Shounen Captain Tsubasa

[Blabble]

Captain Tsubasa is perhaps one of the most influential mangas to ever exist. It helped to popularize soccer in Japan in the 1980s. Without it, Japan wouldn't even have a pro national team. Loads of kids at that time wanted to be a soccer genius like Tsubasa (since Japan didn't have a pro team) so they all tried to become pros. A lot of superstar soccer players such as Zinedine Zidane were inspired by Captain Tsubasa to take soccer as a career... Anyway, enough babbling about the history.

Name: Captain Tsubasa
Genres: Shounen, Sports
Author: Takahashi Yoichi
Artist: Takahashi Yoichi
Publication: Shonen Jump, Young Jump
Start Date: 1981
End Date: On-going 2008 onwards
Number of chapters at review: 157
Number of chapters read by reviewer: 157

General Overview: Tsubasa Oozora, a soccer genius has just arrived in the city of Nankatsu, a place well known for good high school soccer teams. Tsubasa Oozora has a dream, a dream that is almost impossible to realize - To make Japan a World Cup champion. Follow Tsubasa Oozora's soccer adventures as he joins the Nankatsu soccer club till the days he gets to play for All Japan. A lot of friendships and rivalries will be formed, but his number one friend will always be the soccer ball!

Category Ratings:

Art: 7
I have to say that when it comes to the drawings, Captain Tsubasa is not the best but not the worst either. It's something what you can call unique. However, the actions are extremely well done, very dynamic, lively and really epic. It's as if the characters are actually moving on the soccer pitch. Bonus point for that. In each arc, however, you can see an improvement in the drawings. Why? Well, there are currently four arcs of Captain Tsubasa, the first one started in 1981, the second in 1994, the third in 2002 and the fourth in 2005 and I think Takahashi managed to improve his drawings during all this time.

Plot: 7
CT had a lot of good moments. It had also cliché moments too but heh, it's a very old manga what do you expect? For its time, I must say it was good and for today with the newest arc, the plot just got better. It had some twists and some humour but overall, it's quite straight forward just like most any other sports mangas.

Characters: 8
This manga has loads of characters. Each one of them has a very unique style of play and a different personality. You won't find bitchy characters that are just simply irritating. I just like them all. The only reason I'm not giving 9/10 is because of the main character, Oozora Tsubasa. Although he's technically very impressive and very interesting to watch him play soccer, he's not as believable as the other characters. Face it, he's an inhuman soccer freak, but that's what makes him unique in a way.

Themes: 7
The most recurring theme is probably about hard work, friendship, rivalries etc. Common to many sports shounen.

Originality: 9
You can't expect a lot for a sports shounen but for its time (1981) Captain Tsubasa is a manga that really defined and established sports shounen for what it is today. It is not a very realistic one but it doesn't get ridiculously stupid either. It is what should be called Fantasy Soccer. While the manga presents some real life techniques, a lot of new "fantasy" ones are added for much more excitement. You can also expect that each battle is a matter of life and death since this manga takes soccer very very seriously. That's what makes Captain Tsubasa really epic.

Overall: 7.8/10 Average score
A very positive manga and a must for any soccer fans.
This manga will also appeal to people that don't like soccer (use me as an example). It made me like soccer even more than ever before.

Spoiler: Original Captain Tsubasa

SantaBla: Double pages are preferable please Luckas. Still, thanks for the pictures.

Spoiler: World Youth

Spoiler: Road to 2002

Spoiler: Golden 23

These are spoilers but show mainly the protagonist, a friend and an enemy. So there's not much being spoiled.

 

[abo3omar]

Well, I'll post before reading your info so that I won't be affected lol

Copy, Paste, Edit ^^

Captain Tsubasa is a soccer manga that began with a child's dream and ended up inspiring much people - especially Japanese - to be as great as the "Golden Generation" who are the heros of the Manga.

Name: Captain Tsubasa
Genres: Shounen, Sports
Author: Takahashi Yoichi
Artist: Takahashi Yoichi
Publication: Shonen Jump, Young Jump
Start Date: 1981
End Date: On-going 2008 onwards
Number of chapters at review: 157+ lol
Number of chapters read by reviewer: didn't count them

General Overview: It starts at 2 points, a Brazilian pro from Japanese origin who is injured and so cannot play anymore, and his friend's son who dreams to be a pro in Brazil and wants him to be his coach..it ends up completing this dream and continues with more complicated events where you have to be a fan to cope with and you have to read the previous chapters to understand.


Category Ratings:

Art: 9
It's good really. But not high class excellence.

Plot: 9
I really like the storyline, but there are some repeated events and easy to predict ones, and something annoying sometimes is that some events are kids styled. Otherwise everything is just great.

Characters: 10
So cool ^^ I'm really so deep feeling & enjoying with all of them.

Themes:
dunno too ^^

Originality: 10
An original of course. LOTS of mangas/animies were inspired or even copied from it.

Overall: 9.5/10 Average score
Really nice..so nice that I'm still taking of LOTS of my working time for the sake of it's fun ^^

 

[bobossp]

I am sorry, I really like Captain Tsubasa, really, but if you are realistic, then the art is not worth 8, really, I would say around 7-6... especially if you set airgear and berserk as a a standard.. and I am generous, really generous! No matter how good is the feeking, you can't really say it scores 9 or 8 compared to a 5 for air or berserk.
The graphics are good but old fashioned, the autor sure is very good with the setting up of the movements and the action, and you really feel like it is moving, but we can't say the art is this incredible! Even if it pains me, I got to admit that sometimes the players bodies are not this well drawn, but there is an improvement along the volumes.

 

[njt]

Thanks for the review Could you please post 4 images no greater than 500 x 500?

 

[futureking]

I am sorry, I really like Captain Tsubasa, really, but if you are realistic, then the art is not worth 8, really, I would say around 7-6... especially if you set airgear and berserk as a a standard.. and I am generous, really generous! No matter how good is the feeking, you can't really say it scores 9 or 8 compared to a 5 for air or berserk.
The graphics are good but old fashioned, the autor sure is very good with the setting up of the movements and the action, and you really feel like it is moving, but we can't say the art is this incredible! Even if it pains me, I got to admit that sometimes the players bodies are not this well drawn, but there is an improvement along the volumes.

The manga was drawn in the 80s. Spanning 3 sequels, the third sequel is running in Weekly Young Jump. The artwork is more detailed in the latest sequel.

 

[Blabble]

I am sorry, I really like Captain Tsubasa, really, but if you are realistic, then the art is not worth 8, really, I would say around 7-6... especially if you set airgear and berserk as a a standard.. and I am generous, really generous! No matter how good is the feeking, you can't really say it scores 9 or 8 compared to a 5 for air or berserk.
The graphics are good but old fashioned, the autor sure is very good with the setting up of the movements and the action, and you really feel like it is moving, but we can't say the art is this incredible! Even if it pains me, I got to admit that sometimes the players bodies are not this well drawn, but there is an improvement along the volumes.

I'm lowering it to 7 but still, I never said it's incredible, just unique in its own ways. Personally, I enjoy the drawings more than the stereotypical manga looking people I see in a lot of other mangas. I honestly prefer old fashioned graphics than today's one. I would say 6 too but since the action is extremely well done in my opinion, a bonus point is well deserved, 6 to 7. It also very difficult to judge the art since it's a really long manga.