Sports anime have covered all kinds of activity, from running to street racing and even badminton, plenty of sport both real and fictional, popular and obscure have been adapted into manga and of course, anime. Football, otherwise known as soccer, has been the inspiration behind various comics and manga, from the South AfricanSupa-Strikersseries to Japan’sCaptain Tsubasaorlast year’s Aoashi, love for what supporters call “the beautiful game” has been seen in various kinds of anime.
However, one title that is barely invoked in conversations about football anime or sports anime in general is a series known asArea no Kishi (The Knight in the Area). With its unique plot built on themes like destiny, talent, inheritance and the legacy of the dead,The Knight in the Areais one football anime that every sports anime fan should try at least once.
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Plot
The Knight in the Areaseries follows the protagonist Kakeru Aizawa, a huge fan of football and his extremely talented older brother, Suguru, who is one of the best players in Japan within his U/15 age group. Kakeru used to play as a forward, but relegated himself to the role of manager after a traumatic injury, deciding that his dream should be to help his brother on his journey towards eventuallyrepresenting Japan in the World Cup. When their childhood teammate, Seven, transfers to their school after being away for several years.
Having had a crush on Seven since their childhood, Kakeru’s feelings towards their reunion are mixed as he knows that she has feelings for Suguru, not to mention the brothers' own strained relationship. Not long after Suguru strong-arms Kakeru into returning to football as a player, a tragic accident leaves Suguru effectively brain-dead and Kakeru without a functioning heart. Suguru’s heart is then used to keep Kakeru alive and once recovered, Kakeru’s body begins mimicking Suguru’s skill and playstyle, prompting Kakeru to fully return to playing football in honour of his brother’s memory and talent.
Background
The Knight in the Area anime is based on the manga by the same name created by author duo Hiroaki Igano (Kindaichi Case Files) and Kaya Tsukiyama. Igano is the pen-name of Japanese novelist and screenwriter Shin Kibayashi. The manga was originally published in Kodansha’s Weekly Shōnen Magazine from April 2006 to March 2017, spanning 57 volumes. The anime adaptation produced by Shin-Ei Animation (The Dangers in My Heart) and directed by Hirofumi Ogura (Captain Tsubasa [2018]) ran for 37 episodes from January to September 2012, simulcast by Crunchyroll in the US, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Character Journey and Progression
Kakeru’s own internal battle with the mental scars left behind from his horrific knee injury and apparent self-deception with regard to his desire to become a manager and trainer rather than a manager, are all heavy elements that seem rather out of place given the bright mood ofThe Knight in the Areaadds a different aspect to the average sports anime experience one would expect. The series maintains the high drama that sports anime is known for, adding a dramatic plot twist in the initial stages to set the stage for a multilayered journey for thetroubled, traumatized, grief-stricken and lovelornprotagonist.
As a character, Kakeru has to work through his feelings of inferiority to his brother, and the awful treatment he has received from his brother’s teammates as the “lesser Aizawa”, not to mention dealing with the trauma from his playing days, and also the death of his brother, each of which build Kakeru’s resolve in returning to the sport as a player and wholly dedicating his life to the sport as his brother once did.
Appeal
Some of the best things aboutThe Knight of the Areaas an anime series include the fluidity of some of the plays and the attempt at replicating the movements of skilled professional football players. In addition to a standard sports anime call to action, which in this case is the desire to go pro and represent Japan, the series is made a lot more exciting a prospect than a regular sports anime series because of the irregular twist in its introductory stages. On some level, the concept of immense power being made available to a character through transplantation is not new (as seen in various fictional charactersincluding Kaneki Ken fromTokyo Ghoul, variousSkullgirlscharacters) and in the case of a sports anime, it is part of various attempts fromThe Knight in the Areato introduce complicated themes into its narrative and characters.
Given the anime series' relatively short run,The Knight in the Areanarrative remains largely unadapted six years since its end. As of August 2021,The Knight in the Areamanga had over 13 million copies in circulation, indicating that the original manga hadn’t done too badly in its original run. While the animation is not necessarily groundbreaking and several sport anime with far more incredible visuals have made their way into most conversations,The Knight in the Areaboasts a story written with the sport as the main instrument that isn’t necessarily built on the development of the protagonist as a player of said sport, but as an individual whose personal demons have been translated into sport almost as a kind of metaphor.
