Ganbare, Kickers!
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Ganbare, Kickers! | |
がんばれ!キッカーズ (Ganbare! Kikkāzu) | |
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Genre | Sport, Comedy, Drama |
Manga | |
Written by | Noriaki Nagai |
Published by | Shogakukan |
Magazine | CoroCoro Comic |
Demographic | Kodomo |
Original run | 1985 – 1989 |
Volumes | 20 |
Anime television series | |
Directed by | Akira Shigino |
Produced by | Haruhiko Akamine Kunitaka Okada Takaichi Matsumoto Yuji Nunokawa (Planning) |
Written by | Sukehiro Tomita Hiroshi Kaneko Isao Shizutani Mitsuo Aimono |
Music by | Jun Irie |
Studio | Studio Pierrot |
Original network | NTV |
Original run | October 15, 1986 – March 25, 1987 |
Episodes | 26 |
Ganbare, Kickers! (がんばれ!キッカーズ, Ganbare! Kikkāzu, roughly translated Fight, Kickers!) is a romantic soccer kid manga drawn by Noriaki Nagai. It was published by Shogakukan in CoroCoro Comic magazine from 1985 to 1989. The series won the 1987 Shogakukan Manga Award for best children's manga.[1] The story is usually classified as Comedy, Drama, Shōnen and Sports. Cover art can be seen here.
The manga was turned into an anime series by Studio Pierrot during 1986–1987. It ran 26 episodes and one 40 minute special, but only 21 episodes were aired in Japan. In 1990 the anime arrived to EMEA in its dubbed version and had some success in the Middle East (الهداف Al Haddaf), Iran (فوتبالیستها), South Korea (내일은 축구왕), Italy (Palla al centro per Rudy), Spain (Supergol), France (But Pour Rudy), Poland (Piłkarze) and especially in Germany and Austria (Kickers). In Indonesia, the anime was aired on Bali TV in 2004-2005.
Story
The story is about an enthusiastic kid soccer team at the Kitahara elementary school, who struggle without a competent striker, when little Kakeru Daichi's (大地翔 Daichi Kakeru) family moves in to the town. He immediately applies to join the team, keen to use his skills gained in the kid team of famous soccer club "The Falcons". With Kakeru the team becomes complete in every sense and he motivates the team to challenge the "Red Devils", a strong secondary school team whose goalkeeper Uesugi is considered undefeatable. They lose 10 to 1, but Kakeru's scoring a single goal is still a small miracle. Under the strong leadership of their own goalkeeper Masaru Hongo, Kickers then enter the kid championship and fight their way up through hard won victories. Meanwhile, Hongo falls in love with Ayumi Daichi (大地歩 Daichi Ayumi), Kakeru's cute, sporty sister. In turn the striker enamours Akuna Yukie, a fragile, angelic pianist girl, who happens to be Uesugi's much younger sister. These affairs lead to some embarrassingly funny situations as well as numerous complications with the team's devoted and jealous cheerleader trio.
For a short while, Kickers gain a professional trainer whose instructions help them win their way to the semi-finals, just to meet the Red Devils once again. After a dramatic match, that spans two 20 minute episodes, Uesugi fends off Kakeru's final freescore and so the Kickers are out! The devastated team is soon divided by the arrival of Harry, a famous junior talent, who has been fired from three big name teams already for subversive behaviour. He infiltrates and splits Kickers, but his rudeness and Hongo's strong leadership re-unite the team. Harry then seduces Ayumi and assembles a faux team out of the school's scum so he can defeat the Kickers almost alone. Although the naive Kakeru is no match for the older and much stronger Harry, the Kickers's teamwork spirit and Uesugi's support secures a victory in this dirty match and Harry is devastated. The anime series ends with a redeemed Harry reconciling with the Kickers, before leaving the town to play overseas.
Crew
- Original story: Noriaki Nagai
- Series Director: Akira Shigino
- Series Composition: Sukehiro Tomita
- Script: Hiroshi Kaneko, Isao Shizutani, Mitsuo Aimono, Sukehiro Tomita
- Episode Director: Akira Shigino, Harumi Tamano, Kazu Yokota, Minoru Shinbayashi, Roku Iwata, Shigeru Morikawa
- Storyboard: Akira Shigino, Harumi Tamano, Kazu Yokota, Makoto Moriwaki, Minoru Shinbayashi, Roku Iwata, Shigeru Morikawa, Takayuki Kaneko
- Art Director: Satoshi Miura
- Character Design: Takeshi Ozaka
- Animation Director: Takeshi Ozaka, Katsuichi Nakayama, Masami Shimoda, Mitsuo Shindo, Takafumi Hayashi
- Composer: Jun Irie
- Director of Photography: Hitoshi Kaneko
- Editing: Masanori Sakamoto
- Sound Director: Naoko Asari
- Sound Effects: Kazutoshi Sato
- Producer: Haruhiko Akamine (NTV), Kunitaka Okada (I&S), Takaichi Matsumoto (Pierrot)
- Executive producer: Yuji Nunokawa
Voice actors
- Yuko Kobayashi - Akuna Yukie
- Ikue Ohtani - Kiyoshi Hara
- Kazue Ikura - Masaru Hongō
- Tarako - Taichi
- Michie Tomizawa - Tetsuya
- Urara Takano - Mamoru
- Chieko Honda
Episode List
101 Ball in the center for Rudy - 01 - A New Arrival
102 Ball in the center for Rudy - 02 - Begin The Workouts
103 Ball in the center for Rudy - 03 - A Father trope Ambitious
104 Ball in the center for Rudy - 04 - A goal at minute
105 Ball in the center for Rudy - 05 - Buddy Injury
106 Ball in the center for Rudy - 06 - Captain Gentleman
107 Ball in the center for Rudy - 07 - Away In Match
108 Ball in the center for Rudy - 08 - A very special shoot
109 Ball in the center for Rudy - 09 - A new type of training
110 Ball in the center for Rudy - 10 - A Great Game
111 Ball in the center for Rudy - 11 - Danger of marriage
112 Ball in the center for Rudy - 12 - Challenge msicale
113 Ball in the center for Rudy - 13 - A team programme
114 Ball in the center for Rudy - 14 - opponents incorrect
115 Ball in the center for Rudy - 15 - A cocky champion
116 Ball in the center for Rudy - 16 - for love or honor
117 Ball in the center for Rudy - 17 - A life lesson
118 Ball in the center for Rudy - 18 - An adventurous day
119 Ball in the center for Rudy - 19 - A strange coach
120 Ball in the center for Rudy - 20 - The Valentine's Day
121 Ball in the center for Rudy - 21 - Thank you mister
122 Ball in the center for Rudy - 22 - An Unlucky Draw
123 Ball in the center for Rudy - 23 - Start the championship
124 Ball in the center for Rudy - 24 - Fight relentlessly
125 Ball in the center for Rudy - 25 - The last game
126 Ball in the center for Rudy - 26 - A grand finale
References
- ^ 小学館漫画賞:歴代受賞者 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved 2008-06-13.