Fantasista Stella

Despite being a long time fan of anime, I'm actually a very loyal sports fan as well. Being Canadian you'd think the only sport I would ever be interested is in Hockey, but for as long as I can remember I've always been a fan of soccer but in a very obscure way. I don't really watch any of the euro leagues but I never miss the world cup. One of the thing that I've always appreciated about soccer is that it is the most played sport around the world and even though in the world of soccer there are always the soccer superpowers, butwhen it comes to the world cup I always love to root for the underdog and I absolutely love it when we get to see the soccer superpowers get beaten by lesser known teams in the tournament. Even though Canada never really makes it to the world cup minus the odd exception, one team I always love to cheer because of my love of anime is always Japan. To have an opportunity to see an anime that focuses on Japanese National Team making their final preparations with regards to competing in 2014 world cup in Brazil is something worth watching. Even better yet, it turned out to be something I immensely enjoyed despite it's short length of only 3 episodes. The plot of Fantasista Stella focuses on the Japanese National Soccer Team playing an exhibition game against the top team in the European league known as Real Madrid. Teppei Sakamoto is a star soccer player of Japan and plays for Real Madrid and despite his desire to play for the National Team, his coach refuses to let him on the team because they don't think the team would match up to his level of play and he feels the team would be better suited to play against him rather to play with him. Obviously there are a lot of nerves regarding the the Japanese National Soccer Team because it's not like they're playing against another country but they are playing a team that has a collection of the best soccer players in the world. Obviously they're not going to use the real names of actual soccer players even though the anime has permission to use the logos of Real Madrid and the Japanese National Soccer Association but as you watch this anime and if you have a lot of knowledge about soccer players it's pretty easy to know what players the anime tries to showcase throughout this short three episode adventure. Despite the anime's short length, there isn't really a lot of character development and two and half of the three episodes are strictly focused on the actual soccer game between Real Madrid and the Japanese National Soccer Team. For the Japanese team, there are a lot of jangled nerves because even though this game against Real Madrid is an exhibition game there is this drive that they want to do their very best even though there is this thought in the back of their mind that they feel that they're severely outclassed by going against the best Euro team in the entire world. The Japanese National Team does have a secret weapon by the name of Keisuke Honda who is a talented soccer player that can easily match the skill of Teppei Sakamoto but an injury has kept Keisuke Honda out of action, but will he be fully recovered in time to lend a helping hand to Japan in this very exciting Exhibition game. The anime does have a generic sports story of if a Cinderella team despite it's limitations have the ability to take one and defeat a much better team. However, I do appreciate the anime being realistic rather than unrealistic when it comes to telling this story. Despite as much as you want you the Japanese National Team to win your going to be disappointed if you think they're going to pull off the ultimate upset but man do they keep this game close and incredibly back and forth. I think the anime is more about overcoming adversity and your self doubts rather than trying to win when your severely outclassed. The Japanese Team know they're not going to roll over and die and they're certainly going to try their best because it's a great opportunity when your playing against some of the best soccer players in the entire world. This is the true strength of this anime is they do everything in their power to make this soccer game really exciting to watch. Some of the players on both teams have this ability in their mind to view the soccer field as a star chart and through quick reflexes and excellent foresight they figure to best position to place, position, and pass the ball in order to score the goal and when these scenes pop up it leads to some really exciting soccer action. Excellent music is really incorporated throughout all the soccer action and you get really invested into the game from the moment it starts right to the moment it ends. They key message exemplified to the Japanese National Team is if you want to win you need to visualize it, and they certainly pull out all the stops to try to make this game as entertaining as it can be. The anime has a real banger of an opening song, and it certainly made it's way into my playlist of awesome anime music. Even the music used throughout the entire soccer game is very energetic and does an excellent job of keep the viewer engaged. The animation is really on point for what you would expect out of something made in 2015 but I really appreciate the attention to detail when they show these beautiful scenes of the star chart overlapping the soccer field in order to plan out the best route of attack when it comes to scoring a goal. The soccer action in this anime is incredibly fast and fierce and it's going to keep you engaged from the opening kick off. Whether or not your a sports fan or even a soccer fan, I think this anime has the ability to keep any anime fan entertained. The anime is only really slow during the first half of the very first episode but the moment the soccer game starts then it puts it's pedal to the gas and never lets go. Even if sports anime is not really your thing, I think there is a lot of good things you take out of this 3 episode adventure especially when it gets into the inner intense workings of a really highly competitive soccer game. For now, let's cheer for Japan's success in the FIFA world cup of 2026.

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