Giant Killing

T found this anime enjoyable only after 8 minutes into the first episode. I would give this anime a 9 out of 10 based on sports animes alone. I am not a huge fan of sports animes, because to many adaptations tend to focus on the drama vs the game or they deviation from the manga has caused the anime to be boring. The story is great it is pretty plain but somehow interesting. A returning player (there are strong hints that he was an amazing player) is asked to come back to the team he abandoned as the last hope to save the club. The story is mainly focused on the coach but surprsingly there is no lame soap operaish stuff going on. The story is light hearted and focuses on different themes other than the ever popular themes and feels like a breath of fresh air. Character interaction, dialogue, and the different personalities are what made this show. Such a variety of personalities and faces. I do not mean different faces with a hairstyle change either. I really enjoyed the sound in this anime. The opening Song as well as the ending song grew on me, but it fit the anime well. After I finished the anime I read the manga where it left off. There is an unfinished feel to the anime but the anime is extremely faithful to the manga so the continuation can be read there. Overall it was good for a sports manga. There is no magic moves, or gravity defining acts, nor are there unrealistic strategies that make you think " well it is anime so whatever" and lastly there is no in depth explanation after everyhing (you know where the spectators or someone decides to dissect what just happened).

This was an "I'm bored anime" that I had decided to pick up because I had already seen a lot of the newer animes that had been out this season (winter 2012) that seemed enjoyable. I had briefly watched an episode and dismissed it as another Cinderella story from chump to champ in soccer like Eyeshield 21 was to football. Now that I had given a second chance I really enjoyed it. The story actually kept me guessing, I had become really irritated when I could watch an anime and predict every outcome. Another aspect that I found to be pleasing was the genuine feel it had. There was no hand holding; they were all pros; you never had an overview of the field, but you always felt the sense of urgency that each of the players had; the coaches actually felt like they were important to the story and the decisions they made felt legit; and most importantly: no fucking special moves. In the art department of the show it felt like Kaiji except that it was less over the top than Kaiji felt. Some people didn't like it because it felt too cartoony (especially the noses), but there is no better way to get emotions portrayed out of each player. It may be just my headset or Crunchy Roll's streaming, but the sound quality felt iffy, when the coach Tatsumi would say anything it would hit a high end somewhere and it felt dirty. I don't have much to say on this otherwise The characters, oh my, the characters. The characters were all lovable, even the opponents of ETU. Their interactions and not all of them speaking the same language really made it feel more genuine. Especially between the coaches, you could feel the tension between them especially when they each thought they had one upped one another. I really thought this was an enjoyable anime, I was reluctant at first, but I as I mentioned earlier, it grew on me. I have a habit of predicting the outcome, this show allowed for ties and losses. No one "just wins" because of a fluke play, allowing although you know they are going to overcome their problems they aren't going to win because of it. A mechanic that allowed for it to work out is because they aren't going to spoon feed it to you, you approach it like the fans watching it, you don't get to sit in on any of the strategy sit-downs and get lengthy explanations as to why it will work, or sit in on tatsumi's recordings of his opponents (although you see the eureka moments). The anime's delivery of it is unique and made you think (to me.) They will show you that his decisions work twice (maybe once unreliably) and then give you the explanation and show it happen again now with your new found knowledge (to my observation).

Tbh i don't really like the thesis of this anime upon football and dont really support pragmatist game plans, specially game plans like 4-2-3-1 that belongs to far past. But i guess anime is old enough to be in the time that 4-2-3-1 was still consider as reformist. I imagined Takeshi as some sort of revolutionist coach with super tactics, not like pep but at least like Gasperini or Klopp but he turns out to be more like Ancelotti or Zidane. Their pragmatistic game plans doesn't offers a strong team play such as takeshi's tactics. Anyway if i need to talk about anime's itself, musics was no different than real fan songs, character designs gives a unique feeling and story is above mediocre. To sum up if you are a football fan than this anime is a jewel, otherwise i woudln't reccoment.

Speaking of football in the sphere of Japanese animation, where most of the works take place at school, this is one that comes out completely and presents the football situation as it is. All the elements that exist in the world of football are faithfully portrayed. Managers, coaches, players (foreigners included), fans, journalists, club staff, among others, are shown in the most varied situations. The managers betting on a former player of the club who became a coach, the fans protesting in the training centre, the journalists questioning this bet, the coach making controversial decisions, anyway. It also shows the players in their various aspects and relationships. Giant Killing is not only a mirror of the real football world, but also a story of trying to rebuild a club and rescue the pride of the fans who never abandoned him. There are some alternatives for it to happen and the one used in this work is the search to the past to improve the present aiming at the future.

This anime is the "Football Manager" of football-related anime. This is a very fresh and almost realistic way of how a football club is run. Also, this anime introduces me to the manager's pov on managing the team, communicate with other players, thinking strategiclly, and many more related to running a football club. In a sense that this is the predecessor or test run of "All or Nothing" docuseries from Prime. No hate or shade to Captain Tsubasa, that heavily focused on Tsubasa and co's backstory. All I have to say is: I have a great time watching this series. Also, the opening is a banger tune. It always hype me up! I really hope that there will be another anime like this.

Soccer anime, where the protagonist is the technical director. I really liked how the players are changing and the problems they face with the fans, the board. I really liked the character design and how they are developed. The animation is very good, the soundtrack too and it's very enjoyable. I watched all 24 chapters in 2 days. So it hooks the only bad thing is that it has no end, that is, it is how they leave it without finishing the first season so that there is more but it goes until that moment. I recommend it if you want to see a soccer spokon. It is very entertaining. En español: Anime de futbol, donde el protagonista es el director tecnico. Me gusto mucho como va cambiando a los jugadores y los problemas que enfrenta con la aficion, la directiva. Me gusto mucho el diseño de personajes y como los desarrollan. La animacion esta muy bien, la banda sonora tambien y es muy disfrutable yo me vi los 24 capitulos en 2 dias. Asi que engancha lo unico malo es que no tiene final o sea es como lo dejan sin terminar la primera temporada para que haya mas pero llega hasta ese momento. Lo recomiedno si queres ver un spokon de futbol. Es muy entretenido.

I'm 10 years late to the party, and didn't know exactly what I was going to be watching going in to this anime. The art looked low budget, the 3d scenes looked like a ps1 game, and the foreign voice acting sounded like they were recorded by (actual) foreigners in their own home on a cheap microphone, and the dutch voiceactor talks unnaturally (although native and fluently) slow. (I'm dutch).. In spite of all that, having played football at a decent level when I was younger, the story is spot on, it's amazing, the characters are well thought out, the dilemma's are very recognizable, as is the atmosphere, and so is the tension, I have nothing but praise for this anime in spite of it's (at first sight) shortcomings. I love it, and it truly pains me to see there has never been made a second season... This anime is a work of art, so much so that I specifically made an account here just now

If you want a realistic football anime, this is the best out there. Here is my breakdown of the sections Story:8/10 The story is very captivating. It makes an unrealistic scenario feel realistic and achievable. It does what it needs to for a sports anime and it doesn’t make it over the top like haikyuu, free, kuroko no basket etc. I only have 2 small problems with the story. The first is that sometimes the results feel too cliche (a lot of the goals occur conveniently at the last few mins of the game). Also Tatsumi is basically Joseph Joestar with his personality being “you thought you outsmarted me, but I actually outsmarted your outsmarting!” Art: 6/10 To be honest, the art is nothing to write home about. The characters are simple, but they are still easily distinguishable, which I like. Also the 3D animation has not aged well. It’s slow and robotic which ruins the feel sometimes Sound: 8/10 The op is easily in my top 10 favourite anime ops and the ending isn’t too bad either. The soundtrack during games is decent, albeit forgettable Characters: 10/10 There is not a single character in this anime I dislike, not even the rival players. They are all realistic and likeable for different reasons. Apart from Tsubaki, Luigi and Murakoshi, the characters do not depend on any tropes. What I also enjoy is how each character has a spot in the limelight, and it’s used to portray their uniqueness. I haven’t read far into the manga so what i’m about say may have already happen, but I would like to see an arc of Tatsumi managing in England. Enjoyment: 9/10 The characters and story combine to make a memorable experience. Some games are a little boring but that’s to be expected because boring games happen in football as well Overall, if you want a realistic portrayal of the beautiful game, this is a must watch

Giant Killing..another anime about football. The question is will you enjoy it? If you want a more realistic look into a football match, then you will enjoy it. If you expect another Captain Tsubasa then you will be disappointed.. Giant Killing is about Tatsumi who came to his old club, East Tokyo United to become the new manager.He will try to bring back the glory days of the club. From there onwards people will think,"mehh, another typical anime where one man came, change it and win it all." well,..no. It doesn't go as smoothly as other anime showed it because it doesn't change too drastically. And that what makes it interesting, it's more realistic.Of course it will have it's glorious moments, but it's not all the time.And the gameplay is more realistic as well, not some bullshit one man dribble pass the whole team kinda thing. The art and sound is good, didn't really have problem with that. The art probably not as beautiful but it's great enough. And the sound is also good, although sometimes the sound of the crowd reaction is a bit off. The character development is great. It doesn't just revolves around one character only. It revolves around the whole team as the anime shows the problem that has to be dealt with by each player.And the character is varied as well as there are national players that speak Portuguese, and they didn't just automatically speak and understand Japanese language. It also shows the tense moments between managers, and communication between the team and coach/manager. Overall, i enjoy it. So, if you're looking for a good sports anime that has a more convincing approach towards the sport, then Giant Killing is for you. 8/10

"Where's the fun in it if everything is going as planned?" - Takeshi Tatsumi Giant killing follows the story of a professional soccer player turned manager going back to japan to revitalize a team no one thinks anything of. Wouldn't it be interesting if the underdogs won? Although, i must admit, the manga does a better job of sticking up to the name "giant killing", I still think the added atmosphere from the anime provides a unique enough experience that it's worth watching. Animation is nothing special for it's time, some of the motion scenes are well animated so i assume the budget is being allocated into some sections, but of course you can't ignore The abhorrent cg sometimes on faraway shots. The sound design is quite good at times, enhancing the experience and building tension or expectation, but occasionally the voices and sound mixing are not up to par. Some moments have given me chills, made me smile or feel hyped up. At times I feel like the pacing is unecessarily slow, despite the presence of jarring cuts and timeskips. Sometimes i don't feel like i have a full picture of the sequence of events in the games, but that's likely because they never planned to adapt a second season and so the pacing wasn't exactly well thought out. You get dragged along in the story, hoping for takumi to do great things, yet being dissapointed or impressed just like characters in the story, almost as if you're a spectator through real life events. Although sometimes the dialogue is stiff, it has its moments. I ocasionally find myself invested in the story or the characters, feeling excited or distraught. Certain parts of the show have us focus on different characters and their growth, as well as how Takumi becomes a catalyst for great things to come. You tend to wonder, what cool thing will happen next. Unfortunately, the moment where the story really begins and it starts to get really really good is towards the end. However, for what it's worth I was really satisfied with the ending I feel like with a lot better pacing, budget and execution this could have been something close to the one outs of soccer, but alas, no dice. However, I still love the story of giant killing and as a manga reader, the music and the atmosphere makes me more hyped than the manga could. Needs an execution that brings it justice, 8/10