THE TEAM OF THE HEART

The Japanese cartoon The team of the heart (original title Hungry Heart Wild Striker) is taken from the manga comic Hungry Heart by Yoichi Takahashi, the same author of Captain Tsubasa which in Italy was published thanks to Star Comics. The anime produced by Nippon Animation and Animax is divided into 52 episodes and was broadcast in Japan in September 2002 on the Animaxè channel, while in Italy it was known on Teen Television in December 2003. From June 3, 2008 it is possible to follow the episodes at 18,00 on Italia 1 from Monday to Friday.

The protagonist of the series is Roy Kanu (Kyosuke Kano in the manga), a boy with a rebellious and impulsive character, brother of the famous Milan footballer, Peter Kanu (Seisuke Kano in the manga). Roy can't stand that all the boys look for him just because he is the brother of a famous footballer, so he hates football and suffers from a strong inferiority complex, despite the fact that he too is gifted with an innate talent and a shot full of astounding power. . In its appearance it is characterized by a showy orange hair, which reveals its fiery character, ready to ignite with anger for every little accident. Roy would like to pursue careers other than football, so he devotes himself to music and armed with a guitar he starts singing along the streets of his city, more to be appreciated for his singing skills than to receive coins. His singing is actually not very pleasant and this attracts the curiosity of a group of thugs, who want to have fun behind his back. They have not come to terms with Roy's strength, which in a matter of seconds knocks them out and makes them run away. To stop them in traffic, he takes a child's ball and with a powerful and balanced shot breaks the traffic light, which drives traffic crazy and creates chaos. Roy is forced to flee and out of his pocket, he loses his school card. He is picked up by Miki, a green-haired girl, who is part of the school's women's soccer team, looking for a coach and was amazed by Roy's athletic gesture with his friend Mori. Miki to convince Roy to train his team, threatens to report him to the police, for the trouble he has done. Roy is thus forced in spite of himself, to take part in the training of the women's football team for a week, but he has no desire and does nothing but remain lying on the bench. Little by little, his childhood memories come back to his mind, when his older brother Peter taught him the basic rules of football. Roy is also stalked by Mori Kazuto, a bespectacled boy (reminiscent of Arthur Foster of Holly and Benji) manager of the Orange Hill team looking for a forward. Roy does not accept and sends him away badly, however Mori does not give up. Meanwhile, the girls of Miki's team have learned that Roy is the brother of the famous Peter Kanu, so they are willing to do anything to learn the teachings of their new coach. Roy, with a pinch of nastiness, teaches the young girls the first training: collect all the stones and weeds in the field! This is what his brother Peter taught him, as in addition to fortifying the muscles of the legs and back, it allowed them to have a clean field, to be able to play freely. Despite the difficulties, the girls and in particular Miki, do not give up and continue to work on cleaning the football field. Finally, at the end of the work, the girls can appreciate a beautiful clay court all to themselves, cleaned up and ready for training and matches, thus understanding the usefulness of that grueling work. Meanwhile, Mori has taken information on Roy's past, from the boys who played in the team with him in middle school. The profile of a violent and quarrelsome boy emerges, always expelled for misconduct and therefore perpetually on the bench. Furthermore, the few times he has played he has shown that he prefers individual play, rather than thinking about team schemes. Despite that bad reputation, Mori continues to believe that Roy has a great talent to be able to become a soccer champion. Meanwhile, training continues and Miki has registered his team in the regional championship. A week goes by and Roy ends his coaching commitment, so Miki returns the school card to the boy. Roy, however, had already made a duplicate of the card, so Miki understands that Roy has done her a favor without obligation. Moved by the desire to understand Roy's complex personality, Miki chases the boy and tries to convince him, together with Mori, to join Orange Hill and resume playing football following his style, without thinking about his brother. Although he leaves indignantly, Roy continues to reflect on the words of the two boys, about the possibility of resuming playing football. As he walks he is surrounded by thugs, who want to take revenge for the wrong just a while ago. To his aid comes Mori, who despite his frail physique and short stature confronts the thugs, to defend Roy. This does not prevent him from taking heavy beating and so Roy has to roll up his sleeves, to fight and defeat the thugs. Roy appreciated Mori's courageous gesture and so decides to join the Orange Hill team, in the role of forward.
Roy will then meet his new teammates and in particular with the Brazilian student Rodrigo and goalkeeper Sakai, who like Roy arrive for the first time in Orange Hill. To prove the skill of the newcomers, the starting team decides to challenge them. To complete the team Roy Kanu calls another group of kids, their first experience. Whoever is defeated will have to do 100 laps of the field. Meanwhile, the Orange Hill coach arrives, who seems more attracted to river fishing than thinking about football. The game begins and Rodrigo immediately proves to be a skilled player, with excellent dribbling. Kanu's team immediately took the lead with Rodrigo and later doubled with a great goal from Roy Kanu. Goalkeeper Sakai proves his safety and skill by neutralizing very difficult shots. Despite everything, the amateur team collapses after just 10 minutes and the Orange Hill holders begin to recover, winning the game with a heavy 12 to 2. This is because the new players still have to improve their athletic condition and their understanding, despite having demonstrated excellent potential. So to respect the bet, they are forced to run 100 times around the field. Here they have the opportunity to get to know each other and to argue accusing each other for the defeat suffered.
Later Kano gets acquainted with Kaori, the team dietician who forces him to a strict vegetable-based diet. The coach decides to let Roy Kano, Sakai and Rodrigo play among the starters, but unexpectedly places Kano in the line of defenders. This angers the player who decides to leave the team, because he would like to play on offense. Miki convinces Roy to return to the team and to be humble in following the coach's advice. Sakai, Rodrigo and Kanu will soon begin to find an excellent agreement, thanks also to the good advice of coach Murakami Kazuo, once a striker of the Japanese national team. The Orange Hill team also consists of captain Sako, who plays in midfield, the mighty defender Kamata and left winger Ichikawa Hiroshi. Thus victory after victory, thanks to the dribbles of Roidrigo and the goals of Roy Kanu, the Orange Hill team reaches the semi-final of the regional tournament.

by Gianluigi Piludu

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