2024] From Youth to Gutsy Pros! 10 immersive soccer manga!

In the cold winter months, one would like to warm up with some physical activity through sports, but the reality is that this is not always possible. How about reading manga to lift your spirits? Manga about soccer, in particular, are filled with descriptions of different positions and heated battles with rivals, and they will make you hotter as you read them.

In this article, we have picked up works from various perspectives, from youth soccer to professional soccer, to enjoy soccer from various angles. We hope you will start with the one that interests you the most.

Recommended Soccer Manga

BE BLUES!

This is a passionate story of a young soccer boy, Ichijo Ryu, who dreams of becoming a member of the Japan national team. Ryu, once considered a prodigy, meets with an accident and is severely injured. He overcame the painful rehabilitation process with his own determination and entered a prestigious soccer high school where he trained hard to become a regular player.

The story of his friendship with his twin brother and sister, Ryu's childhood friends, also evokes a sense of adolescence. The story realistically depicts not only soccer, but also school life, relationships with parents, first love, and other shaky feelings of adolescence.

The manga is different from other soccer manga in that it is a soccer manga with many attractive female characters.

Shoot! by Tsukasa Oshima / 33 volumes

Toshihiko Tanaka joins the Kakegawa High School soccer club to fulfill his dream of playing with the legendary Yoshiharu Kubo. Unfortunately, Kubo is under medical treatment, and the vice-captain is overbearing and does not allow him to practice much.

Toshihiko is growing increasingly frustrated, but the story takes a major turn when the manager makes a proposal. The proposal was to have a rivalry match between first-year and second-year students, and if they won, a regular player from the first-year team would be chosen.

The vice-captain's response to Toshihiko, who lost the match but showed his determination, softened. The team's morale is also boosted by the return of Kubo, whom the team admires, from medical treatment. Be sure to catch the passionate battles of the Kakegawa High School soccer team as they strive to reach the national stadium.

Football Alchemist by Shinya Kizaki / 5 volumes

Behind the glamorous world of professional soccer, this is the story of a football agent who handles contracts and transfers on behalf of players. It is a world where the transfer of a star player can cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Unlike most manga that depict soccer players playing and practicing, this is a novel work that depicts soccer from the perspective of the raw, behind-the-scenes aspects of transfers.

Japanese players, foreign players, and a university student who is hired as an intern by a football agent, each offer their own perspectives on the real backside of professional soccer.

Fantasista by Michiteru Kusaba / 25 volumes

Ruthei Sakamoto, a boy who has devoted himself to soccer on a small island, goes to Mizumoto High School in Tokyo, where his older sister is the coach. Ruthei, who had practiced soccer by himself until then, grows up quickly, although he is not familiar with the team-playing style.

Under the guidance of his older sister, who holds a Class C license, Ruthei played many matches against strong schools and eventually made it to the Japanese youth national team. After graduating from high school, he continued his training in Italy and became a member of the All-Japan team, becoming a fantasista recognized around the world.

The book includes explanatory notes on tactics and techniques, so even those unfamiliar with soccer can enjoy it. The theory of soccer is incorporated into the story in an easy-to-understand manner, allowing the reader to appreciate the merits of soccer itself.

TIEMPO by Daisuke Iino / 17 volumes

Yuzuki Seto started playing soccer in junior high school. However, Yuzuki's life changes drastically when Keiji Asami, an upperclassman, joins the club in the middle of the season.

Asami is a very skilled soccer player, but she has a fierce personality that yells at anyone who doesn't play the way she likes to play. Yuzuki desperately tries to avoid Asami's yelling. Yuzuki's soccer talent blossoms as he studies Asami's game, and he is scouted by many prestigious schools.

However, Yuzuki rejects the scouts and decides that he would like to enjoy playing soccer without the upperclassmen.

This is a coming-of-age soccer manga with just the right balance of soccer and Asami's relationship with her seniors. It will be interesting to see how the protagonist, who has a timid personality, grows as a high school student.

Mr. CB by Isao Tanijima and Masaya Tsunamoto

Mamoru Yoshinaga is a former Japanese national soccer player in Japan's third division. Although the team was based in the Tokyo Bay area as "Tokyo Wonders," they could not get promoted every year and could not get a stadium built.

One day, Yoshinaga comes to an abandoned stadium construction site and meets a soccer boy. His number was 3, and he looked like a center back (CB).

Yoshinaga senses that the boy, a Tokyo Wonders fanatic, has talent as a CB, and begins to bring him up on the team. What will happen to the team with an unknown boy in it, and the unusual storyline focusing on CBs is also noteworthy.

Football Nation by Yuki Otake

Tokyo Crusade is a soccer team in the third division of the working men's league. Their player application guidelines are "We are looking for players with beautiful legs!

This may sound like a joke, but the team's manager, Mikiyasu Takahashi, was building a team of players who could use their leg muscles correctly, just like players in Europe.

The manga is genuinely informative because it provides a theoretical study of how to use muscles to become a better soccer player. There are many elements of a "body usage manga" on the subject of soccer, which will allow you to enjoy soccer from a fresh perspective.

Dye it Blue by Miyato Sakurai

Until elementary school, Aoshi Tobitaka and his older brother were passionate about soccer and were called "genius brothers. However, while his older brother is now a junior high school student and attracts worldwide attention as a "treasure of the Japanese soccer world," Aoshi is a dropout.

While the whole world was looking at where his brother should go to school, he chose a Japanese high school where his younger brother, Aoshi, was a dropout. Following Beniya, five genius athletes from around the world also enroll in a Japanese high school. Aoshi is painfully aware of the huge difference in ability between his brother and himself, but he is determined to fight his way up from the bottom three to join the first team.

Meanwhile, the club holds a red-and-white match, in which Aoshi will be selected to join the first team if he wins. Will Aoshi make it into the first team? Can he make up the difference in ability with his older brother? Please pick up a copy of this royal soccer manga filled with the elements of adolescence.

Written by MAGiCO : Riki Sakuma / 17 volumes

Kuraki Date, a soccer boy returning from Brazil, loved the magical show-off play he saw as a child. However, such a style of play is not allowed in Japan's club youth teams, and he is expected to play according to the coach's instructions.

Feeling constrained, Kuraki decided to join Natsuko High School, a weak team he met by chance on the riverbank. With the magical style of play he learned in Brazil, he leads the soccer club to victory, even though it was on the verge of being discontinued.

Although Kuuraki is a bit silly, his passion for soccer is so passionate that it is exhilarating to watch. It is very cool to see him playing magic, and every soccer boy would admire him for it.

Shudan! by Takuma Yokota / 4 volumes

Sousuke Sakurada is a sixth grader who belongs to a youth soccer team in Shizuoka, known as the "Kingdom of Soccer. He enjoys playing soccer leisurely with his friends, but the team's consciousness changes drastically when a girl joins the team. She is an all-around player who can play any position with ease.

The team's transformation into a regional powerhouse was triggered by her joining the team. The appeal of this work is that it excels in psychological portrayal, exquisitely depicting the boys' characteristic unwillingness to play soccer and their subtle awareness of the girls.

Even those who do not play soccer can enjoy this manga, so even those who do not usually read soccer manga should definitely read it.