Shuudan!
Shudan!

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Mod Edit: This review was originally posted for Koganeiro (39867) and has subsequently been merged into Shuudan! (107479).


Koganeiro is a short slice of life/comedy/romance/"coming of age" story about four high school students (2 boys [Kinata and Kose] and 2 girls [Kinbara and Michiru]). By the way, the mangaka of Koganeiro (Yokota Takuma) worked on both "Chikan Otoko" and "Onani Master Kurosawa," two very well received doujin manga.

Story - 9/10

Koganeiro begins with the four students currently in their second year of high school. They are looking for colleges and trying to begin their plans for their futures. Kose comes up with a plan one day for ... him and Kinata to go to Tokyo over summer break for a night in order to enjoy themselves and look a little bit into the colleges there. Due to Kinata's quirk of occasionally speaking before thinking, Kinbara and Michiru end up tagging along as well on their trip. They spend the first day sightseeing and making memories together. On the second day they each go around looking at different colleges they are interested in. Kinata soon realizes that he is the only one without a specific goal for after high school. After the trip he decides to change and try to improve his grades which he realizes is much more difficult than he expected at first.

That's about the end of chapter 1 (with a good amount of possible spoilers left out of course). The group of friends grows a lot closer from there with some twists and turns and unexpected surprises along the way. I thought this was just a genuinely good and nice manga to read. There's no fanservice, no comic relief (despite being a comedy manga the comedy tends to have a purpose most of the time), and the romance doesn't get in the way of the plot.

Art - 7/10

The art is good for the most part (especially when it comes to Kinbara's design), but it does slack a little with the guys at times since it is a shounen manga. Still, the city (Tokyo) and their school are fairly well drawn with no noticeable faults.

Character - 8/10

Kinata goes through quite a bit of development for a 3 chapter story. He and Kinbara are what made this manga truly enjoyable. Kose and Michiru are also interesting but are not given as much focus (especially Michiru who at times seems to be there just to even out the gender ratio). Still the relationship between all of the characters (whether comedic, romantic, or inspirational) is one of the best parts of this manga.

Enjoyment - 8/10

This is a pretty high rating for me to give to such a short story. The first chapter starts off a little slow but the story really picks up quickly towards the end of the first chapter. It's a really interesting "coming of age" story that I would recommend to anyone especially if you are in high school or thinking about your future at all, and while it's not really that similar to the more dramatic manga mentioned in the beginning by the same mangaka, they do still have similar "coming of age" values.

If you have read Sesuji wo Pin, you will like this one.
Why?

Story: It has a decent story so far. Nothing special just yet since there are only 10 chapter so far. It's about a secondary/ elementary school soccer club whose members are not really tryharders but just play soccer for fun. That is until a girl named Akira, who is a soccer enthusiast moves in. You can find this description anywhere, but the story itself is not too pumped or exciting or action packed like other sport manga. Instead, it's quite mellow and cute, although there are some hypeeee moments as well. Above ... all, I rate it highly because the story allows for a lot of great interactions between characters. There are also some mystery here and there as well, but nothing dramatic or heavy.
Art: Awesome. It has the same author as Sesuji wo Pin, so if you like it, you will like this one's art as well since they are quite similar. It''s well polished and the facial expressions are cute.
Character: Ok, here is the best part of this manga. I have mentioned above that the story is still developing so there are not too much stuff going on. But what got me hooked immediately was the characters. Soushi (the MC), despite his look (spiky hair, tough eyes), is actually pretty smart and thoughtful. He uses brains more often than brawls or skill and isn't particularly OP, but gets some unique potentials as well. Akira Nanase (the other protagonist) and the girl I was talking about earlier is the coolest female lead in a sport manga ever. She does not stand out as the love interest but as a straight up Alpha protagonist (who has talents for soccer as well). Remember the girl in your elementary class who plays with the boys and kicks every single one of their ass? That's Akira! She is a great mix between baddass and cute! Finally, there is Roku - the prodigy. There are not much about him just yet, but most of the questions in the series are from him. He is nice enough now though
Enjoyment: It's been a while since I follow a Jump series and the first time I ever write a review on MAL so I do hope that says something. On a serious note, this manga is not really popular right now, probably because it's not plot-heavy like other big ones on Jump right now. Still, it's a real breath of fresh air for the sport genre.
Overall: The first 3 chapters are on Viz for free and on Reddit so READ IT!

First of all: I am not interested in football. However, other manga/anime about sports that I am not interested in got me engaged in the story because it was well-told or looked amazing. So, what about Shuudan? This review might contain light spoilers.

Shuudan is a football manga that finished serialization in Shounen Jump and ran from 2017 to 2018. It has 4 compiled volumes and was done by Yokota Takuma, who also worked on Onani Master Kurosawa and the previously in Shoune Jump released Sesuji wo Pin! to: Shikakou Kyougi Dance-bu e Youkoso. Because Shuudan is a sports manga that is following and underdog team, ... it has to compete with the more popular manga that cater to the same audience. Titles like Haikyuu (volleyball), Hajime no Ippo (boxing) and Days (football) come to mind.

The artstyle is enjoyable to look at for the most part. The body proportions seem odd sometimes with legs being too short compared to the upper bodies. Or is my imagination of the human body so twisted by super long legs in anime that this "normal" looking depiction seems unnatural? There are also some panels where players are shooting the ball and twisting their body in weird directions. I guess it was done like this to show motion. I am not a master of anatomy, but these shooting postures sometimes look really painful and unnatural. Isn't the upper body supposed to turn in the other direction when kicking a ball?

I really liked how one of the main characters is a girl who joined the male-only team. I never seen that before and it was a welcome change to the usual male-only teams (or female-only teams). And she is crazy good as well! She basically has become one of the ace players of the team.

Talking about the story, it is easy to digest and pretty fast to read through. In the beginning of the manga, there is no deep story, masterfully crafted character development or world building. Just some kids playing football because they like it - and thats totally fine. Not every manga has to be an nobel prize candidate for intellectual challenging material. Sometimes I like to just read something I don't need to think too hard about. There are some team-building or out-of-game chapters as well, but the focus is on playing the game.

Then in the later parts of the manga, it is a little bit more about the character interactions, especially between Soushi and Nanase. In my opinion, Nanase is the driving force behind the team and behind the whole manga. So making her join a different team got me less interested in how the club was doing. I also felt like Soushi was developing more in the direction of a coach and adviser rather than an actual player. After the time skip to high school, the old companions went their own way and the introduced group of friends that formed the original team drifted apart with everyone following their own ways in life.

One thing that I am not liking about Shuudan (and also about other popular sports manga/anime) is the predictable outcome of the games. How high are the chances that each game they play will end a) with a deciding goal in the last second b) by a score difference of only one point c) with the protagonists team never losing? Of course, it is a Shounen manga and they are supposed to win in the end. But I would have liked to see them struggle more on their way. In real life, you don't win every game. There are also games you lose by a wide margin. Or games where you win and the opponents have no chance at all. But in Shuudan, every game is a nail biter. It is not necessarily bad, but I would loved it to be less predictable and to see the team lose more! I don't want to see the protagonists team win every time! Not because I don't sympathize for them but because for realisms sake. But then again, this is still a non-drama manga for a Shounen audience and I understand that seeing people win games is really motivating to play sports yourself.

One thing I liked is that they didn't go all out Shounen with super-moves. There are sports manga that are actually not tagged with Superpower on MAL but where the players are performing impossible or supernatural movements or abilities (like becoming invisible, like spinning in the air for minutes while hiding the ball, like making the opponents obey to your will just by looking them in the eye). I like the absence of those in Shuudan.

All in all, Shuudan is a solid manga. Aside from minor flaws, it is succeeding at what it wants to do. Which kind of people have a high chance of liking it? I think if you are interested in football, underdog success stories, or a fast and easy read, there is a higher probability to like Shuudan. If you are looking for some story that develops beyond the game itself or if you dislike predictable games, then Shuudan might not be the most likely recommended one.