Episode 27
Okay, so Nankatsu won like we all knew they would, Tsubasa is the king of the football and everybody loves him, bow down to your overlord, etc etc. There are some great shots in this episode. This one’s the best, though.
Wakashimazu’s play is amazing here as well and I had a great time watching him, but I can’t help but feel like they’ve gone a little overboard with the “keeper running out of goal to do cool shit” thing this time, the impact is lessened. I love his face here as he’s running out though.
Why is he so happy? And what is it with this show and people banging their heads off goalposts? Is this an actual thing that happens in actual football? Surely not with this frequency, anyway. I think the goalposts in general see a lot more action in Captain Tsubasa than they would normally.
Oh and now Hyuga magically sees the true meaning of football because he’s lost to Tsubasa, of course. He’s gone from shit talking Nankatsu at every opportunity to shaking hands with Tsubasa graciously. This series tries so hard to make it look like Tsubasa’s not ruining everyone’s fun by winning constantly, and it just ends up with them stacking Gary Stu trait after Gary Stu trait onto his character. He can’t just win, the losers have to be changed for the better after being beaten. I actually find the extent to which Hyuga’s entire manner changes after Meiwa’s loss to be a little creepy, especially considering he has presumably now lost his chance at a football scholarship. You’d think there’d be some hard feelings there. It’s almost like Tsubasa puts a spell on everyone he beats or something.
Tsubasa was getting kinda crazy towards the end of this match, too. I find his refusal to accept a 3-2 win a little disturbing, and I’m a little disappointed that he got his way with that final goal. He’s got a real scorched earth policy when it comes to his rivals – even victory isn’t enough, he has to totally erase his defeat. He acts all smiley and happy-go-lucky, but in reality, he will accept nothing less than complete submission from everyone he faces. Shout out to the time where he growls at Sawada like a territorial dog to get him away from the ball. What’s even funnier is that it actually works.
Oh, big news as well with that final goal: our second broken net of the series! I actually thought there would be more by now, but I’m sure we’ll get at least one or two more before the show is out. Or at least I should certainly hope so.
At this shot here I honestly got confused for a split second because I thought Misaki was congratulating himself and then I realised it was Matsuyama (it was Matsuyama and not Misugi Jun, right? I’m 99.9% sure it’s Matsuyama), this sameface is killing me.
AHH OH MY GOD THE END THOUGH. ROBERTO’S BIT. It’s only short, but this is my fucking favourite thing. “I’m sorry, Tsubasa. I can’t take you to Brazil because of reasons. I must go now, my planet needs me puts on sunglasses”. This is poetry. Truly Roberto is a god among men. That 40-second scene has completely overshadowed the entire finals match for me, and I really enjoyed that match. But this. This is all I needed to see. I wish the whole show was made up of stuff like this plot and Misugi Jun’s heart troubles. Now onto the rest of the shitshow, hell yes.
Episode 28
Roberto’s made a right fool of Tsubasa here. He’s out here, presumably televised, telling people he’s going off to Brazil now to follow his dream, and meanwhile, Roberto’s up and left without him for no good reason.
He must feel like an absolute idiot. If you look into his eyes closely enough, you’ll see the trust issues beginning to form already.
This episode is the one time when I will allow myself to feel pity for Tsubasa. No child deserves this treatment, not even a psychopath like Tsubasa. It’s like having all your Christmas presents taken away times ten. Having said that though, the pity I feel is almost entirely eclipsed by the joy I feel for this completely ridiculous turn of events. This is probably one of my top ten favourite anime moments of all time. He just fucks off. I feel like there’s a lot more foreshadowing for this in the 2018 version than there had been previously, and I’m not sure whether that makes Roberto seem like a better or worse person. I mean he pretty obviously comes off as a giant flaky asshole either way, but I have really enjoyed all the subtle close-ups of him looking horrified whenever someone mentions taking Tsubasa to Brazil, so I’m not mad about where the 2018 version has taken this. Why did he even suggest it in the first place though? Was he still drinking at that point? Was this just a drunken promise that got out of hand? Because that would actually make sense. Roberto’s in no position to be mentoring anyone, that man needs to sort his life out. Like, even more than Kozo Kira.
I absolutely love the way the departure is handled here, too. All the unnecessary shots of Roberto looking pensive in his fucking sunglasses as he ponders the fact that he’s crushed a child’s dreams because he’s incapable of getting his shit together are beautiful. Honestly, what the fuck my guy, you couldn’t even say goodbye? Classic Roberto. Forever a dumpster fire. Another one of my favourite things about this plot is that it gives you a little bit of hope that Tsubasa might possibly catch up to Roberto at the airport and change his mind, and then they dash it right to the ground. Also, I love that Tsubasa sees a plane and just automatically assumes it must be Roberto’s. And to be fair he’s right, but he shouldn’t be.
Also, the flashback where Tsubasa’s thinking about Roberto down by the riverside: why, of all the many, many shots of Tsubasa and Roberto we’ve seen over the course of these 28 episodes, would they choose this one of Roberto staring Tsubasa dead in the face while massaging his leg? Why? I feel like maybe the art director of this anime is a genius and I’m just not capable of comprehending such depth.
Man though this episode really is raining down misery upon Tsubasa. He has to deal with his mentor and his two best friends heading off in the space of what, a week? And what the fuck Misaki, why leave without a word? They all know you have to go, just tell them when. Was he trying to send Tsubasa into a depression spiral? I know they just did this for the dramatic bus scene at the end, but it’s so out of character for Misaki, whose whole thing is usually that he’s considerate. It doesn’t feel right to me. Wakabayashi handles his departure slightly better. And well, I guess they had to bus him out of the show eventually, he was too OP to be a regular part of the team. Better he be in Germany than be constantly injured. I wasn’t hugely into the final challenge between him and Tsubasa before he leaves. It was fine and all, but it went move-for-move exactly as anyone would have predicted. Wakabayashi and Tsubasa are like an unbreakable shield and a sword that can pierce anything. Wakabayashi wins, but not because he’s more skilled than Tsubasa – it’s just luck. It’s always luck.
At least Hyuga gets his happy ending here, though. But isn’t it kind of a cop-out that after all their talk about “only choosing one”, they end up deciding to scout both Hyuga and Tsubasa? To be fair, this show is nothing but overly convenient cop-outs, but I feel like this one is particularly bad.
By the way, this isn’t related to anything but this mysterious woman who briefly shows up at the start and doesn’t get explained (though I think I know who she is), this one here:
She has made me realise that all of this show’s adult women look the same (except for Ishizaki’s mother). They all have the same face and the same disgusting 80s mom haircut and I just don’t understand it. Would it be so hard to give one of them long hair or something, at least? It doesn’t really matter because the women are in this so rarely but I can’t get my head around some of these design choices.
Aside from all that, we’re into a three-year timeskip now, which is fun I guess. It makes almost no difference to be honest. Tsubasa looks exactly the same but a little taller. In fact, everyone looks exactly the same but a little taller. Anego is no longer a grumpy tomboy which makes me sad but I still like her. Now onto our next tournament arc! Are you ready to watch the exact same thing but three years later? I know I am.