Background
Whistle! Is a football (*Sticks out tongue at the goras*) manga written by Daisuke Higuchi and was serialized in the late 90's and ended in 2003.
It developed great fan following since it was being serialized right around the time that the football world cup was held in Japan and South Korea. Additionally it was helped along by the Japanese team reaching the knockout stage and the Korean team actually reaching the semi finals. But despite all those contributing factors, the manga is pretty damned good all by itself.
Synopsis
Whistle! Follows the story of the young Sho Kazamatsuri, a short boy with a passion for soccer who was never allowed to play in middle school due to his short stature. He transfers schools when he enters High school in order to get a chance to play at a different team. However at his new school (Sakura Josui), people mistakenly assume that he was part of the starting lineup for his old school (Muasahinomori) which happened to be one of the best teams in the region. They quickly discover that Sho lacked both talent and practice and begin to scorn him. However, with his unrelenting passion, Sho quickly catches up to the rest of the team in terms of skill and in the end becomes an integral part of the team. The manga then follows his journey towards the top as he makes new friends, battles tough opponents on the pitch, and grows in skill with every encounter.
My Thoughts
I am a sucker for these underdog coming out on top kind of manga... dont ask why... I guess it is because I have known what it feels like to be in that situation... people who know me well will also testify that I nearly always choose to support the one person doomed to end up having his/her heart broken when it comes to anything involving love triangles or polygons...
But not only that... the manga has superb art... characters all look very distinct and the story is always exciting... there are a few training chapters which are usually the cause of boredom in many manga, but are well handled in this one with good inter-spacing of both humor and drama.
I am not sure what to say about the ending though... it was neat and nifty... and it followed the typical pattern of how sports manga usually end and it left me wanting more... but then... I also hate it when mangakas push their luck too much... as is happening with Hajime No Ippo now... so... in the end... I would say job well done...
If youre a fan of soccer and want to start reading manga... I recommend this one for a start... one reason is that it is a complete series... so you wont have to worry about waiting for new releases from scanslators... and 2nd is that its a superb series without too much in the way of manga unrealism/defiance of the laws of physics which you often see in sports anime/manga. In addition it keeps a good focus on the sports aspect even though it does take a few detours for dramatic effect.
BTW this manga does have an equally popular anime associated with it if anyones into that sorta thing....
Score
8.5/10 if youre a football fan I would say...
7.5/10 if you just like manga with no special attachment to football (*Sticks tongue out at the goras once more... LoL*) ...
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