Review of Giant Killing

Rather it's on field or off field, the sport of football is full of tension, suspense, and action. On the field, players duke it out in a battle of skill, wits, and determination. Off the field, fans struggle to stick with an underdog team, while management struggles to figure out how the team should be improving. In the center of all of this stands the one person who's supposed to keep things under control and that's the head coach. It's into this fierce, competitive world Giant Killing throws its viewers. The story is relatively simple and easy to grasp. East Tokyo United (ETU) is an underdogfootball team that's been struggling to make its mark in the realm of Japanese Football (That's soccer to the Americans). After viewing a game where an underdog team comprised of non-professionals beat a team of professionals, the general manager of ETU takes a look at the coach who led the underdog team to victory. Tatsumi Takeshi was considered to be a great football player himself in his time, playing for ETU as it were, and as a coach, his teams seem to overcome all odds to pull off unbelievable wins. The General Manager of ETU does what any man in his position would do after seeing such a display of coaching ability; he offers Tatsumi a job as head coach of ETU. And Tatsumi accepts his offer.

From here, the anime takes off. Tatsumi is not your typical coach. He doesn't believe in standard practices and drills. Instead, he often looks at whatever strategy his opponents use in games and adapts the team to play against that strategy. Instead of simply doing drills, he crafts and molds ETU into a team that can change how it plays as a team from game to game, using outlandish techniques and coaching practices to prepare. This creates great tension and suspense as the anime goes on because the writers never show the audience what Tatsumi actually plans on doing until his plan unfolds during the game.

Meanwhile, while the team has to struggle with all the changes Tatsumi is making, the fans, management, and even the press have to adapt to this new coach and his style.The fans are completely outraged that the coach of ETU is a man who played for ETU...and then left the team at the peak of his career for a better team. The fans see this as blatant disloyalty. The management want to see positive results at games and signs of effort actually put into practice. Tatsumi....does not give them this as regularly as they would like and they suffer constant heartache. The poor press needs positive results to get readers, and ETU is hardly consistent enough to give them peace of mind.

To carry this show are some simply great characters. The show never focuses on simply one character, so there is no main protagonist. Tatsumi is the core of the team, yes, but he is not the focus of this anime. The show devotes a lot of screen time to individual players on the team and we see nearly all of them get their own personal story arc that develops and ends. Tsubaki the rookie; Gino, or "Prince" as he is called, the overly confident playmaker; Akasuki, a player who wants nothing more than to win; Sera, who's goal is to shine and be valuable to his team; and Murakoshi, the calm captain who's job to is to keep his team together.

On top of the team members of ETU, the rest of the cast is made up up of some very unique and varied side characters. A wide variety of fans, from the die-hard young adults, to the rekindled passion of the old, to the little kids just getting into the sport, make up a good chunk of characters who get screen time. Rounding it all out is the management of ETU, who's frenzied job is keeping things organized on top of promoting the team out to the masses. Character development is top notch and there is nary a boring or stereotypical character to be seen. All the characters are likable and they all seem very realistic to the world they're in.

The anime hits its high points during football matches. The anime chooses to let the audience see what a player is thinking during critical moments, and most of the character development is done during these times. Listening in on what's going through a player's head as he sets up a shot for a goal really pushes this anime forward as the audience can't help but be pulled along by the emotional turmoil that's racing through a player's head. Viewers cheer when players strike the goal net as their favorite character finally gets what he was looking for. For a sports anime, this does a very good job of entertaining people who aren't even into sports at all.

That being said, the character models are not exactly what you would call "pretty". Characters are drawn very rough and harsh. Lines are sharp, nothing is blurred. The smell of masculinity is in the air with all the models, with their pointed noses and incredibly toned kneecaps.

The animation is very well done, however, with everything running smooth and cleanly. Background settings and locations are well detailed. But during games, CGI is obviously used when the camera cuts to the crowd and everyone in the stands is moving. CGI is also used when the camera pulls to above field shots and every player is running around. It doesn't distract too much, though, and the action of the moment makes your mind forget about it completely most of the time.

This anime also likes to reuse soundtracks. The same music is played in the same situations every time and it can get very repetitive. The music is often a cue for what's going to happen next and that can ruin suspense at times and that takes away from the atmosphere of the show.

The voice acting, also, could use some work. This anime takes a unique approach with language. Instead of everyone speaking Japanese like normal, oftentimes, coaches and players from other teams will speak their native language and you'll have to read subtitles to understand them. This is something that is honestly refreshing to see in an anime where characters struggle with a language barrier, but at the same time, the people who are speaking their native languages supposedly, actually speak them with incredibly heavy accents that ruins any feel of authenticity. It's not a huge flaw, by any means, but it does hurt something that is a legitimately good idea.

Overall, Giant Killing is one of the better sports anime out there. The story is solid for the genre, bringing a perfect amount of unknown to the mix to the point you can't predict who will win at match ups. The characters are absolutely superb, each of them getting a fantastic amount of time to develop and grow. There's very little to be disappointed with at the end of Giant Killing and it is easily recommended by anyone who wants to watch an anime with a good story and even better characters.