I can't sum up the latest three eps any better than
Ginga did itself:
This is pretty much as good a depiction of youth sports as anime has ever done as far as I’m concerned – S1 of Major is emotional and thrilling, but very much a shounen fantasy at times, and certainly no other youth soccer series has come close to Ginga e Kickoff in terms of authenticity and narrative style.
There are two elements that stand out far above all for me. First, watching Hanashima-san during the match – and listening to the wonderful Koyama Rikiya turn in one of his best and warmest performances. Masaru-san-chan has been a great coach character – and coach – from day one, but seeing his passion and intensity grow as he watched from the bench was almost heartbreaking. That phantom “Lightning” kick he showed us was quite unlike anything I’ve seen in sports anime – a moment where he was just a kid himself, a boy who loves soccer before anything else – expressing the feeling of every ex-player who coaches, surely, as he exclaimed “I want to play!” Even that supremely honest and genuine moment was topped, though, by his reaction after Shou scored the winning goal in extra time. That was pure, unadulterated happiness – one of the best coaching moments in sports anime history.
Of course, you can't top “Shou scored the winning goal.” That, surely, is the moment
Ginga e Kickoff has been building up to since the beginning. Shou is the heart and soul of
GeK just as he is the Predators. There have been no miracles for Shou – he hasn’t grown six inches or gained thirty pounds or miraculously acquired Aoto’s ball skills. No, he’s just ground it out – slowly getting better by working hard, staying home on defense while even Reika got a chance to bask in the glory of attack. No one ever deserved to net the winning goal more than Shou did, and that moment was a reward for the audience as well as the character. The Tireless Terrier is finally the hero, though in his quiet way he’s been the hero all along. There would be no Momoyama Predators at all without his relentless efforts, and every one of his teammates (and his coach) knows it.