target group the series is aimed towards. It seems like shounen anime (“for boys”) has a larger focus on sports content, whereas shoujo (“for girls”) and seinen (“for grown-ups”) revolve more around relationships.

Could set-based sports with clear positions be easier to dramatize?

Haikyuu!! - manga by Haruichi Furudate

Both volleyball and baseball translate well into anime format. Volleyball’s set-based play makes it easy to create exciting match portrayals. The game involves turn-taking and players’ positions on the court, including who serves and rotates, creating clear recurring moments of suspense. Since the objective is to win the most sets out of a predetermined number, the outcome of a match isn’t known until the decisive set is played.

The psychological play and complexity

Ookiku Furikabutte - manga by Higuchi Asa

The complexity of baseball could be seen as a disadvantage due to its difficulty to comprehend, but it’s a double-edged sword, since the complexity also adds excitement. Baseball matches as a whole can become slow, especially if the teams are adept at defense and don’t allow scoring hits. However, in anime, unlike in reality, there’s the possibility to cut or quickly summarize dull parts of the match.

Baseball and volleyball gameplay loops

A Gameplay Loop is a game design term that is used to describe the repetitive activities that a player will take while playing a game. It, essentially, defines what the player DOES while playing. – Engaged Family Gaming

Diamond no Ace - manga by Terajima Yuuji

In volleyball, a loop begins with one team serving, the ball is then moved between teams by players with various roles (such as setter, wing spiker, blocker, libero) until it hits the floor on one side of the net, determining which team scores a point. This loop is integrated into the larger system by having the first team to reach a certain number of points win the set, while the overall match aims to win the most sets out of (usually) five.

Do shorter loops and turned-based sports make for better drama?

The smallest loops in baseball and volleyball are clear and quite short, allowing for detailed focus on the characters executing decisive actions. The moments before a serve/pitch provide space for inner monologues and character communication. Side changes and innings/sets frame the matches, making it easier for viewers to follow, compared to more fluid sports like basketball or soccer. In turn-based sports, breaks are incorporated into the game’s design. Therefore, I believe that turn-based sports, where players also have very specific roles, are more favorable to portray, than sports where players have more similar roles and the game is more fluid. (Perhaps this is why Kuroko no Basket assigned supernatural abilities to the players, adding an extra dimension to the game that makes it a little more video game-like? Well, it could also be because the creator wanted to make a series about basketball players with supernatural abilities. Personally, I find that supernatural abilities detract from the intrigue of sports, but that’s a matter of taste.) 

Haikyuu!! - manga by Haruichi Furudate

Teams are great for drama

I believe team sports are better suited for storytelling than individual sports. This might be because team sports allow for more complexity in the narrative, as players within a team can be rivals, while also depending on each other to develop and win. Opposing teams are obvious antagonists, but the most interesting events often happen within the teams, between the characters that viewers have come to know, and whose development they are following. Team sports also have recurring tournaments where teams can face the same opponents multiple times, enabling long series that maintain suspense. This exists in individual sports too, but individual competition feels more one-dimensional than team-based competition. So, aside from game (sports) design itself, the setup around teams, tournaments, and matches also influences the narrative. Series centered on individual sports tend to focus more on character relationships outside of competitions, possibly because the sport itself doesn’t provide enough material to build drama solely around it.

Translating sports into drama - and games!

When translating sports into drama, there are factors that can both facilitate and complicate the dramatic buildup. If the focus is on the game itself, it’s advantageous if the game has a high level of complexity, clear/short loops, and specific roles, preferably with inherent conflicts. Among the sports I’ve seen depicted, I would say that baseball has the greatest potential to create compelling drama. However, with that said, the storyteller’s skill will likely have a bigger impact on the story than the design of the sport itself.

I’ve based this analysis on anime series, and they have their aesthetics, structures and way of portraying things. I’m very curious as to whether the components of a great sports anime – sports/game content together with character development and relationships – could also be made into great games. The content of digital games and anime series are very different, but I think there are still learnings to be made from analysing and also comparing those media forms.

Please let me know through our social channels which games you have played that include sports mechanics and relationships. I have played Pyre, which I think combine those things well. I also have Roller Drama on my to play-list, but I would like to know of more games that focus on sports and relationships (sports relation games!).

A last side note: When there was finally an anime about Water Polo – Re-main – the creators missed the opportunity of telling the amazing story on how this sport might have come into fruition – as a water based version of horse polo, called Polo Aquatic, where players rode on barrels hitting a ball with sticks… I mean, that’s something you can’t exclude!

[haru-se]

List of Sports Anime on this Blog

I will update this list as I go.

Completed Watching/Updated:

Free!

Haikyuu!!

Kuroko no Basuke/Kuroko’s Basketball

Yuri!!! On Ice

Prince of Stride: Alternative

Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun/Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun

Tsurune: Kazemai High School’s Kyuudo Club

Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru/Run with the Wind

Number24

Yowamushi Pedal

Blue Lock

Taiso Samurai

SK8 the Infinity

Bakuten!!

Wave!!: Surfing Yappe!!/Wave!!: Let’s Go Surfing!!

Burning Kabaddi

Overtake!

[vampoii]

⎯⎯ WATCH / READ LIST ⤸

completed!

animes: haikyuu!!, parasyte, no game no life, clean freak! aoyama-kun, cannon busters, my hero academia, ouran high school host club, yuri on ice, i want to eat your pancreas, a silent voice, 5 cm per second, no game no life: zero, my hero academia: two heroes, the secret world of arriety, scorching ping pong girls, naruto, given, jujutsu kaisen, jujutus kaisen 0

manga/manwha: killing stalking

dramas: good morning call, tale of the nine tailed, business proposal,

current!

animes: hunterxhunter, sailor moon, little witch academia, attack on titan, highschool dxd, ace of the diamond, food wars, one piece, the promised neverland, kuroko no basuke, jujutsu kaisen s2, chainsaw man

manga/manwha: tokyo ghoul, oyasumi punpun, the guy she was interested in wasn't a guy

dramas: true beauty, doom at your service, imitation, l.u.c.a.: the beginning, you're my destiny, dodosolsolalsol, falling into your smile, ghost doctor, incurable case of love

future!

animes: my love story!!, dr. stone, black butler, fire force

manga/manwha: haikyuu!!, my hero academia, attack on titan, sailor moon, jujutsu kaisen

dramas:  meteor garden, accidentally in love, something in the rain

stan!

bg: skz, astro, ateez, txt, enhypen, bts

gg: dreamcatcher, itzy, twice, maka'maka, le sserafim

soloists: BewhY, bibi

[animeeveryday]

It has been more than three years since the fans last saw Keppeki Danshi, and now they are eagerly waiting for Clean Freak! Aoyama-Kun Season 2. The debut season of this sports drama received a good response from the viewers. They really liked the blend of hilarious stuff and sports drama. As a result, they wanted to see its second season as well. However, it didn’t happen? So, will there be the following installment? Keep reading to know.  Clean Freak! Aoyama-Kun is a Japanese sports-comedy anime series. It is an anime adaptation of the manga series of the same title by Taku Sakamoto. The story of the series is really unique and revolves around a football player who has a fear of germs and dirt. Clean Freak made its debut on July 2, 2017, and ran for twelve episodes. The viewers saw its last episode on September 17 of the same year. Clean Freak! Aoyama-Kun Season 2: Renewal Details!Studio Hibari produced the debut season of the anime series. They did a great job with its animation. However, they haven’t revealed anything about the future of the anime ever since the completion of its inaugural season. The makers haven’t renewed nor canceled Cancel Freak! Aoyama-Kun Season 2. The author of its manga series is also pretty tight-lipped in giving out the details. So, the fate of the anime series is still up in the air. The fans of this sports comedy are still in the hope that the series will get its renewal sooner or later. Is There Enough Source Material?Taku Sakamoto published the last chapter of this manga series back on January 4, 2018. There are a total of thirteen volumes in the manga series. The debut season of the anime only adapted initial volumes. Therefore, the makers have sufficient source material to create Clean Freak! Aoyama-Kun Season 2. Studio Hibari can easily make another season of the anime series with the remaining volumes of the manga series.Clean Freak! Aoyama-Kun Season 2: Will The Anime Return?The ratings and the viewership of the debut season of the anime weren’t that great. The makers expected a lot more from this anime series. And that’s the main reason why there isn’t any announcement of its renewal despite having enough source material. It was the last TV series produced by Studio Hibari. After this one, they only released a film last year. So currently, it is unknown on which project Studio Hibari is working. Presently, there is a probability that the anime will return for Clean Freak! Aoyama-Kun Season 2. As the fans are still demanding its second season and the makers have enough source material to produce it as well. 

[glosschi]

Don't rob people of the things they hold dear.

Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun