The second reason for variety are the characters. However, they are not special, because they follow the simple clichés. The sympathetic friend, the cool one with white hair, the aggressive one who hates everyone, the fearful yet strong one and so on. The series is full of them and if you've watched it, you know exactly who I just meant with the descriptions. Isagi himself is probably one of the weakest characters. He has a big problem, but to understand that, I have to go further.

A second play, subtitled 2nd Stage, is scheduled to run January 18–24, 2024, at Kyoto Theater and January 25–31 at Hulic Hall Tokyo. The play was again directed and written by Ise and Kōhei Nagata joined the cast as Rin Itoshi. [54] [13] Reception [ edit ] Natalie (in Japanese). November 14, 2018. Archived from the original on February 7, 2021 . Retrieved January 27, 2021. The project's ultimate goal is to turn one of the selected players into the star striker for the Japanese national team. To find the best participant, each diamond in the rough must compete against others through a series of solo and team competitions to rise to the top. Putting aside his ethical objections to the project, Isagi feels compelled to fight his way to the top, even if it means ruthlessly crushing the dreams of 299 aspiring young strikers. The manga has also been licensed in France by Pika Édition; [26] in Germany by Kazé; [27] in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing; [28] in South Korea by Haksan Publishing; [29] in Italy by Panini Comics; [30] in Spain by Planeta DeAgostini; [31] in Thailand by Vibulkij Publishing; [32] in Indonesia by Elex Media Komputindo; [33] and in Argentina by Editorial Ivrea. [34]In this thread, you'll find a comprehensive list of television anime acquired for simulcast release during the Fall 2022 season. Anime series licensed for home ... read more

Animate Times (in Japanese). June 29, 2022. Archived from the original on July 10, 2022 . Retrieved July 10, 2022. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (April 7, 2021). "45th Annual Kodansha Manga Awards' Nominees Announced". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on August 1, 2021 . Retrieved April 7, 2021. We learn that talent, being a genius, innate ability, and everything we thought was staightforward goes a lot deeper than you think, and what actually creates a true pro is much different. in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on February 2, 2022 . Retrieved January 27, 2021.

A stage play adaptation of the manga was announced by Kodansha in December 2022. It ran May 4–7, 2023, at Osaka's Sankei Hall Breeze and May 11–14 at Tokyo's Sunshine Theater. The play was directed and written by Naohiro Ise. The cast included Ryōhei Takenaka as Yoichi Isagi, Nobunaga Satō as Meguru Bachira, Shōta Matsuda as Rensuke Kunigami, and Ryō Saeki as Hyōma Chigiri. [53] Now, the rom-com aspect of the sports shows comes from the characters, so what do we have here, well, in actuality nothing, just a bunch of annoying self centered cunts that take more personality turns than a fan working at full speed. How is that appealing you say? Well, cause what we also have is a bunch of hot male athletes fighting and sweating playing football, and the whole homoerotic tension tension that comes with any team sport. Oh, and a lot of feet, plus tight body suits, now, that might not have the slightest appeal to me, but I bet my sweet ass that is very appealing for a lot of folks out there. Oh and lets not forget the mastermind behind all this, that is such a great character that every time he opened his mouth I wanted to tear off my arm so I have something to throw at the screen. If not for that inspirational value, like if that does nothing for you, it still has a ton of value as just a fun watch. Or, just watch it because of how pretty the characters (Chigiri) are. Whatever you want.

Here, is where the anime fails. Comparing the art style of the manga and the one of the anime is like comparing Berserk manga to the latest adaptations. Throughout this review I have praised the anime for hyping me up, but just by looking at the animation and art style the hype lasts a couple of seconds. The sparks and colorful mist around players is so poorly made. I understand the reason behind them, but just seeing the poor quality really ruins their whole existence. The 3D is just as horrible and noticeable as most of other 3D animations in anime. On top of that, the art is really just made to be commercially successful. 8bit really did not try to put the soul of the manga in the adaptation. After all we want hollow emotionless white eyes and impactful shots, which we do receive, but the budget version of it. Fairly simple, easy to follow, interesting plot twists and pretty enjoyable to watch. In the middle of the anime, some characters just disappeared, but I guess that we will find out what happened to them at some point. Other than that the plot is smoothly running and most episodes are fairly interesting.

Every character is stereotypical. We got the “goofy” Bachira, main character Isagi, friendly straight-face Kunigami and some edgelords. We’ve all seen these characters before, but all of them have something to share in common. They show us their own way of getting better, moving forward, striving for success. Kuon, for example, Here come the problems. As I said in the beginning most of them are stereotypical, so I can’t really find a favorite character from all of them. If it wasn’t for the plot twists, they would be really bland and would fall flat. On top of that, their dictionaries are pretty limited (mine too, but leave that for my profile’s comments), by repeating certain words and phrases over and over again every single episode. Annoying. Also the so called plot twist, if you can name it as such, i suspected it was the case for a while, but i just didn't want to believe it cause you know, the math does't quite work out, allas, we already flipped a giant middle finger in the face of logic, we wouldn't let math stand in our way. Animate Times (in Japanese). August 8, 2022. Archived from the original on August 12, 2022 . Retrieved August 12, 2022.