Ganbare, Kikka-zu!
Encyclopedia
is a romantic soccer kid manga
drawn by Noriaki Nagai. It was published by Shogakukan
in CoroCoro Comic
magazine from 1985 to 1989. The series won the 1987 Shogakukan Manga Award
for best children's manga. The story is usually classified as Comedy, Drama, Shōnen
and Sports. Cover art can be seen here.
The manga was turned into an anime
series by Studio Pierrot
during 1986–1987. It ran 26 episodes and one 40 minute special, but only 21 episodes were aired in Japan
. In 1990 the anime arrived to EMEA
in its dubbed
version and had some success in the Middle East (الهداف Al Haddaf), Iran (فوتبالیستها), Italy (Palla al centro per Rudy), Spain (Supergol), France (But Pour Rudy), Poland (Piłkarze) and especially in Germany and Austria (Kickers). In Indonesia
, the anime was aired on Bali TV
in 2004-2005.
, who struggle without a competent striker
, when little Kakeru Daichis (大地翔 Daichi Kakeru) family moves in to the town. He immediately applies to join the team, keen to use his skills gained in the kid team of famous soccer club "The Falcons". With Kakeru the team becomes complete in every sense and he motivates the team to challenge the "Red Devils", a strong secondary school team whose goalkeeper Uesugi is considered undefeatable. They lose 10 to 1, but Kakeru's scoring a single goal is still a small miracle. Under the strong leadership of their own goalkeeper Masaru Hongo, Kickers then enter the kid championship and fight their way up through hard won victories. Meanwhile, Hongo falls in love with Ayumi Daichi (大地歩 Daichi Ayumi), Kakeru's cute, sporty sister. In turn the striker enamours Akuna Yukie, a fragile, angelic pianist girl, who happens to be Uesugi's much younger sister. These affairs lead to some embarrassingly funny situations as well as numerous complications with the team's devoted and jealous cheerleader trio.
For a short while, Kickers gain a professional trainer
whose instructions help them win their way to the semi-finals, just to meet the Red Devils once again. After a dramatic match, that spans two 20 minute episodes, Uesugi fends off Kakeru's final freescore and so the Kickers are out! The devastated team is soon divided by the arrival of Harry, a famous junior talent, who has been fired from three big name teams already for subversive behaviour. He infiltrates and splits Kickers, but his rudeness and Hongo's strong leadership re-unite the team. Harry then seduces Ayumi and assembles a faux team out of the school's scum so he can defeat the Kickers almost alone. Although the naive Kakeru is no match for the older and much stronger Harry, the Kickers's teamwork spirit and Uesugi's support secures a victory in this dirty match and Harry is devastated. The anime series ends with a redeemed Harry reconciling with the Kickers, before leaving the town to play overseas.
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
drawn by Noriaki Nagai. It was published by Shogakukan
Shogakukan
is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.Shogakukan founded Shueisha which founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group, one of the largest publishing groups in Japan...
in CoroCoro Comic
CoroCoro Comic
is a Japanese monthly manga magazine published by Shogakukan, starting on May 15, 1977. Its main target is elementary school aged boys, younger than the readers of shōnen manga...
magazine from 1985 to 1989. The series won the 1987 Shogakukan Manga Award
Shogakukan Manga Award
The is one of Japan's major manga awards, sponsored by Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga since 1955 and features candidates from a number of publishers.The current award categories are:...
for best children's manga. The story is usually classified as Comedy, Drama, Shōnen
Shonen
The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...
and Sports. Cover art can be seen here.
The manga was turned into an anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series by Studio Pierrot
Studio Pierrot
is a Japanese animation/animation studio, founded in 1979 by former employees of Tatsunoko Production. Its headquarters is located in Mitaka, Tokyo.The company has a simple logo of the face of a clown...
during 1986–1987. It ran 26 episodes and one 40 minute special, but only 21 episodes were aired in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. In 1990 the anime arrived to EMEA
EMEA
EMEA may stand for:* the previous acronym of the European Medicines Agency, an EU regulatory agency for the evaluation of medicinal products* Europe, the Middle East and Africa...
in its dubbed
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
version and had some success in the Middle East (الهداف Al Haddaf), Iran (فوتبالیستها), Italy (Palla al centro per Rudy), Spain (Supergol), France (But Pour Rudy), Poland (Piłkarze) and especially in Germany and Austria (Kickers). In Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, the anime was aired on Bali TV
Bali TV
Bali TV is a privately-owned Indonesian television station covering the island of Bali.The station became well known for regularly broadcasting in the Balinese language. Some examples include the broadcast of Balinese songs and ceremonies. News is also broadcast, in Indonesian....
in 2004-2005.
Story
The story is about an enthusiastic kid soccer team at the Kitahara elementary schoolElementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
, who struggle without a competent striker
Striker
Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...
, when little Kakeru Daichis (大地翔 Daichi Kakeru) family moves in to the town. He immediately applies to join the team, keen to use his skills gained in the kid team of famous soccer club "The Falcons". With Kakeru the team becomes complete in every sense and he motivates the team to challenge the "Red Devils", a strong secondary school team whose goalkeeper Uesugi is considered undefeatable. They lose 10 to 1, but Kakeru's scoring a single goal is still a small miracle. Under the strong leadership of their own goalkeeper Masaru Hongo, Kickers then enter the kid championship and fight their way up through hard won victories. Meanwhile, Hongo falls in love with Ayumi Daichi (大地歩 Daichi Ayumi), Kakeru's cute, sporty sister. In turn the striker enamours Akuna Yukie, a fragile, angelic pianist girl, who happens to be Uesugi's much younger sister. These affairs lead to some embarrassingly funny situations as well as numerous complications with the team's devoted and jealous cheerleader trio.
For a short while, Kickers gain a professional trainer
Athletic trainer
An athletic trainer is a certified, health care professional who practices in the field of sports medicine. Athletic training has been recognized by the American Medical Association as an allied health care profession since 1990....
whose instructions help them win their way to the semi-finals, just to meet the Red Devils once again. After a dramatic match, that spans two 20 minute episodes, Uesugi fends off Kakeru's final freescore and so the Kickers are out! The devastated team is soon divided by the arrival of Harry, a famous junior talent, who has been fired from three big name teams already for subversive behaviour. He infiltrates and splits Kickers, but his rudeness and Hongo's strong leadership re-unite the team. Harry then seduces Ayumi and assembles a faux team out of the school's scum so he can defeat the Kickers almost alone. Although the naive Kakeru is no match for the older and much stronger Harry, the Kickers's teamwork spirit and Uesugi's support secures a victory in this dirty match and Harry is devastated. The anime series ends with a redeemed Harry reconciling with the Kickers, before leaving the town to play overseas.
Crew
- Original story: Noriaki Nagai
- Director: Akira Sugino (alternative spelling Akira Shigino)
- Senior script writer: Sukehiro Tomita
- Junior script writers: Hiroshi Kaneko, Isao Shizutani
- Art Director: Satoshi Miura
- Character Design: Takeshi Ozaka
- Background art: Satoshi Miura
- Composer: Jun Irie
- Producer: Yuni Nunokawa (alternative spelling Yuji Nunokawa)
Voice actors
- Yuko KobayashiYuko Kobayashiis a Japanese seiyū who was born on February 6, 1961 in Tokyo. She is currently affiliated with 81 Produce and is married to fellow seiyu Mitsuaki Hoshino.-Notable voice roles:*Washu Hakubi in Tenchi Muyo*Shigeru in Pokémon...
- Akuna Yukie - Ikue Ohtani - Kiyoshi Hara
- TARAKO - Taichi
- Michie TomizawaMichie Tomizawais a Japanese voice actress born in Nagano and raised in Takasaki, Gunma. Her real name is .She is most known for the roles of Matsuzaka-Sensei , Linna Yamazaki , Rei Hino/Sailor Mars , Sumire Kanzaki , and Emi Ogasawara .Tomizawa retired from voice acting before getting married in 2002...
- Tetsuya - Urara TakanoUrara Takanois a Japanese voice actress from Togane, Chiba. Takano runs the talent agency Remax, although she was originally affiliated with Ken Production. She is the mother of actress Anna Kirie. Her real name, as well as her former stage name, is , in addition, she and Jennifer Tilly both does Celia...
- Mamoru - Chieko HondaChieko Hondais a Japanese voice actor.-Notable voice roles:*After War Gundam X *Akihabara Dennō Gumi *Bosco Adventure *Devil Hunter Yohko *Dragonball *Dragon Century...
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