Drama
Orphan Black: Echoes
The Orphan Black franchise is back. And its new show echoes the violence, profanity and homosexual romance from the original.
Golf has never been more entertaining.
At the very least, in Rising Impact, golf has never caused this much excitement for a young elementary school kid or caused such tension and drama among rival golf students that will do anything to win.
Rising Impact is told through colorful animations and English subtitles and follows third-grader Gawain as he strives to become the best golfer in the world. Through mentorship from professional golfer, Kiria, and his classmates at Camelot Academy (a school for gifted junior golfers), Gawain works his way up from his first local tournament to landing a spot on Japan’s national team for a prestigious competition in England. And as viewers root for Gawain along his journey, they might learn about golf, too.
Gawain is very determined to be the best and he seems to take instruction well–both admirable qualities. Unfortunately, due to his confidence paired with his young age, many older golfers at the academy are filled with jealousy. There’s a fair bit of deception, anger, and some cartoon-ified physical violence (no blood)—just your stereotypical bad guy behavior.
Gawain’s relationship with Kiria can turn violent (which, while played for laughs, would technically be child abuse) and sometimes plays up Gawain’s schoolboy crush romance (concerning considering the large age gap). But by episode nine, Gawain says that Kiria has always felt like family.
Overall, Rising Impact is a mostly harmless anime that can spark family conversations about perseverance and, of course, the game of golf.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
When professional golfer Kiria stumbles across young Gawain in a remote village, she is initially impressed with his natural athleticism running through the forest.
When Gawain asks about Kiria’s golf bag, she shows him her golf clubs. Gawain is not impressed, however, fully believing baseball to be the better sport. In his quest to hit balls as far as possible, however, he switches to golf when he realizes a golf ball can be hit further than a baseball.
Gawain eventually convinces his grandpa to let him go to Tokyo to learn golf with Kiria.
Kiria has a temper and hits young Gawain twice. All we see is her clenching her fist and then, after a loud noise, smoke coming from Gawain’s head.
Gawain is obsessed with golf, so much so that he blisters his own hands and abandons his friends. Gawain’s grandpa is encouraging and willing to let his grandson leave for better opportunities.
One concerning, out-of-context line from Gawain reads, “Kiria not only has big boobs, she’s very generous too.”
He also asks if he can take a bath with her.
Caleb Gottry is the Plugged In intern for Summer 2024. Caleb studies journalism with a minor in music at Texas Christian University, where he will be a junior in the fall. He loves playing with words, listening to and making music, and spending any spare time with friends or family.
The Orphan Black franchise is back. And its new show echoes the violence, profanity and homosexual romance from the original.
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