It’s time for the Enoshima “play-for-fun” Football Club to either put up or shut up against the school’s official Soccer Club. Who will win the right to represent Enoshima High School? Will Kakeru’s goal of making a name for himself, and perhaps a spot in the national Under-18 team one day, ever get off the ground?
What They Say:
“Clash! FC vs. SC!!”
The representation match, FC vs. SC has started and as predicted the Soccer Club is physically dominating. Down by 2 with only 25 minutes left in the second half, FC is going to need a King size miracle to turn the game around.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
So, it’s the time for the match between the Football Club and the Soccer Club. The FC have a plan to try to lure the SC’s strong players out of position and break through their iron wall defense. It doesn’t work. The stronger physicality of the SC allows them to muscle the smaller FC players off the ball. They quickly run up a 2-0 lead before the first half ends, both goals resulting partially from Kakeru’s inability to deal with the stronger players of the SC. Yes, it seems Kakeru is destined for a shame spiral into defeatism, but Nana knocks him off that path by reminding him of something his brother Suguru used to say: Strikers never make excuses. The best way to answer is to score.
During halftime, Kakeru’s old friend Kota, who had joined the SC at the beginning of the school year, decides to quit that team, since they are boring (they really are quite boring. There are real teams in the world that play the kind of soccer that the Enoshima SC plays, and they are quite boring to watch). Instead, he goes over to the FC and none too soon, as one of their players was injured right before the first half ended, which would have left them with only 10.
The second half, things change after an early mistake where Kota makes a rough challenge on an SC player, drawing a free kick. The SC as usual bring in their expert kicker Oda, who has ball control that would make David Beckham jealous (this is a cartoon after all, cartoon physics apply). But the FC’s coach is a wily sort who can predict how things go, and he manages to arrange a counterattack which results in Kakeru scoring. Things are looking up. Until, of course, they look down again, as the SC manage to score again. The SC’s captain, Oda, however, is gaining respect for Kakeru’s skill in knowing where the ball will be, as Kakeru almost stops Oda from scoring.
Things are looking bad with not much time left on the clock. But as usual, it’s always darkest before the dawn, and the light begins to shine at last.
As with almost all sports drama (including sports anime), Knight in the Area works with classic cliches. The underdog vs. the overbearing and the powerful. Falling behind from the start only to begin to catch up, but then being dealt another setback. Heroic efforts by the small and the weak against the large and the strong. A wily strategist leading the underdog team against the blunt force tactics of the leader of the highly favored powerful side. Sudden changes in momentum. And the hope that a savior will come to fight off the darkness and bring the world (of sports) back into the light. All of these things are present in just about every sports drama and we have them here, as expected. This does not mean that the show is poorly written or just a boring, derivative work that does nothing but go through the motions. Not every formula is bad, and when it is executed properly, it can be quite enjoyable.
KitA is a good example of how to employ the formula to good effect. The pacing of the representation match is just right. It does not linger too long on any one part, but puts the pieces in their proper places at just the right moments. The Football Club falls behind exactly as one has been led to expect, but it is not done in such a way that you feel your heart wrenched by it. You know they will come back. And of course they do, only to be beaten down again. But this is expected. The Soccer Club is far more physically dominating on the field. But as with most sports dramas, which rely on the ancient cliche of David vs. Goliath, you know that in the end, David will pick up his rock and hit the giant right between the eyes. It is not going to happen in this episode, but then that’s another cliche as well, the cliffhanger.
At least we’ve gone away from the paranormal psychodrama that the immediate aftermath of the accident at the beginning of the show brought, with its nonsense about transplanted organs passing on something of their original owner’s essence to the recipient. We are firmly in the land of sports drama, with only a clock and 22 men on the field to decide matters. The past two episodes have been a firm step in the right direction, and I hope they continue this way, as the writers have shown a good grasp of pacing and story development in this current story arc.
In Summary:
After wallowing in the paranormal for a moment or two, this episode and the last one have done very well by largely forgetting the nonsense about the effect of Suguru’s heart on Kakeru’s mind (sure, it’s still there, but it’s not the focus thankfully) and instead concentrating on old fashioned sports drama. We have two teams playing for nothing but pride. Of course, pride can be everything, so the competition is likely more fierce than if something less important were on the line. While the greater physicality of the Enoshima Soccer Club gives them a great advantage, it is clear that the Enoshima Football Club is the team that has heart and mind. But they are not whole yet. One part is missing, but perhaps that part will be coming soon.
Grade: B+
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 4GB RAM, Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard
