Iwa Kakeru: Sport Climbing Girls is based on a manga series written by Ryudai Ishizaka.
No mountain is high enough for the girls in this anime as they compete against each other in this curious new sport of rock climbing.
Let’s discuss the sport, cast, visuals, and release date further ahead!
1. Release Date
Iwa Kakeru: Sport Climbing Girls, an anime adaptation by Blade, will premiere on October 3rd, 2020. The TV adaptation will be broadcasted on ABC’s anime block, ‘ANiMAZiNG,’ at 2:00 a.m. every Saturday.
ABC TV, TV Asahi’s 24 affiliated nationwide stations, ANiMAZiNG will broadcast Iwa Kakeru from Saturday, October 3rd, at 2:00 a.m. Please enjoy the anime!
English Translation, Twitter Translate
Will Iwa Kakeru be popular among the fans? What is its importance in these days? Let’s analyze it in detail.
2. What to Expect?
Let’s get into this article to see what made a puzzle champion a Climber in the making of ‘Iwa Kakeru: Sport Climbing Girls.’
I. Popularity of the Manga
Iwa Kakeru was serialized from 2017 to 2019 in 4 tankobon volumes.
The sports manga was so well received by the fans of the genre and the sports itself that Ryudai Ishizaki made a sequel titled Iwa Kakeru: Try a new Climbing.
It started serializing since June 2019 and has two tankobon volumes so far.
It is speculated that the anime about Rock Climbing is most probably due to the introduction of the Sport in Tokyo Olympics.
II. Climbing: The Sport
The Tokyo Olympics will be the first Olympics with sport climbing as an official event for the first time in the history of the Summer Olympics.
Sport Climbing was supposed to debut at the Tokyo Olympics, so maybe they wanted to approach that angle of competitiveness.
Japan has been putting out some amazing rock climbers these past years, especially from the women’s side.
So, with the Olympics coming up and the sport being added to the brochure, we are sure this anime is to hype the country up and cheer the country’s women team to win the Gold.
All the shows have kept it together by keeping the focus on the sport and letting the competitions speak for themselves.
This October seems to be the month of sports with volleyball, gymnastics, and now rock climbing getting an anime.
With the Olympics coming up, though delayed by a year, there’s no question why the animation studios are trying to adapt the sports into anime.
To get the fans interested!! Is it working?
III. Fan Reactions
Fans are impressed by the premise of a young girl using her analysis skills to rock climb, which is very similar to Baby Steps (an anime about playing tennis using strategy).
Viewers who rock climb as their hobbies have also noted that rock climbing is mostly about problem-solving, so the series shows a good sign for the sports community’s audience.
The feeling you get when you see a move before you go for it is crucial for any sport: Chess, Go, and now Climbing.
While the general anime audience is waiting for sports anime in general, competition, blood, guts, and all. How does one go from puzzle-solving to climbing exactly?
3. Expected Plot
Iwa Kakeru is a story about sports, rock climbing to be precise. A type of trekking that requires climbing on the artificially made walls.
Konomi Kasahara, a high school student, is always involved in solving puzzle games since her junior high school using her extraordinary brain.
Her life changed when she stumbled across her new school’s climbing wall, which led her into the school’s climbing team.
In the end, rock climbing is like doing a puzzle using your muscles in place of the brain.
Konomi then uses this talent as a weapon to challenge other girls in the competition of rock climbing. Let’s see a quick teaser of the show releasing this October.
4. Visuals & Trailers
The official Twitter account revealed the main cast, PV, and a teaser for the anime adaptation of Iwa Kakeru.
The key visual drawn by the character designer, Yoshihiro Watanabe, is released!
English Translation, Twitter Translation
Konomi 
Sayo
Jun 
Nonoka
Chinari 
Chigusa
Source: Iwa Kakeru
The PV reveals more cast and staff, and the October 3rd premiere date of the anime.
The video starts with a quick introduction to rock climbing then switches back to Konomi.
Konomi is seen to be interested in something which is not games, as the other main characters are introduced.
After being included in the school climbing team, she seems to be brimming with power and energy. The rest of the video shows the opponents who all hail from different backgrounds but still try to reach the top in rock climbing.
Let’s look into the animation production of the show.
5. Music and Animation
I. Animation Quality
The animation for the new anime looks very clean. The art and character designs look great. The color palette contrasts with the background and doesn’t seem wishy-washy.
Though the studio, Blade, has only done Chinese anime recently, their animation seems to suit the shounen genre the most. We can only hope the anime wouldn’t seem too awkward on-screen.
II. Theme Songs
Aina Suzuki will perform the opening theme called Motto Takaku or Ever Higher. While the entire main cast will sing the ending theme, called Let’s Climb.
The songs’ CD single will be released on November 18 and 25, respectively. The OST feels natural in the PV with the upbeat track; we can’t wait to hear more from this show.
6. What does the fandom think?
There are a lot of positive reviews for Iwa Kakeru after the promotional video was released.
Some wish the anime to be just focused on ‘cute girls doing cute things,’ but many want the anime to be sports focused on the serious competition, even if the character designs suggest otherwise.
According to ‘climbing weebs’ , the trailer seems to portray climbing like all the other generic sports anime.
Still, if the production team focuses on bouldering (a type of climbing) it would be the best sports battle anime ever.
The video also shows a character doing ‘back clips,’ but fans would prefer some unrealistic portrayal of rock climbing as that would be more entertaining.
But if that gets more people into the sport, it would be even more appreciated.
The anime has gained a lot of attention with the Olympics coming up too, let’s hope the anime will not let us down.
8. Cast & Staff
The following will most probably return as the cast and staff members for Iwa Kakeru:
I. Staff
| Position | Staff | Famous Works |
| Director | Amino Tetsuro | Arslan Senki, Nijiro Days |
| Series Composition | Touko Machida | Karneval, 7 Seeds |
| Character Design | Yoshihiro Watanabe | Minami-ke, Overflow |
| Studio | Blade | Cheating Craft, Yin Yang Shi |
II. Cast
| Character | Voice Actor | Famous Works |
| Konomi | Uesaka Sumire | Shalltear (Overlord), Chisato (BanG Dream) |
| Sayo | Suzuki Aina | Mari (Love Live! Sunshine!), Mez (Akame ga Kill) |
| Jun | Ishikawa Yui | Mikasa (Attack on Titan), Violet (Violet Evergarden) |
| Nonoka | Tomita Miyu | Gabriel (Gabriel Dropout), Riko (Made in Abyss) |
| Chinari | Komatsu Mikako | Neko (K), Seishirou (Nisekoi) |
9. About Iwa Kakeru
Konomi Kasahara, a junior high school girl, has made a big name after winning numerous competitive puzzle game tournaments.
The story begins when she finds a climbing club in her high school. Using special skills other than that of puzzle games, Kasahara becomes fascinated with climbing.
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