[Nightengale]

Originally Posted by retracnosna

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.

Spoiler:

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.

Spoiler:

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.