lilithespark's manga / #Strong Male Lead(267)

This is such re-read material. I initially read this months ago and have probably re-read this about five to six times by now. It's that good. The most memorable thing about this (well, besides the soccer games) is the character growth. I loved seeing Aoi transform into a refined soccer player. It's not too fast, not too slow. Just enough to keep me wanting more. Call this unrealistic, but this certainly isn't a Kuroko no Basuke 2.0. The intricacies of this manga are so defined. I could re-read this again and still find things I hadn't noticed before. I love pretty much all the themes present in Ao Ashi. The team, the senpai and kouhai relationship, family— stuff like that. The climax is what I consider to be Aomori Seiran game in which I feel that Ashito finally stepped foot onto the national level playing ground. I actually really enjoyed the little tidbits of the fundamentals of soccer. Both informational and very entertaining. There's a bit of a romantic subplot (I really don't like where I see Yuuma and the reporter going…. + Ashito and Hana). With Ashito and Hana, it's not like I dislike Hana, it's just that it's repetitive for me now. Like, look at Be-Blues. There's a girl there, too, who likes the protagonist. *sigh* Just heteronormativity striking again. Anyway, that's not the point, Aoi Ashito is such an interesting (and sometimes scary) MC. His character progression is soooo nice to read. Like, his drive for soccer really fascinates me. It's because of that that he was able to grow so quickly. His drive caused problems for his interpersonal relationships. He's a but of an "unstable" character which made for a deep contrast with his usual, happy go-lucky character. The art expresses that part of him perfectly. The anime doesn't really match the manga in terms of execution in my opinion, but it's still really good and is what led me to reading this manga in the first place. Read this! You definitely won't regret it. really looking forward to Esperion's match against Barcelona.