Captain Tsubasa

Posts about sports and especially about football are nothing new for me. However, this Captain Tsubasa inspired post is a totally different beast. It’s a new and exciting challenge for me since it involves football and manga. In fact, for almost 40 years now, it blends them so perfectly that it has an iconic status among the fans.

80S Anime GIF

Captain Tsubasa: Inspiration For So Many Players

But I first became acquainted with Captain Tsubasa just recently. In fact when I got the assignment to write about it. I haven’t even heard about it, although I adore football. But after extensive research I found out that not only it’s very popular… It enjoys a cult status among the fans. Even now. Furthermore, I’ve also discovered that some of the best football players out there are still obsessed with the manga series. They grew up with Captain Tsubasa, and love it to this very day. But more on that later. I believe that the game deserves a word or two. Since it’s the inspiration for this post at IndieGala.

Captain Tsubasa

Captain Tsubasa: What’s The Game All About?

First and foremost, I must mention that we do have 2 separate Captain Tsubasa game versions that are currently on sale. Indeed. Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions and Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions – Deluxe, both being the Month One Edition. They’re available for pre-purchasing, but the sale ends shortly, since the game comes out soon. Hurry up!

Developed by TAMSOFT CORPORATION and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions was announced at the start of this year. With a fantastic trailer no less. Tsuzuki Katsuaki, the video game producer, stated the game is a mix of arcade and a football game. And as always it wallows you to defy the laws of football.

The game also allows you to build your dream eleven team. Not to mention you get to decide who’s the football legend among your friends with offline versus up to 4 players! There are 2 story modes and so much more. If you’re a fan of the classic manga series, don’t miss out on the opportunity to play this game.

But What’s So Fascinating About Captain Tsubasa?

Here’s the kicker. The inspiration for the iconic manga comes from one iconic and real-life football event. That’s right. Yōichi Takahashi ‘s fascination with 1978 World Cup in Argentina is to blame about the manga. And although the original manga series dates from 1981 to 1988, now today, enjoys many sequels, spin offs and video games. And the anime series. Movies as well. Oh and it’s now an iconic part of the Japanese pop culture, but you probably knew that.

Moreover, the original manga series centers around Tsubasa Oozora. A talented midfielder (and sometimes a forward) with a number 10 jersey on his back. The series also follows Tsubasa’s growth from a primary schooler in Japan, to a star player in teams around the world. Not to mention, a star in Japan’s national team. But although not a single-player served as a model (and main inspiration) for Tsubasa Oozora, many players were some sort of influence. Players such as Kazuyoshi Miura and Lionel Messi are cited as the main inspiration for Tsubasa. A nice inspiration don’t you think? It’s good to look up to Messi for anything. Let alone for a fictitious mega-star player.

Captain Tsubasa

Torres, Del Piero, Draxler and Sanchez

While the Captain Tsubasa manga popularized the sport of football in Japan, the character also inspired some pretty bad-ass football players. Real-life players to be precise. Whom, you might ask? Julian Draxler, Abel Hernández, James Rodríguez, Alessandro Del Piero, Alexis Sanchez are some of the players who grew up watching Captain Tsubasa. Oh and Fernando Torres too. He even stated that he aspired to become a professional footballer because he loved watching Tsubasa on TV. And of course, wished to be like him.

Hey, Lukas Podolski (remember him?) often mentions Captain Tsubasa on his social media feed. Look.

  • Poldi

Personally, I think it’s great that some of the best players in the world idolized this anime character. Because why wouldn’t they? The manga series (and later the anime series and the movies) showed a talented and dedicated player. A player with incredible and implausible stylish moves. It’s no wonder that for many, the appeal is still the gravity-defying soccer tricks. So, it’s only logical that many of the real players tried to be like him. Some of them still do actually. He’s good and he knows it. Besides, he’s excited and energetic as well. True legend-making quality in any good player if you ask me.

Neymar

Perfect timing for the Manga

Why was the appearance of Captain Tsubasa a perfect timing? Well, because it showed a football-obsessed main character in a time in which the football was getting famous by the minute. Japan in the 80s’. But on a different continent, that’s the era in which Michel Platini, Diego Maradona, Roberto Baggio ruled the game. And pretty soon Japan caught the football fever. Takahashi just seized the moment and made the most of it. Just remember that Japan made it to the 1998 World Cup for the first time ever. So, it didn’t take long the success to come running.

And when I talk about the lasting legacy of the iconic character even now, I mean it. The fans are not messing around. During my research about the character, I stumbled upon a Reddit thread about Captain Tsubasa. It was created about 2 years ago and it’s called „Curious about Tsubasa fans… Where are you all from and how do you know Captain Tsubasa?“

Thousands upon thousands of fans from all around the world expressed their love and admiration for Captain Tsubasa. Memories of their introduction, inspirations and so much more, you can find it in this thread. It’s incredible. Furthermore did you know that “Olive et Tom” is the name of the manga in French, while “Captain Majid” in Arabic. Cool right? I thought so too.

Torres

Captain Tsubasa: Your Thoughts

What are some of your thoughts on the popular manga series? Were you a fan as a child? Or are you a fan right now? Tell us in the comment section all about Tsubasa Oozora and what he means to you. We’d love to know.

Chatter with us