What Is Salaryman’s Club and Why Is It Already My Favorite Sports Anime of 2022?
Who knew badminton could be so intense!
Spoilers for the first two episodes of Salaryman’s Club
Every year brings us a new anime series that focuses on a sport. The sport isn’t always a popular one, though, and is sometimes something completely out of the left field.
In this case? That sport is badminton.
As a frequent watcher of sports anime, I really love when a series focuses on a sport that doesn’t get that much attention, especially if it’s one that you think wouldn’t stress you out so much. Anime, however, finds a way, and soon you find yourself watching a game of badminton that’s so intense that it feels like the final episode of a high-action shonen series.
Welcome to Salaryman’s Club, the anime series about handsome businessmen who transform (not literally) into handsome, hardcore badminton players as soon as the workday is over. I’ve watched two episodes so far, but if I’m being honest, all it took was the opening to get me invested.
The synopsis is as follows:
Mikoto Shiratori, a badminton prodigy with the ability of foresight, is fired from Mitsuhoshi Banking after losing a match for their company sports badminton team and is recruited by Sunlight Beverage to play for their team. Mikoto has vowed not to play on a doubles team following an incident at his Interhigh match in high school. However, his co-worker, Tatsuru Miyazumi, encourages him to be his doubles partner, and Mikoto must work through his past trauma to overcome the struggles in their teamwork.
Let’s hit the court and talk about what makes this series a worthy entry in the category of “sports anime I will obsess about” and “who’s got some fanart please show me your fanart.”
The tragic backstory that prevents the main character from being great
Throughout the series, we get glimpses of something happening from Mikoto’s early badminton days. He hasn’t said what it is, but there are enough context clues to show that 1) someone got hurt, and 2) Mikoto blames himself for it.
Mikoto’s solution is to play solo matches, but he’s so traumatized by the incident that he freezes up in the middle of his games. It’s clear that he needs to have a partner, not just because of his abilities on the court (more on this later), but because he needs someone there when he freaks out.
He also, clearly, needs someone to talk to so he can work through his mental blocks. Like most sports anime, the sport is just a tool to illustrate the bigger plot threads at hand.
Teamwork makes the dreamwork (eventually)
Mikoto is vehemently against the idea of having a partner which, of course, means he’s getting a partner. Enter Tatsuru Miyazumi, his older coworker who makes the fantastic first impression of being an overly friendly blond who drinks too much.
Tatsuru is the exact opposite of Mikoto. He’s boisterous and a bit of a ham, but in the best way possible. The two make up the “there’s no way in hell they’ll ever see eye-to-eye” sports anime dynamic, but from that firm grip Tatsuru has on Mikoto’s hand in the opening, you know they’re gonna be absolute beasts on the court.
And in bed. Y’all know this is the main ship of the series, right? They even have complimentary hair colors. Their fanfic tags are meant to be.
How long before Tatsuru gets his own angsty backstory that leads to Mikoto offering him comfort because he misses that annoying smile of his?
They aren’t even trying to hide the fact that the sport is the important part
Sports anime tends to have characters who treat the sport as the end all, be all of their high school days. Graduation only matters when you’re a third-year because that’s your FINAL year of playing the sport with your team. Salaryman’s Club breaks that tradition by having a cast of, well, men with jobs (sort of like my surprise about SK8 the Infinity having characters in their twenties who participated in the sport).
Hell, Tatsuru is in his THIRTIES!
That being said, I initially thought that badminton would be the thing these men do on the side after a stressful day at the office. I’m sure that plays a part, but the truth of the matter is that badminton is held in such high regard with these companies that it costs Mikoto his job!
As the synopsis says, he gets fired after losing a match for his company, only to be hired by a different company when they realize his potential.
That’s not to say that we don’t ever see these men working, because we do, but the job is kinda an afterthought in favor of having good badminton players take part in these company matches.
Like sure, the sales numbers are all well and good, but can he play badminton?!?!
The intense, beautiful animation while playing said sport
As I said, sports anime really has a way of making any sport look intense, and Salaryman’s Club does not disappoint. The animation for the matches makes badminton look like a life or death situation, from the aggressive shots taken, to the pure exhaustion of these men as they run around the court.
I don’t doubt that badminton can go there but the squeaking of the shoes, the grunting, the music, it all makes me very invested in a sport that I never really paid much attention to.
The main character’s overdramatic secret technique that makes him feel like a Super Soldier
Sports anime loves to have a character (or characters) who have some kind of ability that looks like they’re about to let out an energy blast in battle.
I mean, sometimes? They are. As fans of Kuroko’s Basketball will tell you. What’s interesting is that the moves are things that athletes can do, they’re just illustrated in a fantastical way.
Because why just animate a ball pass when you can make it look like this:
In Salaryman’s Club, we learn that Mikoto is able to read the moves of his opponents. This gets illustrated in a way that makes his eye look like he’s some kind of cyborg. It’s overdramatic, but it gets the point across. Mikoto knows what someone is going to do next because he’s good at reading people.
Real talk? I’m sure athletes will tell you that this is, in fact, possible. You study your opponent to try and figure out their next move so you can beat them to the punch. It’s just that anime makes it look superhuman.
The best part? It’s not a trick the character can do forever. There are weaknesses that opponents will exploit, leading to the character (and their team) having to get creative and, furthermore, get better.
The underdog story
It doesn’t take long to realize that Mikoto and his team have got a long way to go. They’re good, but they need to be a whole lot better to be able to compete against everyone else.
What’s interesting in the case of Salaryman’s Club is that Mikoto’s hurdle isn’t primarily skill-based. Yes, the other teams are better, and work must be done for Sunlight Beverage to become a real threat, but the biggest thing stopping Mikoto is Mikoto himself.
And I get the feeling that his emotional barriers are going to take a while to get through.
Gorgeous, shippable men all around
Listen.
They knew what they were doing when they designed these characters.
This is peak fangirl bait right here.
And that’s just our main team, I haven’t even mentioned the other teams and this obvious bad boy rival here:
Yes. Hi. And hello.
Sports anime is notorious for having attractive lead characters, and with everyone being between the ages of 17 and 30+ this is gonna be a shipper’s paradise.
Bless.
Salaryman’s Club is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
(Image: Liden Films)
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