Giant Killing

Addicting, suspenseful, and fun, this is a story about what it takes for one dysfunctional soccer team with a poor record to regain its honor and make it in the national soccer league. This team is called ETU (East Tokyo United). The members of ETU start out with a lot of difficulty; they have poor communication, conflicting personalities, mixed low and high self-esteem, and an overreliance on one team member. But within every player, there is a talent that is waiting to be manifested. Their new coach, Tatsumi Takeshi, helps to bring out the ‘giant killing’ in all of them.

Story

Sports anime tend to have a ... few story elements in common, like a central main protagonist who is a young prodigy, stereotypical characters (there always has to be the cute, black-haired rival), and lots of filler episodes dedicated to showing their normal lives (dating, school bullies, etc). However, Giant Killing moves away from these and turns out to be something refreshing in its genre. It’s a short series that spends its time wisely to develop its characters while still focusing head-strong on the sport. There is no central main character, or a prodigy for that matter—everyone works hard to achieve and maintain their skills, and they receive an equal amount of attention.

Giant Killing takes a nice introspective approach to the characters while they’re playing soccer. They constantly think about their situation, worry about their performance, and try to concentrate. It is on the field where most of the character development takes place, as they learn to apply their mind and improve their skills.

Characters

ETU’s players are adults (20 – 33 years old), and they each have a unique combination of personality and skill. For example, Tsubaki (midfielder) is young, shy, and conscientious, and he is the fastest runner on the team. Gino (midfielder) is the narcissistic cool-guy known as the “prince,” though he’s wisely observant, and he makes very accurate ball passes. Natsuki (forward) is also narcissistic but in a loud, eccentric sort of way, and he shoots very beautiful goals. Murakoshi (midfelder) is looked up to as the leader, but he is way too controlling and lacks some energy due to being older. There is honestly never a boring moment with them, whether they’re just practicing, playing for real, or sitting on the bus to go home.

You might as well call coach Tatsumi a psychologist. He is good at studying and understanding the minds of his players. His specialty is to take advantage of their personalities in the games, purposely pairing them up with certain opponents and counting on them to make personality-driven decisions. Though the funny thing is, not a single player or outsider understands HIM. Tatsumi is rather blunt-spoken, informal, and unpredictable; he designs unusual practice activities, comes up with reckless-sounding game plans, and rarely ever expresses worry. Simply put, he’s an oddball, but deep down he’s a good strategist who can unite his players.

The players on the opposing teams are just as well-developed and are incredibly DIVERSE. They speak the language of their nationality, such as English, Portuguese, French, and Dutch, which is a refreshing change from having everyone only speak Japanese. A few obvious differences between these teams and ETU are their levels of organization, strategies, and behaviors. They have a lot more momentum going on because they have accumulated more recent wins, and everybody likes to have a big ego. But when they’re put under the fire by surprise, they face similar internal problems as ETU, such as their personalities getting in the way of each other.

As for the side characters, you just have a few people working along with Tatsumi, as well as a reporter, a cameraman, and fans. What is so awesome about the fans is that you see three generations of them: the old fans who are rekindling their passion for ETU, the younger loyal fans, and the adorable kids.

Character Designs/Animation

At first glance, the character designs are simple and boring. At second glance, they’re actually very detailed. The shape of the head, eyes, nose, chin, and hairstyle differ among all the characters, causing them to look very distinct from one another. The main turn-off is just that they don’t look all that pretty.

The soccer matches are animated very well. When viewing them from a distance, CGI is clearly used to make every single player on the field move at the same time. Watching them close-up, it’s impressive how they pass the ball and shoot goals; they really twist their bodies around in odd ways to make these kinds of moves, and at some pretty awesome camera angles.

Music

The soundtrack here is catchy and decent. The OP song “My Story ~Mada Minu Ashita e~” by THE CHERRY COKES is very upbeat, full of cheery shouting, and uses the bagpipe as a leading instrument. The ED song “Get tough!” by G.P.S sounds similar with the exception of it being dominantly rock. The rest of the music is repetitive but decent enough.

Overall

If you’re looking for an entertaining sports anime with diverse adult characters, national teams, various spoken foreign languages, and maybe a slightly eccentric coach, then look no further. Even if you’re not really into this genre or sport like I am, it can still be a great watch. The soccer matches are very detailed and tense, and the players develop wonderfully every time they play. The interactions among the characters are best part of the show; they're bursting with personality, and they make the games incredibly addicting to watch. This one shouldn’t be missed!

When I was younger, I used to watch an anime series called Kickers which revolved around football (or soccer for some). It was one of my very first encounters with anime and it definitely left an impression on me as a child, especially with its inspiring message and characters. Of course, as I grew up I started realizing that the world isn’t as perfect as Kickers depicted it—you wouldn’t always end up coming out on the winning side from conflicts and battles. I also learned that there’s no “I” in team and that a single person can’t stand victorious without some kind of help. Kickers ... was an anime series that took football and depicted it in an idealized form, but it’s not Kickers that I’m going to talk about, but rather a much more recent anime that also deals with football, but in a very different way.

Giant Killing is an anime series based on the ongoing football manga of the same name. Despite what its title may suggest, Giant Killing delivers a realistic depiction of a sports team and its struggle to compete in Japan’s top football league. In other words, no, it does not feature football players battling each other with samurai swords and magical abilities. As a matter of fact, I don’t recall any people dying throughout the entire running time of this anime either. All jokes aside, the title ‘Giant Killing’ refers to the act of an underdog team coming out victoriously from the hardest of matches and winning against all odds.

The story focuses on Japanese football team East Tokyo United (or ETU short) which is having difficulty competing in the country’s top football league and barely avoided relegation last season. There is little hope for the team and even its fans are slowly starting to abandon it, but all is not lost yet, for ETU has selected a new manager for the upcoming season and he is not to be taken lightly. Former East Tokyo United player, Takeshi Tatsumi is hired to coach ETU after previously leading the English amateur team FC Eastham to victory.

Takeshi Tatsumi is a highly puzzling and intriguing character and often works in unconventional ways when training his team and preparing them for upcoming matches. His eccentric ways and his mysteriously confident personality easily make him the most interesting and important character in the series, but he is not the anime’s main focus. As a matter of fact, there is no such thing as a protagonist in Giant Killing. Instead, the series concentrates on the ETU team as a whole and even though it does feature some minor character arcs from time to time, it always remains devoted to portraying the characters as a group rather than individuals with a predetermined level importance.

Unfortunately, Giant Killing also comes with a limited budget and therefore may prove to be unsatisfying for some when it comes to its portrayal of the football matches. Action and tension are present, of course, but Giant Killing falls short when it comes to delivering fast-paced football games. Some will be okay with that while others will irreversibly turn their heads and prematurely walk away from the series. However, those who do decide to stay will come to experience a football anime series that is very unique at its core and which will deliver some really impressive things that will ultimately make up for its shortcomings in the animation department.

Unlike the series’ animation, Giant Killing boasts a fairly good look in terms of art and style. Each of the characters present throughout the anime have their own specific appearance, which helps a lot when it comes to the viewer connecting with them and being able to identify them individually early on. Even though the anime tries to focus on each of the ETU players in equal amounts, some characters tend to stand out more than others.

In addition to Takeshi Tatsumi, who always remains a central character and is vital to the progression of the story, there are other notable characters such as the team captain and veteran Shigeyuki Murakoshi, who fans call ‘Mr. ETU’ for keeping the team together through the hardest of times, inexperienced but talented newcomer Daisuke Tsubaki and Italian midfield superstar Luigi Yoshida (or simply Gino), nicknamed ‘Prince’ for his impressive abilities on the field and his narcissistic tendencies. Of course, these are only but a few of the extensive amount of characters that Giant Killing manages to bring to the story. Apart from the football players, the series also goes on to develop side characters such as fans of the team, journalists, photographers and even opposing team players and managers.

Despite what some may believe, being able to enjoy Giant Killing does not depend on whether you’re a football enthusiast or not. Knowledge and understanding of the sport are not as crucial here when it comes to the anime’s watchability. The series does an excellent job at delivering an exciting look into the world of football, particularly that of team ETU, and the interesting characters help keep things exciting from start to finish. Sports anime may not appeal as much to some than they do to others, but it would be a shame to miss out on Giant Killing and what it has to offer simply because it’s often very different from the usual ride and viewers may find it a very rewarding experience.

Giant Killing implys Fighting Goliath as David. Which, you know... works beautifully in story books and happy time movies, because in the end we all just know... that everything will work out just fine...

but the authors in these stories are holding there hands over our eyes... like a filter, letting us see a beautiful side without sadness weakness or pain. In reality Goliath can crush David and really David can't throw the stone because Jill will laugh if he misses and Goliath doesn't face David alone.

This is about a man that grasps those fears about missing with the one shot that you have to ... live or die and shatters them completely, the one person who is able to pull together a whirlwind of broken people with crushed hopes and slandered dreams to form a cohesive unit and then enable them to be able to step forth as individuals to slaughter each members own oppressive Goliath.

Sigh ye not!! This is no novella with a mystical scandivanian Valykrie that scours society and forces the people to follow the right person unquestionably.

Giant Killing is about a leader that steps into a hostile and broken environment and chinks together the pieces through leadership, intelligence and logic. There is nothing magical about Giant Killing, it's a story that is so real that it opens your eyes so that you can actually see the depths of what is happening. The mindsets conveys more words than a thousand page essay. Every word brings meaning and every characters eye seeks hope.

To everyone in this story the main character is the main character. He is the larger than life Hero that this tiny world is revolving around and he is shaking the foundations of a once miserable soccer society bringing change against the odds, adding kindling to the hearts of the former believers, and starting the fire to establish one roaring inferno of a soccer team.

There is no clear cut ending, there will be tragedy before victory and death before life. There will be shattered dreams, crushed ego's and a persistence to carry through and fight on. I hope it never ends.

Don't miss a single astounding episode

I love it.

I'd previously ignored "Giant Killing" as the combination of the title and its lack of popularity made me think it's some kind of mediocre fantasy anime. Then I heard it's actually about football, and no, not the American variety, I'm talking about soccerl - you know, the kind of football where you actually use your foot more than your hands. Since I'm pretty into football, my interest in this anime suddenly shot up.

"Giant Killing" follows the fortunes of ETU (East Tokyo United), one of the weakest teams in the top division of Japanese football. A once proud club capable of challenging the very best teams ... in the Japanese league, they start off in the series as a team barely able to escape relegation. But all this is about to change with the appointment the new manager, a former player named Takeshi Tatsumi, who as a player, had a hand in both bringing the club to the height of its glory, and to its knees after what many saw as his betrayal.

First of all, I should make it clear that "Giant Killing" is pretty serious about football. And by that I mean it tries to be realistic about the game, and it doesn't receive the whole over the top "anime treatment" given to the likes of, say "Captain Tsubasa". While I haven't watched "Captain Tsubasa", I've heard plenty of stories about it. Stories such as how an out of position goal keeper saved a shot by kicking the one of the goalposts so hard that it bent the goal frame, causing the shot, which was heading for the top corner, to bounce off the goal frame instead. This pretty much says everything you need to know about "Captain Tsubasa! Anyway, you won't find such epic feats of skill in "Giant Killing". Instead you'll see more realistic situations such as the hazards of defending too deeply and the importance of man marking on key players. If you think this might lead to boredom for the people who simply do not care about football, well, you may be right. But from the amount of effort that went into making this anime feel like a real football story, it can be argued that its primary concern is not about winning over people who aren't into football.

Having said that, I found the tactical aspect of "Giant Killing" to be somewhat limited (this is perhaps due to influences from games such as "Football Manager" giving people like me over-inflated opinions on the tactical part of the game). It seems to me that they opted for a more sensationalist than analytical, more tabloid than broadsheet approach to illustrating the game. Beyond the emphasis on the defence line, there really is very little "team" level tactics involved in "Giant Killing". It says a lot that for most of the series, I was in the dark about what formation ETU is using, or even what positions most of the players play in. Instead, the series is more concerned with micro scale management such as personal duels between players, which of course makes for a more straight forwardly entertaining but also more amateurish depiction of the game. Unlike "Nodame Cantabile" and "Hikaru no Go", "Giant Killing" feels more like an anime made by fans rather than experts of the subject. The animation also contributes to this feel. Shoddy quality of the artwork aside, a bigger problem is that whenever they're showing a view of the whole pitch, you would often get scenes like where all the players are moving in the same direction at the same speeds etc, and everything just looks stupidly wrong, not like a snap shot of a real football match at all.

What "Giant Killing" does portray extremely well though, is the human factors and the cultural aspect of football. The atmosphere during the matches is fantastic, with the noise of the crowd making it sound like a real match is being played. The foreign players often conform to the impressions given out by their real counterparts. Gino, the laid back, elegant Italian playmaker, is such a diva (in the spoilt sense, not the female singer sense), and fits right in with the image of overly pampered Italian footballers. The Brazillians, too, are portrayed as very pure players who just love playing football, be it an opportunistic kick-a-about while out on a stroll or in a proper match.

With so many foreign characters, "Giant Killing" makes a big effort towards making the series seem more real by having a LOT of dialogue spoken in a foreign language (Dutch, French, English to name a few) accompanied either by subtitles or a louder Japanese dub put on top. Although the effort is very commendable, the quality isn't really up to scratch. If the English voices are anything to go by, they most likely got some Janpanese people to do them rather than native speakers. The English spoken in the very first episode sounds quite odd even though it doesn't sound like run of the mill Engrish. It's spoken sluggishly, as though the voice person was trying very hard to avoid sounding English. But despite this, I still found it difficult to understand what was being said. In addition, the foreign voices seem very quiet compared to the Japanese voices (and I don't just mean when the Japanese dub were being spoken over the top), which makes them stand out even more.

Apart from the different footballing cultures, the relationship between fans and the club and its personnels are also well fleshed out. You can see the disillusionment of fans while the club is doing badly, and also their hope as a former hero returns to try and change the club's fortunes. It's not smooth sailing for Takeshi though - his reception at ETU as he returns to coach the club is very much a mixed one. Some aren't ready to forgive him just yet for turning his back on the club, while he is still adored by others for setting the the club alight during his time there as a player. Several bad results in a row, and it's not too surprising that the mixed reception starts to turn hostile rapidly, with hecklings and protests popping up all over the place. It's a familiar situation that can often be seen at real football clubs. In these respects, "Giant Killing" seems to give a very accurate up close and personal perspective of all the drama revolving around a football club that you see and hear regularly on the TV and other media.

"Giant Killing" focuses on the development of several players within the squad, and this is probably the most interesting part of the series. The fleshing out of these players are very believeable, and their up and downs seem to be consistent with what we see of the players of the real world. It's funny because the anime's airing coincides with the time period where, in the real world of football, a young Welsh winger named Gareth Bale is just starting to shine and attract attention. The fictional character Tsubaki (still not sure where he plays, I suspect he's a winger or a fullback) is quite similar to Gareth Bale - both are blessed with blistering pace and great stamina, both are under-achievers in the early stage of their careers and both are just starting to blossom. Less than a year after "Giant Killing" started airing, Gareth Bale is now arguably the world's finest left winger, having completely destroyed Maicon (acknowledged to be the world's best right back, the opposing position to the left winger in the other team's formation) and almost single handedly demolished one of the top teams in Europe. Although Tsubaki isn't quite in the same league as Gareth Bale, it's kind of exciting to see a similarly aspiring player reflected in "Giant Killing".

The exploration of the mentality of strikers is also particularly well done. It recognises that not scoring for several games in a row for an out and out striker is a big burden to bear, and you can see it playing more and more heavily on the mind of the player as the goal draught gets longer and longer. But just like in real life, the fans loves a player who gives it his all for the club, and it's a familiar sight seeing them getting behind and cheering for a striker who's running himself to the ground match after match without the reward of a goal. More profoundly than this though, is the anime's exploration of the mentality of a selfish goalscorer. I've heard it said more than once by ex-strikers that, you need to be selfish to score lots of goals, so I'm quite impressed that "Giant Killing" has picked up on this intricate insight of balance between team work and selfishness, especially since it's by no means an obvious one given football's emphasis on team play in general.

As you can see "Giant Killing" does a lot of things right, and most of its flaws are fairly minor, but one aspect that really hurts it badly is the pacing. When it comes to key matches, it really suffers from the "shounen syndrome" where it would stretch them across an unreasonable number of episodes. A couple of the matches literally goes on for 5-6 episodes, and when you consider that a normal football match is played over 90 minutes, it really is beyond ridiculous to have the showing of a match go beyond the full length of a real match. And because the series contains these two matches which make up for nearly half the entire season, you don't actually get to see that many matches overall.

Still, the good points do outweigh the bad, and so I think "Giant Killing" is a good anime that is likely to appeal to football fans a lot more than a casual viewer. It's a show that tries to portray a football in a more down to earth and realistic way, and even though it doesn't do that perfectly, it's probably the closest you're gonna get to an anime about REAL football.

Prior to the premiere of Giant Killing, I had never watched a sports anime in my life. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had seriously sat down and watched a sport. I used to watch basketball a lot. I remember rooting for the Bulls, who were my home team mind you, and then after them the Lakers. At some point, I simply lost interest in sports altogether. I have certainly never watched a game of soccer. So, not only does this series serve as a gateway to an entire genre of anime for me, but also an ... introduction to soccer and a reintroduction to sports in general. I am far out of my element and easily the outsider in the viewer pool.

I’ve always liked the story of David and Goliath, from which the term Giant Killing derives its name. Really, it’s a concept we want to believe in. We want to see the underdog, with every disadvantage, somehow come out on top against his opponent. This is what originally drew me toward the series. Tatsumi, arguably the main character of the series, used to be East Tokyo United’s star player. However, he quit and went overseas, having a successful stint coaching an amateur team to compete on a professional level. He comes back to ETU a shadow of its former self. It has struggled with relegation for years, essentially running on life support. His job? Save the club.

You already know this can’t be easy, but the problem is far more delicate. Everyone has their own opinion of ETU and its current place in the Japanese leagues. The veteran players believe ETU needs to bide its time in the defensive position they’ve developed over the past few years. The fans view Tatsumi with outright scorn, seeing him as a traitor for leaving the team in the first place. Other teams look down on them as little more than a joke. Then there’s the new blood, who really don’t know what to do. Put on top of this Tatsumi’s penchant for flippancy in his manners and speech and you have a powder keg just waiting for a spark.

Keeping that in mind, Giant Killing does have an overarching plot of taking a ragtag team and overcoming impossible odds. However, it serves as more of a goal for the series. The real plot is developing the team, both as players and characters. Naturally, all of them need to improve their skills on the field, especially the new additions. However, they all have personal issues. Tsubaki has a lack of self-confidence, Sera struggles with an inferiority complex, Kuro gets easily discouraged by failure, and so on. As the series progresses, they all get a spot in the limelight to overcome their shortcomings. It all threads together in a climactic match against a “giant” which spans the last third of the series. This gives us a character driven series, as opposed to story driven.

The series could simply develop ETU and call it a day, but it strives to build up the supporting cast as well. In fact, some of the most memorable characters are only around for a single game of the series. The Brazillian Trio from Nagoya has great chemistry and is largely entertaining both before and during the game. The finale’s opposing team also has a lot of effort put into defining their players strengths and weaknesses throughout the arc. Even the Ramen Guy, who is on screen for all of two minutes, has a surprising amount of character built put into him. It does have some low points though, specifically the reporters. I also wish the older fans had received more thorough and satisfying development.

The vocal work really backs up the characters in this series. Nobody feels like they’re out of their element. Seki Tomokazu plays an excellently flippant Tatsumi. Tyotaro Okiayu nails the gruff and experienced center of the team, Murakoshi. Perhaps my favorite actor, though, is Daisuke Ono voicing superstar Gino. Even when he compliments someone, he maintains that condescending tone which says “Why yes, I am better than you.” I could continue to praise it, but you get the idea. Really the weak point of the voice acting comes up whenever a character tries to speak in English. It’s a bit more authentic from the multicultural perspective of the game, but it comes off as forced in execution.

Where the characters and vocal work excel, the art and animation is a mixed bag. The anime stays true to its source material, which is good for fans of the manga. On the other hand, the somewhat minimalistic art style might turn off some viewers. It struggles with perspective at times. For example, the scene where Tatsumi and Dulfer shook hands looked ridiculous. I also recall come complaints for using CG animation to handle the crowds and some of the game play on occasion. However, both the CG and drawn animation look fluid, so I have no complaints. On the positive side, the series has some very powerful still frame shots to punctuate moments of the series. They’re very stylized and for the most part, look beautiful.

Here’s the bottom line. If you like soccer, then why have you not watched this yet? If you like sports or sports anime in general, you can’t really go wrong with this series. Even if you have little interest in sports, if you like strong characters, you should definitely give it a shot. Giant Killing does have a few weak points in every facet, like a somewhat formulaic approach to Tatsumi’s strategies, a few weak characters, wonky English, and some poorly executed graphics. However, as a whole, the series shines beyond its difficulties, and remains a very entertaining ride from start to finish. I definitely recommend it.

Final Score: 8/10

NOTE: THIS IS AN ANIME WITH A SOCCER SETTING!!!
AND NO, YOU DUN HAFTA KNOW SOCCER TO ENJOY THIS ANIME!!!
I guess I should warn you guys about this first, no it's not some massacre or some dark times living under Nazis or during Stalin's times. I say this cos I hesitated watching this cos I thought it was something like that.


Boy, was I wrong.

Synopsis/Traits:
An interesting concept, I saw a personality like GTO trying to reform a soccer club, like the guy in there with his class (That's all I know about GTO, hahaha...). Inspirational theme, belief and hope runs deep, it is able to capture the ... attention of the viewer.
1 interesting trait is that, unlike a few other 2x anime series I watched, this series takes it slowly at the front. Momentum is built up, some mysteries here and there, and potential is abound. This anime will probably do very well if the pace doesn't change too dramatically.

Story:8
To be honest, it isn't too surprising. Compare it with Slam Dunk, and you should get what I mean. Something like "Giant Killing" and some similar features can be found in both series.

The content and the setting isn't very surprising, but the process is. The flashbacks, the way events occur, they were organised very well and gave root to momentum. It isn't really the content that really made the series shine, but rather the way of presenting it. It's simply amazing.

Art:10
Natural, 3D usage was very good, plus the 2D animation is one of the higher-level ones. At times, very fluid animation that is on or above the standard as the 3 famous-for-animation anime (Clannad, Air, Kanon(2006)).
Facial expressions, body language could be felt clearly, it's as if they were alive.

But, I did not like the art of some characters, but well, they were meant to be that way, I guess. I can't expect a cunning opponent to look like a protagonist can I? (Guess who I'm referring to)

Sound:8
Both OP and ED songs and animation were very fitting to anime series, but I prefer OP cause the ED seems a little too rock (I think) for me. But lyrics were really good.

Voice acting was very expressive, emotional when needed and overall, very good. Sound effects were there as well when needed, and were of a high standard.

Character:8
This section greatly depends on the rest of the episodes. I understand that this series starts out slow (which is good for a 26-ep show), but plenty of potential is already showing.

The characters already developed have a 3-D feel to them, they show both strengths and weaknesses, and in this aspect, probably better than Slam Dunk.

Problem is, with only 2 characters developed to some extent, it
s hard to tell who will really be the main or side characters, so it's hard to determine a definitive score for the character section.

Enjoyment:10
I'll probably be looking forward to every ep of Giant Killing, not to see them finally accomplish "Giant Killing", but to see the processes that happen before they reach there. It has been very interesting, and I watched 5 eps at 1 go.
Ep 1 captivated me the moment I watched it, yes, not only the OP is good, but the show itself is really good, one notable point being animation.

Overall:9
I didn't even know the term "Giant Killing" b4 watching this series, so I really dun think you hafta enjoy watching or even have any previous experiences of watching soccer before you like this anime.
Quite a bit of action, drama and inspirational content in it. Of course, soccer content too.

[With updates from ep5-26]
Well after watching the whole thing all I can say is that this anime is good, but there were a bit too much recaps. Also, the length of focusing on important matches vs unimportant matches is huge, which sometimes will cause boredom along the way. But other than that, this anime is excellent from ep 1.
The ending was nice too, the producers wrapped up this show pretty good.
(Note: score lowered from 9 to 8)

The story well you can read above about for the synosis...only error is its soccer instead of football Note: in England soccer is consider football therefore error not intended for confusion
_I rated story an outstanding 10...i didnt expect a manger to be the main character in the plot who would be the one to reform a team with a well known losing streak; so from episode one that caught my attention...this also seems like a anime hard to anticipate, which is great in my opinion
_Art/Sound i rated 8...art not all that impressive but it matches the animes structure; sound? soundtrack not impressive either but giving ... where the team manger starting his legacy in England..i cant see it any other reason for the opening music
_Characters i rated 10..cause each characters ambitions, pride, and arrogance matches well with their personality and voices*all the characters in this anime gives off a vibe, kind of hard to describe, but i get the feeling they are all main characters with a place in the spotlight...and that makes this fast paced anime a great one to enjoy
_Enjoyment? of course i rated 10 but it may just be me..i personally enjoy tactical and hard to guess anime
_Overall rated 9..i cant help but feel that same kind of excitement i did in "One Outs" and "Ookiku Furikabutte"

Being an avid follower of the sport, the concept of underdog triumphs never cease to interest me, Giant Killing is one such show that is all about stealing wins out of the opponent's pocket and making comebacks.

East Tokyo United also known as ETU, find themselves in a slump after numerous slip-ups and consecutive defeats. As a result frequent sacking of the manager is not a rarity for the club. However, desperate for a reversal in fortunes, the club appoints the eccentric Tatsumi Takeshi as their very recent manager. Giant Killing revolves around Tatsumi as the manager of ETU as they try and get out of ... their losing streak into the once basking glory that's been lost in recent times. Now ETU are a fairly successful club in Japan's Pro Football League with their own share of history. A decade earlier they were the champions of Japan, with Tatsumi himself being a pioneer for ETU's success as a player. The appointment of Tatsumi as ETU's new coach doesn't go down well with either the players or the fans, as they all have their own contradicting opinions towards Tatsumi. A major chunk of frustrations from the fans is the fact that Tatsumi's sudden decision to leave ETU for a foreign club in his playing days right after when ETU last won the league was the starting point of their downfall. Stalwarts such as Murakoshi who was a crucial member of the team who helped ETU bounce back after they relegated into the lower leagues, question Tatsumi's determination to lead ETU and make them a prominent team in the league once again.

The show follows a very realistic approach. The characters have their limitations which adds to the appeal and has a feel of realism in it. This is one of the strong aspects of Giant Killing. It's not exactly your typical shounen football show where the underdogs pull off a win simply by their sheer willpower and completely discarding the strategic aspects. Giant Killing may not heavily rely on tactics alone, but there's enough there to support for an outcome. It's not overly psychological, but its fairly simple and calculated. Tatsumi's intentions and careful planning synchronizes with the pacing of the show, the right tricks are revealed at the right time. I feel that the common misconceptions surrounding Giant Killing is that its not underrated, but rather under-appreciated. If you come here looking for the exact same psychological twists and mind play as in One Outs, you won't be satisfied. Giant Killing is a show which earns it bread-and-butter through proper world building and development of the characters. They're shown to be as flawed and are given enough time to correct themselves. It's a character driven show which might not be to everyone's liking. The titular figure Tatsumi Takeshi is shown as a carefree individual but there aren't restrictions on his abilities. In other words, Tatsumi is very humanly and not a God who can change the game just because of his presence. Almost all of his actions have a corresponding reasons which are conveyed at different suiting intervals. His character is like a stronghold of everything surrounding him. This is one my reason for appraisal of Giant Killing.

For a show so unusually unattractive, its seemingly difficult to get invested in the show. But personally I was able to get used to it rather quickly. The characters look quirky and exaggerated, the balls and the grass neatly animated with frequent use of deliberate CGI. Excluding the very art style of Giant Killing, the animation quality is refined and quite apparent with rare mismatches and inconsistencies. The only subject of dissatisfaction might be the regular use of weird facial structures to depict the mood of characters. While that might be on the negative side the frequent use of "sakuga" drawings also are done to almost perfection. Accompanying the visuals are also some quirky soundtracks to lighten the mood and in times to convey stimulation. The cheers from the crowd is also very much apparent and feels very atmospheric. Different teams chanting different anthems of their own adds to the mood and feels very real. With Tatsumi being the main figure, Tomokazu Seki's energetic voice feels refreshing and sends across the message of what kind of characteristics he has to the audience. One of the interesting inclusions in the show was the addition of foreign languages like French and Dutch. While its universally accepted that characters no matter what their background is talking in Japanese was a basic thing, this felt very refreshing and something new that you don't see that much in any other sports anime, all adding up to Giant Killing's genuineness. The opening and ending are standard and used just for the namesake, although the opening really conveyed what the mood would be like to be in an actual stadium.

Giant Killing has its fair share of shortcomings with a few characters not getting enough screen time for development, and an abrupt ending that was also dragged a little. 26 episodes might seem little considering where the show lands in on at that point of time, a second season would do great justice. Overall Giant Killing is still a great show and which is currently the most accurate one around about football. I'd recommend watching Giant Killing with an open mindset.

I checked the recommendations for One Outs after I finished it and saw this show in the list. Never heard of it before, but it definitely surprised in a positive way.

ETU is a football (soccer) club that has gone through a number of different coaches, none of which produced any good results, in fact it was one disaster after another. ETU went from a storied team at its height, to a fringe club barely keeping up in the league play with its all around defensive play.

One of the new managers decides to hunt down one of ETU's last star players in England based ... on some rumors he had heard about his coaching prowess. It turned out that the former player, Tatsumi, was indeed a force in England. After an invitation to return to his old team, the story of the ETU Giant Killing begins.

From the title, you should be able to tell this is an underdog story of a small club on the verge of total collapse being hoisted up to its former glory. Although, it isn't nearly as dramatic a turn as One Outs, the team is slowly brought together throughout the 26 episodes to places that seemed hard to fathom early on.

Tatsumi, the new head coach, is a bit of an eccentric, perhaps even a genius. But no one really knows what he's thinking, and it doesn't necessarily become obvious. The charm of the show is in seeing how the Tatsumi deals with all the challenges he faces. And its definitely not easy.

The story is solid, even realistic in its approach, any real fans of soccer will most likely appreciate the inner workings of the struggling football club. They really do face off with giants in the football world, and while it often doesn't go to plan, the ride it takes you on is no less interesting.

The characters were the highlight, in fact, i would say this is mainly a character driven plot. so many of the team have their personal battles they wage on the pitch and that's what keeps you engaged.

The art was different, although not bad, it can be a little jarring to someone not used to the character designs. It grows on you, but the animation doesn't do much to back it up. It's not sloppy or weak, its rather consistent, but its nothing special.

The negatives here is the pacing, its all over the pace, sometimes games last half an episode, other times they span multiple episodes and i'm not sure that was done out of importance. The schemes that Tatsumi comes up with aren't really highlighted well, so its not as if you're glued to your seat watiing to see what comes next. The similarities to One Outs are there, but they are nothing alike. Tatsumi isn't really mysterious so much as he is eccentric; and he loves going all in on things even though alot of it is calculated, the realism doesn't allow for it to play out in ETU's favor as often as you'd think.

I really did enjoy the show, the things they did right outweigh the negatives by a large margin, although i'm not sure this is a show for everyone. You have to try it and see if it fits

In the world of sports being the underdog can sometimes not be a bad thing. Because people do not expect that much of you, you can easily surprise them by putting in a very good performance. However this is not the case for many years for East Tokyo United football club. That is until the new young manager tatsumi takeshi begins his ETU managing career and they now look to regain their honor.

Giant killing is a sports anime. Sports anime have giants such as kuroko no basket, Haikyuu and diamond no ace. Even within the soccer sub genre giant killing is still rarely ... mentioned among fans. However I did find giant killing and started watching it due to my fondness of soccer in real life. However after finally finishing it I came to the conclusion that giant killing is an anime that I enjoyed, however it had some crippling flaws that really held it back in terms of giving it a score.

The story of giant killing at first glance looks pretty basic. However when analyzed further it can definitely be seen that it is different than the average sports anime. The main characters if ETU are all adults. They aren't in high school where the stakes are low these people are real adults who are trying to make a living playing the sport they love. And for the most part I really like this. It gives more weight to the story and characters.

However a major problem with the story is that they seem to skip over several details of an actual soccer match which makes the pacing very poor. For example some of the league matches are just completely skipped over and we are given a result than they move on to the next event. This make several matches seem more insignificant than they actually are and it causes boredom. I will have to applaud that the last few episodes of giant killing were really good and I wish the rest of the series was like that. The ending to the series while nice, ,made the series very incomplete.

The characters of giant killing weren't actually half bad. All of the team members have good chemistry and work well together. They also enter many realistic and believable situations as both a team and individual players. They also grow and develop throughout the course of the story. This was very fun and entertaining to watch.

In particular some very good characters in this series were Murakoshi, Macchan, and finally the eccentric and wacky manager Tatsumi Takeshi. Tatsumi was a great character because he was able bring out the best and believe in his players. He also used several unusual methods that are doubted my many but end up working in the long run.

The art of giant killing was very disappointing. The character designs were way too angular for my taste and they made use of really terrible cgi at some points in the series. There was also unsuitable lighting which distracted from some important moments in the actual anime. The voice acting of giant killing was not bad at all and the voice actors portrayed their rolls very well. I also enjoyed much of the music present in the anime.

One personal enjoyment I had with giant killing was that the fans were very realistic in relation with the type of team ETU is. Some of the characters who were fans were very interesting and the spirit really shined through. This was also relatable to me in real life as I'm a spirited supporter of a small struggling soccer team in my vicinity.

In conclusion giant killing despite the score I gave it and the obvious incongruencies as far as the narrative goes, this was not a bad series. You will definitely enjoy it by I thought it could have been better. Because of the improbable season 2 I will have to read the manga to experience more of the story. But seriously if you like soccer this will be worth watching despite its set backs.

This anime is as genuine as it could get when it comes to animation modulation of football world.
It really provided a realistic image of the professional football and tackled every aspect in sports from players, coaching staff, management, and fans with absolute purity.
Tatsumi is a very interesting character with a unique personality and a strange sense of humor and work ethics. You will not get bored easily as every team ETU encounters add up many different yet very entertaining characters. The challenges rookie coach Tatsumi and ETU have to overcome just to survive in the top-flight Jleague just adds-up to the intensity of the ... show.
The pace of the series and the gap between every match is well-calculated, and
I really liked the idea of having the foreign head-coaches and players speak their native tongue. It added a touch of creativity to the work.
Giant Killing is definitely a must-watch for any sport fan, and besides Hajime no Ippo, there isn't and there won't be many sports anime that could match this high quality of a work.

Even if I'm a girl and girls usually like shoujo anime, I can say that I love this anime. From when I was just a child I liked soccer, but here I saw the real soccer.

As a story dunno, I like it. It's a little different from others sports anime. It's not about a character, a hero, a good guy; it's about realistic characters, people who have good points, but also bad points.
I trully like Tatsumi. He's funny, unexpected, intelligent and I hope to see more parts of his wild personality. He know what his players need and that's the reason why he uses reverse ... psychology.

I won't give any spoilers and I also won't talk about art, because I don't judge an anime based on this detail. The sound was ok, according to the story.

I trully enjoyed this anime and I suggest it to all soccer lovers.

This was an "I'm bored anime" that I had decided to pick up because I had already seen a lot of the newer animes that had been out this season (winter 2012) that seemed enjoyable. I had briefly watched an episode and dismissed it as another Cinderella story from chump to champ in soccer like Eyeshield 21 was to football. Now that I had given a second chance I really enjoyed it.

The story actually kept me guessing, I had become really irritated when I could watch an anime and predict every outcome. Another aspect that I found to be pleasing was the ... genuine feel it had. There was no hand holding; they were all pros; you never had an overview of the field, but you always felt the sense of urgency that each of the players had; the coaches actually felt like they were important to the story and the decisions they made felt legit; and most importantly: no fucking special moves.

In the art department of the show it felt like Kaiji except that it was less over the top than Kaiji felt. Some people didn't like it because it felt too cartoony (especially the noses), but there is no better way to get emotions portrayed out of each player.

It may be just my headset or Crunchy Roll's streaming, but the sound quality felt iffy, when the coach Tatsumi would say anything it would hit a high end somewhere and it felt dirty. I don't have much to say on this otherwise

The characters, oh my, the characters. The characters were all lovable, even the opponents of ETU. Their interactions and not all of them speaking the same language really made it feel more genuine. Especially between the coaches, you could feel the tension between them especially when they each thought they had one upped one another.

I really thought this was an enjoyable anime, I was reluctant at first, but I as I mentioned earlier, it grew on me. I have a habit of predicting the outcome, this show allowed for ties and losses. No one "just wins" because of a fluke play, allowing although you know they are going to overcome their problems they aren't going to win because of it. A mechanic that allowed for it to work out is because they aren't going to spoon feed it to you, you approach it like the fans watching it, you don't get to sit in on any of the strategy sit-downs and get lengthy explanations as to why it will work, or sit in on tatsumi's recordings of his opponents (although you see the eureka moments). The anime's delivery of it is unique and made you think (to me.) They will show you that his decisions work twice (maybe once unreliably) and then give you the explanation and show it happen again now with your new found knowledge (to my observation).

A sports anime that's fairly unique for the medium of anime, but viewers who've seen American sports films will recognize the tropes early on. Still, decent production values and execution of the premise make this series worth a watch (even if it won't be killing any giants in the ratings department).

STORY

It says something about the anime industry when not centering on high school or high school students is enough to make your show unique. Giant Killing takes a road less travelled and follows the fictional professional club East Tokyo United, going for a more realistic approach devoid of ... any over-the-top sports superpowers. The name 'Giant Killing' comes from what manager Tatsumi calls his tactics for defeating large, powerful clubs with a small, weak one. And considering that East Tokyo United has no budget, a second-rate stadium, a tiny fan base, and a decade-long losing streak, they might just be the smallest and weakest club in Japan's top soccer league.

With the premise out of the way, let's get down to the craft of the story. A point in this show's favor is that it is willing to let ETU lose from time to time. Most stories featuring underdog teams have them lose the first few games, then turn things around and blast their way to the championship against the clearly evil powerhouse squad- ETU endures hot streaks and cold slumps in a believable manner. Another point is that there is no clearly "evil" squad or character that goes around kicking puppies and twisting their mustaches just to make sure the audience knows to root against them (aside from one slimy ex-ETU manager, but even he isn't too badly overblown). Finally, the tactics Tatsumi uses to win the critical soccer matches actually have a degree of foreshadowing to them so they don't seem like Deus Ex Machinas pulled out of thin air because the plot demands ETU win.

Unfortunately, these critical matches are also some of Giant Killing's weaker moments, as there were times a game could have been wrapped up in an episode or two less than what was used- so occasionally the plot can feel a bit padded. Also, given that the manga is still ongoing as of January 2016 and this show was released in 2010, it should be obvious that the anime doesn't cover its source material in its entirety. However, the ending was still solid, demonstrating that East Tokyo United has turned a corner is no longer the punching-bag club they once were. Frankly, I thought the anime ended at a very good point- before the matches got stale, but with the main challenge cleared so there's still a sense of closure. The story doesn't stray too terribly far from the archetype, but is unique and well executed enough to last its 26-episode run.

PRODUCTION VALUES

The art is decent but nothing special. Animation quality is acceptable, with the use of CGI being fairly well done, restricted to large crowd shots and full field shots where there is a lot of motion and the lack of detail is less noticeable. The shots with traditional animation weren't particularly inspired, often just showing close-ups of individual players during the matches, or at most showing a small range of motion, with large scale plays always rendered in CG. The character designs, however, are certainly unique as they aren't stereotypical anime looks, and are varied enough that you never have trouble telling characters apart even with the large cast.

Sound in Giant Killing is definitely the high point of the show. Both the OP ('My Story'- The Cherry Coke$) and ED ('Get Tough!'- by G.P.S) are stellar, going for a British punk sound that immediately conjures up thoughts of both soccer and giving impossible odds the finger (which is to say they fit the theme of the show perfectly). Also, bagpipes. The soundtrack itself is fairly basic, with nothing that you probably haven't heard in a sports movie or show before. As this show hasn't been dubbed in English (and likely never will be due to sports anime/manga typically selling poorly in North America) you'll have to watch it in sub. I could certainly tell the voice actors apart and get sense of their characters, but not being a Japanese speaker there's a limit to how well I can say they did or didn't do there jobs. There's a smattering of English-language dialogue throughout (soccer is an international sport after all) and while I could tell it wasn't the first language of whoever was speaking, it was never ears-bleeding bad either. Lastly, I want to mention the sound effects, which rarely stand out to many in even the best anime. The effects used when the ball was being kicked gave a real sense of power and speed, like a pro soccer player really had struck the ball with all his might, greatly helping the immersion.

CHARACTERS

For if you like cocky, eccentric geniuses, manager Tatsumi is your man. Since ETU doesn't have the raw talent to dominate opponents he has to change tactics nearly every match to attack whatever weak points the opponent has, be it over-reliance on certain players, tactical inflexibility, or simply not taking his small club seriously. His oddball personality and unique way of doing things tend to drive most of the people around him nuts, however. The rest of the cast is solid as well, though there are limits to what you can do when you have to cover a lot of characters with little time. All the major cast members have distinct personalities, most of which undergo a degree of development. The substitute players and less important staff tend to be more one-note, but since they're on screen less it's forgivable. Overall, the characters are pretty good for a cast this large and for this genre of story.

OVERALL

Giant Killing may not kill any anime giants, but it is an entertaining ride for those looking for a good sports anime.

Giant Killing is a adaptation of long running and popular manga series in Japan by the same name,so one would expect a proper adaptation to please current fans as well as bringing new ones.
Well for starters you look at the studio producing it and you see Studio DEEN,which in all fairness has produced some great series (such as Rurouni Kenshin,Higurashi ) but overall they usually lack the talent,resources and production values that other companies have and released a lot of mediocre/bad series.

Fortunately their work on Giant Killing is on the good side of the "balance spectrum".


The story revolves around a initially weak team by the ... name of East Tokyo United ,playing in Japans first football league with very little success.Everything changes however when one of their former star players,now a coach ,returns from England to take control of things and manage the team trough their efforts in facing tougher teams.
So yeah basically its a "from zero to hero" type of story,fairly straight forward and quite well done for the most part.

Starting off with Tatsumi Takeshi the manager of the team and main character of the series,its quite obvious that the author wanted to make a character based on real life manager José Mourinho and for the most part it succeeds in doing so :arrogant ,all-knowing ,while being self aware of all these traits.But still being a excellent manager who has a keen eye for the players under his command and knowing to use their full strength.
However often times in the series he takes a very laid back attitude towards training and preparing the players for their next match,even as far as going for a childish "the one who has the most fun will win..." or "let the players decide on their own" which can be very debatable all things considered.
Also in the anime we don't get to see his back-story properly as to why exactly he left the ETU team,his play style, why he retired rather early.... This most likely is covered in the manga,but the anime does not mention these things they way you would expect.

Secondary characters aren't all that great to be honest,the players are quite one dimensional and not very interesting varying from usual:the serious captain who gives all he has on the field,the up and coming new star player who lacks the necessary courage,the arrogant but experienced player,the constantly angry one ..... you see in other sports related series.
Most of them do get their own moment in which they shine on the field and get a bit of character progression,but overall they don't leave a huge impression as you would expect.

This also goes for the opposing players,some stand out more than the others but again there are no noteworthy mentions .Its clear that the author spent more time and effort in fleshing out the managers of the teams rather than the players.


Animation wise the series sufferers quite a bit.Up close the characters look decent for the most part and its nice to see that Studio DEEN tried to recreate the art style from the manga.
However when the camera goes further away for a "birds eye view" the anime switches to a very awful 3D CGI rendering of the players and the crowd.And its very poorly done ,the very basic way they look and move is nothing short-worthy of something you would expect a novice 3D rendering artist to produce.It simply looks awful and downright disgraceful for something made in 2010.

Also a lot of moments are single non animated panels taken directly from the manga and colored ,again something very cheap for a producer to do that you would expect from old series made in the 80's and 90's.


Sound is also nothing to special .The voice actors do their job ok-ish with no noteworthy performance and the very few dramatic songs are overly used and wear off their welcome very quickly.
The salvation comes from the sounds of the crowds during matches,the way they cheer on and sing for their supporting team is very well done and does manage to take you to the unique atmosphere you experience in a real life stadium.


But how does the anime fair compared to other sport related series?
Does it go for a realistic approach on football or does it go for a cartoony,over the top way like in Captain Tsubasa ?

Well the answer is the first type ,but not as realistic as you would expect.Firstly during the entire series they don't ever mention what kind of formation the team is using (its a 4-5-1 type,a very defensive formation) which they changed only once.
Also a lot of real life and very common in game situations such as: free kicks,faults,offside only happen one single time during the entire run.That's extremely hard to swallow for a series that takes pride in its realistic approach.
Others never happen at all :hands, simulations,penalty shots.All just completely disregarded.

Its a very lite take on football,a very movie-esque disregard for real life situations in order to keep the action non-repetitive and not backtrack to something that already happened.



Overall Giant Killing is a good series,but in can be a mixed bag depending on your expectations.If you're expecting a over the top sports anime like Captain Tsubasa or Kuroko no Basket you will probably be disappointed and bored.
If you're expecting a realistic take on the most popular sport on Earth in anime format you will surely like it,but will probably feel a slight disappointment for the liberties it takes at times,but it can be avoided as long as you suspend your disbelief in order to fully appreciate it.

Rather it's on field or off field, the sport of football is full of tension, suspense, and action. On the field, players duke it out in a battle of skill, wits, and determination. Off the field, fans struggle to stick with an underdog team, while management struggles to figure out how the team should be improving. In the center of all of this stands the one person who's supposed to keep things under control and that's the head coach.

It's into this fierce, competitive world Giant Killing throws its viewers. The story is relatively simple and easy to grasp. East Tokyo United (ETU) is an underdog ... football team that's been struggling to make its mark in the realm of Japanese Football (That's soccer to the Americans). After viewing a game where an underdog team comprised of non-professionals beat a team of professionals, the general manager of ETU takes a look at the coach who led the underdog team to victory. Tatsumi Takeshi was considered to be a great football player himself in his time, playing for ETU as it were, and as a coach, his teams seem to overcome all odds to pull off unbelievable wins. The General Manager of ETU does what any man in his position would do after seeing such a display of coaching ability; he offers Tatsumi a job as head coach of ETU. And Tatsumi accepts his offer.

From here, the anime takes off. Tatsumi is not your typical coach. He doesn't believe in standard practices and drills. Instead, he often looks at whatever strategy his opponents use in games and adapts the team to play against that strategy. Instead of simply doing drills, he crafts and molds ETU into a team that can change how it plays as a team from game to game, using outlandish techniques and coaching practices to prepare. This creates great tension and suspense as the anime goes on because the writers never show the audience what Tatsumi actually plans on doing until his plan unfolds during the game.

Meanwhile, while the team has to struggle with all the changes Tatsumi is making, the fans, management, and even the press have to adapt to this new coach and his style.The fans are completely outraged that the coach of ETU is a man who played for ETU...and then left the team at the peak of his career for a better team. The fans see this as blatant disloyalty. The management want to see positive results at games and signs of effort actually put into practice. Tatsumi....does not give them this as regularly as they would like and they suffer constant heartache. The poor press needs positive results to get readers, and ETU is hardly consistent enough to give them peace of mind.

To carry this show are some simply great characters. The show never focuses on simply one character, so there is no main protagonist. Tatsumi is the core of the team, yes, but he is not the focus of this anime. The show devotes a lot of screen time to individual players on the team and we see nearly all of them get their own personal story arc that develops and ends. Tsubaki the rookie; Gino, or "Prince" as he is called, the overly confident playmaker; Akasuki, a player who wants nothing more than to win; Sera, who's goal is to shine and be valuable to his team; and Murakoshi, the calm captain who's job to is to keep his team together.

On top of the team members of ETU, the rest of the cast is made up up of some very unique and varied side characters. A wide variety of fans, from the die-hard young adults, to the rekindled passion of the old, to the little kids just getting into the sport, make up a good chunk of characters who get screen time. Rounding it all out is the management of ETU, who's frenzied job is keeping things organized on top of promoting the team out to the masses. Character development is top notch and there is nary a boring or stereotypical character to be seen. All the characters are likable and they all seem very realistic to the world they're in.

The anime hits its high points during football matches. The anime chooses to let the audience see what a player is thinking during critical moments, and most of the character development is done during these times. Listening in on what's going through a player's head as he sets up a shot for a goal really pushes this anime forward as the audience can't help but be pulled along by the emotional turmoil that's racing through a player's head. Viewers cheer when players strike the goal net as their favorite character finally gets what he was looking for. For a sports anime, this does a very good job of entertaining people who aren't even into sports at all.

That being said, the character models are not exactly what you would call "pretty". Characters are drawn very rough and harsh. Lines are sharp, nothing is blurred. The smell of masculinity is in the air with all the models, with their pointed noses and incredibly toned kneecaps.

The animation is very well done, however, with everything running smooth and cleanly. Background settings and locations are well detailed. But during games, CGI is obviously used when the camera cuts to the crowd and everyone in the stands is moving. CGI is also used when the camera pulls to above field shots and every player is running around. It doesn't distract too much, though, and the action of the moment makes your mind forget about it completely most of the time.

This anime also likes to reuse soundtracks. The same music is played in the same situations every time and it can get very repetitive. The music is often a cue for what's going to happen next and that can ruin suspense at times and that takes away from the atmosphere of the show.

The voice acting, also, could use some work. This anime takes a unique approach with language. Instead of everyone speaking Japanese like normal, oftentimes, coaches and players from other teams will speak their native language and you'll have to read subtitles to understand them. This is something that is honestly refreshing to see in an anime where characters struggle with a language barrier, but at the same time, the people who are speaking their native languages supposedly, actually speak them with incredibly heavy accents that ruins any feel of authenticity. It's not a huge flaw, by any means, but it does hurt something that is a legitimately good idea.

Overall, Giant Killing is one of the better sports anime out there. The story is solid for the genre, bringing a perfect amount of unknown to the mix to the point you can't predict who will win at match ups. The characters are absolutely superb, each of them getting a fantastic amount of time to develop and grow. There's very little to be disappointed with at the end of Giant Killing and it is easily recommended by anyone who wants to watch an anime with a good story and even better characters.

The genre sport anime usually evolves around a genius of the trade, his/her circumstances, friends, rivals and sometimes love interest, who grows with every new challenge. Although very enjoyable, most of the times expecting any sense of realism would be a little naive. Think of Eyeshield 21, Prince of Tennis, Kuroko no Basket, One Outs or Ookiku Furikabutte; to name a few.
In my opinion, what makes Giant Killing great is the fact that the story, the pace, the characters are very realistic, almost real-life-like.

The plot/story is all about the soccer of the fictional team of East Tokyo United catalyzed by the former player ... and the newly appointed coach of ETU, Takeshi Tatsumi. It includes all aspects of the sport such as the management, the coaching team, the players, the fans even their spouses!
The pace of the story is very well kept, especially considering the plot involves all the above mentioned aspects of the sport. It does keep moving along, involving every part of the soccer world without loosing the focal point which is: the soccer of ETU. That is to say, in a sense all the sub-plots about management, players, fans etc make up the main plot of this anime.

The art is like the rest of this anime. Realistic. What I like about it most is the fact that somehow the characters are drawn in such a way that represents their persona's somehow. Also, I don't know if this is the right place to mention it but the animation of the art is fluid. Like the movement of the ball or cheering of the fans. It makes it easier to get absorbed in the anime. I have to mention the following though. I have a tick about anime noses. In some they are none existent, in others they are simple triangles, in yet others simple holes with shadows represent noses. When I was watching this anime all I could think of was "tuber" :D

The sound is very supportive of the mood. As such it barely stands out but I am certain without it, the anime would be less enjoyable. Other than that I can't say much because I usually do not take note of the music that much. That is why I gave it an 8. I am simply not opinionated enough about it.

The Characters are the backbone of this story. There are several and at some point or other each of them gets to be the main character. The anime does an excellent job of not losing the pace or the main thread while introducing, following and deepening the back-story of each and every character. What I liked most was that I came to like even those, which I disliked and stamped as antagonists at the beginning. The more I learned about the reason of their behaviors, the more of their back-grounds, the dearer they became to me. It is definitely to big part due to the characters I like this anime so much. And as a footnote, I perceived Takeshi to be a very very moderate version of Hiruma Yoichi or Tokuchi Toua. (A very very very moderate version.) That is to say, Takeshi is always a few steps ahead of everybody else in terms of planing.

I really enjoyed this anime. Usually, in sports anime's the main character/team barely loses. In this one, losing is part of game, like real life. The characters are engaging. The anime is fun and funny to watch, one finds themselves cheering for the team, and you are not quite certain if they are going to win or lose, which makes it all the more intense. The matches don't make up 95% of the whole plot so even if you are not a real fan of the sport itself, you still don't get bored, or lose interest.

Overall, I cannot recommend this anime highly enough, to not only sports anime fans but also to those who like character and plot driven animes rather than just genre works. Give it a try. I am confident you won't be disappointed

I really like Giant Killing, but moreso than most people will like it, and my rating reflects this. The executive summary is that it's a fairly standard sports anime with only a couple of distinguishing twists. If you're not a fan of sports anime (not shonen, sports), there likely isn't a ton here for you. It's release to coincide with the 2010 World Cup likely brought it to a wider audience than it would otherwise merit.

Giant Killing is the story of Takeshi, a player-turned-coach of a struggling football (soccer) club, East Tokyo United, a team for which he used to be the star player, before ... quitting to play/coach in England. Having acquired a near-mythical status after leading an obscure English team deep into a very important tournament (a non-conference side into the fourth round of the FA Cup!), he returns to Japan to bring his unique personality to the Japanese game.

The story isn't anything noteworthy in particular. The team faces challenges, and grows because of it. Various players have certain personal problems off and on the pitch, which Takeshi must deal with. Takeshi makes bold tactical moves based on his unique insight into soccer, winning unlikely results. Standard.

Art is absolutely nothing special - a little edgy, but certainly not Akagi/Kaiji style. Music is similar; the OP/ED are okay, but I can't think of anything noteworthy during the episodes. The characters are likeable, but many of them are also typical archetypes.

Basically, it comes down to whether you can ignore the fact you've almost certainly seen similar before, and enjoy it for what it is on its own. If you don't enjoy sports anime as a rule or do not play/follow soccer, it's likely not worth your time.

This anime is the "Football Manager" of football-related anime. This is a very fresh and almost realistic way of how a football club is run. Also, this anime introduces me to the manager's pov on managing the team, communicate with other players, thinking strategiclly, and many more related to running a football club. In a sense that this is the predecessor or test run of "All or Nothing" docuseries from Prime. No hate or shade to Captain Tsubasa, that heavily focused on Tsubasa and co's backstory. All I have to say is: I have a great time watching this series. Also, the opening is a ... banger tune. It always hype me up!

I really hope that there will be another anime like this.

wow, what an amazing anime, as someone who has been to many many football games since before i can even remember, i can not begin to describe the amount of nostalgia i had while watching the anime, so much effort and detail has been put into expressing football as a whole, fans pov, hooligans pov, managers pov, player pov, all the little details that u wouldn't expect them to add to an anime like this, i honestly thought that this anime would be like every other sports anime out there but it is so much more then other sport anime and is simply a very ... amazing and nostalgic anime for me.

now the story line is very good but quite corny as you would expect with something like this, but the character development, and hooligan atmosphere truly makes up for it, i can 100% see why some people wouldn't be attracted to an anime like this, but if at all are interested in football and enjoy watching and going to football matches i recommend this anime for sure because it truly brings all the nostalgia and joy u get out of football out of you.