Story
The plot of this anime revolves around Kakeru Aizawa, a 14-year-old boy who enjoys football but has decided to quit playing in order to become the manager of his school team and, in the not-too-distant future, a coach (being the Japan national team his final goal). Suguru Aizawa, Kakeru’s older brother and one of the greatest players under 15 in Japan, understands that Kakeru is merely running away: he knows his little brother wants to play, but he’s terrified of playing because he injured a rival a few years ago. But don’t worry, Kakeru will conquer his emotion and return to play.
Aside from the Aisawa brothers, the story’s third protagonist is Nana “Seven” Mishima, a former teammate of Kakeru’s from primary school who has returned from the United States to join the team as a manager. Seven is energetic and dedicated. She also lacks the typical abundance of tsundere traits that most female characters have, which can be annoying, but she’s almost too perfect to be realistic. Alternatively, she is similar to a conventional romantic comedy character.
Character
I believed the character development for the main characters was pretty effectively done. We got to watch the characters grow as they each fit a “stereotype” for a soccer player. The underlying development and flashbacks were also excellent. Normally, these would be cliches, but the flashbacks actually validated the main characters’ choices.
Style
The animation is fine. The character design is good, but not groundbreaking. All of the characters are completely different from one another, and there are no strange hair colours or unusual hairstyles.
The fundamental issues are in court. The sport is not always well portrayed (this changes by episodes). Passes, shots, and plays are more stationary than they should be. Because it’s a game, this is serious… It appears that a large portion of the funding was set up for teen drama rather than real gaming. Nonetheless, this issue, while significant, does not detract from the overall experience or make the games unwatchable. It is slightly lower than expected.
