This show doesn't just make you want to play soccer. It makes you believe you can be great at soccer, right now, today. Every match is a conversation between two players about who they are, and friendship isn't something that happens after the game ends, it's what makes the impossible plays possible. The moves are absurd, the animation is rough, but forty years later people still lace up their cleats because of this show, and that's not accident. It's the only sports anime where the sport itself feels like the real magic.
Tsubasa Ozora is an 11-year-old elementary school student whose life revolves around soccer, and he dreams of one day representing Japan at the FIFA World Cup. He moves with his mother to Nankatsu, a city famous for its excellent elementary school soccer teams. Back home he was easily the best player, but in Nankatsu the competition is much tougher. When he crosses paths with Genzo Wakabayashi, a gifted goalkeeper hailed as the Super Goalkeeper, the two set out to prove who is the better player. Along the way Tsubasa meets rivals and makes new friends, including Sanae Nakazawa and Genzo himself, who shares his passion for the game and helps push him toward his goal. Across 128 episodes, this action-driven sports story shows that talent alone will not be enough to carry him to the world stage.
