My first impression of winter anime Prince of Stride: Alternative based on Episode 1 is strongly positive: it’s a sweet, funny show with a notable minimalist style that includes colors straight out of a soft 80s palette, the requisite selection of choice man meat carefully vetted towards the male-oriented viewer, and a promising mysterious backstory that will no doubt come to be resolved through the power of vaguely homoerotic friendship soon enough.

This winter anime season’s Prince of Stride: Alternative comes to us from Madhouse , the studio behind last season’s hilarious and beautifully animated mega-hit One Punch Man . Price of Stride: Alternative falls in the glorious tradition of sports anime like Prince of Tennis, Ace of Diamond , Free! Iwatobi Swim Club , Haikyuu, Kuroko no Basket … the list goes on and on. Prince of Stride: Alternative is in interesting if light company this winter anime season 2015, with sci-fi title Dimension W, supernatural show Ajin and slice of life anime Nijiiro Days among the more substantive offerings.

So should you watch Prince of Stride: Alternative? Based off of the first episode alone, my answer is yes. Here’s why.

The show made up its own sport called Stride, and it’s perfect for a sports anime.

Based off an otome game of the same name, Prince of Stride: Alternative centers around an imaginary extreme sport called Stride. Stride takes track and dilutes it to the most concentrated relay race possible, making speed, timing, and the unspoken connection between two hearts the most critical aspects for success in the sport.

To create an entirely new sport as a mark of distinction is notable enough (see: Quidditch, Blitzball), but for that new sport to embody everything fun and good about sports anime is doubly awesome. Competitive, so we can have both training montages and intense contests of talent and skill? Check. Requires trust and bonding, so we can enjoy the evolution of personal relationships between team mates? Check. Easy to understand, so the viewer can be thrown right in? Check. Rule of cool? It’s extreme street racing with a dash of parkour: it’s dope. I can’t wait to see proper tournaments and full-length Stride sequences later on.

The art style is free and light and appealing.

Madhouse’s animation for One Punch Man received widespread praise; it’s been years since an anime had so many lovingly rendered fits of speed and power. While I can’t give the animation for Prince of Stride: Alternative marks as high as One Punch Man , I love the color palette for the show, which reminds me of nothing as much as Barbie Dream Houses from ‘86. The simple stylization really works for the show.

I do have to note one or two very obvious instances of the finest CG from 1995, which intrude horribly on the pretty pastel notes and clean lines otherwise established. Did that One Punch Man budget run out, Madhouse?

It’s sincerely funny with just the right amount of painful backstory hinted at to sustain the season.

A sports anime needs its own brand of pathos. Nothing too extreme: you can’t have drugs or sexual assault or anything like that. You need smaller betrayals and more domestic tragedies, ones that can be resolved within a season or two. Judging by the way the entire school is arranged against the Stride Club at first, and the mysterious deletion of an incredible Stride video whose two upperclassmen protagonists no longer participate in the Stride club, Prince of Stride: Alternative has set itself up for some juicy revelations and character moments.

As for the humor, I was relieved to note that none of it relied on titty humor or panty shots. One repeated gag involved a Stride club member with a terrible personality persistently feeling up leg meat to check for muscle mass like a horse doctor might, while another involved cheerful and talented freshman Riku Yagami as he courted and was courted by every sports team in the school. There’s another good one with the Shogi club that I won’t spoil. Even in this first episode a lot of the humor managed to be character-based, definitely a good sign..

In short: should you watch Prince of Stride: Alternative?

Yes. Based on the first episode, I feel this will be a funny, strong show with a lot of crossover appeal. If it’s a little more otome and a little less sports anime, I don’t even mind. Here’s hoping they don’t lean too heavily on that awful CG, though.

Prince of Stride: Alternative is being simulcast by Funimation every Tuesday at 11 AM EST and can be watched here . Watch trailers for Prince of Stride: Alternative below: