No matter how great, you are just 1 of the 11.
That makes a football player is just 1/11 of a team.
BEWARE!
- This is not your everyday sports manga!
- I could even say that (so far) the genre is 70% drama.
- It is a review up to 9th chapter.
STORY: 9
The manga is the compilation of short-stories about each of these 1/11. Each of the individual have their own reason to be involved in this most popular sport in the Earth. Because it is a short-stories compilation, each of the chapter is quite separated with no exact flow. But that is the unique point. At the end of the day, all of the chapters are being connected by the main character: Sora Andou.
Up to 9th chapter, I assume that this is a preparation stage for completing 11 people to form a 'real' football team. But I doubt it will become a mainstream football manga in the future.
ART: 8
The drawing is quite rough. Unlike your Shonen Jump readings, the line is quite blurry and the style may not be everyone's favorite. However, the author is not only consistent with his art but also put details to individual's expressions. When it comes to the color page, you can really feel the 'drama-esque' atmosphere. Since I cannot find his other works, I believe the author's skill will be improved significantly later.
CHARACTER: 9
This is the main point of the manga: character building. Not only the main character of the manga, the author also make the main character of the chapters. It can be easily spotted from the chapters' title, stating about the individual to be highlighted. Each of the 'main characters' have their own unique personality and their own driving force in joining football club. What is missing is, I could barely spotted the influence of the previous chapters' characters in the following chapters (but I guess, it is the true motive of the author)
ENJOYMENT: 9
You only need to read the first chapter (or until the second) and then you can enjoy reading any chapters even though you are missing the previous ones. As I stated before, it is 70% drama. Unlike popular sport mangas, each of the chapter may bought your tears drop. Call me mellow of anything else, as for me, at least I have wiped my face 3 times. At the end of the chapter you can learn that being a sportsman is not always about glory, but also struggle.
OVERALL: 9
Finally, I want to say that this a manga that serve another point of view of the sportsman. As a football fan and a slice-of-life anime fan, I really like this manga. Unfortunately, it is a monthly release so that I should keep my patience.
Thank you for reading my review, and sorry for my grammar.
