Monday 12 April 2010

Giant Killing - Episode 2

After a weekend where Portsmouth dumped Tottenham Hotspur out of the FA Cup to take a berth in the final, it seems all too apt to sit down to another episode of an anime named Giant Killing. Besides, anything that lets me gloat over a Spurs defeat can only be a good thing, right?

Anyhow, in the first episode we saw new manager and returning legend Takeshi Tatsumi shaking things up right from the off in his new position at East Tokyo United, using the results of some fitness and sprinting tests to turn the first team into the reserves and vice versa before setting the two sides off against one another in a training match.


Of course, the result of said training game is pure Roy of the Rovers stuff, with some Alex Ferguson-esque mind games and other tricks bringing the pacy, fitter reserves to a resounding victory over the regulars, before Tatsumi creates even more unrest by publicly announcing that he's dropping fan favourite Murakoshi as captain. But is there a method to his madness? Of course there is!

For all of its occasional, and I suspect unintentionally, amusing moments (the crows at your average English Premier League game don't invite their players to go eat at their restaurant, that's for sure, while simply choosing players based on pace and stamina only works in FIFA 10), there's still a lot to like about Giant Killing thus far. Simply the fact that it's about football has me hooked with relative ease, but Tatsumi's Jose Mourinho like attitude towards both the press and players is eminently watchable, while the the whole thing is both enjoyable fare while also proving to be pretty polished when it comes to actually showing the game being played - Okay, it isn't that realistic compared to the real thing, but it isn't too bad either. All in all then, Giant Killing is rising up the table of shows to watch this season.

4 comments:

JW said...

lol Good thing I don't know anything about the real thing. :P

I really like the music and I'm glad they're taking a the tried and true route of character introspection, rather than spiffy plays, and secret ace players.

Anonymous said...

They handled the first match in an interesting way. I intend to continue watching this show. I'm not a sports fan, so I think I might enjoy it more if I watch every other week (that is wait a week, and watch two episodes at a go).

JELEINEN said...

I'm really enjoying this show. It's nice to see no super-powered techniques like you'd get in a shounen manga-based show. I also appreciate that they're not stopping to explain every detail of the game. My knowledge of soccer comes from brothers and a brother-in-law who are fans, so I'm sure there's stuff I'm missing (I have no clue how the whole off-sides thing works, f'rex), but story-wise including all that exposition is just a drag. The characters are great, and I agree with the above poster that the music is good (the opening just sounds soccer-ish to me). This is another show I'm surprised to be watching this season.

Krungie said...

You have to enjoy Coach Man's laid-back attitude. It seems that he is managing the team with ease and I needed a relaxed anime this season amidst action, comedy, etc.

So.... I'm still watching it but if it starts spouting way too much soccer, I might drop it. Being a girl (Yes, I am a girl :P), the partial drama in this anime is the only thing that's got me hooked. So if there is too much sportyness, it might get dull.

For now, still watching and waiting.