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DGFischer

  • Wisconsin
  • Joined Jun 14, 2019
  • 70 / M

Futsal Boys!!!!!

Apr 3, 2022

Ohhh, Futsal Boys! is done?  After episode twelve, it looked so much like the series could go on for another set of episodes against newer, better, more arrogant opposition.  But it seems that FB is begging for a second season.  Natural, as it seemed to be begging in several areas.

About mid-season, I had this nagging feeling that FB is nothing more than a reconstituted Try Knights for arena soccer fans.  Except with better animation technique ... scarcely.  And. being reconstituted twaddle, I can offer the key complaints I gave Try Knights once I translate rugby into futbol.  After all, in my far gone youth, I played soccer (left wing defender on a team that gave up multiple goals [even double digits] per game ... may God have mercy on my soul) and follow the game as well as an American can.  So, my major kvetches:

How much mileage can animators make of the 'bicycle kick?'  I know the skill level is high to execute such a somersault/smash of the ball in flight, but the anime takes the maneuver from spectacular to semi-divine.  And I never recalled giving my kicks some spectacular name as 'Supreme Heavenly Dragon Annihilator.'

Going into introspective soliloquys while moving the ball is not done in soccer.  Which explains why Sakaki always had the ball stolen from him while he agonized over the question "To pass to Yamato, or not?'

Carrying on any form of conversation (and deep, philosophical ones at that!) while in gameplay seems unnatural.  At least Toi had the opportunity to call time out which never seemed to happen in Try Knights.

The plot was a predictable as many a sports anime goes.  Koyo Gaduken played the gamut.  The team of ruffians who used brute strength to intimidate.  The team of over-rated players.  The arrogant squad who felt that, having beaten Koyo once before, are invincible.  And worse of all, the team of super-stars waiting in the shadows for their game with Koyo.

Yes, the team that could summon up the specter of season two!  Okay, it might need go this way, but let's do it right.  We will need to up-grade Koyo Gaduken.  Keep Toi, steadfast team captain who might be a third-year and need leave the team.  Make Ryu do laps (a player who has the capability to lose himself in gameplay).  Bench Sasaki (we need no player who refuses to be a 'team player').  Give Yamato a rulebook (his zeal to surpass rather than to compete might be his flaw).  Buy Taiga better gloves (he is decent as a goalie, but he needs an edge).  Get Satori some contacts (with a team this thin, the manager may need offer playing time). 

In short, Futsal Boys! is a conglomerate of characters that show up on any team, from 'ball hogs' to the player who needs a little more work.  Keep this in mind should season two strike.  Koyo is still a work in progress, but Yamato, who must prove something to the father who abandoned him to play pro soccer, has made his first important strides.

But the animation ... auugghh!  First, the color combinations of the team uniforms, some resembling camouflage, were revolting!  The action scenes approached file footage as that predictable shot neared.  The same tactics performed repeatedly in a single game, it just gets boring.  The music gives a good feel for action as done by six misfits in the world of athletic competition.  But get me excited ... not happening.

Just calling Futsal Boys! another predicable sport anime will not do.  To depict the game one played and still loves to watch, FB was pure torture.

4/10 story
6/10 animation
7/10 sound
8/10 characters
6.1/10 overall

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