Attack on Tomorrow! (Ashita e Atakku! in Japanese) is a sport anime series that consisted of 23 episodes and was broadcast on Fuji Television in 1977. It was created as a tribute to the first Volleyball World Cup in Japan in the same year, but it focuses on high school volleyball instead.
The main character is Mimi Hijiiri, a high school student who is determined to form a new volleyball team in her school. In fact, the previous team fell apart because of the death of one of the players, and most of the other students are reluctant to join now. Mimi eventually finds the minimum numbers of players necessary to make a team and eventually a coach too. She would later lead the team in order to participate in the youth championship.
It shares some of the writing staff and two directors with the more famous volleyball series Attack No. 1, but it's actually an unrelated story, even though a few story elements were inspired by the previous series. Unlike Attack No. 1, it wasn't based on a manga.
Tropes related to the series:
- Academic Athlete: Mimi is a Passionate Sports Girl, but it's also mentioned that she is one of the few in the volleyball team who does well in school.
- Authority in Name Only: Asuka is supposed to be the captain, initially. They didn't have enough players, so Asuka accepted to join the team only if she could be the captain. As captain, she refuses to listen to her teammates, and never does anything useful for the team (despite being a good player), while Mimi has always been the real leader. After Asuka's Character Development, she willingly leaves the role of captain to Mimi.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Asuka is a standoffish girl who dislikes her teammates in the first half of the episodes. She gets better and eventually becomes The Lancer to Mimi.
- Downer Beginning: The story starts with most of the school refusing to join the volleyball team, because a player of the previous team recently died due to Training from Hell.
- Fanboy: Sankichi, the captain of the judo club, is a fanboy of Mimi and eventually the entire team. He also serves as Plucky Comic Relief.
- Freudian Excuse: The Deuteragonist Asuka seems the Token Evil Teammate of the team, until we learn that she is still shocked by the tragic death of her mother.
- Improbable Sports Skills: Mimi occasionally does a backflip in the air to receive the ball. Taken from Attack No. 1 , where the protagonist Kozue also did that.
- Jerk Jock: A female example with Rumi, the captain of the basketball team. She thinks her sport is more important than the volleyball team in the school, and she often goes against Mimi and the others.
- Lighter and Softer: Compared to Attack No. 1. While this series also has some drama (including a Downer Beginning), it's less dark overall. The main character has a much less traumatic life compared to Kozue, the protagonist of Attack No. 1 . Also, the main coach Daisuke Hara is never violent.
- Raised by Grandparents: Mimi only lives with her grandmother and litte brother.
- Satellite Love Interest: Mimi occasionally interacts with a boy interested in her, but he doesn't get much screentime or characterization.
