Giant Killing Anime Review

Guess who finished watching Giant Killing for the second time today!
I'm glad I decided to re-watch it because I felt like I didn't really "watch" it the first time around. Watching it the second time, I felt like I was watching it for the first time! xD  I barely remembered what happened and who the characters were. 

Image from http://arcamedotnet.wordpress.com/2013/05/26/giant-killing/

Giant Killing is originally a manga by the author Masaya Tsunamoto and illustrated by Tsujimoto. The manga was first serialized in 2007, and the 26-episode anime adaptation began in 2010, with it being animated by Studio DEEN(Ranma 1/2, Rurouni Kenshin, Full Moon wo Sagashite, Law of Ueki, etc.)

The story is about a Japanese professional soccer club named East Tokyo United(ETU), who were once a force to be reckoned with, is now struggling in the league. Due to this, their fans have also dwindled due to lack of excitement in their matches.
Cut to England, where a lower division English soccer team celebrating their victory, parading the streets with their manager, a former ETU star, Takeshi Tatsumi, on their shoulders. Not only has Tatsumi demonstrated his success in ETU in the past, but also his strategic skills as a manger.
Hearing of his achievements in England, ETU's supervisors decide to call Tatsumi back to Japan, hoping that he could bring success to ETU as he did to the amateur English team. One problem is that Tatsumi was notorious for leaving ETU, making some fans think that he was traitorous.
The whole anime series is focused only on a part of the manga, which is Tatsumi leading ETU to reclaim their honor. I haven't read the manga (I think I will soon) so I don't know what goes on there.

**Spoiler warning! If you don't want to spoiled about the plot, I suggest you click away. Or, if you're daring, stare right through!**

Let's talk about plot and characters!
Giant Killing doesn't have a really...complex plot. At least, the anime doesn't delve into it. The take on soccer, however, is pleasantly realistic and the characters are likable so it makes the anime an enjoyable watching experience. Since Tatsumi is such a quirky character, I'm always wondering what goes on in his mind or what he's planning on doing next. Sometimes I think he is crazy for just sending out a team just on the basis, "enjoy the game!" but I understand his motive behind that. He's a scary strategist. Super scary. I would not want to play any game against him lol.

The beginning of the anime pretty much focuses on choosing players for the team, in which Tatsumi picks all reserve players for his team and pits them against the starting players. Unexpectedly, Tatsumi's team wins, leaving the older members of the starting lineup wondering what went wrong. This was the part of the anime that clenched my heart. It showed that younger, more athletic players were taking on the scene, and had some sort of unpredictability to them that was an advantage over older, more seasoned players.

A dope fanart of Tsubaki. (Image from http://www.zerochan.net/Tsubaki+Daisuke,Fanart)

During this time, we get to know some of the players but the anime obviously puts the spotlight on a certain younger player, Tsubaki Daisuke, who had frighteningly speedy legs. And he's also a insecure dork (love ya Tsubaki.) Murakoshi Shigeyuki, the captain of ETU, also know as 'Mr. ETU', is also focused on, but at this point, we see a weaker side of him, worn down like the rest of his teammates and out of stamina against these robust, younger bench players.

Tatsumi picked on Murakoshi a lot. But it wasn't in a bad way though; it was definitely necessary for his growth as a captain. When he took away his captain status, I felt so bad for him and a little angry at Tatsumi, though I kind of knew he had his reasons for it. Thankfully, Murakoshi got his armband back though, or else things would have been pretty darn awkward...

Gino aka Prince aka Yoshida Luigi, a Japanese-Italian midfielder, is introduced after a few episodes. He is often narcissistic but demonstrates good play-making abilities. His passes and shots are very accurate, and he is an important member of ETU. I thought he was a funny character and laughed whenever he made a narcissistic remark but near the end of the anime, during the ETU vs. Osaka match, my adoration for him grew because of his ridiculously cute pout. The fact that he is relatively calm in any situation is quite refreshing too.

Gino's pout. (Image from http://iblos3om.com/the-idiot-box/anime_manga/giant-killing/ Go check them out! It's a very detailed post on Giant Killing.)

Even with Tatsumi as the manager of ETU, their season still starts off with straight losses. Many people are doubting his ability as a manager and the ETU Skulls, a massive group of ETU supporters led by Hata, are shown throughout the anime to be against Tatsumi and his ways, leading protests and confronting him themselves. But of course, we learn that he's letting ETU lose, when he asks the question, "how many more games can we lose before I get booted?"
After that, the spotlight match was ETU vs. Nagoya Grand Palace, the team led by one of ETU's former managers. By the way, I failed to mention that ETU had several different managers and the fact that every one of them (pretty much) failed to bring the team up is quite amusing. 

Image from http://bokutachinoblog.com/2010/07/03/giant-killing-episode-thirteen/

This match is prevalent because it is ETU's first win of the season. It is also when Tsubaki really starts to shine because he scores a goal in this match (I think they dedicated, like, 2 episodes to him during this match. Overhyped baby.) And can I just say something? The Brazilian trio on NGP is just super adorable. I can feel that all of them, Pepe especially, really enjoy playing soccer and it just made me really tingly on the inside. It's really nice to see professional players (albeit this is an anime) enjoying the sport they play like little kids. It's really awesome. It saddens me to see some players treating it like a job, even though that's what they have to do, that's their only source of income but I really want to see them enjoy the game. I guess since I'm American, I have the freedom to think so innocently like that.

They then go on to win their second match, but their winning streak doesn't last long. ETU then goes into a drawing streak, tying all of the games they are in. During this time, Natsuki Yotaro, ETU's top striker returns from a injury that caused him to withdraw from the team for 8 months, looking better than ever. I was really excited by the appearance of Natsuki because, hello, new character but I also thought, if he's causing Sera to be depressed...then I'm not going to like him that much. xD Of course, he was only causing it indirectly but still. Natsuki is also very refreshing, although the complete opposite of Gino, he is very spirited, very egotistical but talented. He is also very weird, and I enjoy very weird characters and their antics (like Tatsumi, except even Tatsumi thinks Natsuki is weird.)

Natsuki getting into the match. Image from http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=249569

Now...we approach the end of the anime, the last 8 or so episodes focus on the ETU vs Osaka Gunners match, a hinted big match in the episode where Tatsumi met Dulfer, coach of the Gunners, at a league press conference.
Osaka Gunners has had an outstanding season so far, getting straight wins and pretty much crushing their opponents. This fact alone, intimidates ETU but Tatsumi assures they are going to have a fun match. That is theme that is repeated over during the match; about having 'fun', getting 'excited' and really enjoying the game.
ETU goes into the game surprising everyone with their line-up. Spectators believe that the ETU players marking their opponents are not well matched up. This is evident in the first half of the game, where the Gunners dominate them and score 2 goals.

I just want to say that I was pretty disappointed with Natsuki during this match. And I was even more disappointed when I realized the anime was over after this match. He kept on hesitating, and his resolve as a forward was really weak. I know that he is a person too, and goes through his own struggles but as Tatsumi was talking about the kind of forward that he thought Natsuki would be, I almost shouted at my screen for Natsuki to get his head in the game. No, don't reference that abomination of a musical.
But anyway, he did get back on his feet near the end of second half but that's besides the point. And he had a one-second moment of glory in the last episode but that's also besides the point. I have to read the manga for more doses of epic Natsuki.

The second half of the game is where ETU really picks themselves up. Gino who, the opponent's captain, Hiraga thought was having a bad day, was intentionally putting the ball in weird places, thus lowering his pass success rate (hence the cute pout.) He scores a fabulous goal and making it 1-2. Hiraga's mark was on Tsubaki, and poor poor guy because Tsubaki has seemingly endless stamina on top of his fast legs. So Hiraga tired out because of that. Dulfer, whose belief was pushing through with his team philosophy (basically fixed starting members but we all know how well that's going to work out) but Tatsumi forces him to alter his tactics and substitute players.

Oh, dear Natsuki screws up again but luckily Akasaki is there to save it and scores a second GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL. 2-2; they are now tied! Going off on a little tangent, is there anyone else that just loves Akasaki? I'm not sure what it is, but he's just so awesome and lovable. I think he's very strong mentally and keeps it real, telling things as it is. Keep on keepin' on, Akasaki. Bro. Brooo

So even though ETU managed to come from 0-2 to 2-2, the two main spectators that are focused on, Fujisawa, a free-lance writer that is focusing on ETU for a season, and a reporter. The reporter mainly discusses his doubts about ETU, despite having to report on the team. Meanwhile, bless her, Fujisawa's thinking, "Um, wtf, why are you such a downer. You don't know: they might win."

AND BAM. Right at the very end of the game, and I say very end because it's injury time, Sera scores a third GOALLLLLLLLLLLL, usurping Osaka Gunners 2 goal lead; 3-2! This moment was very intense and uplifting I tell ya. 

Surprisingly, Dulfer wasn't a sore b about the match. Well, he was glaring daggers at Tatsumi at the end but at least he admitted that the loss was because of his naive thoughts of pushing his philosophy through without adapting.

Also can we talk about how cute Akasaki was in the last episode? His blushies...omg! >///< I'm so proud of him; being chosen for the national team. You go, bro!






 The curry party was also very cute and I enjoyed it a lot! Tatsumi shows that he understands and knows more than he lets on. I liked the way he was thinking; to let the players rest and have a good time. Oh man, I'm so sad this anime is over. Off to the manga now!

 Music/Animation/Misc. bits
 I want to mention a few misc. things I liked about this anime. First, is the ETU chant. I thought that was really catchy and creative and I have no clue if it's based on an actual fan chant or whatever BUT I LIKE IT. I like it enough to randomly burst into cheer.
Also, the OP song is very catchy as well, and it kind of reminds me of country mixed in with some rock and pop. Which sounds weird but that's what it seems like to me. xD It's by the band The Cherry Cokes(if anyone else is interested) and I will definitely check them out after I post this.

The animation was well done, especially for all the soccer movements. Studio DEEN is pretty freaking awesome so I know I can expect good quality animation from them. Of course, there are some moments where the art is a little whack but I think that happens to most animation companies. They can't be perfect and I understand that. SHAFT on the other hand...(let's not talk about them.)




Overall the anime was very fun, very exciting, very enjoyable. I didn't just like it, I LOVED IT.
My rating for this anime, is a 4.75 stars out of 5 stars just because there is just so much more to cover in the manga and the ending just felt rushed. I mean, that Chiba match, out of nowhere, just shoved into that last episode without any context...it just wasn't impactful.
But I DO encourage everyone to watch it. Maybe if you don't like soccer that much, you'll like it more after watching this anime.
In my opinion, this is the best soccer anime out there. Unless you want like, Dragonball Z soccer, go watch Inazuma Eleven (which is another great series but too long for my taste); but for realistic soccer, Giant Killing is the shit! :D

I hope you have a great day! Bye!