Shoot! Goal to the Future

Shooto!!!!
The moment I laid my eyes upon this masterpiece of an anime, I knew that for the entire summer 2022 season I'd have a show to look forward to every week. The animation is OUSTANDING, truly makes you feel like you're watching a 2009 low budget romcom, the story drives me INSANE, I legit cannot watch an episode without regretting the fact that I even started watching anime in the first place. And of course, the music. The music is decent ngl it gets a pass.
Just watching the first 2 episodes I think I heard the stupid blonde kid scream "SHOOTO!" more times than my ... mother has called my by my name in all my years of living with her. The protagonist feels like that one kid in elementary school that went to football practice but never played with the kids at school so he thinks he's Ronaldo or something, I legit want to punch my screen every time I see his face.
Looking at their legs while they play football legit makes me question if anyone on the animation team has ever even watched people play the sport, everything is literally so bad it makes me want to cry.

Summing it all up, this anime is amazing!
You should definitely give it a watch!

Shoot! Goal to the Future is sequel to the 1993 series Aoki Densetsu Shoot! which was a fairly standard sports narrative that became defined by its major character death midway through the series. It was an interesting exploration of how a death of a renowned player affects not only his team but also his rivals on other teams denied their chances of ever getting a rematch. The story often took a turn deep into melodrama, but the emotional charge is what sets the series apart from all the dozens of no-names to champions sports narratives out there.

Shoot! the sequel takes that melodrama and throws out ... everything else. Characters will suddenly turn incredibly jaded and selfish after some miscommunication. Situations will bring up crazy ultimatums and resolve with lots of loud sobbing. My favorite setup happens midway through the show, where one of the main characters becomes insanely jealous of his best friend (though it's pretty obvious he wants to be more than that) becoming close to the soccer team's new member, to the point where he's openly spreading rumors about the new kid on the team and trying to sabotage his reputation on the school newspaper in order to get him to quit the team. It should be noted that he had no problem playing with him for several episodes before this.

This kind of writing is fantastic if you love soap operas, but it's hard to recommend it to anyone else. There's little else Shoot! really has to offer. The animation looks awful to the point where it can be difficult to find stills that look halfway decent. The nods to the original 1993 series are cute if you know where to look for them, but they can't carry a full 13 episodes. You'll know immediately from episode 1 if this is the kind of show you'll enjoy, and if you do, I promise it's a great ride.

Enjoyment
Overall the story will make one root for the characters and hope the team will win. One of the rare anime series, which I had no expectations. But ended up rooting and getting curious how the characters overcome their struggles.

Shoot! Goal to the Future! is one time watch for me. To me animes with slice of life are more rewatchable, such as K-ON!, Shin Chan, Classic Sailor Moon.

If there is a sequel or more of Shoot! Goal to the Future! I will definitely want to watch it!

Story
First episodes is getting to know more about the main character. Most of the time 1 or two episodes ... finishes a story and you will know more about the characters (main/side)
Sometimes one might get confused whether an episode has been skipped… but that was not the case. Once a story is finished, the next episode could start with different story focussing on another character.
I don’t think there were plot holes or things left unanswered. One could question whether the ending is satisfying based on the match result. Upon finishing there is no urge to have season 2 ASAP, but it would be nice to see continuation!

Art
The art style is average in general. Nothing special, but still unique that it won’t be confused with other soccer anime, such as Inazuma Eleven, Blue Lock etc.
The character designs are pretty safe, you got the smart look, the more aggressive, the common protagonist. The chance is high there will be at least one character that will be likeable and distinct enough with his own story!

Sound
I watched the series with Cantonese (Chinese) dub. The voice acting is decent. If you watched more anime with Cantodub… you will definitely link that voice to another anime character. Yet, after a while a new link is established with the help of the background music and art style.
The OST is average, but does its work as the BGM matches well with the atmosphere. The opening song is catchy and might be worth to keep listening from time to time. The fast paced and blood boiling (positive way) track that keeps one in high spirits!

Character

The three main characters (blue (ML), red, gray (glasses) were mostly fleshed out and had their story told.
You will also learn a bit more about the trainer and antagonist.
Other supporting characters has a few small bits and pieces to at least know what their here for.
In the future I will mostly remember the main trio… antagonist character design reminds me of Nagisa (Free!)

Similar series with elements containing character overcoming their hardships and making one cheer for the team.
Re-main, Free! (First 2 seasons only), Eyshield 21, Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun