Review of Giant Killing

Prior to the premiere of Giant Killing, I had never watched a sports anime in my life. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had seriously sat down and watched a sport. I used to watch basketball a lot. I remember rooting for the Bulls, who were my home team mind you, and then after them the Lakers. At some point, I simply lost interest in sports altogether. I have certainly never watched a game of soccer. So, not only does this series serve as a gateway to an entire genre of anime for me, but also anintroduction to soccer and a reintroduction to sports in general. I am far out of my element and easily the outsider in the viewer pool.

I’ve always liked the story of David and Goliath, from which the term Giant Killing derives its name. Really, it’s a concept we want to believe in. We want to see the underdog, with every disadvantage, somehow come out on top against his opponent. This is what originally drew me toward the series. Tatsumi, arguably the main character of the series, used to be East Tokyo United’s star player. However, he quit and went overseas, having a successful stint coaching an amateur team to compete on a professional level. He comes back to ETU a shadow of its former self. It has struggled with relegation for years, essentially running on life support. His job? Save the club.

You already know this can’t be easy, but the problem is far more delicate. Everyone has their own opinion of ETU and its current place in the Japanese leagues. The veteran players believe ETU needs to bide its time in the defensive position they’ve developed over the past few years. The fans view Tatsumi with outright scorn, seeing him as a traitor for leaving the team in the first place. Other teams look down on them as little more than a joke. Then there’s the new blood, who really don’t know what to do. Put on top of this Tatsumi’s penchant for flippancy in his manners and speech and you have a powder keg just waiting for a spark.

Keeping that in mind, Giant Killing does have an overarching plot of taking a ragtag team and overcoming impossible odds. However, it serves as more of a goal for the series. The real plot is developing the team, both as players and characters. Naturally, all of them need to improve their skills on the field, especially the new additions. However, they all have personal issues. Tsubaki has a lack of self-confidence, Sera struggles with an inferiority complex, Kuro gets easily discouraged by failure, and so on. As the series progresses, they all get a spot in the limelight to overcome their shortcomings. It all threads together in a climactic match against a “giant” which spans the last third of the series. This gives us a character driven series, as opposed to story driven.

The series could simply develop ETU and call it a day, but it strives to build up the supporting cast as well. In fact, some of the most memorable characters are only around for a single game of the series. The Brazillian Trio from Nagoya has great chemistry and is largely entertaining both before and during the game. The finale’s opposing team also has a lot of effort put into defining their players strengths and weaknesses throughout the arc. Even the Ramen Guy, who is on screen for all of two minutes, has a surprising amount of character built put into him. It does have some low points though, specifically the reporters. I also wish the older fans had received more thorough and satisfying development.

The vocal work really backs up the characters in this series. Nobody feels like they’re out of their element. Seki Tomokazu plays an excellently flippant Tatsumi. Tyotaro Okiayu nails the gruff and experienced center of the team, Murakoshi. Perhaps my favorite actor, though, is Daisuke Ono voicing superstar Gino. Even when he compliments someone, he maintains that condescending tone which says “Why yes, I am better than you.” I could continue to praise it, but you get the idea. Really the weak point of the voice acting comes up whenever a character tries to speak in English. It’s a bit more authentic from the multicultural perspective of the game, but it comes off as forced in execution.

Where the characters and vocal work excel, the art and animation is a mixed bag. The anime stays true to its source material, which is good for fans of the manga. On the other hand, the somewhat minimalistic art style might turn off some viewers. It struggles with perspective at times. For example, the scene where Tatsumi and Dulfer shook hands looked ridiculous. I also recall come complaints for using CG animation to handle the crowds and some of the game play on occasion. However, both the CG and drawn animation look fluid, so I have no complaints. On the positive side, the series has some very powerful still frame shots to punctuate moments of the series. They’re very stylized and for the most part, look beautiful.

Here’s the bottom line. If you like soccer, then why have you not watched this yet? If you like sports or sports anime in general, you can’t really go wrong with this series. Even if you have little interest in sports, if you like strong characters, you should definitely give it a shot. Giant Killing does have a few weak points in every facet, like a somewhat formulaic approach to Tatsumi’s strategies, a few weak characters, wonky English, and some poorly executed graphics. However, as a whole, the series shines beyond its difficulties, and remains a very entertaining ride from start to finish. I definitely recommend it.

Final Score: 8/10