When I first started watching this anime, I really didn't expect anything special. I was simply looking for a sports anime that I could watch in my free time and also was relatively long (52 episodes) that hopefully enjoyable. Hungry Heart Wild Striker brings nothing new to the table. It's not a revolutionary anime by any means, and its relatively unknown compared to some of the other mainstream sports anime like Prince of Tennis, Eyeshield 21 Major, Shoot!, etc. However, after watching this anime, you cannot help but feel a special bond to it after following the journey and life's upsand downs of Kanou Kyosuke.  Oh, by the way, this is a soccer (football) anime, for your information.

When I say that Wild Striker doesn't bring anything new, the one exemption from that can be with the story.  Although you still have your typical sports anime story with following a protagonist (Kyosuke, in this case) and his will to win the national championship.  The catch here is that his brother, Kanou Seisuke, is already a superstar that plays for AC Milan, and both of them are polar opposites in every way, shape and form.  So Kyosuke is always being compared to his older brother and is expected to follow in his footsteps (well, sort of anyway).  That's the overall main theme that the anime always goes back too.  However, let me say that there is a lot of plot twists that Wild Striker brings in that really catches you off-guard.  It keeps you on your toes and keeps the story very interesting.  The matches are also very unpredictable, as Kyosuke's teams suffers plenty of losses throughout the show.  There's a bit of romance in here as well, which is actually very interesting to watch.

The animation and art is really brings this anime down a notch.  Everyone knows that sports anime has a ton of repeated frames, but Wild Striker really pushes that to the limit as each match, it feels like you're watching the same exact match from an earlier episode, just with a different opponent.  A very focal point of sports anime is how the animation during matches is done and because of the poor quality in Wild Striker, sometimes its not that fun to watch.  The same thing can be said of the character design.  Seriously.  It makes me wonder what the budget was for this anime.  A bunch of the characters, if you look closely, have the same exactly facial structure, but simply different color eyes and a different hair style.  Swap hairs and you'll swap the character.  But Wild Striker does provide enough different character designs to keep it interesting.

Before I get too deep into my sound explanation, let me just start off by saying the the first season OP was the best piece of music in the entire anime.  It's really  nice piece of music that fits in perfectly with the anime and very uplifting as well.  The rest of the music ranges from so-so to not all that great.  The voice actors bring a lot of emotion into the characters they act for, which really brings a lot of the matches to life.  

The characters themselves, I was very conflicted on.  At first, I was going to write how they were pretty much unoriginal, but when I sat and thought about it for a few minutes, the characters are actually pretty decent.  The anime brings just enough different types of characters to compliment the main protagonists in the show, but as I mentioned earlier, save for a few, they all look relatively the same.  My biggest qualm about the characters is that there aren't many opponents that the show heavily concentrates on.  Sure, there are teams, but not single opponents.  In other words, they'll introduce a rival, concentrate on him for about 4-5 episodes tops, and then after the teams play their match, moves on forward.  But I guess that's also a good thing, in order to bring in new people into the show.

Even with all of the negative aspects I mentioned about this show, you simply cannot help but to watch episode after episode because the story is pretty unpredictable.  When you think a team is going to win, they end up losing.  When you think they're going to lose, they end up winning.  Even the storyline itself has a few nice plot twists that you won't see coming.  Though the matches do tend to repeat themselves with the animation, they still have some mystifying quality that makes you watch in anticipation.  Bottom line, Wild Striker is enjoyable to the max.  

When I rank sports anime, I typically think of placing them in one of three tier groups: top tier, middle tier and bottom tier.  I would place Wild Striker in the middle tier.  It's definitely not the worst thing about there, as its very entertaining to watch.  However, the ending may leave you with an unsatisfied taste in your mouth and wanting more.  In addition, the lack of detail in character design and variability in animation prevent it from the top tier of sports anime.  Nevertheless, its something that's worth your time to check out for yourself.
      

        Hungry Heart Wild Striker An old and relatively unknown anime. Does it deserve popularity? Scroll down… [ 1 MINUTE REVIEW ] Although there are not a lot of good sports anime out there, Hungry Heart Wild Striker is definitely a great sports anime and is definitely undervalued and underappreciated. Although it does contain some stereotypical shonen elements and characters, the anime is actually much deeper than it appears on the surface. It deals with some real issues that soccer players face such as injuries, uncooperative teammates, going pro and many more. Also, this anime’s story line is really strong and keeps you going through all the episodes. Thehero, Kanou Kyosuke, is an extremely likable character and adds to the show’s strong story line and slapstick humor. However, the animation and music really suck.  If you love soccer, then you should definitely check this anime out. If you’re not, you can still watch this anime to kill time. Either way, check it out.

[ 5 MINUTE REVIEW ]

Hungry Heart has one of the best stories possible for a soccer anime. Our hero, Kanou Kyosuke, is a great striker but is too rough for the soccer field. Also, his brother is Japan’s top soccer superstar and plays for the Italian club, AC Milan. Tired of living in his brother’s shadow and being compared to him all the time, Kanou quits soccer for good. But one day, Miki, his classmate, blackmails him into coaching the girls soccer club for a week. As he coaches the girls, Kanou realizes he doesn’t need to give up soccer and joins the high school soccer team, hoping to play alongside his brother in the World Cup one day. And thus, begins Kanou’s journey.

The story really is amazing as it is truly inspirational. Kanou, a punk, tries to become Japan’s top striker. You might be thinking “Oh, it’s an anime… Of course he’s going to win all the matches at the last minute and fulfill his dream. This is too predictable…” Well that’s where you, and most people, go wrong with this anime. The plot has several twists and keeps you engaged through all 52 episodes. And unlike Captain Tsubasa, Kanou’s team does not win every match. In fact, they lose quite a lot. The story also brings in a bit of realism, by showing us how difficult it really is to pursue a career in soccer. . Also, you realize how a player’s personal life affects his performance on the field. The importance of team work is also emphasized on constantly. As I said before, the inner meaning of the anime has more than meets the eye.

The characters in the anime are what make the anime enjoyable. Although they superficially appear to be your typical shonen anime side characters, they are not. In the first quarter of the anime, all the characters except Kanou fail to hold your attention for long. However, as the story progresses, you begin to see the complexity in their personalities. The usual side-kicks turn into main characters and their transformation is felt greatly, especially in the cases of Rodrigo, Sakai, Esaka and Kamata. The characters are just so well portrayed that, when they win, you feel like cheering with them and when they lose, you get frustrated. You can feel what is at stake during the big matches. Kanou’s character shows great depth and his character develops through every episode, which is very entertaining and inspiring, to watch. You watch him transform from a street punk to a mature soccer player. 

The animation in this anime is well, terrible. Although it wasn’t a very high budget anime or very new, it was still sad to see an insane amount of frame recycling. For example, the 5 second animation of Kanou taking a shot or Rodrigo passing the ball is used in almost every 5th episode. I’m not kidding. In fact, you even see the same animation clip repeated FOUR times in a single episode. It is a very annoying feeling to see the same player play the same pass to the same person over and over again. The character design is another disaster. Almost every midfielder in the anime looks the same. Just change his hair color and his jersey color and there you go – a new midfielder. Seriously, they don’t even change the poor fellows’ hairstyles. Thankfully, the story and the characters themselves are strong enough to keep you motivated to watch the rest of the series.

The music was the second and final problem I had with this anime. The 1st opening theme was pretty good and suited the mood. Sadly, that was the one noteworthy track. The others are just out of place. For example, they play some sort of carnival music during an intense second half. It really feels out of place. Speaking of songs and their placing, the song placing in this anime was absolutely stupid. Whenever you hear inspirational music play, you know that Kanou’s team is going to score in 2 minutes and whenever you hear a daunting drum beat track, you know the opponents are going to score. It really gives the suspense away. They should’ve really put some more thought into that. Howver, it isn’t intolerable.

The ending is great and provides just about enough room for fan fiction. As far as the voice over goes, it is done really well and you can see that the voice actors really enjoyed what they were doing, especially Miki’s and Esaka’s. The subbing by Saizuken could’ve been a bit better though.

The-Bottomline:
Overall, Hungry Heart Wild Striker is a superb anime with a strong story and interesting characters. The animation quality and the soundtrack are disappointing, but are not all that frustrating. If you love soccer, shonen with a dash of Slice of Life or both, then you definitely can’t go wrong with this anime. It’s just one of those anime which has that “it” factor. 

( P.S- The way soccer is pronounced as “sucker” can be annoying, but it sort of grows on you :D)
      

        Story: This is just a typical story of a guy who gave up soccer cause he was being compared with his brother too much. Soon he starts kicking his own game with his new teammates to play in the same professional team as his brother one day. That's about how it starts out and throughout the plot it expresses it. Art: The artwork won't be counted as too bad for a pretty old anime in my eyes. It's not like all the new ones with action and very thing in high quality but is VERY worth watching still. Sound: The sounds are pretty good with theircharacters. Since this anime was dubbed in cantonese and japanese it's hard to say. Though if you speak cantonese WATCH the cantonese one cause it's super funny. Didn't really ever try the japanese one but I doubt it can be that bad.

Character: This is one part of the anime that is my favorite part. Most characters have their own road to soccer stardom but they each have diffiiculties and their own power. Most shocking things happen with the main characters Kyosuke. Though the one known as his girlfriend (as a joke) Miki is not expressed very good with personal life though she's a supporter for Kyosuke.

Enjoyment: As one of the first animes I watched it's definitely NOT a shabby anime. There are NO ecchi in this anime whatsoever and one of the funniest one you will find around on this time of day and year.Throughout the plot the main character Kyosuke goes around making trouble and trying to score. No matter what ways he makes this anime worth watching.

Overall: Since I absolutely LOVE this anime. 10 is one of the worse scores I can give it actually. If I had a choice i will give it a 100.
      

        Story 9 Heart: Wild Striker(HHWS) is a story about main character (MC) who wants to be a Professional football player and be like his brother who is already a Pro. The MC is constantly compared to his successful brother, which causes a lot of friction in MC's life. The story line is one of the strong points of this anime. The story is inspirational and uplifting. What makes this anime standout from rest of the sports anime is its slice of life approach in telling the story. Also unlike other shounenish sports anime, where story is driven by the MC, this anime provides ample amountof space for supporting characters. 

There are lot of obstacles that the MC and his team face on and of the field  which engages the audience on emotional level and the victories are so much more memorable.

Art 6

Art is the weakest aspect of this anime. Sometimes art can be used to enhance story line and a lot things can be communicated to the audience without saying it. This anime does not rely on art to enhance the story line. Even though this anime is about football, art could have been used to improve the viewing experience. Many a times the anime relied on same scenes to show the passing and dribbling of the football over and over again. Considering the anime is made in 2000's I expected artwork to be much better.

Sound 7

I liked the background music that is used in this anime. Whenever the background music starts playing it was able to change the vibe that the anime gave. There have been times when the background music starts playing, my heartbeat would go up and body temperature rose just from the anticipation of what was going to happen in the next few scenes. I also liked the OP#1 "2nd Stage" by Kids Alive, i do listen to it from time to time just like the story it is pretty uplifting.

Character 8

The anime has done pretty good job of fleshing out the MC and how he evolves over time. Even the supporting character got ample screen time and even they evolved as the anime went on. One gripe i had with this anime was unlike the MC and his team the antagonist didn't get  much character development. If the  antagonist  were given some character development the victories that MC and his team achieved would have been much more meaning full.

Enjoyment 9

The enjoyment that I derived was from the goals that the MC' team scored and ultimately from winning the matches. The matches between the teams were well done. The MC's team faced opposition teams that were evenly matched or teams who had good players who could win the matches or teams who were much better than MC's team. The goals that were scored or attempted were pretty enjoyable to watch. Some of the goals were scored from an awkward position or when the MC's team was in dire straits this also added to the enjoyment factor. 

Overall 9

There are many things or combination of thing that can make a anime great. What makes HHWS great is its ability to use slice of life approach to tell a sports story and they are wildly successful in it. The story line is inspirational, memorable and highly re-watchable. I have already watched this anime 2 times and i am confident that i will be watching it again and again in the coming years.

I would recommend this everybody but especially to people who  are facing personal or professional difficulty this anime will be a much needed respite and you will watch it again and again from time to time.
      

        One look at my list of watched animes will tell you that I am a novice to the world of animes. Certifying "Hungry Heart: Wild Striker" to be the best sports anime that I have ever seen might not amount to much, since it is arguably the only sports anime that I have seen till date. This incident occurred during the era when I had not yet watched an anime. One fine day, I came across my friend sitting in front of his laptop watching a "Japanese cartoon" in which characters with large eyes and pointed noses wearing orange were playing soccer with other characters withlarge eyes and pointed noses wearing blue. After watching over my friend's shoulder for about a couple of minutes, I thought I had got the general idea of the show. With what I assumed to be a wise wag of the head, I told him my impression - a soccer based show where the team you support face overwhelming odds, but they always manage to win.

I was totally wrong.

My friend assured me on the above point, and convinced me to give it a shot. Thus, I began watching "Hungry Heart: Wild Striker". And I am glad I did.

The main focus is on the soccer team of Jyoyo Akanegaoka High School. The soccer matches are a treat. True that some of the players seem to be adept at defying the laws of gravity and the limits of the human body. Often the ball is kicked or headed from an altitude of several times the goal-post. At some points, an attempt to tackle the ball from an opponent is not so much skill display on terra firma as a battle of wills in mid air. Also, some of the frames are used repeatedly.

But in spite of all this, I thoroughly enjoyed the soccer matches.

What mainly got to me was the spirit of the players, their approach to the game. The I-refuse-to-give-up attitude is only to be expected, but I liked it nevertheless. Then there is the way in which rivalry between teams and players are depicted. In the matches towards the end of a soccer season, where the opponents are formidable and Jyoyo's dreams of holding aloft the cup are seriously threatened, sparks fly. But at the end of the match, after the whistle has blown and the dust has settled, the gestures of the characters reveal the mutual respect beneath all the rivalry.

There is also the element of unpredictability. Because of this, an overflow of adrenaline is almost inevitable. This is not the usual show where the side you support magically discover hitherto unknown skills with the ball and score away. If the figures on the score-board are not in favour of Jyoyo, and the referee is eying the clock and putting the whistle to his mouth, it is reason enough for fans of Jyoyo to panic. And even though this was just an anime featuring - not even professional soccer, but just - high school soccer, I found myself heartily supporting Jyoyo.

It was not just the soccer matches that had me hooked. A lot happens off the field as well. It becomes clear that before joining the Jyoyo team, Kyosuke had once quit soccer because he becomes fed up of being compared with his illustrious elder brother, whose skills are at such a level that it is he who makes Japan a force to be reckoned with in the world of football. And yet, it was with his brother that Kyosuke nurtured his own skills at soccer, and developed a passion for the game. Bit by bit, the relation between Kyosuke and his brother is revealed. The encounters between Kyosuke and Tsujiwaki Miki - captain of the girls soccer team - are hilarious, and much more.
Then there are the relations between the players. This is seen both on the field and off it, during serious matches and during practice matches.

As the series progresses, we see the characters change. Perhaps this is one of the most charming aspects of any show. For most of the characters, I don't think I could use the same adjective to describe them the way they are at the beginning and at the end.

The background score is excellent, especially during the matches. It is totally in sync with and reflective of the situation of Jyoyo. But then, I usually learn to appreciate the music after I have appreciated the anime. As for the animation, I am not complaining. The voice of the characters is excellent.

Overall rating: 8

Bottomline: A rather under-appreciated anime. But excellent as it is, a fair warning for followers of soccer played in the real world - you might not like it. This last paragraph has been added as an afterthought after remembering what happened after I recommended Hungry Heart to an EPL fanatic. I think he got as far as the tenth or eleventh episode before he dropped it in disgust. And for months after that, he never lost an opportunity to give me a tongue-lashing for convincing him to see such an anime.
      

        What will you do when you have a same passion and dream as your brother and in fact,your brother is a lot brighter than you and have a lot more potential than you do?Also if he is already a few step forward from you to reach his dream,what will you do?Will you keep chasing him until you reach him,or will you admit it that you never can surpass your brother??Well,that's happen a lot in reality although I write it down pretty dramatically.The jealousy,the hatred or an admiration that you feel for your brother?The beginning of this 'Hungry Heart' story is like that. Kanou Seisuke,is a succesfuljapanese soccer player and he's playing for the AC Milan as a midfieldstriker and in his top performance and glory at the moment.He's also considered as one of the best player in the world.Meanwhile,his little brother Kanou Kyousuke is a delinquent in Akanegaoka
High School and feared by many people because he's powerful in street fighting.He has a very eccentric orange colored hair appearances which is make him look even more like a delinquent. Together with his brother when they're still a kid,he often plays and train their skill in soccer in order to aim their dream to become a great soccer player at the future.

When I decided to write a review for this anime,I'm hesitate.I mean,what's the point of reviewing an anime that already aired almost 9 years ago and already outdated?But then I realize that I want to review this one in order to make Hungry Heart popular once again and make people who read this review to watch this one (I hope),because it's such a shame to let this one unwatched by many people.So,I bravely make myself write this review eventhough I know that
I'm not that skillful at English.So I'm sorry if you read some part of my review and there's a mistake in it.But I'll put my best on it,I promise you.

Sport anime is always identic with an enormous amount of episode,lot of field action and a 'matrix' situation when the character is doing a spectacular move (you know,it's suddenly can be a slow motion in the middle of the game and paused for a long time).But Hungry Heart isn't like that. Compared to other sport anime,I personally think that the story isn't too long and complex (in my own
opinion).The plot is simple and maybe,for all of you who's been already watch a lot of sport anime, is easy to guess.But that doesn't mean that the story itself is boring and plain.It's somehow bring a spirit and excitement for the audience,especially if you love soccer.I'm personally love this anime because I love soccer a lot and the feeling of the story flow inside me.

I feel very surprised when I know that this story is created by Takahashi Yoichi,the original creator of the famous 'Captain Tsubasa'.Yeah,it's a very different one from Tsubasa.The only similarities is in the eye 'part' of the main character.I realize that it's pretty much alike with Tsubasa's.You will never find a never ending succes like in Tsubasa's soccer journey in Hungry Heart.Instead of a plain and childish story like Tsubasa,Hungry Heart serve you a brand new and refreshing plot.The story setting is in the High School.There's a lot meaningful point of friendship,hardwork,and a little romance in Hungry Heart.It's about a teenage who live in a dorm with his soccer team mate here.

The impressive part of Hungry Heart is that this story can make such a simple and easygoing plot like dorm live and soccer become more attractive and funny.Another positive point for this show is the character in this story.It's different with another sport anime which usually self centered and only make the main character is the only interesting character in the story. In Hungry Heart,all of the character built up the story.Every each of the player in the team involved in the story and they character are all well described.

Okay,now I will talk about the lack of this story.It's lack of L.O.V.E.Well,I'm a 16 years old brat now,and I'm in my puberty now,and when I rewatch this anime I realize that this anime lack of romance.I demand more of it,but this anime only give a little of it between Kyousuke and Miki. And yeah,actually demand more episode too (I guess 52 episode wasn't enough for me).

The other plus point for this anime is the music.The opening (2nd Stage) is very nice and suitable for a this anime.The ending (Utaibito Hane) is soooo damn gooooddddd and I never bored to listen to it even after many years after this anime ended. 

Well,over all....This anime is very worth for you to watch and I recommend it highly for you,but whether you like it or not it's up to you.All of people have a different taste,so I don't mind it.
      

        Hungry Heart : Wild Striker is the best sports anime I have seen so far. Maybe the best anime I have seen too. SPOILERS AHEAD It's not the typical sports anime, however. It's the first time I have seen the main character's team lose so many times, and lose the last match of the series. Hungry Heart has a very great cast of characters, including the main team, rivals, and supporting characters. Side stories are developed fine, so is the main character's background. I'm talking about Kyosuke Kanou. Kanou is a very tempered striker, always in the shadow of his brother, a former player in the european league. Thestory focuses on his develop as a player and as a person, with some romance, and the discover of his past.

There's a little of romance, a lot of comedy, and a very motivational feeling. The ost is great, so are the openings and endings.

The animation is great so far, thus in some early chapters it's different from the later ones, as if it were done by other studio. This is the only reason the Art is valued in 9. After that, the matchs are animated greatly. The last chapter's match is amazing.


Hungry Heart really deserves 10 points overall. It's really fun and motivational.
      

        ITs complete opposite of captain tsubasa as author takes the point of view of underdog rather than winner like tubasa or his elder brother ...this anime focus on the orange head (kyouske) whos drive for football with his bullet shoot and instinct alone makes his way through losses ,uncooperative team,injury(glad they play it only once didnt go "major" ),and a protagonist who faces lots of setback despite all his hard work and taking his team on his back alone ...the main problem of this anime is that it doesnot have many great opponents ...but every opponent tactics are different and fascinating and wholefeel of u are living a life of a sports player rather than hero ......in short this football anime is a must watch as it deal with a lot of thing not only inside but outside of feild of a sportsman ...(love the part where kyouske does exercise that helps him not get niggling injuries)
      

        Before i start on the story, sound etc i have to say for some odd reason this anime has just got me thinking through the day mainly because there is no sequel to it which has really ticked me off D:. Story: I wasn't expecting anything really amazing cause the anime was unheard of, i stumbled across it when looking on the internet for football animes to watch (or soccer). I will admit, the storyline almost makes you feel as though you are apart of the team! Sound: I thought the music just fitted in nicely especially around Kanou and Miki :D. Characters : The conceited triothey called them with Kanou, Sakai and Rodrigo was an awesome thing to do. The majority of the characters i did like as well including Sergant chin and Sako =D.

Overall its an anime that unless you give it a go you can't explore into the deepness and how the anime sucks you in with the storyline. It shows off what all Pro football players go through when they get scouted for a team what they have to think about at that point, injuries and pressure. Amazing stuff!
      

        Hungry heart wild striker is a very good soccer anime with team development . And as a sport a anime fan I've watched a great deal .However it seemed rushed as it only had 52 episodes and missed out some vital parts of the story that would have made it better.Over all the plot was epic, decent graphics and special moves. But could have been better if the story was written in more depth (I've not read the manga so I'm not sure) and if they progressed the anime further instead of a let down of an ending.
      

        6.5 Story Are you a younger brother of someone famous? Are you becoming a shadow of your siblings? Are you tired of being compared and seems to be always the second best? You might have the same scenario with Kyosuke. An Orange Highschool, orange haired main protagonist and orange uniform, you’ll all get it in Wild Striker. The Hanamichi Sakuragi of Soccer? That would be Kyosuke Kano. This anime series focuses to the main protagonist, Kyosuke Kano, a teenage highschool student who at the beginning of the series, has just transferred into Jyoyo Orange High School. He is the younger brother of Seisuke, afamous A.C Milan soccer player who first taught him how to play and love the game soccer and whom he admired since childhood. But after Seisuke left Japan to sign with Italian powerhouse A.C Milan, people started comparing Kyosoke to his brother. They criticize his different playing style, saying that it’s too rough and unpolished. Living with his brother shadow, he’s love for the game slowly started to diminish and eventually lost most of it if not for two schoolmate who saw and was amaze of his wonderful strike. 

You’ll learn how cooperation, loyalty and comradeship influence one’s decision. The choice between loyalty and ambition which was tested in several episodes can be seen. 
The main characters evolve from being an individualist to a true sportsman. The story is a continuing strives to win. The motto “try and try until you succeed” and “don’t lose hope” is noticeable. It’s more of individual growth than of the team where they belong. 

The story seems to have a lot of cuts. It looks like something is missing but you cannot point it out. It also seems to be fast-forward. It was unfit for only 52 episodes. 

This is one of sports type anime that you wish there is a miracle win that will happen in difficult times. I don’t know if it’s being realistic or the writer just love tragedies. It’s quite disappointing! The writer is being hard to himself. What’s with winning at least once on their strongest rival? They are the protagonist team right?

7   Animation

The Wild Striker can happen in anyone’s school. The setting is typical and ordinary. One downfall of the show is the poor animation. If you don’t like old animes, it might not be to your likings. Except from the main characters Kyosuke, with distinct orange hair, Rodrigo with Brazilian features and Sakai with distinct European features all other characters are blurred in comparison. This other character can be interchange by a non frequent viewer of the show. The drawing is kind of suck. The coloring is not that good. The graphics are not that refined. 

Don’t look at the characters and you’ll get excite. They use awesome effects especially in “losing parts”. The raining parts are epic. You’ll be carried away much more if you hear the background music. Losing seems to be one of the best parts if you’ll think about it.

10   Sound

I’ll give two thumbs up when it comes to sound. This is one of those anime that gives me a last song syndrome after watching it. Especially the first opening song "2nd Stage" by Kids Alive. They also have the right effects for the different moods that revolve around the story. Since it’s a sports type anime, the effects add to the adrenaline rush of viewers watching it. On the field sounds and player dialogues are good and do make tense moments even more exciting.

7   Characters

The story focuses more on individual characters than the team itself. It shows how a character might be anyone. They seem to be picking up from reality. 
You’ll see how the main characters Kyosuke, from being a delinquent and devil may care attitude to a potential leader and responsible player. How Sakai from being “Mr. Popular and show off to become a dedicated and loyal friend although their still a hint of his being a lover boy. Rodrigo’s being an individualist to become a mid fielder who connect the team and use his brilliance not for his own benefit but of the team. It also shows that some people are born with talent and some don’t. It has the proper portrayal of characters according to their skills. The noticeable details about some traditions and behaviors of foreign players are also observed.

7.5   Overall

Not being into sports didn’t hinder me to like the show. It got a good humor that lightens the tension and its share of drama which usually involve career break decisions. 
There might be drawbacks like the drawings are not that awesome and the story kind of suck in between but its still okay. It does have the certain “K” that makes me addicted. The losses that they encounter had been artfully done. It was actually one of the best parts of the show. 

Don’t expect a good ending for the team. It’s more of individual growth. This is a story of friendship, comradeship, sportsmanship and loyalty. It shows the strong bond that form in the team. This is one of shounen type anime series that girls didn’t become an issue to major decision of the main protagonist. In short, they would not piss you off.You would like the slightly hinted romance between Miki and Kyosuke that is not so pronounce until the later part. 

How I wish it was not a 52 episode series since I believe that it’s too short if it’s a sports type and competing in nationals. 

If you always want a win in the main team, don’t watch it. You’ll get hurt. But if you appreciate epic losses, struggles, hard work and reality, go for it. 

It seems to be an open ending. It only says what happen to the main man Kyosuke. Which lives a lot of question for viewers.