1/11 - Vol. 6 Ch. 17.1 - Mitarai Kyousuke (Part 1)

[MangaDex]

 

[arczyx]

Thanks for the chapter!

 

[Furioustoast]

Thanks for the chapter! I'll be waiting patiently for the next ones! ?

 

[grouchylady]

Made an account just to say -- as an American soccer fan, I really appreciate and am deeply impressed by the research that went into this. The team Andou joins is pretty blatantly based on the Philadelphia Union. The teams he's shown playing against are the NY Red Bulls (well, under their previous name as the MetroStars, rather anachronistically -- that kit is from the late 90s when the Union wasn't in the league yet), what looks like the Chicago Fire, and pre-Beckham LA Galaxy (again kinda fudging with the timeline; in fact I am pretty sure that is supposed to be Cobi Jones). Meanwhile, the team Shiki was originally going to join was almost certainly the short-lived Philadelphia Independence, just newly established at the time (~2010).

Also for the record I am pretty sure there are no cheerleaders anymore, but yes, they're one of the quirkier parts of the league's history. The ones pictured are... judging by the uniform, probably the Chivas Girls? This predates my fandom lol

Probably interesting to note that there have actually been very few Japanese players in the league, probably due to the very same kinds of preconceptions Mitarai showcases here about US soccer, and I think maybe only two have had any real longevity or success here. I'm curious to see how the rest of this arc plays out because MLS can be... weird (I say this lovingly) and one of the earlier chapters seemed to hint at Andou leading this team to the Club World Cup? Which, I'm sorry, is hilarious. I hope I'm misremembering or it was mistranslated. ?

(Also MLS would have totally hyped up someone who scored in the World Cup against England, just sayin')