Showdown: Tsukushi and Indou, Seiseki vs Saku, the stage? The Community centre.

The captain of the Saku highschool soccer team is an interesting character in himself. He already resembles a lot of the characters, being skilled but not too serious, or overly serious. Im gunna compare him to Oikawa, from Haikyuu. He seems to be all fun and games on the surface, but he is putting in the thought behind his smile.

 

When he asks to play with Tsukushi, it wasn’t in the form of one on one, it was in teams at the community center. So there’s the captain of a team, the princess of another team, playing with a bunch of middleschool kids. We can all see how this is going to go..

 

But it doesn’t go that way. It does not become a one man team with either character. Inou rarely scores himself. He passes, and acts as a member of the team. Its not because he wants to share his skill. He isn’t pitying the other members of his team because they are weaker, he is using them to get goals. He is picking the best scenarios of getting a goal.

 

Its  Tsukushi who isn’t taking this battle seriously. Iou points out that since he stepped onto the field,  Tsukushis been treating this game as a casual affair. And to be fair, when your suddenly asked by someone ten times better than you, you would be awestruck as well and assume they would just overpower everyone.

 

Well most people would think that. In Tsukushis place, its hard to decide what should be the ‘natural’ go to thought. Tsukushi isn’t exactly  normal character. He’s an idiot, he is an optimistic idiot who doesn’t seem to understand his own limitations, So being faced with a stronger character, should his reaction be that … normal?

 

Moving on! The advice Inou gives Tsukushi actually helps him later on. Kimishita is the feared Senpai on the team who lives in a sports store.  He is also the midfeilder of the team and has the most opportunities to pass the ball. He tells Tsukushi that he will never pass to him because he is unreliable. This hits Tsukushi hard and he asks Kazama about how to get better at receiving passes.

 

Now despite the midnight practices Kazama is still a naturally skilled player so asking him is like asking a rock how to sink. Well it turns out that Kazama gives good advice! Its more along the lines of feelings, but it makes sense later on for Tsukushi.

 

So in the middle of the next practice game, he comes to an epiphany. He cant just run on the field, he has to use his head. He positions himself so he is in a good place to receive a pass, and using the presumption that he’s a useless player, he gets open and is the best possible option for a goal.

 

This is actually a pretty good character development. So far Tsukumotos just been a person on the field, an emotional uplifter because of his freedom and happiness. If he develops skill, then he’s an inspiring player, and that puts him in more of Mizukis lane of trajectory.

 

Now its hard to predict where things will go from her because of that pre-Op scene in episode 1. We don’t know how far along it is, whether it’s the first tournament, the second, or in another year. We do know that in that pre-op scene, Mizuki isn’t on the team. Because Tsukushi us player 17, when Mizuki returns to the team Tsukushi is removed form the team. Whether this means Mizuki gave up his spot, someone else gave up their spot, or Mizuki just isn’t placed back on the team yet is unknown.

 

I do like this character development though. I don’t feel like its rushed, and its properly explained.

 

Rating: A-