This Week (Road 123-124-125-126-127-128-129-Final Countdown) Discussions and Predictions

[PierreJeanPierre]

Well, I dunno how to really put this... Till WY, I really loved CT, even though it was a bit naïve. But with RT2002 Takahashi tried (in my opinion) to make everything more serious, but still with completely unrealistic things (like the techniques of some Barça's defenders) which made it look ridiculous.

In french, I would say he ended up "le cul entre deux chaises", I guess it will make easier for you to understand my point I believe CT should have remained the unrealistic and fictional story it used to be. Mixing it with real teams and players ruined the fun to me.

So to make things clear, I wasn't -of course- talking about football credibility, I'm not that dumb thank you. More about credibility as a storyteller.

[Shinji]

I got your point, but it's not like he hesitated between the two. We kept the fantasy soccer, and a realistic environment with much more depth was added. That was a winning combination, at least, for me. My favorite arc so far.

[chaos_master]

Bah ... my expectations for 128 were all for nothing A third of the chapter wasted on some helicopter scenes, another third with crowd pictures and in the little of what was left, Tsubasa versus Naturezza was a single panel

[PierreJeanPierre]

We kept the fantasy soccer, and a realistic environment with much more depth was added. That was a winning combination, at least, for me. My favorite arc so far.

Well, to me it's the worst, but I know there are many people who share your preference for RT2002.

Oh, I forgot the most important, I'm gonna put it in spoiler just in case (it's related to the end of RT2002)

One of the things that disappointed me most with Taka was his dropping an arc after the other. RT2002, GF2006... to me, none of them went as far as they were supposed to. I was expecting that at least one of these would go all the way to the World Cup, but none of them did. There may be some reasons (other works? health problems?) that I'm not aware of, though.

[Blabble]

I think some people, especially some soccer fans, just can't grasp the concept of "fantasy soccer", while it's easily accepted with other sports.
I even saw some eyeshield 21's fans criticizing Captain Tsubasa because it didn't look like "real soccer" >_> Well, maybe they didn't know american football at all, but still...

But I was curious to know why Takahashi lost credibility in his eyes with this series when everyone considers it as his "most realistic" one.

Sena is so realistic, yeah totally. Kurita's body proportion is normal. Eyeshield 21 had its own share of goofy super techniques like CT. Also, remember the constant 1 on 1 in Eyeshield 21 just like the duels of CT. I'm seeing a lot of similarities between those two so these guys should learn to shut up.

Fucking hypocrites.

@JeanPierre WY had real life players, and the Youth World Cup exists as well, so Road to 2002 isn't that much different. It's still in the parallel universe. Also, what would he do after World Youth if it was not Road to 2002? End the series? But hey, it's his lifework and he still wants to continue it and ct is the only football manga that goes beyond high school level. I just don't see him making the World Cup just after the World Youth. That would not be very interesting.

Also, there are plenty of arcs in other series as well. The difference is that Takahashi renames them after some time. He also take some break in between. Go for 2006 is just a short story, a bit like a long one shot.

On topic, chapter 128. It looks like the match is about to end. The couple in the helicopter, at one point I thought it was Misaki and his sister, but then Misaki looked a bit off... Haha.

[Shinji]

PierreJeanPierre: You're mistaken. If the anime did indeed drop the story, the manga didn't. Road to 2002 is, as the title implies, just a road, not the goal in itself. I mean, it wasn't "Captain Tsubasa: World Cup Hen" This arc is ending, just like every other arc, with the most impressive match. And so many volumes for a match isn't exactly what you could call "drop the story".
In fact, World Youth feels much more dropped, still, you seem to prefer World Youth.

I won't make a big rant on how huge of a mistake it would have been for Takahashi to draw the World Cup already, storytelling-wise, but anyway I'm glad he didn't.

As for "Go for 2006", this isn't an "arc" they are just 5 special chapters, and were called like that on the first day of their announcement. So no, this isn't yet another arc, this is bonus content.

---

About chapter 128... Know what I liked? The supporters actually being happy of the game and stopping throwing objects at Fago.
I mean, at this moment it's REALLY just a fiction, but I wish it was like that.

[Blabble]

You're right. I really hate football fans at times. They can act like total dickheads, even on the internet. Fanboys suck, end of story.

Seriously, I don't see why someone would even want to throw objects at players. That's shameful and dangerous. And you know what makes me even mad? They're adults. If all adults started behaving like children, the world would go mad.

Captain Tsubasa is some sort of utopian football, where fans would stop throwing objects. I'm glad.

[Silen]

I don't see why someone would even want to throw objects at players. That's shameful and dangerous. And you know what makes me even mad? They're adults.

I totally agree, Santa. Unfortunately supporters also died because of that, here in Italy And that's the main reason which makes me dislike real soccer since many years.
I'm too glad that in CT things are different, and, most of all, that around the world there are guys like you who thinks different.

Sorry for the OT, and now keep on commenting all this new stuff from Shinji-sama.

During my first reading, I too felt a sense of "lacking something" in this arc, thinking it was too much centered on this match, but, indeed, now I realize that this is THE MATCH for Tsubasa, and for the first time it shows a real human growth from the main character.

Still, I love Natureza more and more...