This looks like a real fun anime to watch. Inazuma Eleven is actually an RPG video game for the Nintendo DS. Too bad I only have a PSP. It was released in August this year. The anime is based on the game and started to air last month.
The anime starts off with a scene where one team has just been comprehensively beaten by Teikoku Academy. As a result of the lost, the losing team agrees to disband and their school is demolished by Teikoku’s huge team bus.
Reaction to the Teikoku friendly
The rest of the first episode centers around Endou Mamoru, the team captain of the Raimon Middle School Soccer Club. One day after school, he tries to rally his team to practice but with only having 7 members, the soccer club can hardly reserve the school field for practice thus. Being totally ignored, Mamoru storms out to practice by the river bank with elementary school kids which seems to be his normal routine. An incident gets them in trouble with 2 hoodlums. An unknown passer-by helps Endou and the kids. Endou tries to get his name and invites him to train with them but he gets a cold shoulder. The next day, the passer-by is introduced to Endou’s class as a new transfer student, much to the delight of Endou.
Teikoku Academy
If you think Shaolin Soccer was over-doing it, you’d probably think the same about this. But unlike Captain Tsubasa, Inazuma Eleven has a comedic element to it and this makes the over exaggerations more fun, cute and acceptable. It’s probably similar to Wild Striker but not as cheesy. Whistle! is also another football anime which I’ve watched and although I liked it, I think Inazuma Eleven will be a whole lot better.
Mamoru using tires to train
I thoroughly enjoyed the first 3 episodes and I can’t wait for more. It’s refreshing to see all characters of the team having their roles to play both on and off the field unlike other football animes where they only focus on key players normally the keeper and striker. Even the jokes were funny and well timed. No Japanese puns were thrown in (which is a good thing since only the Japanese would find their puns funny). Yakitate Japan was a good anime except for their annoying insistance of filling the script with puns.
Inazuma Elecen is a long way from being a sports anime classic like Slam Dunk but it has all the right elements; cute animations and good humour. Does this sound like I highly rate it? I guess I do.
You can watch the trailer for the game here. It looks similiar to the anime and the gameplay actually looks cool. If only I understood Japanese and owned a Nintendo DS.
Story Presentation: 8/10
Story Line: 8/10
Soundtrack: 5/10
Rating: 3.5/5
Episodes to date: 3
