Details
- Episodes:26
- Format:TV
- Average Score:72
- Popularity:2740
- Status:Finished Airing
- Season:Spring 2010
- Duration:24 min. per ep. minutes
- Genre:Drama, Sports, Seinen
- Country:JP
East Tokyo United (ETU) has been struggling in Japan's top soccer league for the past few years. It has taken everything they have just to avoid relegation. To make matters even worse, the team has lost five matches in a row, leading to abysmal team morale. Even the fans are beginning to abandon them, and rumors hint that the home ground municipality is going to withdraw their support. With countless coaches fired and poor financial choices in hiring players, it is a downward spiral for ETU. The board of directors, under pressure from general manager Kousei Gotou, takes a gamble and hires a new coach—the slightly eccentric Takeshi Tatsumi. Though considered a great soccer player when he was younger, Tatsumi abandoned ETU years ago. However, since then, he has proven himself successful as the manager of one of England's lower division amateur teams. Tatsumi's task won't be easy; ETU fans call him a traitor, and the team is pitted against others with larger budgets and better players. Yet even the underdog can take down a goliath, and Tatsumi claims he is an expert at giant killing. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Episodes
1. Episode 1
Tatsumi returns to ETU from managing FC Eastham to the 4th round of the FA Cup, his return only to be greeted by jeers of the disillusioned ETU supporters, who think of Tatsumi as a traitor for abandoning ETU for an overseas club. Meanwhile on the practice pitch, Tatsumi shocks the squad by announcing that he’ll hold a scrimmage between a younger inexperienced ETU side against the seasoned ETU starters to see who will make up the starting eleven of his ETU side…
2. Episode 2
The awaited scrimmage between the ETU starting line-up and the reserves begin. Tensions esclate within ETU as Tatsumi’s sharp analysis of the current ETU squad allows him to lead the reserves to an unexpected victory over the starting lineup. Further surprises await ETU as Tatsumi announces that “Mr. ETU” Murakoshi, the iconic captain, is to be stripped of his captaincy…
3. Episode 3
ETU embark on their pre-season training camp at Dream Island with a disunited team following the results of the scrimmage match. Escalating tensions between the younger players and the first team members create chaos in the training pitch, but their clamors are soon silenced by the return of Gino, ETU’s mysterious Number 10…
4. Episode 4
ETU put the fruits of their pre-season training camp to the test by taking on reigning champions Tokyo Victory in a pre-season friendly…
5. Episode 5
6. Episode 6
Tatsumi is forced to go to a press conference attended by all the managers and player representatives participating in the league, where he makes acquaintances with a man whose eccentric nature rivals that of his own. Meanwhile, ETU, in high spirits after their inspired draw in the friendly against previous season champions Tokyo Victory, prepare for Matchday 1 of the new J. League season…
7. Episode 7
Following their disastrous start of the season, ETU continues down a rocky road of defeat as the team crashes to a poor start. Frustrations grow larger by day in the locker room, while Tatsumi proposes an unconventional strategy in getting the team into winning ways…
8. Episode 8
Yet another defeat at the hands of newly relegated side FC Sapporo sees both supporters and the boardroom infuriated with Tatsumi’s performance on the pitch, as Goto desperately tries to convince both parties that Tatsumi is the only many fit for the job…
9. Episode 9
Since Tatsumi became manager, ETU has lost 4 matches in a row. The Skulls fan group can’t conceal their anger any longer. At the peak of their anger, they stop the players’ bus and demand an apology from Tatsumi. Tatsumi stops Murakoshi from appeasing the crowd and tries to go out himself. Does he have a secret strategy against Nagoya Grand Palace?!
10. Episode 10
The fans are demanding that Tatsumi is canned. The opponent they face during their last stand is Nagoya Grand Palace, led by ETU’s former manager Fuwa. In a stark contrast to ETU, Fuwa has been winning cup and league matches. He is an absolutely rational coach who used expensive foreign players to raise the power of the entire team. In the beginning, the Brazilian trio goes on a fierce offensive, but Tatsumi’s plans are already in motion…
11. Episode 11
ETU vs Nagoya Grand Palace. In the first half, ETU is faced with a relentless assault, but thanks to Tsubaki’s repeated smooth plays, the danger of losing a point is always averted. Fuwa slowly starts to realize that Tatsumi’s plan has been set in motion. However, ETU does not launch a full assault. While Matsubara can’t hide his worries about the defense-only match, Tatsumi is grinning smugly. And the thing Tsubaki sees when he gets on the field is…!
12. Episode 12
13. Episode 13
14. Episode 14
15. Episode 15
16. Episode 16
17. Episode 17
18. Episode 18
19. Episode 19
20. Episode 20
21. Episode 21
22. Episode 22
23. Episode 23
24. Episode 24
25. Episode 25
