I Didn’t Expect 100 Meters to Be This Thought-Provoking

Last night, I just wanted something chill before the week started again. I opened Netflix and started scrolling for something short to watch. A movie, not a series, because I know myself… I won’t stop once I start.

Then I saw 100 Meters.

It’s been a while since I last watched anime, so I thought this would be a nice change. I had no idea what it was about when I clicked it. I didn’t read the synopsis or anything. I just wanted to be surprised.

And surprised I was.

Somewhere in the middle of watching, a question started looping in my head:

Why do we do what we’re doing?

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100 Meters is based on the manga Hyakuemu by Uoto, and at first glance it looks like a typical sports anime about sprinting. The more I watched, the more I realized it wasn’t really about the 100-meter dash itself. It was more about the reasons people keep running in the first place.

The story introduces different characters who all run for completely different reasons.

Some want to win.
Some want to escape.
Some want to prove something.
And some just run because they love it.

Tagoshi quickly became one of my favorite characters. His belief is simple: "running the 100 meters faster than anyone else can solve almost anything" In a way, that mindset makes sense. When you’re competitive, winning feels like the answer to a lot of things. Recognition. Validation. Success. It all seems to follow if you’re the best.

It actually reminded me of how things felt back when I was still studying. If you do better than everyone else, you get the rewards: high grades, awards, maybe even making your parents proud. It’s easy to believe that being the best fixes everything.

Komiya, who at the beginning runs for a completely different reason. When he was asked why he runs, his answer wasn’t about winning at all. He just wanted to escape parts of his life. For sure at some point in our lives, this became our reason of doing things, too.

He didn’t even have proper technique at first. He was just running. When Tagoshi introduced his philosophy about winning, it changed the way Komiya saw things. After getting his first medal, he started chasing victories too.

What I found interesting though is that even when he achieved success, it didn’t seem like it filled something completely.

The movie keeps layering these perspectives through the other characters as well.

Some continue running even after losing their place as the best, just like Kaido. What I liked about him is that he keeps going because, for him, he’s the only one who can define his worth. Not the rankings, not the results.

Some run because competition makes life exciting, like Zaitsu. For him, being the best doesn’t really matter if there’s no rivalry. He likes the thrill of someone pushing him to go faster which makes sense. Sometimes we grow because someone else challenges us.

Nigami's reason is probably one of the heaviest. He runs under pressure just to prove he matters. He pushed himself so hard, even risking his health, just to prove that he existed and that he mattered.

Another favorite character of mine is Asakusa. She runs simply because she loves it. She knows she’s not the best but she enjoys it anyway and I really liked that perspective. Not everything we love has to be something we’re the best at.

Watching all these characters made me think:

Why do we keep doing what we’re doing?

Is it for the prize?
For recognition?
For happiness?
For survival?
Or simply because we enjoy it?

Sometimes we don’t even know the answer yet... maybe we only realize it later in life.

The movie has some moments where I didn't know if I should laugh or reflect on my life decisions.

I loved the scene where Tagoshi suddenly breaks down in front of two kids. I wasn’t expecting that and it was both funny and a little sad at the same time.

I also got surprisingly invested in the races. The running scenes were intense and I could really see the emotions on their faces while they were sprinting. At one point I was so hooked that I felt like I was the one competing. I was literally getting nervous and anxious while watching… which is funny because I was just sitting there doing nothing 😆

Apparently, the animation used rotoscoping, which explains why some movements looked a bit odd to me at first.

One part of the movie that really stuck with me was when Komiya told Tagoshi that he had changed. I think it’s because his reason for running had changed too. He wasn’t chasing the prize the same way anymore. He was enjoying the run itself.

That made me think about something I experienced before.

I remembered being a student while watching this. I really enjoyed learning but I was usually second in class. I was first once, but I liked being second more 😆 Being number one comes with a lot of pressure. Staying there is even harder. I remember feeling that being close to the top without carrying all that pressure was actually more comfortable.

So in a strange way, I could relate to both sides of the story. The desire to win and the acceptance that maybe being second isn’t so bad either.

Another thing I appreciated about the film is how it shows the characters growing from kids into adults. When we’re younger, losing feels simpler. As we grow older, losses become heavier, but they also teach us things we didn’t understand before.

What I loved most about the ending is that the film doesn’t really focus on who wins. It leaves that part open in a way.

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Instead, it leaves us viewers with a choice:

Are we going to focus on finding out the winner?
Or are we going to focus on the expressions on their faces while running?

What do we actually care about more?

Winning?
Or the journey of getting there?

The answer probably says a lot about how we see life too.

By the time the movie ended, I realized that 100 Meters isn’t just about competition. It’s about how people cope with expectations, achievements, pressure, and even identity. Some people spend their whole lives chasing victory, while others are just trying to find meaning in what they do.

Life can sometimes feel like running without meaning. Eventually, we start to understand why we’re running in the first place.

That’s it for my first post here in The Anime Realm. Now that I’ve finished 100 Meters, I feel like checking out the manga too just to see how different it is from the film. I always enjoy comparing the two 😊

Do you have any anime recommendations with a similar theme? I’d love to add them to my watchlist!