First of all I want to say that this episode ended with a completely new ED, and it really could not have fitted better. What a great and original way to close off this series.
In any case, the previous episode featured the climax of this series, so this episode had all its time for an epilogue, and it really turned out to be quite a unique closure for this series. Most series take things easy and slow down the pacing, but damn, so many things happened in this episode: we saw three matches, and the entire second half was dedicated to a bit of a curry party. At first this episode seemed very random, but it came together wonderfully in the end.
As an epilogue, you could really see that there was a lot that this episode tried to do, and it really succeeded. First of all it showed that the match against Osaka was nowhere near the end: they’re going to keep playing and growing, shown by how Akasaki was selected for Japan’s Olympic team. At the same time, this episode meant to summarize the themes of the entire series, and it did so through that curry party. For one it was hilarious to see Tatsumi order everyone to take part in it, but it really highlighted the themes of Giant Killing: teamwork and having fun.
I consider this to be an excellent example of a series that still is somewhere in the middle of its on-going manga, but found itself a perfect place o stop. Of course I’d really like a second season, but if this ends up to be the end of the series then I’m not feeling down about it at all, and the past episodes were an excellent ending.
Before the past Spring season started, I expected nothing from this series, but its first episode really blew me away. During the Spring Season, it was a tad overshadowed by Noitamina, but throughout the past three months it has been consistently my favourite airing series and I had a lot of fun blogging it.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
What language was that foreign coach speaking ? sounded like german
It’s not german. To me it seems either Russian or a Balkan language.
It was Croatian! Anyway, a great end to a wonderful series. I wouldn’t mind a second season!
I think the fact that this was a world cup year could help in the popularity of the series and could give it a chance of a second season. If not, it was a prefect ending to a great show. The fact it was a pro team which focused purely on football and not a high school team with all the outside drama teens go through helped a lot.
What a wonderful show. I could not wait for each episode and it kept on giving great stories and was a fresh look at pro sports. They really should have made this one a 3 yr production.
the language of Dulfer is Dutch..