Inazuma Eleven

This is my first anime review.

Inazuma eleven is based in a game series by Level-5.

I liked the Story, is a great plot with a big variety of characters and unrealistic attacks. But... it has some differences respect the version of the original game.

The art is great, especially in the shoots and attacks.

The Sound is composed for Yasunori Mitsuda, he did a good job in this, and sound effects are awesome.

... I really loved this anime beacuse is really emotional in occasions and others funny or many more.
Inazuma Eleven values the meaning of friendship and teamwork.

I started to watch Inazuma Eleven out of pure boredom and ended up with a total obsession. You don't have to be a soccer fan to like it (to tell the truth I really dislike soccer ...) or to have an understanding of it.

The story was, well, surprising. It is a bit unrealistic to use soccer for world domination or try to kill kids because of soccer but it is an anime - it doesn't have to be realistic. At first, I was really annoyed by seeing soccer-playing aliens (2nd arc) who destroyed Japanese high schools like they couldn't use their power for more ... profitable purposes. Of course this made no sense at all on the first glance, but in the end it was surprisingly well resolved.

Besides the story is only secondary. Inazuma Eleven focuses on the characters, which are unique and well designed. There is a character development and even though there are a lot of characters the show managed to balance quantity and quality. Everyone has his own story and his own problems to overcome. I really loved this show because of its characters and would give it 20 out of 10 points if it would be possible.

I recently had the pleasure of watching Inazuma Eleven for a third time and I can safely say it is still as evergreen and exciting as I found it the first and the second time I watched it.

Presented by Oriental Light & Magic, the studio that gave us Pokemon, Inazuma Eleven has been a huge success in Japan and several other countries and it has good reasons for so.
The story is centered around a young and energetic football freak, Endou Mamoru, who is trying to gather members for the local school football team; The Raimon Junior High. With his charismatic personality and never-giving ... up spirit, Endou with the help of a few soccer buddies manages to find eleven players to play for the club and to aim for the Football Frontier Tournament. Football Frontier is a competition where all the junior high schools across the nation participate in order to achieve the number one position in the whole country. But before they could even participate in the tournament, they are pit against the famous Teikoku Academy, which is currently the best in the nation and have been winning the tournament for 40 successive years. Things do not go as planned however for Raimon as they are completely overpowered by Teikoku in all departments of the game. Shoot after shoot, goals after goals Raimon players get battered brutally with an overwhelming margin of 20 goals to nil as Endou Mamoru could only watch his friends lying helplessly not able to stand across the field. As everything seems over before it began for Raimon, an unexpected twist occurs as Gouenji Shuuya, the talented striker who swept away all his opponents single-handedly in the previous Football Frontier Tournament while still just being a freshman, takes the field wearing a Raimon unifrom. It seems that Teikoku was waiting all along for him to take the field and as he does an inspired Endou Mamoru catches the ball cleanly hit by Teikoku and throws it straight at Gouenji who then with this amazing shoot makes the goal. Teikoku then abandon the game as they got what they had come for, and thus resulting in a victory for Raimon Junior High. This is the beginning of the adventures that await Raimon and Endou Mamoru in his future.

The are three different arcs in the show - The Football Frontier arc, The Aliea Academy arc and the Football Frontier International arc.

(i) Football Frontier arc: Follows the journey of Raimon Junior High as they take on the local school teams to enter the competition and play against the best of the nation and their journey to the top.

(ii) Aliea Academy arc: Follows quickly after the Football Frontier Final against Zeus Academy as various schools across the nations including Raimon Junior High is destroyed supposedly by "Aliens" who say to come from the far planet of Aliea as the messengers of Aliea Academy. They use a Soccer battle as the means to conquer the Earth. There are five teams in Aliea Academy; Gemini Storm, the second rank team that are the first to arrive. Epsilon (Also play as Epsilon Remastered in the later episodes), the first rank team and the rest are Diamond Dust, Prominence and Genesis which is led by Hiroto, are the three master rank teams.

(iii) Football Frontier International arc: Begins after the victory of Raimon against the Aliea Academy's Genesis and players around the country are gathered to form the Inazuma Japan which is the national team of Japan. The arc follows their journey as they progress through the Asian preliminaries and face the teams from all over the world.

The characters play a pivotal role in the series as is the case in every anime, and each of them have their own unique personality and appeal.

Gouenji Shuuya: The cool-headed striker with great potential and also known as "The Flame Striker."
Endou Mamoru: The Goalkeeper and the protagonist of the series. He is also the Captain of Raimon Junior High.
Kidou Yuuto: The brains and the genius strategist of the field. He previously was the Captain of the Teikoku Academy but now is an irreplaceble addition to Raimon Junior High.

These are just the main three characters of the team and there is the rest of the team as well consisting of Kazemaru, Someoka, Handa, Max, Kabeyama, Shourin along with several other members that join Raimon in the future.

Endou Daisuke is the grandfather and a former soccer player-cum-goalkeeper for the Japan National team and it is he whom Endou looks upon as an inspiration and decides to be a goalkeeper himself.

Kageyama Reiji is the main antagonist of the show. Kageyama's father was once hailed as the future of Japanese football and that is before when a group of exceptionally talented players gathered by Endou Daisuke overpower him and he is descended into darkness. This leaves a huge mark on a then young Kageyama as he grows deep hatred for soccer in his heart and vows to use any shrewd means possible to take his revenge and to sit on top of the soccer world. He is the owner of the Teikoku Academy and is mostly called as "Commander" by Kidou Yuuto and the rest of his players. It was him that taught Kidou his soccer and made him grow up to be a prodigy. However the sense of self-righteouness earned by playing against Endou and his friends, Kidou vows to leave Teikoku and follow the right path and to play his own soccer. It's pretty ironic actually that the villain whom you will hate for the most of the show then turns good later in the show in what was an absolutely heart-wrenching episode to say the least. I could not hold back my tears at that point and most likely you won't be as well.

The sound aspect of Inazuma Eleven is one of its strongest assets. The soundtracks used between the episodes are brilliant and it won't be an exaggeration for me to say that Inazuma Eleven has one of the best set of soundtracks in anime. Furthermore, it also boasts of six top-class openings performed by T-Pistonz + KMC. Two of my favorite top 5 anime openings are from the show. They're simply classic. The ending themes vary from person to person as they're all aimed differently for both boys and girls. The voice acting again in this anime is top-notch. A lot of budget was put into this and it clearly verifies it by the class of the voice actors. Each of them is a pro and and you're most likely to find them in any other anime you see. One of the main example is the voice of Endou, which is the same voice actor popular in his role for Naruto in the Naruto franchise.

The artwork is done well throughout the series and has a simple characteristic look aimed at the teens so nothing too special about them. The football while in a soccer match is done neatly and there is no use of CGI and everything is kept simple which is the best way. The "Hissatsu Techniques" as well are drawn beautifully and never under-achieves.

Inazuma Eleven is like a dose of childhood to me, I can keep watching this numerous times and it won't disappoint me in a slight way. If you're a football/soccer freak like me then this series is a must see, even if you're not then as well I'd recommend you to watch it. It's very exciting throughout and with the addition of the cool Hissatsu moves it only adds its reputation and for me it cements its position as one of the best sport anime out there.

Before "Inazuma Eleven" came along, I always thought "Captain Tsubasa" represented very well the football issue ("football" in UK, "soccer" in USA). It still does, altough it can be a bit boring sometimes (the first episodes of the 1983 version are unforgettable)

But in my opinion, so far, "Inazuma Eleven" is really the best, with "Ganbare Kickers" coming in second place. Sure there's a bit of exageration with those football moves when playing a game, but the football game moments are nice to see (nice sound and art as well)

What's really the best is the story out of the football games combined with a great cast ... of characters (when a character is included, the story only gets better): there's some great moments for comedy and drama in there

Junko Takeuchi is always great when she voices the main character, Endou Mamoru. No wonder: she also showed that in "Hunter x Hunter" (Gon Freecs) and "Naruto" (Uzumaki Naruto)

All in all, a great anime and hoping for more suprises in it

In December of 2015, I decided to pick a bunch of non- seasonal anime that I wanted to watch alongside the Winter 16 anime season. One of these series was Inazuma Eleven.
Now I went into this anime with very low expectations due to the fact that I don't like sports that much plus some of my least favourite sports are football, boxing volleyball and baseball. So I was expected to hate this anime because of it. As again I don't like sports that much and honestly I was expecting to kinda hate this anime. Was I wrong in my personal judgement or I am right?

Story.
The ... story in Inazuma Eleven follows a cheerful goalkeeper captain named Endou Mamoru who is looking for members to join the Raimon Soccer Club. However due to Raimon Soccer Club only having 6 players the student body council president named Natsumi threatens the Raimon Soccer Club by disbandment if they wont win a game by Teikoku Gakuen as well getting enough players. When Raimon recruited enough players they faced off with Teikoku Gakuen however Raimon Soccer were competently outclassed. When all hope was lost at the very last second a striker named Gouenji helps the Raimon team to score a point using a powerful hissatsu technique called Fire Tornado. Shocked about the power Teikoku Gakuen forfeits the match where Raimon Soccer Club won by default. This gives Endou along with the Raimon Soccer members hope that they will one day win the Football Frontier. From there Endou along with the Raimon Soccer members would aimed to become the best soccer time like no other team ever was.
Inazuma Eleven is split up into three main arcs as well as some subplots that take place during the main arcs.
Football Frontier Arc (EP1-26)
Ailea Academy Arc (EP27-EP65)
Football Frontier International Arc (EP66-127 End)
Honestly, the story isn't the strongest part of Inazuma Eleven. I am going to be real honest it's one of its weaker parts of the story especially in the earlier episodes of the first arc which I found to be cheesy at times but at the same time, I just can't help to really get invested by it.
The first half it execution. In my opinion, you can make even the most boring sounding setups really good if you can get the execution just right and Inazuma Eleven just that. Honestly, I don't care if the sport is realistic or not because for I only care about the execution more than anything else
The other half are the subplots and in my opinion, they are some best subplots I have ever seen in any anime. They are just really handled well, and they add life to the characters which prevent them from being boring and generic shounen characters.
All of the arcs were all very enjoyable to watch and they well directed because each arc knows to use its content really well.
The show explores the theme for friendship, teamwork, value as well as overcoming your fears and weaknesses and this show manages to execute them perfectly.
I really like the story for this one even though it’s on the little basic side for the most part. I don't think much more was needed because the execution of it was so well handled specially in seasons 2 and 3 where the writers decided to go all out.
Great job director Katsuhito Akiyama.
8.5/10

Characters.
The characters are what really brings this show together because like with the story it is the execution was great.
First, we have Endou Mamoru who is our main captain for the Raimon and later on Inazuma Japan as well as being the main goalkeeper for the team.
Endou starts off as a goofy and kinda hot-headed protestant who has a passion for football but honestly as the series progresses he developed from a less goofy hot-headed main protagonist to a very determined and more responsible captain for the team. I actually adore this character because he is a well-developed character and a lovable one.
I was really impressed with Endou as a who and that's why I adore him and he's one of my favourite’s characters in the show, to be honest.


Next up we have our main striker for Raimon Gouenji Shuuya
Now like Endou he has a strong passion for football but unlike Endou, he's much calmer but self-centred but as the series progresses he much friendly to the team as having massive character development. Not to mention his subplot and backstory was just great and well told.
Overall Gouenji is a great character on he’s own right.
Lastly, we have Kidou Yuuto who is the brains and strategist player for Raimon who is formerly the Captain of the Teikoku Academy but now is an irreplaceable addition to Raimon Junior High. I can only say this much to this character because he is a walking spoiler character which he's side plot. Besides the one that I just mentioned because it happens early on the story anyway.
All I can say about Kidou is he is an amazing character and he is one of the few complex characters.
The rest of the characters are hit or mess depending on your tastes.
For me, most of the characters were great because they had they own subplots which are well written for the most part and they fun to watch as well as being well developed. Sure there were a few miss characters but least they didn't damage the show for me.
Then we have what is easily my favourite characters in Inazuma Eleven. Kazemaru Ichirouta.
I honestly have grown attached with this because I just really liked how his very friendly as well as being competitive player not to mention I really adore his character design.
In my opinion, Kazemaru is probably the most realistic character in this show personality wise.
Overall the characters were awesome.
9.5/10
Visuals.
Visually Inazuma Eleven is pretty good.
The art of Inazuma Eleven is fresh and surprised greatly because I like the character designs for the most because they feel fresh and original.
One thing that I liked that is the use of colour for each arc representing the mood and the tone of each arc.
The football frontier arc has bright colour feel it to it but not full colourful while the Aliea Academy arc has a more depressing feel to it. Then we have the football frontier arc international arc which has more modern sports anime feel to it because of the colour usage and the art, in general, has greatly improved in terms of quality.
The animation was surprising really good, and it stays consistent all the thought and when they players use hissatsu techniques its freaking amazing of how well animated they all are. Sure at times can use re-use the hissatsu animation but for a show like this, I didn't really bother me too much because they are amazingly animated.
Also the character designs, for the most part, were great and unique.
Sure there were a few questionable ones, but they didn't really bother me too much.
This is by definitely Oriental Light and Magic finest work in terms of art and animation especially in season 3 (Football Frontier International Arc) where it looks absolutely beautiful at times putting some of the recent anime to shame at times.

Overall the visuals were great.
8/10
Sound.
The first time that I listened to the OST I personally found it lacklustre but over time I started getting used to it and I ended up completely loving the OST because how amazing it was.
Hell, some of the tracks in Inazuma Eleven are emotional and just plain epic.
Notable tracks include.
Teikoku Gakuen Theme Empire Gakuen came!
Mortal combat with the empire Gakuen
Lethal Attack
Gathering Circle
Kanashii Kano
All of the Opening and Endings themes are amazing.
My favourite openings and endings in Inazuma Eleven are opening four and ending 1 because they fit very well with each other like the opening 4 adds hype for that arc while ending 1 closes that arc perfectly.
The Japanese audio for the series was great, and the voice actors were well acted.
Notable Seiyuu performance goes to Junko Takeuchi as Endou Mamarou, Hiroyuki Yoshino as Kidou Yuuto, Sanae Kobayashi as Natsumi Raimon, Rie Kugimiya aka (Tsundere Queen) as Toramaru Utsunomiya, Yuki Kaji as Kazuya Ichinose and Nishigaki, Yuka as Kazemaru Ichirouta.
There's also an English dub. Please don't watch the English dub it's really bad. I watch the dub for this on Nintendo's anime channel just to see how it is and it was just awful. Not only the voices were bad but the audio quality itself is bad plus the story and characters development were butchered to all hell.
All of the characters have different names, and they were really bad on that and the final nail of the coffin for this dub is the show cuts off after season 2 leaving you with an uncompleted story.
I only watched the first 2 episodes for the dub for this I dropped it half way in the episode because the voices were just so freaking horrible to listen plus the voice actors had no emotion with the roles whatsoever.
So there really no reason to watch Inazuma Eleven dubbed, and I won't take any points away because it's honestly hard to find an Inazuma Eleven dub nowadays let alone good quality.
Overall besides what I said about the dub the I really love the OST, Openings, Endings and voice acting for the original Japanese audio
10/10

Final Thoughts.

Inazuma Eleven might just be the anime that I realize I judged this too early.
Am being really honest when I say that my opinions for this anime went from basically is just another mediocre sports anime to oh my god l freaking this anime so much!!!
Seriously this went being something that I will hate to something that I will love, and it impressed me in so many ways that I will never think possible with a sports anime let alone a kid’s anime.
This is just an awesome anime that I barely speak my praises enough. The story, the characters, the animation the OST, the openings the endings and the voice acting were all just great. I know it could easily have flopped, but execution for everything is so great.
If you're looking for a great sports anime that is entertaining and has a strong character cast I recommend Inazuma Eleven. It was a great series that I will forever love until the end of time
Final Score 9/10

Inazuma Eleven, is one of the best animes in my life. The Story is incredible, love the plot, it's very original, not compared to Captain Tsubasa series, i watch the 80 episodes currently, the story in the first episodes are good.

But...
the true action starts in the season 2, when aliens attack, that episodes are epic. in the third season, the true institute Alien is comming to action. and the fourth and actual season the best players of Japan reunites forming the Inazuma Japan.

The Art is Cool. Yasunori Mitsuda's music are awesome, and makes me enjoyment this anime more

Love the Naruto's Seiyuu as Endou Mamoru.
Love the ... Variety of The Character.
LOVE THIS ANIME

This animè is one of the most annoying i have ever seen. It starts of like all other shounen series, but maybe the first one i have seen where the main character still have both his parents. Its about Endou Mamoru, a goalkeeper for a pathetic football team threatened to shut down if they can't get enought members and beat the best youth team in Japan. And that's how it starts, and escalades into one of the most dreadful manuscripts ever.

The story is not bad because of lack of characters or the lack of plot. But the story itself is just utterly unrealistic. Its ... not about the football in or of itself, but more of the evil people plotting terrifying plans behind the courtain. The plot really pisses me of, and i can guarantee you, if you are not a 9 year old boy. You will get annoyed.
Sometimes you would rather tear out your eyeballs and feed them to pigs than to watch particular segments of the episode.

Im not gonna give you any spoilers, but this series is farther away from perfect than Pluto is from the Sun.

But that is why i love it. I don't take it seriously at all. Ok, ill admit it. I always cheer for Endou and Inazuma Eleven/Inazuma Japan, even though i KNOW they are going to win. But i don't take the manuscript seriously at all. It's brilliant, watching evil people plotting to KILL children because of a youth club football match. It's so unrealistic that i cannot describe how annoyed this series get me, and i kinda like that feeling to. I want to jump into the screen and knock some sense into them. But this isn't what fuels my "need" for this series. It has heart and soul, it got all the right messages morally. Even though you sometimes think the characters are abit one-dimensional.

I don't even think the writers take themselves seriously. I think they blurt out ideas, laught at it, and make it fit. From one moment you are on a football field, the other, on a crime scene. Under pressure by a all powerfull leader that wants to take over the world.

By using kids... on a football field....

You take my point?

To sum it up.
STORY-2- As you already have figured out, the story is dreadful.

ART-9- I have no complaints about the artwork, some of it are pretty cool. The different "Hissatsu techniques" are pretty cool-looking, and good animation overall i must say.

SOUND-8- My main focus when i watch anime is story and how much i enjoy it. But it's all relative, and you can't enjoy an anime without good sound, and i think they did a decent job here. I personally can't put my finger on any major flaws.

CHARACTER-8- Shounen, everything from evil cocky guyes, to overtrusting guys who relies on their friends, and would die for them. Etc
But it works on all other shows, so i see no reason why it shouldnt work here

ENJOYMENT-9-I have already explained why i enjoy this, i can disconnect my brain and just watch this, laught at the stupid plot.I give it a 9, because some scenes make me want to crush my computer in anger.

This show is a masterpiece. To me, at least.
I, of course, have some nostalgic bias. I grew up watching Inazuma Eleven on the TV with my brothers when I was very young, and it's something we still bond over now as adults. So, here's my review with as little bias as I can manage.

Plot - 9/10

The plot of this show is solid. It's grounded in reality without being boring. For an innocent-looking sports anime, it gets surprisingly real and deep and dark. The story is gripping and you really do end up cheering for these teams, especially after you go through so much with them. ... It's entertaining and deep, there are high highs and low lows. Never EVER a dull moment. There are twists, and backstories, and developments, and mysteries, and...my god.

World-Building - 8/10

As with the plot, the world-building here is solid. We get to explore other areas of Japan, meet teams from the rest of the world. There's an abundance of characters and scenarios in which we get a real feel for the universe of this anime.
Of course, there's a little bit left unexplained (being the use of Hissatsu Techniques) but...hey. This anime is based off of the games, and if the games never explained it...? This show is so enjoyable that, really, who cares? Personally, I don't care why or how these kids can use Pokémon soccer moves. You just end up believing in this universe and accepting it for how hype and beautiful it is.

Art Style/Animation - 9/10

This anime just looks adorable. Each character is designed (of course, this is accredited to the original games) to suit their characters. They're all unique and iconic and beautiful to look at. The anime adapts the original games' designs so well and doesn't lose any of the charm of any of the characters.
The Hissatsu Techniques are animated BEAUTIFULLY. Some scenes are a little slack here and there, but that's par for the course. This show can sometimes be breath-taking to watch, and every now and then is, at worst, good to look at.
The characters are so expressive and...man.

Script/Dialogue - 10/10

Fuck it. 10/10. This show has what I love: A "LET'S GOOOO" attitude, fuelling the plot and characters with inspirational words and shouting, but it WORKS so well.
Bear in mind, I grew up watching this in English, and upon re-watching it as an adult still watched it in English for the sake of nostalgia. The English script suffers very much from Early 2000s-2010s English Dub syndrome, in which some of the script choices are...interesting and over-westernised. The script even messes up the names of characters sometimes. But, honestly, it adds to the charm of the English Dub with how scuffed it can be.
I did watch many important scenes in Japanese as well to get a realer feel for the original vibe of the show. The Japanese script is perfection. It's inspirational and touching and wholesome and funny and...I could go on. The amount of gorgeous quotes and motivational moments in this show is astounding. Just watching Inazuma Eleven is bound to inspire or uplift you. (Well, depending on the episode. Some tend to get pretty dark...)

Voice Acting - ...Depends on which language...

Look, again, I watched this in English. The English voice acting... is okay! Especially for the time, and for the tiny cast they were working with. I swear the English dub had, what, a cast of about 7 voice actors? Inazuma Eleven has a LOT of characters, so, honestly for such a small cast they did a great job. Of course, my bias comes in again as I grew up hearing these voices and have learned to love them. Though, I will say that the English voice actors, for the most part, fit the most important characters well, and deliver a lot of brilliant lines. It's not perfection, but hey... The Japanese voice actors did an amazing job with the original dub of this show. Of course, I didn't watch the whole show in Japanese, but the important scenes I did check out were delivered brilliantly. I had chills so frequently hearing some of these deliveries.

Characters - 10/10

There's a lot of characters in IE, but they are, more or less, all explored. Every prevalent character in this anime has a unique personality, has likes, dislikes, tendencies, attitudes, opinions... Many of them have their own struggles and developments and arcs and it's AMAZING to see. This show clearly loves its cast of characters as it takes care of them so well. They're all lovable in their own ways and you can't help but become attached to them. I honestly don't have many words for this section...they're just brilliantly done. Wow.

Overall - 10/10 (Okay, so technically 9/10 CRITICALLY speaking, but, whatever, it's a masterpiece. 10/10. Be quiet.)

Inazuma Eleven IS a masterpiece. Does that mean its perfect? Technically, no. It has flaws. But, it is such an amazing work of art that you can't even begin to CARE about any of those flaws. This show is entertaining, inspiring, motivational, touching, emotional... You connect so much with the story and characters and you feel each win and each loss along with them.
Maybe you're not as sentimental as me and you don't get moved as much by the words of animated characters. Fair enough, but I'd still advise you give this show a try.
I beg anyone and everyone to at least try and watch this show. It deserves, at the very least, a chance.

I don't have any interest in soccer, neither having a reason to watch a kiddy anime while I'm, in fact, 17 years old, especially I like the dark, action theme animes instead of sport and light-hearted shows. My first meeting with IE was when someone used Fubuki Fanart as signature and it looked really beautiful ( I was deceived lol). My first thought was "WTF is this, so ridiculous" when watching IE GO. And yet, I was hooked by it, watched the whole IE GO series, and then watched IE. I would say, I love IE more than its sequel.

I didn't expect a sport series ... has a plot beside "Lettttt's playyyyy gamesssss", and yet, IE proved me wrong in many, many ways, especially the alien Arc, and I was like whatttt. Surprisingly, the arc ended up pretty well with the most reasonable solution that we can get and with all the character developments. The plot is never boring, in fact, you couldn't get bored because of how likable the characters are, how fun the hissatsu are to look at, and how the matchs are not really predictable. I couldn't guess whether the Raimon would win or lose in the Alien Arc, and maybe Raimon actually lost more than won in that arc. However, I think the reason that makes the plot successful is the pacing. The longest match would only be 3 and half episodes, and there would never be a moment that looked like the match just stops for characters to monologue. That is also the factor that makes some sport animes look like they're buying time (Kuroko no Basuke, Yowamuda Pedal, Diamond no Ace...). And yet, in fact, they actually said in the interview that they were buying time by throwing a random match in, but we would never realize (LOL). I also like the fact that the series doesn't treat us like kids, they already say "it's a super-dimensional soccer, and this's how IE world works, deal with it." That's why, even though it's ridiculous, we can accept it, while some serious animes out there, trying to look as realistic as possible, but end up having unrealistic powers (KnB - no, I don't hate it, I have the whole mangas, but it's the best example) and stupid reasons and twists that comes out of thin air (Gunslinger Strator, Valvrave...). IE doesn't treat itself serious, and that's why we can easily accept it later instead of the annoying feeling hanging in our throats. The balance between goody and sad moments is also perfect, it never gets really bitter and makes us hard to swallow, while keeping the depth in characters' personalities.

The most thing I like about the series is the characters, and I can feel a strong connection to somes like Fubuki, Kazemaru, and maybe Hiroto, and sometimes I would just wish I have a friend like Endou, he is like a sunshine to everyone. In a show that have so many characters, you wouldn't expect all of them will have backstories, and yet, in IE, all of them would always have one or at least time to shine, although the story would only focus on certain one, like Fubuki and Hiroto in Alien Arc...This wonderful character developments is thank to the amount of episodes, because it's more effective when it takes long time for them to surpass their fears, like in reality. We can't easily change in such 1 or 2 episodes, like most short-term animes love to portray. Fubuki did take nearly 40 episodes to finally change, and his struggle takes like 10 episodes, continuously trembled and couldn't face soccer direcly. However, the director did a perfect job in expressing his deep fear, and we would never yell at Fubuki "Godarnit get over it already." I was sincerely hoping he would get over his fear somedays soon, and when he finally did, I was really happy, and decided to change myself like him. Also, the character's design are really cool, even though it gets overboard sometimes lol, but at least we can easily recognize who with who.

Music is also a strong part of the series, and I would say the music director did a really great job in inserting the OP and ED in the matchs. Many times, the music make me feel goose bump during the match, when it's not actually that exciting. As expect of one that did the music for many series! The OST are just fun to listen to, and there are some piano songs that really nostagic whenever they're played in sad parts.

The weakness of the series would be its animation, but it never gets really bad as some A-1's shows, so it's okay.

I finished viewing a few days ago the first series of Inazuma Eleven. I have to admit that the result is not bad, although it is the umpteenth cores taken from a popular topic such as football. This time, however, we are not faced with mileage fields "hill" Holly e Benji or games that last bet on betting. Must be pointed out that the setting and the way in which the small players Raimon and the other teams are moving quite reminiscent of those of the movie Shaolin Soccer, with shots that become necessary secrets and balls of fire, ice, penguins with appear from the ... ground to accompany the dynamics of the shot. The power ups then frame the various episodes in which the boys will perform new techniques with the result of workouts to the limits of the human. They will sacrifice and the will to never give up to lead the team to victory

The story is well woven, starring a guy who dreams of winning the Football Frontier together with his team, Raimon fact. The difficulty, as expected, will soon fail, but thanks to the team spirit and the desire to always fight, Mark, the main character is going to make the situation more desperate.
Football is here seen as a fun vehicle to make new friends and make connections. In fact, during the fighting the bad guys on duty will receive a severe lesson learning the true meaning of the word football.

its a verry good anime...fun to watch..even if the story is like other tournament animes its still funny and it captured my attention.
to bad that i cant find all the episodes online...i only saw 8 ep

This is not the typical anime that I usually watch. If I saw myself watching this 2 years ago I would be pretty embarrassed. But as it happens I came across this anime while watching TVTokyo at 4 in the morning waiting for Bleach to come on. At first I thought it was ridiculous but it really got me hooked. This series is not like any soccer anime you might have seen before. It is over the top, most the characters develop super powers (but only when they play soccer), and often times they just throw the actual rules of soccer out the window. But ... that's what makes the show, its just over the top fun. If you are in between watching animes and just want something lighthearted to watch, then this is probably the show for you. The series follows a story but for the most part each episode has it's own plot so you can pick up the series whenever and still understand whats going on. Personally I just pick it up in between more heavy shows just to pick my mood up.
This is a recommend for everyone. Ya, it's a little kiddy but who really cares. If you like a show that takes something normal and blows it completely out of proportion then you will probably like this show. Just go turn it on, I promise you won't regret it.

This is the first anime that I ever watched online. I was in love with the anime on tv, and unfortunately it only aired early in the morning at 6 am, so I set my alarm clock extremely early every time just to watch it. Unfortunately the dub version wasn't that far in my country, and I had to watch the rest of the show online. Glad I did.

The first thing I want to say is that I'd rate the sound of Inazuma Eleven the highest of all. In fact, out of all animes that I have watched so far, there was no anime I ... would rate the sound of as high as in this show. It used the opening and outro theme songs in the middle of episodes itself as well, which can make me love an anime over 9000 times more. The soundtracks were perfectly fitting with the scenes, and also beautifully orchestrated. I sometimes still listen to some of the soundtracks on youtube, or sing hum them out loud. The opening songs are all enjoyable as well.

Next up is the story, which I don't rate that high. Some things are unrealistic, or found way too far, as if the makers had to come up with something, no matter how realistic, to make something else that's cool possible. And the whole second season doesn't make a lot of sense, but no spoilers on that. The difficulty scaling could be better too. Apart from that there are some touching scenes, characters have good background stories and their own strong personalities, and the connections between characters are strong as well. The art-style isn't outstanding, but pleasing to the eye and enjoyable, and every character is unique, a.k.a. every person has their own unique appearance and amazing hairstyle.

I highly advice you to watch Inazuma Eleven. You can feel the tension on the soccer field. The amazing supernatural techniques can be so awesome, ranging from fire tornadoes to ghost hands, that you want to repeat them on the field in real life. When the main characters score a goal, you just want to cheer together with the crowd, and you feel bad for them as well when they loose. Simply one of the most enjoyable animes I've ever watched.

It's very good I used to think soccer was boring before I watched this, I love all the characters(mostly Shirou) the dramatic scenes and stories of each character is amazing and I like the action and friendship towards everyone. I say to watch it it's my favorite anime and If you like shonen/digimon/sport animes watch it! I thought the football frontier was interesting seeing other countries compete. I learned many things about soccer and makes me play it. Shows you practice and hard working is part of life. It felt like I was watching a soccer soap opera. If you love energetic/serious/adorable guys it's for ... you. The girls weren't annoying like in most animes they helped and tried their best for the team. The music is amazing and I suggest you listen to ryuusei boy or the 7th ending. All openings are great too. I love the characters' names and voices. The only thing I don't like is the english dub they made two guys into girls and changed all their names. Watch the movie and the second season go! The movie was really good and the second season reminds you of this season they're planning to have a second movie :) This really made me cry all the drama and I love the cute episode when they're in tuxes. Let me admit this all the guys are sweet and work hard most of these guys are hotties I mean this is a kids show but It's just that awesome. It has a manga and video games too. So If you haven't seen you better watch it! :D

This Is The Very 1st Favorite Sports Anime That Ive Watch I Realy like Endou(Mark)the captain ,Goenji(Axel Blaze) And Kudou They're My Favorite Characters Specially When They fought with the leader of Teikoku Academy (leader of Kudou his past team)with the students who wore like gods suit

It's very good I used to think soccer was boring before I watched this, I love all the characters(mostly Shirou) the dramatic scenes and stories of each character is amazing and I like the action and friendship towards everyone. I say to watch it it's my favorite anime and If you like shonen/digimon/sport animes watch it! I thought the football frontier was interesting seeing other countries compete. I learned many things about soccer and makes me play it. Shows you practice and hard working is part of life. It felt like I was watching a soccer soap opera. If you love energetic/serious/adorable guys it's for ... you. The girls weren't annoying like in most animes they helped and tried their best for the team. The music is amazing and I suggest you listen to ryuusei boy or the 7th ending. All openings are great too. I love the characters' names and voices. The only thing I don't like is the english dub they made two guys into girls and changed all their names. Watch the movie and the second season go! The movie was really good and the second season reminds you of this season they're planning to have a second movie :) This really made me cry all the drama and I love the cute episode when they're in tuxes. Let me admit this all the guys are sweet and work hard most of these guys are hotties I mean this is a kids show but It's just that awesome. It has a manga and video games too. So If you haven't seen you better watch it! :D

Inazuma Eleven tells the story of a ragtag group of junior highers on the verge of having their club disbanded -- unless they win an impromptu match against the school that holds a 40 year championship reign. It’s a near impossible task for the kids of Raimon Junior High, since their team is lazy and out of shape, outside of their gung-ho captain Mark Evans -- but there’s one bit of fortune that may turn everything around for them: a new student, with a mysterious soccer past, has recently transferred into the school.

What i like about this anime is how Endo mamoru overcomes his ... love for football and his determination not to give up which his character development progresses as the series goes on reminds me of Naruto. and how People within the football team play football as a "joke for fame and for glory" However Endo mamoru says the statement you should love football for who it is and that the main reason why you should play the game. and the way their end the anime cliffhangers is great it seems reasonable enough.

The part i dislike within the anime is how it lacks in communication with the characters you will usually notice most character wont communicate with others but keep most of their thoughts to themselves throughout the whole anime and i don't like the concept of that.

Overall the best part of this anime is how the story progresses and thats pretty much it.

I randomly stumbled upon this anime, by finding an amazing OST from it. So I decided to look up the anime itself. At first I was a bit sceptical about 127 episodes. But when I got past the first 3 episodes it began to get interesting. The show introduces tons of characters, whereas you will see some re-appear again, and some will get tons of spotlight. Around 50% of the characters will get an in-depth background story, which allows the characters to develop even further.

The main thing in the anime is soccer, at first I thought it would be plain ball kicking, but then ... they added "abilities/skills" to the ball kicking. It really caught my interest, that there were 200+ different abilities the show had to offer. It led to a big variety, which certainly keeps the show interesting. And the animation on those abilities were just fantastic. I was like O_O at them all.

The story itself is really good, although it may get "boring" on the long term, due to some parts being really predictable. But every single Arc in Inazuma eleven was fantastic. I especially love the way different soccer teams were introduced, and their main "theme" by that I mean Jungle team, horror team and much more.

The music is fantastic, and it really spices the show up, whilst also adding tons of atmosphere for the X situation in the anime.

Overall I really enjoyed this anime, and can definitely recommend it.

This anime is a bit of an odd one for me mainly because i think it's base of off a video game and i can't really find much on it, that being said there is a manga - but i've only read one volume and can't find any more.

Though am still watching i wanted to get the views up a bit more (although to have as many episodes as they have they must have a pretty big fan base) so sorry i can't really answer all questions but Getting to the point;

-STORTY-
though i can't complain am not sure what to say, it's smooth in ... areas as the I.11 fight to reach the top;even though i like parts some episodes aren't to my taste like the series (?) with the aliens and then the there was also a few other episodes about angels and demons that i didn't really think was needed but it was fun to have a chance i guess. Also some views might find it a bit repetitive and predictable at times i would say that it's more for the under 13's but in saying that am at that age group and am enjoying it just fine (although in saying that there are also parts i wouldn't show my 6 year old cousin).

-ART-
The art is a little chibi and it is also very bold; but when your watching it i don't think your take much notice mainly because i think it's a pretty good anime to watch when you need a laugh, even so i can't really down it and i can't really stand up for it; either way for the style they chose they did a pretty good job.

-SOUND-
Now i watched the first 25 or so in dub (which was not easy to find by the way) and so am basing my score on that; i liked it - i know that a lot of people hate that dub more then most but if you listen to the voice then i think they did a pretty good job, the acting on the other hand wasn't so good and need to work on controlling how they make the emotions sound. The music made the climax's and i really did enjoy all the opening's and endings i've seen so far

-CHARACTER-
I really liked the show's characters; it was full of strung, kind people how put everything they have into everything they do, i like the fact that they all lean of off each other at the same time as being leaned on.
Am not a great fan of the sport but on of the best lines in the anime was " the goals was score are scored by all of us".

-ENJOYMENT-
Even if you won't like the art work or storyline you can still get enjoyment out of this anime; thats probably why i like it so much; you can hate the sport but the anime will still back you feel (even if it is a little childish), the little nag that i have (and it's probably the only one) is that in the english and japanese and english the names are different - it may not seem like a big deal but i still don't like it.

Sorry am gonna have to cut it short with that, am not feeling well and need some sleep- anyway i hope you watch this anime and enjoy it; but do try and keep am open mind coz if you start watching something thinking it will be bad thats all your say; it's not very big but this anime is special

Since I'm not very fond of sports type anime, I can't compare it with any other of it's genre. But I can assure you that it's VERY GOOD. At first I thought it was kinda wierd coz it looked kiddish but within cartoon Network's 4 episodes in a row Saturday got me hooked (even with those aweful hindi dubs).

Art wise, Inazuma Eleven scores high with great character designs, nice backgrounds etc. It is actally good.

In sound department, theme songs are quite cheery and just the sort that gives you THAT feeling. The OPs have the soccer anthem feel while the EDs give you a ... nice sweet feeling. Voice acting is great as the voices suit the characters.

Story is nice in your typical road to success way though they incorporate many fantasy-products (see gods, aliens, angels and demons etc.) but never the less is decent

Charcters... now you are talking, surprisingly over the top yet lovable characters, they are the main thing of the story. You can't help in fall in love with not just one but MANY characters of the story.

Enjoyable anime...give it a shot. You'll fall in love with it.