This is an entertaining albeit rather slow-moving football manga. It took inspiration from Giant Killing (there's an interview between the respective mangaka in a later volume) to depict football like it would look on TV: many panels are drawn in bird's-eye view.

This makes it *very* different from most football manga which came before it: the protagonist has weak technique but good eyes; there's a very strong focus on strategy, tactics, and positioning; there are hardly any genius-style players who outclass everyone in 1-on-1s (and even they can be stopped by man-to-man marking and strategy; etc.); there's a strong narrative focus on defenders; etc. I don't follow or watch football, so I can't tell for sure, but the series certainly *feels* realistic in a way other sports series often do not.

In any case, this manga is overall very intriguing and feels entirely unique, though I occasionally find some of the smaller bird's-eye panels a bit hard to follow. And as already mentioned, the pace is rather slow.

The character's challenges are relateable, his impetus is uplifting, plot conflicts and minor suspense and brattiness are not too overdone.

... Last updated on July 21st, 2020, 10:56pm