I guess it’s true that Giant Killing has a lot of shounen elements, although as a genre, I’d probably classify it as somewhere in between Shounen and Seinen: there’s not one genre that this series completely fits into (other than ‘sports’, perhaps). It’s of course a matter of tastes, but to me that in itself isn’t something bad. In fact, I’m glad to be able to watch such a good shounen series again. The key to a good shounen for me is to make it fun and whatever action it focuses on interesting, alongside the usual stuff as great characters and pacing.
Giant Killing brings us a very interesting twist on the ‘underdog’ trope. What we have here isn’t the usual story of a team of losers trying to become stronger and winning. It’s more like this series is about healing a broken team. The problem with the team was that it was unbalanced: it focused too much on defence and it wasn’t aggressive enough. The keys here were the two defenders and Murakoshi, who kept putting pressure on each other, so much that they didn’t allow each other to escape this visual circle. Tatsumi then came and divided the problem. Tsubaki turns out to just be a red herring: his backstory is nice, and with more experience he’s really going to make it big, however he wasn’t vital to the team’s survival.
On top of that, I just love the small details that the creators keep inserting. Take a look at the street and the people in the background: it doesn’t just feel like random people standing or walking past, but it’s drawn in such a way that it feels alive. It’s a shame that the creators had to use CG for that, but it really works. Also, in most anime when a character does something outrageous or weird in front of a bunch of strangers, you usually see these strangers just look, or utter a few “oohs” or “eeehs”. The guy on the bike went even further, though, with his brisk reaction to a guy who suddenly starts yelling out of nowhere. Also, is it me or are the stands getting emptier with every match here? They used to be full, however with the losing streak of the team continuing you can actually see less and less people showing up.
One thing I also loved was the moment at which the penalty was taken. The opposing player noted that he used to work together with Dori. Nothing more, but that line was enough to give both him and Dori a much more interesting character, by showing that they’ve done plenty of other stuff in their lives. A great way to flesh them out.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
Errr seinen really isn’t THAT entirely different from shounen… In fact there are series that easily would border on seinen, e.g. Hunter X Hunter. Even then looking at the seinen series its not entirely reserved to focus on characters past their teens, Oofuri, nor is it entirely free from cliche’s.
I don’t think there is any clear cut definition of what a seinen is, because as the genre developed so did the titles which easily put the definition in question.
While it’s true that it’s a fun show, the Shounen takes from the fun of it for me… But as you said, it’s just a matter of taste. Still, in no way do I see it as remotely close to the two Noitamina series this season, which I still didn’t get to catch up to entirely, but are the exact thing I look for in anime.
Can anyone advise on a good sub for this series? I really like the sound of it, but am too lazy to go trawl all the sub groups looking for one…
Shounen and Seinen are not genres.
Giant Killing is seinen because it is currently published in seinen magazine (Morning).
good series 😀
Yeah ok, Shounen and Seinen are target groups and not actual genres. Although since each target group, supposedly, has different tastes, anime/manga for Shounen audiences tend to have certain characteristics (although Seinen is far far less coherent).
“Tatsumi then came and divided the problem. Tsubaki turns out to just be a red herring: his backstory is nice, and with more experience he’s really going to make it big, however he wasn’t vital to the team’s survival.”
You don’t watch next episode previews?
Westl: out of fear of spoilers, I don’t, no. I stopped following them when I still watched Naruto, as it kept spoiling whatever interesting plot twists it had in store for the next episode.
I guess I as wrong then with that sentence. ^^;
I think Tatsumi is not expecting much from Tsubaki in general (I also didn’t watch the preview), but he is expecting him to shine maybe once a match and secure a goal for the team.
“visual circle” is that what you really mean? I think you mean vicious circle. Anyway, I have mixed feelings for this series. It is good but some of the football aspects are too unrealistic to the point I can’t suspend my disbelief.
The soccer aspects are too unrealistic?
This is the most realistic execution ive seen so far in animes. The creators give a good look at the whole, almost every player is important and none of them have a freaking middle line shot, that is unstoppable for the goalkeeper.