According to Metropolis Express, on April 4, Japanese cartoonist Yoichi Takahashi announced that he had finished drawing the last episode of "Football Player": "I can finally live a life without a deadline, and I have now retired from my identity as a cartoonist." ”
This means that the well-known Japanese manga "Soccer Player" has officially ended, ending the 43-year serialization since 1981. The media commented that "Soccer Player" not only led to the development of Japanese football, but also made many people around the world fall in love with football because of it, and deeply affected the post-80s and post-90s.
"Football Player" is officially over (Image source: Metropolis Express)
It is understood that in 1981, Takahashi Yang began to serialize the comic "Football Player" in "Weekly Shonen Jump", and the story tells the story of a series of things that happened to the teenager Tsubasa from the sixth grade of elementary school to the professional football world. At present, including the sequel, the cumulative circulation of the entire series of manga has exceeded 90 million copies. The manga has also been adapted into TV and theatrical versions of the anime several times, and has been widely followed.
According to the Japan Football Association, there were about 110,000 elementary school soccer players in Japan when "Soccer Player" began to be serialized in 1981, and by 1988, the number had increased to 240,000. According to a survey, more than 70% of Japanese children who have watched "Soccer Player" have started playing football. Sixteen of Japan's 23-man roster for the 2002 World Cup, including Japanese star Hidetoshi Nakata, said that "Soccer Youngster" had a huge influence on their football and career.
In addition, Argentine footballer Lionel Messi, former Spain international Torres, Italian star Piero, Spanish star Andres Iniesta, French star Zidane, Henry and others have also expressed that "Football Player" has spent a good time with them as children.
Many football stars are fans of "Football Player" (Image source: Red Star News)
According to reports, the creation of "Soccer Player" began at a low point in Japanese football. On December 26, 1980, the Japanese team lost 0-1 to the Chinese team in the World Preliminary Tournament and missed the qualification for the 1982 World Cup in Spain, which made the attention and influence of Japanese football in its country fall to the bottom.
In 1981, the publication of "Soccer Player" promoted the development of Japanese football, and countless children chose to join the football club in school because of the inspiration of this comic, which led to the growing popularity of Japanese school football, and the high school football league became a phenomenal event in the Japanese sports world, thus driving the development of Japan's football population. Today, the Japanese football team is a regular at the World Cup.
Screenshot of the comic "Football Player" (Image source: Red Star News)
It is worth mentioning that some of the fictional plots in "Football Player" have even been staged in reality. In the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Japan defeated Germany 2-1. In the manga, Japan and Germany meet in the final of the World Junior Championships. With Tsubasa Osura's stoppage-time stunner, Japan defeated the mighty Germany 3-2 and won the World Junior Championship. The fictional story was played out in real life, and it caused a heated discussion at the time.
Although "Soccer Player" has deeply influenced the development of Japanese football, Yoichi Takahashi does not think that "Soccer Player" is the first driving force for the development of Japanese football, he thinks that he is just using manga to draw the thoughts of people who love football. Japanese legend Masashi Nakayama said: "The story in 'Soccer Player' is not a fantasy, it is what football should be. ”
Jimu News Comprehensive City Express, Red Star News, Upstream News, Beiqing Sports