Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm

Was keen on watching this anime adaptation of the “蒼の彼方のフォーリズム: Beyond the sky, into the firmament” adult visual novel, because its plot premise sounded interesting. Taking place in a modern-day world where humans can freely soar through the skies thanks to anti-gravity shoes, the story centers around several friends joining their high school’s Flying Circus club and their journey taking part in tournaments.

While it has an obvious science-fiction element with its world setting being built around people being able to fly effortlessly, “Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm” is more a typical coming-of-age story in a school sports club setting.

The visual novel itself is a traditional adult harem game where the male player character can choose to pursue one of the main female characters, it seems that the anime will eschew such harem or romance elements though as there have been no signs of romantic plot developments between any of the characters. The show focuses instead on the characters’ individual growth and their various supportive or competitive relationships.

I can appreciate a good romance show or the better written and executed harem anime (there are alas but a few of the latter though) but am nonetheless glad the “Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm” anime focuses on the sports competition element and related character development instead.

Considering most episodes are packed with just the normal character interaction and events surrounding the Flying Circus sport, it would likely be detrimental to the show’s quality if they would haphazardly cram in a romantic plot without the time to properly build it up.

Overall “Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm” has been a decent anime, featuring cute girls soaring through the skies, making the viewer wish we would be able to fly around like that in our own reality.

You can watch “Aokana: Four Rhythm Across the Blue” on Crunchyroll.