From seeing the cover and reading the synopsis you can get what this story is about— a bullied boy(Tsukamoto) meets a talented footballer(Kazaa) who saves him from his bullies and introduces him to football.
That’s it— a simple common plot. And therein lies its virtue of simplicity. There is no complicated plot. Just a kid who wants to improve.
Tsukamoto Tsukushi is not especially talented and has no inherited “special skills” from his father. Thank God this is not that type of shonen. He is not like Naruto and Tanjiro. Tsukushi has to Actually work hard for his gains. And he even injures himself work hard. I liked that realistic aspect too. Can’t overtrain in real life.
It is a simple BINGEABLE highschool football manga. A good story, just see the Seiseki High football team play again and again, long matches. It is entertaining, even though it is nothing new.
Art. 8/10
I love the art here. Just like Giant Killing, we get to see the football move across the pages with clarity. We understand most of the plays, it’s like playing FIFA.
The characters have a unique look, which is an achievement when dealing with 30+ highschool boys. Out protagonist is the most childish. Lol.
Characters. 7/10
Not very unique. I like Tsukamoto, his character growth is great. Throughout the match the mangaka zooms in on almost all the guys playing, and I really like that. We get to see the motivation these guys have. Sadly, unlike Ao Ashi this manga doesn’t go into explaining deep tactics. It focuses more on the feelings, that’s fine with me.
The characters remind me of the famous Chinese war manga— Kingdom, because of how every chapter we learn the backstory of a new guy who shows a good skill, then another new guy shows up with even more tragic backstory and shows a greater skill.
It is good that the talent vs hardwork aspect is shown well. It is shown best in the manga Ping Pong(highly recommended).
Overall. 8/10
This manga was a fun read, 360chapters done in a few days. It is not a life changing manga. There is no blood, no romance, no deep philosophy.
It is a simple highschool football manga, with inspirational training arcs, entertaining matches and a protagonist who keeps doing his best, even at his weakest points. He keeps running.
Light manga, easy to get into and highly bingeable. Recommended for all football manga lovers.
Thank you for reading!
