I will now announce the 11 players who will move on to the final stage.
Fukatsu Hoichi.
Lee Jong Suk.
Kakita Toui.
Nakano Junnosuke.
Hasegawa Yudai.
Soda Kensho.
Izumi Mamoru.
Ohtomo Eisaku.
Kaneda Akinori.
Tachibana Soichiro.
Yes, sir.
And last but not least...
Sorry, Shun, can you grab that?
Oh, sure.
I did it.
I-I made the cut to the final stage of assessment. Shun, I made the cut!
Good job!
I can't believe it, Shun!
You made it this far, so go ace this test.
I'm the one who taught you how to play soccer.
You gotta raise my stock, you hear?
Thank you, Shun.
The final stage will commence in 30 minutes.
Hey.
Do you guys wanna chat?
The Final Stage of Assessment Begins
Uh...
Only if you want to, I mean.
Since 11 of us made the cut,
I'm guessing this final stage will be an 11-on-11 match.
It'll be all of us against another team of 11, right? So...
I... I think we should get to know each other a little...
H-Hey! Wh-What's up with you all?
I mustered up all the courage I have to ask that!
Ohtomo?
I don't wanna be alone until the final stage starts, so let's chat.
Let's chat about love.
All right.
The word "love" is...
Let's chat.
I'm interested in you.
Huh?
I-I am, too.
I want in.
A-All righty, then!
Uh, we could play Truth or Dare...
You suggested chatting without thinking what to chat about?
Oh, fine. I'll start.
Everyone say what playing style you prefer. Like what kind of passes you want.
What's going on?
Looks like the candidates are coming up with a plan.
That's good.
Those are the kind of passes I want.
You're all so picky.
Look who's talking!
We all want to get signed.
Well, obviously.
To tell you the truth, I think this is my last chance... at becoming a pro player.
O-Oh, c'mon, you're exaggerating...
Mine, too.
I know what level I'm at.
We have to ace these tryouts if we want to make it onto the youth team.
Out of those hoping to go pro, we're the also-rans.
If I end up joining my high school soccer team,
I'll do the usual thing of playing for three years before retiring like everyone else.
That's the future in store for me. But is it really what I want?
I decided I'd change it, even if it calls for drastic measures.
Tachibana, I'm sure you've got a different outlook on it.
You might still get promoted to your club's youth team.
No...
I haven't improved as a player in years.
I've grown complacent at the club I grew up in,
and I can feel myself losing my competitive edge.
I came here today to snap myself out of it.
If I don't make it as a pro, my life is over.
Huh. I've never really given any serious thought to going pro.
You're all amazing.
I mean it. I've never played at such a high level in my life.
None of you are "also-rans."
It's me saying this, so there ain't no mistake!
I'm so pumped I get to play soccer with all of you again!
Sorry for the wait. Here are your final stage opponents.
Allow me to introduce...
The Tokyo City Esperion Youth.
We look forward to a good match.
Let's have a good one.
What's the manager thinking?
S-Seriously?
H-Hold on a sec!
These guys are on a whole other level in terms of physique and skills.
This is meant to be a test, but we can't show our true skills against them!
You can't play against players who are better than you?
You're trying to overcome the wall that is the youth team.
Which means going up against these guys.
So go do it.
Straightforward enough, right?
This is ridiculous.
So this is the Esperion Youth...
I saw them play in the final of last year's J-Youth Cup.
The skill on display was beyond anything I was expecting.
It was way above the level of regular high-school soccer.
With all my heart, I long to play that kind of soccer.
I have an ambition, you see.
Oh, one more thing.
At some point during the game, I'm going to tell you all something.
It won't be an instruction or anything. Just lend me your ears.
The crowd's still buzzing.
It's hard to concentrate.
Let's go win.
We can do it.
I'm with Aoi.
Hear me out.
I've seen a bunch of them in the Under-15 league.
Most of them are first-years in high school.
Which means they're only one year above us.
I believe we have a shot.
Fukuda-san.
Hm? What's up, Akutsu?
If possible, I'd like to play, too.
Where's this coming from?
Exactly! Let's do this!
If we can beat these guys, they'll have no excuse!
They'll have to sign us all up!
There seems to be some misunderstanding about who exactly we are.
I think our best bet is a 3-5-2 formation, with Aoi and Kaneda as the two up front.
I'll play in the pocket.
Aoi, can I play on the right?
Sure! Whatever works!
Anyone opposed to Hasegawa being our holding midfielder?
I'll command the back line.
Okay.
I'd like the defenders to limit how much they go forward and just focus on defense.
How's that sound?
Okay.
Great, we're set! Let's go!
They're still chatting? Hurry it up already.
Hey, what happened to your cleats?
Huh? Oh...
They're, uh...
I guess you could say they're a little well-worn, but they're actually quite comfy.
I'm Akutsu, a first-year on Esperion Youth.
Nice to meet you.
I'm Aoi Ashito from Ehime. Right back at ya.
What a polite, well-mannered guy.
I pictured the youth team as elites, and he's exactly that.
Huh? What's this?
There's a huge space there all of a sudden.
Is it a trap? But...
Ohtomo, hey!
No pressure, no marking... I'm slicing through them like it's nothing.
Aoi!
Ah! So close!
Huh? It only took three of them to break through their lines...
Ohtomo!
He passed it in behind again!
So close again!
What the heck are you guys doing?
Shame on you!
The youth team's supposed to be their inspiration!
You're losing to the candidates!
Are you all right?
Sorry. I got overexcited and gave myself a nosebleed.
Are they going easy on us?
No...
They must be the benchwarmers.
Can you all do it?
Okay.
No problem.
Everyone's ready.
That was faster than I thought.
They might be in the youth team, but they're not doing so hot today, huh?
Let's do this!
Go, No. 10!
Break through down the wing!
Only one defender to beat.
If I can get past him, I'll be at the goal!
If I use that first-touch technique old man Fukuda taught me...
and land the ball right there, he won't have time to react.
Huh? He got back already?
Huh?
What?
Stop them!
What are you doing?!
Their passes are... crazy accurate!
They're moving the ball around with only one-touch passes and minimal dribbling!
Awesome, right?
Is it beyond you since you don't play soccer, Hana?
One-touch passing.
It's a technique for passing between teammates using only one touch.
If you do it right, you can bear down on the other team's goal at formidable speed.
But this style of play requires everyone involved to have exceptional positioning,
passing, and the ability to calculate where the space will be.
In other words, in order to execute it successfully,
all 11 of them must share a perfect mental map of the route the ball is going to take.
Unbelievable.
Snap out of it, you guys!
Gettin' outplayed like this ain't no fun!
For real this time!
Take it down, and...
The first half is over!
I took the ball down and he just... kicked it as soon as it landed.
Which means he knew precisely where I was trying to place it.
This guy...
Hey, about your cleats.
Can't you afford new ones?
S-So what if I can't?!
I heard you came from quite far away. Who paid for your trip?
Find out for yourself what's waiting for you.
Utterly talentless. What a pity.
Huh?!
Not you.
The people around you.
People with no talent going on about effort and challenges...
It doesn't make anyone happy.
You wanna have fun playing soccer, right? You're...
...a piece of trash. Go home.
This isn't the place for the likes of you.
Akutsu, you weren't running your mouth again, were you?
Why didn't they do that one-touch passing from the start?
Do you think they did it to mock us?
Maybe they were showing off for the crowd.
But it was incredible, wasn't it?
Hey, Lee!
Hasegawa!
All of you! You joining in on this team meeting or what?!
Hey, there. Haven't seen you since the Inter-High.
I'm Ohtomo Eisaku. You remember me, right?
Unless you manage to put your skills to full use today, we're all going down.
I don't want it to end like this.
H-Hey! Hold on a sec! Why are you treating me?
Don't underestimate me just 'cause I'm a cutie.
Leave it to me. Stopping nosebleeds is a piece of cake.
Who exactly is she again?
She mentioned something about being the old man's sister.
What a pity.
The people around you.
Whoa!
Hey, don't move!
You're too close! Way too close!
Does Akutsu-kun bother you?
Wh-What's his deal?
He's sca-a-ry.
We have plenty of elite-level players, but he's an outlaw.
He's only a first-year, but he's already a starter.
Plus, he's the only one who made it in through last year's tryouts.
He was in the same position I am now.
Who are you to say if I have talent or not?
You just watch me!
The second half's starting! I'm determined to pass these tryouts.
Let's go pitch ourselves the best we can!
Hell yeah!
Wow. That huddle looks bigger than it did before.
That was like running into an iron wall.
This guy's core strength is crazy.
Candidates
Youth
We're five minutes into the second half.
They haven't done anything difficult like the one-touch passing in the first half.
They've kept it simple.
However...
The Youth's got some skillful players!
What the heck is going on here?
They're totally different from what they were like at the start of the game.
Dammit!
Back to me, Yuma!
Come on!
Play on!
Kaneda-kun's a bit of a hothead, huh?
Corner kick.
N-Nice stop, goalie! Great job!
You're all absolutely useless.
If you could play like this, why didn't you do so from the beginning?
It just took us a while to get used to stuff.
Hey, just before the second half kicked off,
you all stood around in a circle, clapping.
What was that all about?
Aren't you supposed to be rivals? You make me wanna puke.
Is that how you passed last year's tryouts?
Good to know.
But it doesn't mean you have to be a douchebag to get in.
Hey, all of you!
Don't make those faces!
It's a set play! We've gotta defend, y'hear?
Who's marking who?
Who's on this guy? And that guy?
A-Aoi...
After we defend, I'll go score some goals!
Help me out with that! I can't do it unless you get the ball to me!
Hey, he's right.
We all knew the Youth would be strong.
We were bound to give up a few goals.
Yeah! What's important is to keep calm and play our game!
Let's do it! We won't give up till the very end!
Aoi, over there!
Clear it!
Yeah!
Akutsu...
I-I'm sorry!
I lost my balance in midair.
I-I'm so sorry! Are you all right?
I'm... fine...
Are you okay? Let's get you off the field.
Won't you give me a hand, Senpai?
I ain't got time to be lying around.
Y-You sure you're okay, Aoi?
I'll patch you up. Come off the field.
Never mind that. Just let me score.
Score...
I can't let it end like this...
I can't go back to Ehime like this!
Well, it's not like we can let an out-of-towner steal the show anyway, right?
What was that?!
Hey, Fukuda...
You're not really going to pick now to tell them, are you?
The time has come to tell them, Nozomi.
Uh... Listen up, candidates.
In this game, I purposefully handicapped the youth team.
Except for the goalie, everyone's playing a position they've never played before.
In other words...
they're all playing out of position.
Next Episode
This is a work of fiction, and bears no relation to any actual persons, organizations, or names.
The next episode of Aoashi is: "Crow."