# Smile Down the Runway (2020)

> A model who stops growing and a family-burdened aspiring designer find creative routes into the fashion world.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/79255

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 12
- Episode runtime: 25 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, drama
- Network: TBS, BS-TBS, MBS
- Cast: Yumiri Hanamori, Natsuki Hanae, Ai Kayano, Yui Ishikawa, Hibiku Yamamura, Hikaru Akao, Ryohei Kimura, Ayaka Fukuhara
- TMDB rating: 6.8/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11177400/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: hopeful, earnest, whimsical, uplifting, breezy

## What critics say

Audience reception is mixed, with a modest rating for a short anime that is appreciated for its upbeat fashion-world premise.

## Synopsis

Smile Down the Runway (2020) is a Japanese animated drama series created by a studio team and produced by Ezóla and DMM pictures for TBS, BS-TBS and MBS. Chiyuki Fujito, a young woman who had been training to be a professional runway model, must face the reality that she has stopped growing, threatening the career she has built her hopes around. Ikuto Tsumura, a student uncertain whether he wants to become a fashion designer because of heavy family responsibilities, is her counterpart in a story about two young people weighing their dreams against real obstacles. The voice cast includes Yumiri Hanamori as Chiyuki and Natsuki Hanae as Ikuto, with Ai Kayano as Kokoro Hasegawa supporting the ensemble. Across a single season of twelve episodes, each half-hour chapter follows the pair through practical setbacks, shop-floor and studio work, and inventive ways of reshaping their goals. Based on a manga, the series belongs to the shounen anime tradition, with a bright, earnest register, gentle humor and an optimistic view of persistence. Its setting is contemporary Japan and the fashion world it depicts. Fans of Haikyu!! and Yuri!!! on Ice will find the same aspirational drive and hopeful sincerity here.

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