maxwell.jacobs - 2015-08-26 20:35:00

The sports genre isn't particularly rare in anime, but it's rather surprising how high of a standard there is in the genre. Sports anime tend to develop their characters extensively and provide a stunning amount of depth to them, to the point where it's hard not to cheer for the characters or at least find them likeable in some shape or form. As long as there's good characters, established motivations and a feeling of tension in the story (it doesn't even have to be about them winning a tournament), a truly great sports anime isn't hard to make.

Now, this is the trick ultimately. Since the sports genre is so reliant on being character centric and character driven, if the characters are unremarkable, their stories exaggerated, their struggles unrelateable and their personalities bland, then you end up with a boring, mediocre and completely average show.

This is exactly what is wrong with Area no Kishi and the show's ultimate crime. There is absolutely nothing exceptional about the show, and there's nothing bad about the show.

The story is to be expected from a sports anime, and especially similar to Cross Game and Touch. Main character loses someone dear to him, has a passion for the sport he isn't being honest about and has a love interest who acts as both a counterpart and a role model of sorts (not to mention romantic interest). 

This isn't a bad thing, but Area no Kishi fails because of how human Cross Game and Touch were, while it on the other hand doesn't care about making the viewer care for the characters. They feel as mere archetypes and do not move past them, they spend more times playing sports than practicing for games or interacting for one another and there is a lack of heart throughout the show.

In fact, this is why the first few episodes are much better than the rest of the show; they resemble the first few episodes of the previously mentioned series too much, sure, but there was an attempt, however small it is, at being human, and that effort is not present in the rest of the show.

And hell, I know that sports series all require suspension of disbelief to whatever extent, but for whatever reason I couldn't help but point out in the back of my head that there is no way in the lowest pits of hell someone can be on a national team, youth or otherwise, and manage to conceal their identity for so long. Honestly, I'm not even sure why that twist was even put, literally anything would've made sense other than...that.

The artwork and the animation quality are standard and aren't bad, but aren't good either. The coloring is boring and dull to look at, and the matches don't look different from the few slice of life moments present throughout the show.

It's a boring, uninteresting and dull show that is completely average in every single way. I can only recommend this if you really like the sports genre and have nothing better on your hand (which simply isn't true, you're bound to have something better available to watch).

jay24 - 2014-03-09 23:11:14

Esta review también está en español.

Note: some football animes will be named in this review for the sake of comparison. This is, mostly, to see how the game is faced in each series. Of course, no spoilers.
Also, football as the real, english one (aka soccer), not the american one.

The story of this anime focus in Kakeru Aizawa, a 14 year old kid who loves football, but decided to stop playing, and become manager of his school team and in the not too distant future, be a coach (being the Japan national team his final goal). Although this seems like a very valid dream, Suguru Aizawa, Kakeru's older brother, and one of the best players under 15 in Japan, knows that Kakeru is only running away: he knows that his little brother want to play, but he's afraid of playing cause a few years ago, he injured a rival. But don't worry, Kakeru will eventually overcome his confidence issues and return to the field (I mean... come on, just look at the pic of this very page). Besides the Aisawa brothers, the third protagonist of this story is Nana "Seven" Mishima, a former teammate of Kakeru back in primary school, now returning from the United States to join the team as a manager. Seven's not only beautiful, cheerful and dedicated, she also lacks the usual tsundere traits that most females MC have in this type of anime (like Sanae in CT or Miki in HH). She's almost too perfect to be real... or rather, she's like that typical character in a romantic comedy...

There are also many players relevant to the plot, being the most important (or at least, important enough to be in the opening) Ryuichi Araki (Suguru's companion in the national team, owner of an unbelievable metabolism), Kaoru Matoba (same age as Kakeru, tiny yet skillful), Reo Kurebayashi (libidinous GK, but sadly for him, he lacks the charm and succes of Sakai in Hungry Heart xD), Makoto Hyoudo (nice and inteligent MF), Akito Horikawa (sly DF), and Kota Nakatsuka (defender with interesting offensive traits. One of the sources of humor of the series, and one of Kakeru's best friends).

Usually, spor... football animes (I can't say a lot about the sport genre in general, since I didn't watched that much outside the football realm) don't tend to explore the characters a lot, except for the traditional topics of self-improvement and friendship. That's mostly because the important stuff happens inside the field, not outside. In AnK, however, that’s not exactly the case. I'm not saying that this anime is revolutionary in terms of character development, but some serious stuff tend to happen on the personal level, being the most important characters in this matter Kakeru and Seven. This may be attractive to people who don't like football that much, yet enjoy the sport environment and some character interaction.

The animation is decent. The character design, without being ground breaking, is well done. All the characters are very different from each other, and there isn't any weird hair color, or crazy hairstyles that might disturb Yusei Fudo (someone understands the reference? My references tend to be a bit dark. Sorry n_n). The real problems are in the court. There are times (it varies by episode) that the sport is not well portrayed. Passes, shots and plays tend to be more static than they should. This is very serious, since it's a sport series... it seems that a big chunk of the budget was appointed for teen drama instead of proper gaming (oh, yes I did). Yet, this matter, although important, doesn't ruin the whole experience, or made the games unwatchable. It's just below the expected.

Sound... well, the opening, Higher Ground, is cool and everything, but, the really weird thing is... there's no ending. This may sound silly, but, in this modern day and age, in which series with only 12 ep tends to have 3 or 4 endings, I found it pretty remarkable. As for the voices, there are certainly seiyuus with lots of recent experience: Yuuko Sanpei is Kakeru (Yoko Machi in Bokurano, Selim Bradley in FMA: Brotherhood, Aphrodi in Inazuma Eleven, Sasha in Seikon no Qwaser and many others), Shizuka Itou is Seven (Hildegard in Beelzebub, Nadie in El Cazador de la Bruja, Misa Kakizaki in all the animated Mahou Sensei Negima incarnations, Darri in Gurren Laggan) and best of all, Minoru Shiraishi as Nakatsuka (Taguchi in Hen Zemi, Taniguchi and Kimidori in Haruhi Suzumiya, and obviously, Minoru Shiraishi in Lucky Star). A nice little detail is that foreigner characters speak in their own language, and subtitles appear on screen (that's when talking with someone that can't understand them. When the conversation is between foreigners, the audio is in japanese, but they're speaking in their own language. Understood?). Sadly, the intonation is terrible, with a very marked accent, being terrible obvious that the seiyu don't know crap about english xD. Rather than bad, that last thing's funny (Giant Killing did a best job is this subject, by the way).

But the most important question you should be asking now is: what can we expect of Area no Kishi in the football aspect? Is close to Captain Tsubasa, with endless fields and shots that can destroy nets/fences/walls? It's like Inazuma Eleven, where super powers, time space manipulation and theme fields are the norm? Is like Giant Killing, where everything is hyper-realist, not only the game, but the people and the results too? In the reality scale, I put AnK above Hungry Heart, but under Captain Tsubasa. Why? Let's see:
At first, AnK looked like it was pretty attached to reality, with strong shots, but not that exaggerated, with occasional special effects here and there (like rays and whirlwinds), but didn't affect the game: there were only there for spectacularity. The players become tired after a while, yellow and red cards appear sometimes, and the strategies, although ridiculous at times, were feasible. However, episodes passed, and a few special techniques appeared... some of those tech were some outrageous, that certain dribbling reach the insanity levels of the legendary Aurora Faint! That move was from Stefan Levin, a CT player... and when a series have moves that remind those of Captain Tsubasa (and not a common player... the Sweden captain, for Christ sake), reality goes to hell. Another feature of AnK is that matches tend to be very spoken: the players talk, and talk, and talk... all this with the ball in play, and during the marking! (one of the toughest moments of the game, no less). Lots of series have internal monologues that takes a considerable amount of time (in CT that was fixed with huge fields xD), but in AnK the dialogues are, in fact, between the players, in simply unrealistic periods of time (and while running!). To end the football analysis, I want highlight that, just like Hungry Heart, the female football makes an important appearance. And if I said that the sport was a bit odd with the males, with the females is waaaay beyond that. Remember that the series focus on a teen who want to play in a high school team. But when the series is not centered on him, the focus shift to Nadeshiko Japan (the national fem team under 18)... and there, we meet with some girls who seem to be genetically engineered to play football. How crazy is with the lasses? Let's just say that the best player on the team doesn't even train, and yet, she's a football godess, a fem version of Tsubasa Ozora. One thing is talent, but her skills are so ridiculous that make other (male) players look cripple. The second best player? A girl so skilled that can kick, hit the crossbar, grab the ball (without touching the ground) and push it in a basket... using her heel! And all that, while using her phone... Applaud gentlemen, that's girl power.

There's one more issue I want to mention, and is that Area no Kishi, just like its football peers Captain Tsubasa J and Goal Field Hunter, has an open ending. In a very unpleasant turn of events, the final tournament doesn't finish properly, in fact, the last game we see is a quarter final match (a pretty good match, but not ending material). And like in the main story, lots of subplots remain unresolved... so, the way I see it, there are two ways: death in the oblivion... or a second season. This is only a speculation, but there's a chance that this problem get resolved.

So, despite that last thing, if football's your thing, Area no Kishi is a good choice, although there aren't matches in every episode, and the characters have some inner demons that need to be fixed, the games are fast, changing and exiting. If football is not your favorite sport, but the sport genre appeals to you, then AnK may be an interesting choice, since there is less football than in other animes, and characters have an equal (or higher) importance than the sport.

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Nota: varios animes de futbol van a ser nombrados en esta review, para comparar varias cosas. Más que nada, es para ver como encara el juego cada una. No hay ningún tipo de spoilers, y de paso aprenden un poco sobre otras series n_n.

La historia de este anime es sobre Kakeru Aizawa, un chico de 14 años que ama el futbol, pero que decidió dejar de jugarlo para convertirse en manager del equipo de su escuela y, en un futuro no muy lejano, ser entrenador. Aunque este parece ser un sueño muy válido, Suguru Aizawa, hermano mayor de Kakeru, y futura promesa del futbol japonés, se da cuenta de que Kakeru solo está huyendo: él sabe que su hermano quiere seguir jugando, pero quedo desecho cuando, en un partido de práctica hace unos años, con su pierna menos hábil, lesiono a un rival. Pero no se preocupen, Kakeru eventualmente superara sus problemas de confianza, y retornara al campo de forma activa (o sea, es obvio... solo miren la foto de esta pag). Aparte del los dos hermanos, el tercer protagonista principal es Nana “Seven” Mishima, antigua compañera de equipo de Kakeru en primaria, que ahora regresa de Estados Unidos para unirse al equipo como asistente de campo. Seven no solamente es hermosa, alegre y dedicada, sino que carece de los rasgos tsunderes habituales de la protagonista femenina típica de este tipo de anime (como Sanae en CT o Miki en HH). Es casi demasiado perfecta para ser real... o mejor dicho, parece un personaje de una comedia romántica.

También hay otros muchos jugadores relevantes a la trama, siendo los más importantes (o al menos, lo suficientemente importantes como para ser nombrados durante el opening) Ryuichi Araki (compañero de Suguru en las juveniles de Japón y poseedor de un metabolismo increíble), Kaoru Matoba (chico de la misma edad que Kakeru, muy hábil y de contextura pequeña), Reo Kurebayashi (arquero libidinoso, aunque, tristemente, carece del éxito de Sakai de Hungry Heart xD), Makoto Hyoudo (medio campista inteligente, aunque alegre), Akito Horikawa (defensor risueño) y Kota Nakatsuka (defensor que lucha por ganar una posición, con gran vocación ofensiva. Uno de los generadores de humor de la series, y uno de los mejores amigos de Kakeru).

Usualmente los animes depor... de futbol (no tengo autoridad como para hablar de otros anime que no sean de futbol) no tienden a explorar mucho a los personajes, excepto por los tradicionales tópicos de auto superación y amistad. Y es que lo importante ocurre dentro de las conchas, no afuera. En AnK, sin embargo, la cosa no es tan así. No voy a decir que en este anime hay una revolución y los personajes crecen, maduran y cosas así, pero realmente pasan cosas a nivel personal. Esto puede resultar atrayente para personas que no vean al futbol como un gran deporte, pero que disfruten el ambiente deportivo, el compañerismo y blabla.

La animación es decente. El diseño de personajes es correcto, no muy innovador o increíblemente detallado, pero cumple. Todos los personajes son bien distintos unos de otros, y no hay colores de pelo o peinados locos que puedan molestar a Yusei Fudo (alguien entiende la referencia? Mis referencias tienden a ser un poco oscuras… sepan disculparme n_n). Donde sí hay problemas es cuando la pelota está en juego. Hay veces (varia con el capitulo) que el deporte no está bien retratado. Los pases, los tiros, las jugadas suelen ser más estáticas de lo que deberían ser. Esto es gravísimo, dado que es una serie deportiva… pero por suerte, no pasa siempre, y no evita que se disfrute la dinámica del partido. Así que, si bien está por debajo de lo esperado.

Por el lado del sonido... a modo de curiosidad, no hay ending, algo muy raro en estos tiempos modernos donde series de 12 capítulos llegan a tener hasta tres. El opening, Higher Ground cumple. En cuanto a las voces, se trajeron a varios seiyuus con amplios curriculum, siendo Yuuko Sanpei la voz de Kakeru (Yoko Machi en Bokurano, Selim Bradley en FMA: Brotherhood, Aphrodi en Inazuma Eleven, Sasha en Seikon no Qwaser y muchos más), Shizuka Itou es Seven (Hildegard en Beelzebub, Nadie en el Cazador de la Bruja, Misa Kakizaki en todas las encarnaciones animadas de Mahou Sensei Negima, Darri en Gurren Laggan) y lo mejor de todo, Minoru Shiraishi como Nakatsuka (Taguchi en Hen Zemi, Taniguchi y Kimidori de Haruhi Suzumiya, y obviamente, Minoru Shiraishi en Lucky Star). A modo de detalle, hay que decir que los personajes extranjeros hablan en su idioma, y en pantalla aparecen subtítulos (al menos cuando hablan con alguien japonés. Cuando la charla es entre ellos, el audio esta en japonés, pero se entiende que se suponen que hablan en su idioma), lo que siempre es un punto para el realismo. Desafortunadamente, siempre tienen un acento marcadísimo, notándose a kilómetros que son japoneses hablando ingles xD. Pero bueno, más que algo malo, resulta cómico (hay que decir que esto estaba hecho un poco mejor en Giant Killing).

Pero la pregunta más importante que ustedes, deberían estar haciéndose ahora, es: que podemos esperar de Area no Kishi a nivel futbolístico? Es cercano a Captain Tsubasa, con sus canchas interminables y sus tiros destructores de redes/alambrados/paredes? Se parece a Inazuma Eleven, donde lisa y llanamente hay súper poderes, manipulación tiempo espacio y canchas temáticas? Es como Giant Killing, donde todo es híper real? En la escala realista, ubico a AnK por encima de Hungry Heart, pero por debajo de Captain Tsubasa. Por qué? Veamos:
Al principio, AnK pintaba bastante apegada a la realidad, con tiros fuertes, pero no exagerados, con algún que otro efecto especial por ahí, como rayos de luz o torbellinos, pero que no influían en el juego: estaban ahí solo por una cuestión de espectacularidad. Los jugadores se cansaban después de un tiempo, y aunque muchas de las estrategias utilizadas en algunos de los partidos lucían ridículas, eran factibles. Sin embargo, con el correr de los capítulos, empiezan a aparecer alguna que otra técnica especial, llegando a extremos en que ciertos regates recuerdan a la legendaria Aurora Feint de Stefan Levin! Dicho jugador pertenece a la selección de Suecia, en Captain Tsubasa… y cuando alguien se parece a un jugador de selección de CT, la realidad pasa a un plano secundario. Otra característica de AnK es que los partidos tienden a ser muy hablados: los jugadores hablan, y hablan y hablan... y esto, con la pelota en juego, y durante la marca! En la mayoría de las series suele haber monólogos internos de duración considerable, pero en AnK hay diálogos que de hecho son entre los jugadores, en periodos de tiempo simplemente irreales (sin contar la incomodidad del dialogo durante una corrida xD). Para terminar con el análisis futbolístico, quería marcar que, al igual que Hungry Heart, en AnK el futbol femenino hace acto de presencia. Y si dije que el futbol masculino tenía algún que otro firulete, el femenino se pasa. Al borde de lo ofensivo. Tengamos en cuenta que la serie se enfoca en un chico que quiere ser titular en su equipo de secundaria. Pero cuando la historia no está centrada en él, el foco pasa a la selección japonesa femenina de futbol (sub 18), donde hay varias chicas que parecen diseñadas genéticamente para jugar al futbol. Y lo peor de todo, la mejor de todas es una chica que ni siquiera entrena! Una cosa es el talento, pero sus habilidades son tan ridículas que hacen que los demás parezcan minusválidos. Y la segunda mejor? Una chica con la capacidad de patear y que todos sus tiros se claven en el ángulo, al mismo tiempo que habla por teléfono… y cuando se aburre, hace que el balón impacte en el travesaño, rebote, y sin que toque el piso, lo empuja con el taco al canasto de las pelotas! Aplaudan señores, ese es el poder femenino! xD

El problema final que quisiera mencionar de Area no Kishi es que, al igual que sus compañeros de género Captain Tsubasa J y Goal Field Hunter, la serie termina muy abierta. De forma muy triste, el torneo final no se resuelve, de hecho, la serie concluye en el comienzo de un partido de semifinales (siendo el de cuartos de final un partido interesante, pero no muy distinto de los anteriores… o sea, ni siquiera se calentaron en poner un partido final súper épico a modo de cierre). Ninguno de las historias secundarias llega a resolverse, lo que nos puede llevar a dos cosas: muerte en el olvido… o segunda temporada.

A pesar de esto último, si el futbol es lo tuyo, Area no Kishi es una buena elección (porque tampoco es que haya tanto de donde elegir), aunque no haya partidos en todos los capítulos, y los jugadores tengan algún que otro demonio interno que arreglar, los partidos son vertiginosos, cambiantes y emocionantes. Si el futbol no es tu deporte favorito, pero el género deportivo te atrae, entonces AnK puede ser una buena opción, dado que no hay tanto futbol como en otros animes, y los personajes tienen una importancia igual (o mayor) a la del deporte.