English Dub Review: Aoashi: “A Broader Soccer”

Overview: Thanks to Togashi (Marcus D. Stimac), Otomo (Llewyn Christopher Ramirez) and Tachibana’s (Clifford Chapin) help, Aoi (Ciaran Strange) begins acclimating to his new circumstances and increasing his skill at an astounding rate. However, he is soon reminded how far he still has to go. 

Our Take: Despite how hilariously brutal he is, Togashi is nicely shaping up as a veteran of the game and showing how much he has grown due to the brief tutelage he received from Fukada when he was a kid. Seeing how Togashi has evolved as a student, being in the same place when Fukada helped him, is a strong maturing moment. Togashi teaching Aoi to discover the answer to his problem himself, only leaving breadcrumbs to figure it out so that it will truly stick with him, in turn is a great learning moment in his trials. Otomo and Tachibana choosing to help, despite Ashito’s hesitance, is also sweet.  

Aoi’s progress feels amazingly earned not only because of his amazingly fast progress in leaving his body open to properly pass and widen his movement but how other players underestimated and singled him out as the weak link. However, it is made abundantly more amazing in what comes after. 

With every victory there is a brutal lesson that still needs to be learned in how little Aoi actually knows and behind the curve he is compared to his teammates. This time is no different. Aoi and his friend’s practice game with Esperion A team shows how much behind everyone is, especially for Aoi if he just got to the starting line and Nozomi’s approval. The clear gap between the B and A team in both skill and fitness level, despite how much the number of players shift shows Aoi’s progression is but a small victory in a long road of many more challenges to come. Aoi is also starting to come into his own mentally, showing the foresight he is gaining too in having the sense to play soccer the way their team always has and not let the fluctuating number of players get to them. It’s interesting to see how he can not even take his own advice and ends up costing his team a goal by not understanding his teammates’ strategy. His next assignment is evident of how much ground he still has to cover and how much of a liability he still is in Nozomi giving him the assignment of figuring out why Marchis and Kanpei were so pissed off with him.