Fall 2020 Anime: Iwa-Kakeru! Sport Climbing Girls

Synopsis

The story centres around girls who compete in sport climbing, particularly climbing artificially constructed walls. First-year high school student Konomi Kasahara discovered this sport at Hanamiya Girls’ High School after training her mind with puzzle games during junior high school. (Source: Anime News Network)

Comments

Dany Muhammad (The Indonesian Anime Times)

Do you know: Indonesian climbing athlete Aries Susanti Rahayu currently holds the world record for 15 metres speed climbing.

Probably not many Indonesians know about that fact. Admittedly, climbing is not one of the popular sports right now, especially in Indonesia. So, how could we make competitive climbing sports interesting to the casual audience?

In Iwa-Kakeru!’s case, they try to reframe the audience’s understanding of the sport. Rather than presenting rock climbing as pure physical competition, Iwa-Kakeru! also shows it as a puzzle game. It naturally fits the narrative of the first episode because it makes the audience feel that the protagonist, Konomi, has a chance to win against her new frenemy, Jun, who has more experience. All she needs is more training and experience, which definitely will be explored in the future episode.

From the promotional art, it’s easy to dismiss Iwa-Kakeru! as another “cute girls in sports club” anime, but for me, this anime could be an interesting watch simply because of the way it frames the sport. Though the sportswear are not unusual to see in this sport, some viewers not familiar with them might think the anime gives too much emphasis on the look of the girl’s bodies. But the major selling point is there in the premise: a puzzle maniac girl who finds joy by treating a very physical sport as a brain challenge. If you find that approach to the sport intriguing, it’s worth checking out.

Facts and Figures

Screenshots and Trailer

The Indonesian Anime Times