First Impression: Captain Tsubasa (2018)

Synopsis

11-year-old Tsubasa Oozora is an elementary student who has a deep love for soccer ever since he was young. Aiming to become a top soccer player, Tsubasa moves with his mother to Nankatsu city, which is well-known for its excellent elementary school soccer teams. It is there that he encounters the talented goalkeeper, Genzo Wakabayashi. Upon seeing his skill, Tsubasa issues a challenge with the boy. This marks the start of the soccer-obsessed boy’s journey towards his ultimate dream of representing Japan in the FIFA World Cup.

The Good

For someone who didn’t read the manga or even saw the original anime adaptation, this is a solid introduction to the series. It had a nice blend of the classic art style mixed with the animation work of today. From the start with Tsubasa dribbling the ball while walking to the encounter between Tsubasa and Genzo in the end, the animation was just smooth all around. That and the accents in certain scenes managed to tie things together.

In terms of characters, they all had a rather nice introduction to them. There was just enough revealed about their characters without giving away too much on them. That and there’s a certain endearing quality with some of the characters. What’s more, the story managed to managed to make things even more interesting when it managed to connect all that was introduced in the episode to one another.

The Bad

Given the source material of the series, it was expected that there would be some classic exaggerated tropes here. The moment the story of how Tsubasa survived a near car accident via soccer ball, it was obvious that the series would be on the over-the-top spectrum. Then there is the whole character tropes going on as well. As interesting as their introduction and connection were, it’s easy to predict their roles for the series.

Conclusion

It’s a classic anime that has modern qualities to draw in new fans. Sure, it can be over the top, but the episode did give a solid introduction. The characters may have tropes to them but they are interesting and have an endearing quality to them, mainly with Tsubasa. Basically, it’s an old anime that was adapted into something new and was done well enough to garner interest. While not perfect, it has a good draw.

Rating: 7/10