Giant Killing

Giant Killing has nothing to do with slaying colossal creatures. It is about a struggling soccer team under the name ETU (East Tokyo United). This team has done everything to stay within the division and avoid relegation. And to make matters worse, the fans are starting to abandon the team. In order to fix the situation ETU hired a new coach. ETU's former player Tatsumi Takeshi.

Tatsumi was introduced as a successful coach of an English Division 5 team called FC Eastham. Gotoh who was a former teammate of Tatsumi and now the GM of ETU, tried to convince Tatsumi on returning to Japan in order to coach the struggling team. Tatsumi agreed, however things were not that simple. Tatsumi is labeled a traitor in ETU since he abandoned the team for retirement when the team needed him most. It was also during Tatsumi's retirement that ETU fell down the ranks. Tatsumi now has to win back the trust of the fans and the team.

ETU is pitted against teams that have bigger budgets and better players. Despite the odds facing the team, Tatsumi is actually an expert at "Giant Killing".

Definition of Giant-killing:
When the party popularly expected to win team, is defeated by an underdog whom the majority expects to lose, defying the conventional wisdom. The underdog then becomes a giant-killer.

Yoink!

This series ran for 26 episodes and was broadcasted in NHK BS hi channel. The show has an array of characters with different backgrounds which is revealed within the story. At the beginning it seems like a slow paced show, but once the action starts, it will leave you begging for more. To put the story short, it is a transition from turmoil to harmony, from underdog to giant killer.

If you're a sucker for underdog stories like Takehiko Inoue's Slam Dunk, then this show is for you. You can watch the show instantly through Kumby.com. Or download the torrent of the show in high resolution from FFFpeeps (which is by the way, my favorite fansubbing group right now).