Sorairo Utility (TV)

Avid gacha player Minami Aoba finds herself at an impasse when her favorite game announces the end of its live service. Left adrift without her beloved characters, she realizes she has been wasting her first year of high school and sets out to try different clubs to find a new, more productive hobby. However, the harsh truth sets in that she is completely unfit for pretty much every sport her school's clubs have to offer.

One fateful afternoon, Minami stumbles upon a golf driving range after helping an old man carry his equipment there. Inside, she meets Haruka Akane, who promptly introduces her to the sport. Much like her previous attempts at athletics, Minami has no natural talent for golf, but something about the rhythm of swinging the club captivates her. Finally, Minami feels the spark of genuine excitement that she has been looking for—a new obsession within her reach.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Aoba, Minami Main

Takagi, Miyu Japanese

Akane, Haruka Main

Amami, Yurina Japanese

Hoshimi, Ayaka Main

Gotou, Ayasa Japanese

Raimon, Tooru Supporting

Taniyama, Kishou Japanese

Megumi Supporting

Honda, Takako Japanese

Yoarashi, Hina Supporting

Naganawa, Maria Japanese

Setoharu Supporting

Seto, Haruka Japanese

Kazamatsuri, Daigo Supporting

Yasumoto, Hiroki Japanese

Golf Shop Manager Supporting

Hoshino, Mitsuaki Japanese

Tadokoro, Masao Supporting

Inoue, Kazuhiko Japanese

Takagi, Hideto Producer

Kudou, Masayo Producer

Saitou, Kengo Director, Character Design

Horita, Daisuke Sound Director, Music

Reviews

Mar 21, 2025

Marinate1016

Recommended

Birdie wing ending left a deep hole in my heart that Sorairo utility has done a surprisingly good job of filling. Whereas Birdie wing was more story based and focused on the absurdities of super powered golf, Sorairo utility is a much more grounded and realistic story about a regular girl finding herself with the sport! It’s the sort of story that everyone can relate to as Minami is not some prodigy nor does she even ever become great at golf. She’s new to the sport and sucks, but that’s ok because she’s having fun and I think there’s a very powerful message in that ... that you don’t see in anime often. You’re not always going to be the best or even good at something, that doesn’t mean you have to give up and can’t enjoy what you do. It’s all about appreciating the journey and who you experience it with. That alone makes this one of the best sports anime I’ve seen.

Sorairo and birdie wing will inevitably be compared because they’re two recent golf anime with female casts. As I said in the opening, though, they’re drastically different. I love both, but there’s something about the more realistic story and setting of Sorairo that struck a chord for me. As someone who has always wanted to get into golf, but hasn’t had the chance to, I really saw myself in Minami. I know for a fact that when I start out I’m going to suck, but this show encouraged me to stick it out and keep going despite the initial struggles. I may never reach the level I want to be at, but that’s ok as long as I make long lasting relationships, learn more about myself and grow as a person. Minami does just that in this show and joined by a stellar supporting cast in Haruka and Ayako. These three girlies were so much fun to watch every week. Every episode went by so quick, whether it was them actually golfing or hanging out and just teaching Minami about life, golf, etc., it felt like we were watching 3 friends every week and that’s this show’s other big strength, the chemistry. This group flow together so well, you can’t help but smile, laugh and cry right along with them.

Equally as impressive is the show’s emphasis on different golfing approaches. Golf, like anything else in life doesn’t just have one way of going about it. Minami for example plays golf to learn the basics and improve. She knows she’s not gonna be winning a green jacket or any big competition anytime soon, but that doesn’t matter. The only competition is herself. Ayaka got into golf because of her social media presence and need for validation before eventually realizing she loved the sport and wanted to grow at it, but also promoting sustainability in the sport. Haruka is more of your traditional golfer who has had success at the amateur level. Golf, like any other sport, can be whatever you make of it. It doesn’t have to be a life or death ordeal! I just found that sort of approach to the game very refreshing and it only enhanced my viewing experience. All the relationships and ways of doing things in this show are so healthy and wholesome!

From a technical standpoint, the show looks great. The golfing matches are well animated, the background art is gorgeous as are the character designs. It’s a very pretty show with a great cast. What else can you ask for?

It sucks that this show ended because I was empty over Birdie wing, this came and filled the gap and now I’m empty over this. Luckily it seems like the studio are not done with this series and it’ll be continuing in one format or another so there’s that to look forward to. I fell in love with the cast and with the game of golf even more after this. One of the best shows of the season no doubt. Sorairo Utility gets a very easy 10 out of 10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Mar 21, 2025

KANLen09

Recommended

Sorairo Utility — It may not be CGDCT at its finest, but it's still a rather ambitious effort on its own.

Ask anyone who's been watching anime for the last few years, especially when it comes to sports, and they'll definitely tell you that the sport of golf has seen its fair share of niches, with executions that are, for the most part, so-so. From Bandai Namco's Birdie Wing franchise to Nanatsu no Taizai's author Nakaba Suzuki's Rising Impact and the oldie series of Ken Kawasaki's Ooi! Tonbo, the ball-and-driver sport has garnered its own fandom, though miniscule at best.

And from the same entity that brought ... you the likes of Azur Lane and Blue Archive comes the video game company Yostar with its first original work that has now become a full-fledged anime: Sorairo Utility. Helmed by newbie director Kengo Saito, it started off as a New Year's Eve TV special closing out the year of 2021. Taking 3 years of development with the same core staff, plus a brand-new staff team alongside Yostar's animation studio division, to finally make the IP a reality. And for the most part, it's serviceable.

Sorairo Utility is every bit the TL;DR version of golf in the traditional CGDCT style, while not having much plot to go by (of the likes of Birdie Wing: Golf Girls' Story), it can still be enjoyed to a degree. The case of newbie Minami Aoba, who seems to be bored with life and only fixated on her gacha games, which came to a sudden close; she is forced to look around for something else to do. But while her energetic enthusiasm doesn't translate towards sports with heavy emphasis, it soon takes one coincidence with a stranger requesting her to try out golf at the nearby driving range, and although Minami struggles ever more the same, at least the feeling of playing golf gives her a sense of rejuvenation that she'll come to love the more she conducts herself in the sport. Through the ogling of the "old trio men" who also regard the driving range as their place of recreation and a recommendation to try out, Minami's hobbies get sorted out by Haruka Akane, whilst her more popular friend, Ayaka Hoshimi, soon turns up to up the ante, making them the trio of golf girls just having fun with the sport.

More than the excitement of the "old trio men" of Masao "Masa" Tadokoro, Chosuke "Cho" Tanabe, and Tetsuhiro "Tetsu" Tanaka, it's Minami picking up the sport that sees her not just being playful with the sport but also being someone who plays unorthodoxly against what others have been practicing with experience of the sport itself. And it's not wrong to see someone just starting out and experimenting with the ways that she can make her newfound hobby fun; that's what matters after all for her being taught by both maestros of Haruka and Ayaka how to play and master the sport herself. For the most part, it's every bit CGDCT-like, and I don't know about you, but I feel comfort not having to be bombarded by some nonsensical plot and the show knowing not to take itself seriously for a good time. Honestly, fun and games go hand-in-hand, so simplicity truly is best for a bare-bones but simple show such as this.

It's finally great to see Yostar Pictures implement and improve from the TV special 4 years ago of the full product that was once just a featured short film. And while I wouldn't go as far as to say that production was amazing, it did justice in serviceability, and I'm all content for some good animation.

Music is plenty fine too, not too much and not too little to affect quality as a whole. And for an upbeat OP, I have to say that the unexpected pairing of Masayoshi Ooishi and Airi Suzuki just works out of the screen, defintely loved the song for what it is. The introspect reflection with Moeka Yahagi's ED is also good, but it's just there.

The quote of "simplicity at its best", sums up Sorairo Utility perfectly, as a show that could be picked up and tried out to see if it does anything for you. So, just embrace the close warmth of the CGDCT friendship, and hit the small balls with the utility clubs for a beautiful time.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Mar 21, 2025

Cynthesia

Mixed Feelings

In spite of it's quest for "special uniqueness" Sorairo Utility doesn't manage to stand out in any meaningful ways. While certainly not an explicitly bad show, what's provided is entirely average.

Spin the wheel on any given season's slice of life category and you have very good odds of ending up with a show like this. The main character is unsatisfied with how average her life is and takes up a unique hobby which leads to a path of self improvement. Given this is a slice of life, the uniqueness of the premise (or lack thereof) isn't inherently an issue and choosing golf as the driving ... force is certainly a unique choice. The onus then lies on it's characters in order to carry the blunt of it's quality factor and to this regard to performs... serviceably.

First off you have the main character Minami who is your standard introverted nerd character. Overall she does alright at being a cute little goofball but doesn't manage to bring much in terms of chemistry or quirks to elevate her to memorable. Many of her mannerisms feel stock and while she has the occasional moment it leaves much to be desired. Her companions: Haruka and Ayaka are equally whelming. Haruka is the most fleshed out of the three, given a bit of backstory which feeds into the central themes of the importance of finding something you enjoy quite well. Ayaka has the least presence of any of the characters. She's supposed to be an influencer character but this doesn't really feed into the show all that much aside from an episode and a half of filler content.

Unfortunately since the crux of slice of life anime, especially ones which don't have an extravagant gimmick such as this, comes from the level of chemistry within the core group of characters; Sorairo Utility ends up suffering as a whole because of how basic the cast ends up being. This isn't helped by the fact that the seiyuu, especially for Minami, don't feel as though they're bringing their A-game (or lack experience in general). Minami feels extremely flat or unintentionally awkward in her delivery which ends up limiting any given scene's potential. Haruka and Ayaka end up fine for the most part but as a whole they don't ever deliver anything to elevate the viewers experience. Again, the performances are not necessarily bad, it's just that they're really average.

This rings true for pretty much every other aspect of the show as well. Nothing really manages to stand out, not the artstyle, not the scenarios, not the ost, it's all so very average. So much so that it doesn't leave much to comment on in either side of the spectrum. It's a pleasant little show to kill some time with but because of it's complete lack of distinguishing features it fails to cement itself anywhere on the spectrum but the middle.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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	Poll: Sorairo Utility (TV) Episode 12 Discussion KANLen09 - Mar 21	36 replies	by Lanz »» Apr 1, 6:57 AM
	Poll: Sorairo Utility (TV) Episode 7 Discussion Serafos - Feb 14	22 replies	by gangpapa1 »» Mar 27, 3:46 AM
	Poll: Sorairo Utility (TV) Episode 6 Discussion Serafos - Feb 7	21 replies	by gangpapa1 »» Mar 26, 8:02 PM
	Poll: Sorairo Utility (TV) Episode 5 Discussion AkeZZZ - Jan 31	22 replies	by gangpapa1 »» Mar 26, 7:19 PM
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