[Anime] Giant Killing

Another anime series finished. This one is a sports anime. I started watching Kuroko’s Basketball, which I love love love, but since it’s ongoing, I had to distract myself with another series. After a bunch of recs of Giant Killing, I decided to give it a try….

Giant Killing

Genre: Sports

26 episodes – 2010

Synopsis:

Experiencing a long streak of poor performances for several years in the Japanese professional football league, the East Tokyo United (ETU) hires Takeshi Tatsumi as manager to try to break the curse that seems to have fallen over the team. Having spent three years in England, Tatsumi managed to take an amateur team to the top 32 teams of the FA Cup. Many consider him a bad choice and protest against this decision. They hold a grudge against Takeshi because they consider him a traitor for leaving ETU at the height of his career when he was still a football player. Unfazed by the negative mood that looms over the field, Tatsumi seems confident that he might be able to bring glory back to his team once again.

In Giant Killing a ragtag bunch from East Tokyo are struggling in Japan's top football league. The team is going through an abysmal spell right now where they are nearing the bottom of the table and have lost 5 matches in a row. The losses haven't done much to team morale, because it was already low. Fan support, on the other hand, is looking bleak. In the world of football, once the fans turn on a team the end is near. Teams don't recover. Coaches are fired, players are sold, and teams drop to smaller divisions where profits often prevent them from ever being successful against even mediocre top division programs. East Tokyo United, ETU, can only blame their coach right now. And Coach is ready to give up this next game to prove to his team and fans, that against the biggest club in the nation he can make this team win.

My Review:

This was a bit of a disappointment. After all of the reviews praising this series, I was looking forward to an amazing football series. Yet, I felt it lacking. I fast forwarded through so much of this series. For one, the characters were kind of interesting and likeable. Each member of the East Tokyo team was sort of unique and added their individual charm to the team. My favorite characters were Kuroda and Gino! Yet, I felt that the characters needed more development. Part of the problem I think was the lack of screen time outside of game play. I wish we would have gotten the chance to see the players during practice or in other instances other than only during the games. Also, I didn’t like the choices in which games were shown and the speed in which games were played, lost (or tied or won) and then quickly on to the next. So, in short…Giant Killing wasn’t all that good, plot and pacing wise, but the characters and actual gameplay kept me watching until the end.

 

*Watched Giant Killing? Tell me what you thought of it in the comments below!*