Just a reminder: The future of LiA is very much in doubt, and it’s up to you to decide what happens next. Thank you for all your support!
I wasn’t necessarily expecting a 6th grade flashback episode at this point in the story. But it’s relevant to note that according to manga readers, some stuff has been moved around here. As far as I can tell a lot of the background on the Togashi-Takeshima dustup took place before the events of last week’s episode – which explains why that business about the fight at the end of that ep felt a little underdeveloped. Not that important in the larger scheme of things, but interesting nonetheless.
My sense is that this material worked pretty well where the anime placed it. Tachibana’s story got the chance to play out at its own pace, and now we switch to Keiji. He’s the sort of kid that seems to pick a fight with everybody and he has a whole bag of chips on his shoulder. As such, you don’t necessarily look for deeper reasons behind his getting into a fight. But they did exist, and the fact that he was (briefly) at Esperion as a junior youth player is an interesting twist.
“Youth players have weak mentalities” is an interesting observation. I’ve never heard it blurted out quite that openly, but there is a perception that these kids are often over-calculating and too scripted. The obsession with making an impression can be a lot for a teenager or even younger kid to successfully manage. Some will end up like Takeshima, playing too carefully (unconsciously or consciously) for fear of offending big brother. Others will obsess about doing things on their own, desperate to make a splash. And Togashi Eiji because relentlessly combative for its own sake certainly didn’t help.
This episode gave work to a lot of seiyuu voicing the mini-versions of these characters. Among those was a connection between anime’s last great soccer series and its current one, with Kobayashi Yuu – the tireless terrier of Ginga e Kickoff himself, Outa Shou – playing young Takeshima Ryuuichi (also, the mangaka here is Kobayashi Yuugo, ROFL). One sixth-grade central defender to another, separated by a decade – that’s kind of cool. And it’s Takeshima (a player on and off the pitch, even then) and Togashi who’re at the center of this conflict, along with Kuroda-kun. And even then, he was a serious thinker with an eye on the big picture.
When you’re an 11 or 12 year-old boy, one will tend to break complicated problems down into simple dichotomies. That’s the case here (even if some of the language the kids used was unnaturally precocious, if we’re honest) – the reality is more complicated than either of these two extremes. Keiji pigeonholes the regulars position as “don’t get injured/go pro/win” in that order of priority – which in his view will make them “useless” in a big match. Even in the present the boys aren’t of one mind about this – Eisaku sees Takeshima’s point, while Ashito aligns with Togashi – but they’re both going to have to get to somewhere in-between if they’re going to succeed.
With what looks like a stronger opponent in Tokyo Musashino coming up, this is the worst possible time for the B-team to be in disarray. Ashito to his credit sees this and is keen to try and do something about it, but doesn’t have a clue what that is. “Let’s go on a picnic” is rather too straightforward to do the trick, I think, but the heart was in the right place. Happily Souichirou chooses the same moment to try and regain a foothold in the side, and while his isn’t exactly an impressive display of confidence it is honest. And that has an impact for Takeshima at least, who if nothing else has certainly been shaken out of any sense of complacency.
It’ll be interesting to see what Date-san has in mind for this matchup, which is obviously going to be a crucible for a lot of these players (not least Ashi-kun and Souichirou). A well-executed gegenpress is not easy to play against, though as the more technically skilled team Esperion should in theory be able to unlock it. The classic approach is to lay deep in order to force the opponent to play a higher line, creating space for rapid counterattacks to punish the press. But Esperion has two defenders on their back line who haven’t outgrown the “scoring is fun” mentality, and especially for Togashi that might be a tough fit. It could really suit Ashito and Tachibana, though – I expect them to have their opportunities to shine.
