English Dub Review: Shoot! Goal to the Future “Beginning”

Overview:

Kakegawa’s game with Nomada comes to an end.

Our Take:

The match between Kakegawa and Nomada rages on. The game is very competitive and Tsuji manages to get through to Kokubo somehow. It takes a while, but Kokubo regains his love for soccer just like Tsuji has. Kakegawa try as hard as they can, but they end up losing by just one point. However, they put up a valiant effort.

After the game, we see that Tsuji and Kokubo are friends again. We also see everyone crying since they lost and the seniors have played their game. However, things are looking up for the remaining members of the team and they look forward to the future.

Honestly, the game is somewhat compelling. The episode is still bogged down with pointless melodrama and irritating characters, but the actual game looks decent this time. Since it’s the last one, I would hope so.

I’m disappointed that Kakegawa lose here, but that’s mostly because I can’t stand Kokubo. However, I do understand why they don’t get the win. I can respect that they didn’t turn from a ragtag group of students into an all-star soccer team all of a sudden. They’ve come a long way, but they still have some work to do if they want to reach that level. Overall, it’s an okay conclusion to an unimpressive series.