Area no Kishi [Archive] - AnimeSuki Forum

Sun Shine

2008-09-08, 15:01

Synopsis taken from MyAnimeList
Believing himself to be useless at football, Aizawa Kakeru opts to become the manager of his school's football team, while his brother Suguru is its ace, and is even good enough to represent Japan. However, Kakeru may be harbouring a strong talent within himself that only Suguru can see, and the two often get into arguments over Kakeru's denial of his skills. Things are made more complicated with the return of Seven, an old playmate of theirs that Kakeru has a crush on. Join the brothers in their journey to the national and even international championships!

http://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/manga/1/12032.jpg

Genres: Sports, Shounen, School, Comedy

Its being scanlated by Chibisuke-scans at the moment and they have currently released 7 chapters. Its one of my favourite mangas and so far the plot has been pretty good with decent characters.

frubam

2008-09-08, 19:03

I've been reading this since they released the first 2 chapters a while back. Pretty solid. Actually kinda struck a chord with me when at the end of chap 5? Kakeru had that steel pipe through his chest O.O. You just don't expect something like that so early in a sports manga. Sugeru was actually a good character. After he died, personally I thought it would have been better if it happened later in the manga, while Kakeru quit the team and upped his skills on the sidelines(not in a game, but doing stuff like with that masked person). Then it would have had more impact. Although it was typical(in the sense that Sugeru would be permanently be made to stop playing soccer, not typical how they did it), it still was good stuff.

Side note: Nana's probably better than all of them >.>

Sun Shine

2008-09-09, 11:29

Yeh I agree although I wasn't surprised about Sugeru's death but more the timing of it in the manga. The story was building up for it to happen but it still came as a shock because it happened so early. The characters upto this point have been well balanced and there really is a variety in personalities which is good. Who do you reckon the masked player was? I was thinking it was Sugeru or Seven but if they still appear now it can't have been Sugeru.

retracnosna

2008-09-14, 12:33

seems so obvious the masked player is Seven, kind of hoping it's someone else just for a surprise

awesome manga so far. Always surprised how little attention online-fans give to sports mangas

HmR.kS

2008-09-16, 08:08

I'd read it immediately if I were a football fan. Looks pretty good.
But how's the drawing quality? It looks like a pretty old series.

Sun Shine

2008-09-18, 05:08

It started publishing in 2006 and is still going now but has only recently started to be scanlated so the scanlations are waaaay behind the raws. The drawing quality is average-above average but the character designs are great and the story has been decent as well so far.

Dark Mage

2008-11-02, 07:13

I love this series but does anyone think Seven likes Kakeru or is it only Kakeru that likes seven. I would like to know the mystery behind Seven's football skills and in chapter 12 even the brazilian Ace seems to know her. So I am guessing that she must have been a really famous soccer player in america. so why did she come back to Japan and does anyone here know what is happening in volume 12?

retracnosna

2008-11-02, 15:03

incube

2008-11-02, 15:39

jpwong

2008-11-02, 15:54

His brother dies? Around wich chapter did that happen

They reveal it in chapter 7, though it's pretty easy to guess what's going to happen in chapter 6.

Sun Shine

2009-05-27, 12:48

A new chapter seems to be scanlated weekly now which is good!! Always helps for sports stories to have interesting characters!! Hope Seven develops into a love interest for Kakeru. I didn't like all the heart transplant thing and I hope it doesn't have a great part to play in the story further down the line, it would have been nicer for Kakeru just to relive the memories that he had of his bro.

grylsyjaeger

2009-06-19, 02:59

Just finished catching up, last time I looked it they only had 18 chapters online.

Really enjoying this manga, I too hope Nana goes for Kakeru. I'm still curious to what her secret is, what happened abroad?

Also, anyone know of any similar mangas to this out of curiosity?

nekoyashikina

2010-03-21, 00:01

not sure I like the setup for the main character. Seems kind of short-sighted. Dead brother and heart transplant is dramatic and all, but it pretty much dooms kakeru(?) to runner-up status for the entire manga

since no matter what he does he can't surpass his brother at soccer anymore. Short of leading Japan to the world cup or something crazy which obviously won't happen anytime soon. If at all

and even if he gets that girl he likes it's only because his bro died. He was the one she liked

that's not totally true, and it's more obvious that seven likes kakeru and not aizawa, it shows some hints like when aizawa and kakeru gets in the accident who does seven yell the name of first and who does she come to? > Kakeru and after aizawa's dead she dosen't really seems upset over it like how a lover would and the scene where it shows back in the elementry of seven giving somehting to aizawa and kakeru thinking that seven likes aizawa might be a misunderstanding to begain with , it never reveals the true intension, she might have actually gave that to aizawa telling him to give to kakeru.. So that's not totally true who relly seven like, so far in the story it's more likely seven liked kakeru to begin with and even if seven liked aizawa i doubt he would like her back, he looks like the typr to like older woman more...

Nightengale

2010-03-21, 00:59

not sure I like the setup for the main character. Seems kind of short-sighted. Dead brother and heart transplant is dramatic and all, but it pretty much dooms kakeru(?) to runner-up status for the entire manga

since no matter what he does he can't surpass his brother at soccer anymore. Short of leading Japan to the world cup or something crazy which obviously won't happen anytime soon. If at all

and even if he gets that girl he likes it's only because his bro died. He was the one she liked

Haha, this statement sounds pretty ironic, considering that Kakeru, even as far as 18 volumes in, is still a runner-up to so many other characters who are barely even designated rivals.

It feels pretty sad that he has to watch from the stands, watching Seven and another girlat the international stage of female soccer ( both of them are way better than him, even ignoring gender ) and Araki who later becomes a member of Japan Youth. And that's not even considering guys like Silva.

Though that may change soon, if latest raws are to be believed as what they want to imply.

Suguru may be starting to 'take over' Kakeru in more ways than one, now seemingly in recognition of a football tactic that only Araki and Suguru knew the handsigns and execution to it.

KiraYamatoFan

2013-01-09, 05:33

Bump!

Since we discussed a lot of the anime as well as what happens in the manga at this stage in another thread (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=106914&highlight=area+no+kishi), I think it's a good idea to revive the thread a little bit. Right now, we are up to chapter 300 in Japan.

Enoshima first won the provincial tournament in fall/winter against Kamakura before going the Nationals. Once there, they got all the way to the final before beating Silva's Shukyu in an epic 6-5 scoreline after extra time.

Kakeru promised himself to confess to Seven after the Nationals if Enoshima wins, which they did. However, Kakeru got cold-feet and didn't confess when the moment came. He justified himself by saying to himself that he still wasn't worthy of her, and would confess after becoming a better player. :eyebrow:

BTW, Shukyu's Ricardo Vernardi was a total c*** of a footballer. If I were to write a fic, he would surely get sent off with a red card as he should deserve to be.

Want to discuss about the manga chapters here? Go ahead! :)

Johnny

2013-01-09, 06:17

Bump!

Since we discussed a lot of the anime as well as what happens in the manga at this stage in another thread (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=106914&highlight=area+no+kishi), I think it's a good idea to revive the thread a little bit. Right now, we are up to chapter 300 in Japan.

Kakeru promised himself to confess to Seven after the Nationals if Enoshima wins, which they did. However, Kakeru got cold-feet and didn't confess when the moment came. He justified himself by saying to himself that he still wasn't worthy of her, and would confess after becoming a better player. :eyebrow:

Yeah I seen that...
I figured he wouldn't have the stones to do it then. I thought for a moment we was going to get what kind of happened in Baby Steps with Natsu already knowing E-Chan wanted to confess to her earlier, but alas either Seven is thick or wants him to make the first move so it didn't happen...

Guess the author wasn't ready to dive into that area yet. Not that I have a problem with it. Like mentioned Baby Steps handles the romance aspect of things very nicely. It isn't too much and adds a little extra spice to the plot. That might help this manga out a little seeing how Kakeru tends to be overshadowed at times with the many characters involved in the story. Ah well I'm sure it'll come sooner or later, hopefully...

Von Himmel

2013-01-09, 06:18

KiraYamatoFan

2013-01-09, 06:47

Ricardo is the coach right? I thought he got pretty emotional during the final... then again, I didn't read all the chapters before the final match yet (and my low ability in Japanese makes it hard to read all of it).

Ricardo Vernardi is one of the 3 foreigners playing for Shukyu; he's an Argentinian D-man who has something against Japanese players for once being at the wrong end of a Japan/Argentina match. Ricky (as Silva calls him) is also a very dirty player with all those dirty tackles and elbows thrown at Kakeru.

I'm just surprised not many among manga writers (having football as the main background for their respective stories) dare showing red cards, especially when some opponents are the exact definition of being dirty bastards. Such characters usually deserve to be sent off as well as to receive jeers from the crowd.

Now, it looks like we are moving on towards the National Team and Kakeru will probably try to make his mark over there.

Yeah I seen that...
I figured he wouldn't have the stones to do it then. I thought for a moment we was going to get what kind of happened in Baby Steps with Natsu already knowing E-Chan wanted to confess to her earlier, but alas either Seven is thick or wants him to make the first move so it didn't happen...

Guess the author wasn't ready to dive into that area yet. Not that I have a problem with it. Like mentioned Baby Steps handles the romance aspect of things very nicely. It isn't too much and adds a little extra spice to the plot. That might help this manga out a little seeing how Kakeru tends to be overshadowed at times with the many characters involved in the story. Ah well I'm sure it'll come sooner or later, hopefully...

I think Seven knows, but still wants Kakeru to make the first move. It's already so blatant when it comes to decipher her side of the relationship and what she wants. I can count at least 3 times when Seven looked comfortable enough when in physical contact with Kakeru.

I was just screaming and begging Kakeru to tell Seven he loves her, that he wants to hold her, and do God-knows-what afterwards.

KiraYamatoFan

2013-10-18, 14:27

So far, Kakeru played 2 international games for the U21 team and scored the lone goal for Japan in a 4-1 battering by Brazil. Kakeru was among the very few who were truly pissed by the result.

I must admit that I'm lost since Chapter 324 with Kakeru and Kouta having a professional tryout for some random second division club. That club is one sorry bunch of sods for the record. Furthermore, Coach Iwaki stepping down and then being found again playing for another team alongside Akira Takajo and against Kakeru... I was baffled.:twitch::confused: That's where we are now at Chapter 336.

I must admit that I was hoping the author would focus on Kakeru progressively gaining more leadership responsibilities as a second year student and see Enoshima's new freshman players. I think the right time to start thinking about professional ranks would be by the 3rd year (with or without a timeskip), when a scout from Europe would try to lure Kakeru into a big club after more success.

Triok123

2016-02-03, 07:15

Nope so far. Either way, the series was quite catching up fast and it mostly followed the manga's storyline. If they consider picking it up, they'll do it from where it ended. However, I seriously think they could have given the viewers at least the end of the first step to glory by show us Enoshima winning the provincial tournament.

I just caught up the latest chapter, 292, and...

Kakeru royally screwed up the opportunity he had of confessing to Seven and said he was lacking self-confidence or something of that kind for an excuse. :eyebrow: Before the final, he said he'd confess to her after the match. There's nothing worse than having a mangaka trolling his or her readers when it comes to something as big as romance; I thought the author knew better.

People are asking whether or not that arc was a waste if the purpose was for Kakeru to become a man, reach his brother's level, and push it beyond from there. It's not only about football, but also about his own confidence in everything. Because of that, some readers felt as if this arc was created for nothing.
four year after..new changes in that aspect??

KiraYamatoFan

2016-02-05, 23:34

four year after..new changes in that aspect??

In the manga, not much. The chapters have been focusing on Kakeru's stint as a 16-year-old who joined the J2 division when he's not busy with school; it's a stepping stone before the Olympics. The only significant moment there has been between Kakeru and Seven was Kakeru trying to calm down Seven's nervousness ahead of the Women's World Cup.

TBF, what came up after Chapter 324 has been mostly messy and redundant. It's almost equivalent to filler-type material you would find in some anime series.

Idealist 99

2016-02-07, 01:14

I have a bad vibe about Kakeru's relationship with Nana.
By the way , Suguru's heart reacts to Nana which made me wonder if he had feelings for Nana.

Guardian Enzo

2016-02-07, 12:17

Is there some reason this discussion isn't in the manga thread?

KiraYamatoFan

2016-02-08, 02:44

Is there some reason this discussion isn't in the manga thread?

For some reason, the discussion there was in the manga thread disappeared completely.

LKK

2016-02-08, 09:12

For some reason, the discussion there was in the manga thread disappeared completely.
Not quite entirely correct. The Area no Kishi manga discussion is still around in the Archived Manga forum. It was left in that forum because it didn't meet the date qualification for moving threads to the newly created Manga forum. (In other words, we picked a date and only those manga threads that had posts after that date were moved to the new forum.)

If you want to discuss in the old manga thread again, just PM me and let me know. I'll unlock the thread and move it to the Manga forum. I'll even move the manga discussion posts from here into the manga thread if you give me some idea of which posts to move.

Guardian Enzo

2016-02-08, 11:31

I just figure folks who haven't watched the anime and are considering it might jump in here and see all these spoilers.

LKK

2016-02-08, 15:42

By request, this manga thread has been moved from the Archive Manga forum and opened. Manga relevant posts in the anime thread have been here. Please continue any further manga discussions here.

KiraYamatoFan

2016-02-08, 17:24

I have a bad vibe about Kakeru's relationship with Nana.
By the way , Suguru's heart reacts to Nana which made me wonder if he had feelings for Nana.

What bothers me is how very little development there has been between Kakeru and Nana since the end of the national tournament. There's always room for growth for their relationship, but it doesn't have to completely unfold at the very end. I can think of one or two instances where a significant step could have been taken before wewait for something more later on.

Suguru... I don't think he ever was interested in anybody that way. He lived only for the game, and he looked borderline antisocial for anything outside of the game. Besides, Suguru has not appeared through Kakeru in a very long time now.

Triok123

2016-03-05, 15:23

In the manga, not much. The chapters have been focusing on Kakeru's stint as a 16-year-old who joined the J2 division when he's not busy with school; it's a stepping stone before the Olympics. The only significant moment there has been between Kakeru and Seven was Kakeru trying to calm down Seven's nervousness ahead of the Women's World Cup.

TBF, what came up after Chapter 324 has been mostly messy and redundant. It's almost equivalent to filler-type material you would find in some anime series.

what chapter was that again?(the kakeru trying to calm nana down)?...had been skipping chapters.

KiraYamatoFan

2016-03-18, 09:20

what chapter was that again?(the kakeru trying to calm nana down)?...had been skipping chapters.

Sorry for the late answer. It's in chapter 418, which is basically the start of volume 49.

Nana had some doubts and a little anxiety about herself ahead of the World Cup before Kakeru gave her words of encouragement.

KiraYamatoFan

2017-01-18, 01:12

Providing a heads-up on how the manga went since my last post, here are the main points:

Kakeru and his new playmaker friend (Shiki) finally helped their second-division make it into the first division on the very last day of the season.

Apparently, Yusuke also has a hidden crush on Seven, and it pushes Kakeru to try outperforming him the next time they meet. That came out of nowhere if anything.

In the middle of a test match between the Japanese U23 Olympic team and Frankfurt, Suguru decides to "wake up" again inside Kakeru and play against the only player from this generation he has never defeated one-on-one, a German defender named Karl von Seckendorff.

Karl's sister and also the player who defeated Nana in the World Cup, Angie, looks like she's having a crush on the transformed Kakeru (a.k.a. Suguru mode). Anyway, we are where we are because Kakeru and Nana are still that slow at pushing their relationship to the next level.

Triok123

2017-02-08, 10:01

Kazu-kun

2017-02-08, 12:58

from the lastest raw,....is the mc being fucking possesed by his dead bro????

Yeah. Without his dead bro they just couldn't win, which is kind of pathetic actually. :heh:

Toukairin

2017-02-10, 14:00

I was hoping I could come across a thread about this manga on AS although I also lurk on the Mangafox forums for news. I'm glad there is one here as well.

Yeah. Without his dead bro they just couldn't win, which is kind of pathetic actually. :heh:

I can't remember how many times I was screaming "Just let it go, Suguru! Let him be dead!" when I saw the recent raw chapters. I just want Kakeru to do everything by himself for a change. The fact that Shiki was inspired by Suguru and then comes in as a playmaker for Shonan Blue Impulse is bad enough for Kakeru as if he needs the playmaker so badly. I really wonder if the author has seen how strikers create their chances out of nothing nowadays. Your prototype of a small and versatile forward should be one like Antoine Griezmann; that's the path Kakeru should follow in my opinion.

Toukairin

2017-02-22, 21:48

Very bad news for readers who perhaps expected more after the recent match against Frankfurt. It has been confirmed that the manga will end in 5 chapters (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-02-22/the-knight-in-the-area-soccer-manga-ends-in-5-chapters/.112518). I don't know about you, but I see the news as an insult from the author towards the readers who were hoping to see Kakeru grow into world-class striker of his own right and play for Olympic glory. The author is also the same guy who wrote GetBackers. How did that one end?

Seriously though, I wonder what was the point of having Suguru making his last appearance in such a late stage of the story where it's not even an official match that is played? After the high school championship, I think we should have seen more of Kakeru becoming a force of his own without the assistance of a playmaker. That's what strikers do nowadays: they create chances out of nothing and don't necessarily need a number 10 to feed them with balls anymore.

I just hope we will have something of a closure on what happens between Kakeru and Nana though.

wuhugm

2017-02-22, 21:53

^What about the romance?
Hoping for the other soccer girl route though...

Kazu-kun

2017-02-22, 22:33

Hoping for the other soccer girl route though...

That route isn't even an option anymore.

Toukairin

2017-02-22, 22:42

^What about the romance?
Hoping for the other soccer girl route though...

That path has been lost in the wilderness a long time ago. You should have seen that 2-page panel with Kakeru and Nana before she left for the short-lived Women's World Cup dream. However, serious developments in their interactions come so few and far between that people keep on wondering how things will end.

wuhugm

2017-02-22, 23:21

^Welp, disappointed...
Failed both the main plot (soccer) and sub plot (romance) huh?
Sad...

Toukairin

2017-03-21, 16:30

Finally, the moment that was long expected has arrived.

Kakeru and Nana have one last 1v1 match in that park. Some habits just keep carrying on and on.

Finally, Kakeru confesses to Nana, who then replies that Kakeru was the one she always had her eyes on ever since they were children. This confession leads to this panel:

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/areanokishi/images/f/f5/Kakeru_and_Nana_finally_kiss_497-1516.png

Afterwards, Kakeru and co. graduate from high school.

Next week should see the conclusion of the manga. It's a real shame that we won't be able to see a full arc on the Olympic campaign.:(

KiraYamatoFan

2017-03-21, 17:28

Finally, the moment that was long expected has arrived.

Kakeru and Nana have one last 1v1 match in that park. Some habits just keep carrying on and on.

Finally, Kakeru confesses to Nana, who then replies that Kakeru was the one she always had her eyes on ever since they were children. This confession leads to this panel:

https://imgsa.baidu.com/forum/pic/item/31ff992bd40735fadb078e5c97510fb30d240843.jpg

Afterwards, Kakeru and co. graduate from high school.

Next week should see the conclusion of the manga. It's a real shame that we won't be able to see a full arc on the Olympic campaign.:(

The wait sure has been a very long one. There are times I wished this to happen a lot earlier than this. I'm still glad that they did.

I read that the author wants to add a sequel to Get Backers, and thus why Area no Kishi is ending soon.

KiraYamatoFan

2017-03-29, 22:38

So, it is all over.

Chapter 498 (FINAL) (https://tieba.baidu.com/p/5044996061)

-Another time skip in which Kakeru has gained a few inches in height.
-Japan beats Brazil 3-2.
-The new Japan team is full of players who are either in Kakeru's age group or a little older.
-Kakeru and Nana are already engaged to be married.
-Coach Iwaki and Dr. Mine have a kid.
-The manga ends on a kickoff against Germany.

I will not lie when I say that the ending was rushed, as it is the case for several mangakas out there. The confession and the kiss are fine where they are in the timeline of the previous chapter, but those should have marked the start of a new adventure to discover.

There was plenty of time and space to create a full arc that would have covered the entire tournament the last chapter referred to. With the 2018 FIFA World Cup coming just around the corner, writing about a tournament would have been a good way to cash in with the growing interest in international men's football.

It has been a nice ride, but there could and should have been more.

Kazu-kun

2017-03-29, 23:44

I feel like they dropped the ball with Seven. After she lost in the world cup (to Germany I think), I thought she was gonna bounce back and have a rematch at some point, but it never happened. That was pretty disappointing.

Overall, it was a pretty mediocre manga. It wasted like 100 chapters in characters nobody cares, and neglected the ones we did care about.

Toukairin

2017-03-29, 23:53

I feel like they dropped the ball with Seven. After she lost in the world cup (to Germany I think), I thought she was gonna bounce back and have a rematch at some point, but it never happened. That was pretty disappointing.

I don't think we are alone to share that feeling. Considering that the next big tournament after the Women's World Cup usually is the Olympic tournament, the window was already there for a rematch between Nana and that German duo. And whoever says Olympics also means U23 men's teams competing in their own tournament in parallel to the women's tournament. Kakeru and his friends should have seen plenty of action in there as well.

The fact that the author forgot about the Olympics is extremely disappointing. It was a missed opportunity of epic proportions. I also wanted to see Kakeru and Nana go home with gold medals around their necks at the very end.

ImperialFlameGod8190

2017-03-30, 12:50

Toukairin

2017-03-30, 13:38

I'll be honest i was into Area No Kishi early on but let's be honest soccer stories aren't exactly the most enthralling thing and the only mystery IMO was how long till he confessed and well that's that.

I beg to differ. Captain Tsubasa and Giant Killing did a great job depicting various aspects of soccer before Area no Kishi arrived.

When Area no Kishi arrived, a few concepts were promising though. For instance, I was interested in knowing how Kakeru would have to deal with his own personal pressure of carrying out his dead brother's dreams, how Kakeru would have to deal with the constant comparisons with his brother when virtually everyone is making those comparisons, and what kind of difference a very talented female player/protagonist would make in helping the protagonist grow.

ImperialFlameGod8190

2017-03-30, 18:53

I beg to differ. Captain Tsubasa and Giant Killing did a great job depicting various aspects of soccer before Area no Kishi arrived.

When Area no Kishi arrived, a few concepts were promising though. For instance, I was interested in knowing how Kakeru would have to deal with his own personal pressure of carrying out his dead brother's dreams, how Kakeru would have to deal with the constant comparisons with his brother when virtually everyone is making those comparisons, and what kind of difference a very talented female player/protagonist would make in helping the protagonist grow.

fair enough i guess to me sports stories are just dull granted i gave P.O.T and Kuroko's basketball a chance for a while