In era where video game film adaptions are starting to gain more traction, it generally warms my heart to see one of my favorite forms of art get the respect it deserves. At least, most of the time. We've had a few stinkers recently like Borderlands and Uncharted, so it makes a little nervous about the future. So whenever I'm feeling down, I like to take a look back at my personal favorite video game franchise, Inazuma Eleven. A soccer RPG that somehow got one of the most authentic and well constructed anime adaptations I had ever seen.
Unlike most video game adaptations that came out in the late 2000's, Inazuma Eleven didn't rely on any cheap tricks or cliches in order to entertain its audience. In fact, director Akihiro Hino would go out of his way to make the anime adaption feel just like the video game. Claiming in an interview that it was one of his biggest pet peeves that even when a video game adaption was done well, it would usually throw out a lot of important elements in order to fit in with the norm.
That's not the case with Inazuma Eleven. On the surface, it looks like another underdogs story, involving a lot of cheesy messages and predictable outcomes. When in reality, it's more of a hybrid of Captain Tsubasa and Dragon Ball Z. Traditional soccer rules are emphasized, but most of time characters will unleash over the top special attacks in order to win the day. But not without meaning.
While their is a lore reason in Inazuma Eleven GO why players are able to create things like fire and ice out of thin air, the special moves are more of a visual representation of a character's development. Which makes the special moves all the more satisfying to discover.
Endou Mamoru's God Hand represents his determination to make his team feel safe. Royal Academy's Death Zone represents the overwhelming despair they bestow upon their opponents. Gouenji Shuuya's Fire Tornado represents his buried passion for soccer. These techniques are more than just cool moves. They give you insight into the characters.
On top of that, this is one of the few anime shows I've watched that posses phenomenal pacing. I love long running shows like One Piece, but it takes far less time to experience the story through the manga. So I usually watch the show to see the highlights. Inazuma Elven on the other hand wastes no time to make you care about its story.
Every single episode is dedicated to either training, character development, or soccer. There is no filler whatsoever. Aside from two recap episodes at the end of Season 2, this show dedicates just enough time to make you care about every story segment from the video game. Some elements being a little different, like Majin Hand being the key to defeat Zeus instead of the Inazuma Break. But most of the time, I'd argue the storytelling is even better in the anime.
It may not be flawless, but it's my own little slice of personal perfection. I mean, this is a Shone Jump style anime that doesn't have any perverted characters or obnoxious filler episodes that hurt the pacing. Honestly, that was really rare to see at the time. The only real thing that bothers me is that the English Dub is subpar. If you ask me, the best way to watch this show is to watch the original Japanese sub version. The writing is way better and the main protagonist is voiced by Junko Takeuchi, the voice actress for Naruto. How awesome is that?
Video game adaptions might be authentic now, but I think we all owe a lot to Akihiro Hino for fleshing out the idea.
