Sorairo Utility

is a Japanese original anime television short film about golf produced by Yostar Pictures and directed by Kengo Saitō. It premiered on Tokyo MX in December 2021. An anime television series, also produced by Yostar Pictures, aired from January to March 2025.

Characters

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:A student who goes to an all-girls high school. She looks for a hobby after the mobile game she was playing announced it was ending service. After trying various hobbies, she ultimately gains an interest in golf after a chance encounter with Haruka.
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:A high school student who works part-time at a driving range. She is the one who introduced Minami to golf. She was previously a skilled amateur golfer who participated in international competitions.
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:A university student and a popular influencer. She becomes fond of Minami and helped her work part-time jobs to afford golfing equipment. She also works as a model.
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:Minami's classmate and friend who is a skilled shogi player.
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:A wealthy girl who admires Haruka.

Production and release

On October 25, 2021, the original anime produced by Yostar Pictures was announced. It was later revealed to be a television short film, with Kengo Saitō directing the film, Li Hengda producing the film, Kōta Nozomi writing the screenplay, Akira Amemiya in charge of the storyboard, and Daisuke Horita composing the music, and directing the sound. The 14-minute short film premiered on Tokyo MX on December 31, 2021. The film's theme song is performed by the HAM unit ( Miyu Takagi, Yurina Amami, and Ayasa Goto). Crunchyroll and Funimation both streamed the film outside of Asia.

An anime television series, also produced by Yostar Pictures, was announced on February 8, 2024. The cast and director reprised their roles from the film, with Yū Satō handling series composition, as well as writing scripts alongside Aya Satsuki and Aki Mizuki, Kōta Nozomi returning from the film for original concept cooperation, and Daisuke Horita returning to compose the music. The series aired from January 4 to March 22, 2025, on Tokyo MX and other networks. The opening theme song is , performed by Masayoshi Ōishi feat. Airi Suzuki, while the ending theme song is , performed by Moeka Yahagi. Sentai Filmworks licensed the series for streaming on Hidive. Medialink licensed the series in South and Southeast Asia for streaming on Ani-One Asia's YouTube channel.

Episodes

Notes

Reception

The series was positively received. ANN reviewers Richard Eisenbeis, James Beckett, and Caitlin Moore said the series was in "the real world" but is still "pretty darned charming...and...incredibly gay" and is a "straightforward anime about girls playing golf." All three compared it to ''Birdie Wing'', which they called a "sapphic-charged golf anime" which was ""absolutely batshit insane" and which turned golf "into an extreme sport with high-stakes mob gambling", was "incredibly gay" and mixed mafia and stunt shots which were "approximately equivalent to KISS-theming and black lights." All three contrasted it to ''Sorairo Utility''. Yuricon founder Erica Friedman also compared the series to ''Birdie Wing''. She said that while the series was not "more gay and outlandish women’s sports drama," it is centered more on golf, differs from the ''Sorairo Utility'' movie, and is "very refreshing" with the relationship between Haruka and Minami and the chill nature of the old male players, but criticized the fan service in the series, while calling the series a "shockingly nice anime...about golf." She also rated the art at a 7/10, characters at 9/10, story at 8/10, fan service at 5/10, and yuri at 1/10.

References

External links

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{{Yostar Pictures

2021 anime films
2025 anime television series debuts
Anime with original screenplays
Crunchyroll anime
Funimation
Golf in anime and manga
Medialink
Sentai Filmworks
Tokyo MX original programming
Yostar Pictures