Yoichi Takahashi's "Last Dance" as a manga artist will come to an end in April 2024.
Earlier this month, Yoichi Takahashi, who has been serializing "Soccer Player" for 43 years, posted an emotional farewell message on social media, "Yes, I can finally live a life without a deadline." ”
In just three words, but wrapped in a variety of complex emotions, for readers of this comic, this is undoubtedly the end of a classic.
And the influence of this work has long gone beyond the scope of comics, and even in the eyes of many people, the rise of Japanese football, a major event in Japanese sports, also has a huge credit behind this comic.
The rise of Japanese football has gone from manga to reality
In the past few days, many bookstores and manga shops in Japan have been lined up, and the last issue of Soccer Player magazine has become a hot item in stores.
"I've been chasing "Soccer Player" for more than 30 years, and now that the serialization is over, I think it's a pity. However, I still want to say thank you to Yoichi Takahashi. A reader in his 40s sighed.
As early as three months ago, at the age of 63, he released an open letter admitting that his painting speed has slowed down, his eyesight and concentration have deteriorated significantly, and coupled with the transformation of the comic industry in the information age, he has regarded 2024 as the best time to close his pen.
Although he will participate in the production of some spin-offs of "Football Player" in the future, he has decided to make a final farewell to this comic work itself.
For Japan and the world, "Soccer Player", which has sold more than 90 million copies in a single book, has never been just a manga: it has expanded the boundaries of sports and cultural works, sounded the clarion call for the rise of Japanese football, and even plugged in the wings of dreams for countless football teenagers around the world.
What's even more exaggerated is that when the results in the comics gradually materialized in the real world, Big Sky Wing and "Football Player" were once again given the title of "Prophet".
In the group stage of the Qatar World Cup, the Japanese men's football team played an amazing performance, first beating Germany and then Spain, beating the two World Cup champion teams to advance. And such an "upset" plot appeared under the pen of Yang Takahashi - from the World Youth Championships in the comics to the Olympic Games, the big air wing that played the core in Barcelona has become a nightmare for European and American teams.
It's just that Yoichi Takahashi originally created the script of "defeating the strong with the weak", just to inspire young people to move forward bravely, and he himself couldn't imagine that the drama of his dream shining into reality was really staged in the World Cup.
Influenced a generation of footballers all over the world
The comics have been serialized for more than 40 years, and there are indeed too many things that have changed.
"When I went to Germany, Japan didn't even have a professional league, but in such a short period of time, the Japanese team went to the World Cup many times and beat the German team in one fell swoop, which I never dreamed of at the time. Yoichi Takahashi himself couldn't help but marvel.
Another thing he didn't expect was that the power of this manga had long since transcended Japan and influenced many football stars around the world.
Hidetoshi Nakata, Naotai Takahara, Del Piero, Fernando Torres, Zidane, Pirlo, Sergio Aguero, James Rodriguez, Iniesta, Podolski, Raul and Alexis Sanchez...... In their football careers, they have all formed a relationship with "Football Player".
In May 2013, Tsubasa Ozora was selected as the Asian Goodwill Ambassador for the J-League in Japan, becoming the first avatar to hold this position. And when Tokyo's Katsushika Ward set up a bronze statue of the same scale in elementary school for the seven characters of "Soccer Player", the establishment of Nankatsu SC Football Club once again presented the perfect linkage between reality and manga.
From comics to video games, cartoons, movies...... Although the drawing style, plot design and story logic of "Football Player" have caused a lot of controversy, its influence on the world has long exceeded the weight of a comic.
Saburo Kawabuchi, the former president of the Japan Football Association, has said that the serialization of "Soccer Player" was a key factor in laying the foundation of Japanese football in the 1980s and 1990s - many international players watched "Soccer Player" as a child and began to embark on the road of football.
And their excellent performance in the World Cup in South Korea and Japan has brought strength to more young people, and then continued the virtuous circle of the entire Japanese football world.
The progress of Japanese football is not only based on manga alone
There is no doubt that the popularity of Okutsuba over the past four decades has boosted the progress of Japanese football, but the rapid growth of Japan's soccer population and the spread of football culture cannot be directly equated with Okubasa.
Comics are naturally important for the excitement of teenagers, but football cannot rise with comics alone.
Imagine, if it weren't for the introduction of football into Japanese elementary schools in 1978 and the gradual improvement of the campus and grassroots football system, those children who were eager to try because of the big air wings would probably have to switch to baseball because of the limited conditions.
Do everything that needs to be done, and the gears of fate will begin to turn. It is precisely because of the accumulation of Japanese football infrastructure over the years that it has been able to progress faster in the real world than even in manga.
Two years ago, when the Japanese team was shining in the Qatar World Cup, Yoichi Takahashi "complained" like this: "I was drawing the match between Japan and Spain, and I had already conceived it, but the reality happened one step ahead of me. ”
But at the same time, he was also delighted with the amazing progress of Japanese football, "Of course, I am really happy to see the Japanese team win. ”
Perhaps at that moment, Yoichi Takahashi also sensed that the era of "Soccer Player" had come to an end - when the strength of the Japanese men's football team surpassed the imagination of the manga, it was time to draw an end to the football careers of Tsubasa Oku and Misakitaro.
43 years ago, Yoichi Takahashi left a message in the first volume of "Football Player", "Whether it is me or Tsubasa, there is still a long way to go, and Tsubasa and I will run towards a bigger dream, and I implore everyone to still cheer us on in the future!"
Comics have an end, and dreams are endless. There have been countless football teenagers around the world who have grown up under the inspiration of Big Sky Wing, and in the future, more people will still see the charm of football through this comic window.
Source: The Paper