Captain Tsubasa: Difference between revisions

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{{tropelist}}

* [[Adaptation Distillation]]: The ''Road to 2002'' animated adaptation, the premise was to cover the first manga series up to the 3rd manga series (the titular Road to 2002), but in practice is merely a rushed retelling of the beginning of the manga series and altering the many sub-plots along the way to catch up with the later manga series; to wit: all romantic subplots from the manga were dropped, even the one involving ''Tsubasa himself'' who would be {{spoiler|married by the 2002 arc}}, some [[Love Interest|Love Interests]] for the guys were introduced, only to provide support as they never went anywhere, while other girls weren’t lucky enough ''to even exist'' in this adaptation. Removing the romance wouldn’t be so bad if originally it wasn’t one of the main forces keeping and inspiring the guys to continue playing soccer, but is, and by removing it several events had to be altered or to be downright ignored.

* [[All of the Other Reindeer]]: Tsubasa is a milder version. Natsuko, his mother, says that Tsubasa didn't have friends other than Yayoi until they moved to Shizuoka. Tsubasa himself doesn't seem to mind that much, tho, since soon the Nankatsu kids befriend him.

* [[Big Bad Wannabe]]: Nitta Shun, in the 3rd year Junior High tournament arc.

* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: {{spoiler|Ken Wakashimazu in the Meiwa-Furano match. Matsuyama, in the WYC match against Sweden.}}

* [[Bokukko]] --> [[Shorttank]]: Sanae.

* [[Break the Cutie]]: Santana, Misaki, and Aoi had very sad backstories.

* [[Break the Haughty]]: VERY common. Wakabayashi, Hyuga, Shun Nitta, Soda, Espadas, John from the anime, Louis Napoleon, Ryoma Hino and several others get bitchslapped on the courts for their arrogance.

* [[Cannot Spit It Out]]: Tsubasa and Sanae, Yoshiko and Matsuyama.

* [[Can't Catch Up]]: Lots of people in the Japanese team are in clear disadvantage when compared to Tsubasa, Hyuga and Wakabayashi.

* [[Changed My Mind, Kid]]: Ken Wakashimazu and Aoi Shingo in the World Youth series. The Asia qualifying matches, especially against Thailand, would've been a cakewalk if both didn't [[Refusal of the Call|refuse the call up]] in the first place.

* [[Chaste Hero]]: Tsubasa is so [[Married to the Job]] that he fails to see Sanae's interest in him for quite a while. The manga shows him as being more aware of it, to the point of standing up for her against her [[Stalker with a Crush]]; the anime is more subtle.

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]:

** World Youth. Before the tournament goes, Japanese coaches happen to come across a video of a fantastic football player. He's described so good that no Japanese players are allowed to watch it for fear that their morale sink. {{spoiler|He is Natureza, and he only shows up in the end}}

** World Youth again. Tomeya Akai first shows up in a bonus section, pre-Asian Youth. On the second time they meet, Aoi recruits him to Japan Youth because he has good marking skill and Aoi feels he will be important later on. {{spoiler|He is later tasked to mark Levin of Sweden Youth, a job he does well.}}

* [[Cool Big Sis]]: Sanae, towards Kumi. Yukari, towards Sanae herself.

* [[Cry Cute]]: Santana. ''Oh God, Santana''. Seeing him open the water works after {{spoiler|he's reunited with his mother}}...

* [[Cute Sports Club Manager]]: A number of them in the Junior High arc. Nankatsu has Sanae (the manga [[Ur Example]]) with Yukari and Kumi as [[The Lancer|her assistants]]; Furano has Yoshiko, with Machiko as her assistant. Both Sanae and Yoshiko [[Official Couple|hook up]] with the captains of their respective teams, Tsubasa and Matsuyama; {{spoiler|meanwhile, Yukari hooks up with Tsubasa's Nankatsu Lancer, Ishizaki.}} And Mushashi has Yayoi, who is ship teased ''very heavily'' with Misugi.

* [[Expy]]: By the bushel. Juan Díaz is pretty much a teenaged Maradona. Rivaúl is expy of Rivaldo. Van Saal is Van Gaal. Callusias is Casillas. Dammmit, every player that is not a main character is an expy of some important player.

* [[Famous-Named Foreigner]]: El Sid Pierre (named after the famous play of Pierre Corneille "Le Cid"), and Louis [[Napoleon Bonaparte|Napoléon]], in the French team.

* [[First Girl Wins]]: Subverted in the original anime: Yayoi Aoba was seen in the very first scene and later it seemed she'd be a strong contendor for Tsubasa's affection at first, but she soon was [[Out of Focus]] and Tsubasa hooked up with the Second Girl, Sanae. Played with in the manga: Yayoi still was Tsubasa's oldest friend, but the aforementioned scene doesn't take place so Sanae is the First Girl we meet.

* [[Hachimaki]]: Proudly worn by Matsuyama Hikaru and the Furano players. All were made by Matsuyama's girlfriend Yoshiko.

* [[Holding Out for a Hero]]: Averted in the Golden-23 series, when the coach decides {{spoiler|NOT to call up Tsubasa & Hyuga for their Olympics qualification games despite protests from fans.}}

* [[I Know Madden Kombat]]: Inverted with Wakashimazu Ken, the Karate Keeper. He knows his karate ''real'' well ''and'' adapts some karate techniques to soccer. Heck, there was a subplot with him not wanting to be [[Heir to the Dojo]] and being given [[You Have 48 Hours|a year of probatory]] by his father to prove himself. Also, {{spoiler|Nitta also takes up karate to improve his skills in the Road to 2002 series}}.

* [[Ill Boy]]: Jun Misugi is a male example, who's prone to [[Hollywood Heart Attack|Hollywood Heart Attacks]], up until the World Youth saga.

* [[Ironic Echo]]: On the Sao Paulo vs Flamengo match, Tsubasa deliberately falls on one of Santana's tackle to get a good kick-off and show him that referees are humans, and that he should stop considering himself a "soccer cyborg", finishing his tirade with "this is one of the fun things in soccer". {{spoiler|A few minutes later, in a counter-attack near Sao Paulo's goals, Santana shoots the ball on Tsubasa's foot so that it counts as a Sao Paulo pass, thus not putting his Flamengo partner offside and putting him in an advantageous position to score the goal : as the goal is scored, Santana says to Tsubasa "this is one of the fun things in soccer" with an evil look and a [[Slasher Smile]]}}.

* [[I Want My Beloved to Be Happy]]: Kumi, and eventually Kanda.

* [[Japanese Sibling Terminology]]: Since she's very bossy and acts like an older sister, Sanae is nicknamed "Anego" ("Older Sister") by the Nankatsu kids. They drop it later and refer to her as "Manager", when she officially becomes the [[Team Mom]] of the team. In Tsubasa's case, he resorts to call her "Sanae-chan" ever since he finds out; OTOH, her underclassman Kumi calls her "Sanae-sempai", and her best friend Yukari merely calls her "Sanae".

* [[Jerkass]] --> [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]: Both Wakabayashi and Hyuga.

* [[Opposing Sports Team]]: Averted: the rivals are fairly sympathetic, sometimes bordering on [[Punch Clock Villain|Punch Clock Villains]]. If rivals aren't sympathetic, though, they'll lose ''[[Can't Get Away with Nuthin'|badly]]'' [[Break the Haughty|as punishment]].

* [[Passionate Sports Girl]]: Maki idolizes Hyuga, but she still wants her own career as a softball player. {{spoiler|And she gets it later}}.

* [[Phenotype Stereotype]]: Several European players have blue eyes and blond hair, several Latin Americans have darker skin and hair. Curiously, Hyuga and Jito are dark skinned ''Japanese''.

** Hyuga being dark-skinned is [[Lampshaded]] by Maki the first time they talk together at Okinawa:

'''Maki''': You're so tanned I thought, at first, that you were from Okinawa. }}

** Oddly enough, this is partly averted, of all teams, with the ''Mexican'' team. With the exception of Espadas and some few players, the rest of the Mexican players are blond or light-skinned, unlike their South American peers.

* [[Put on a Bus]]: The Tachibana twins, after the second school tournament. They're either substitutes without any chance to play or are soon seriously injured whenever they get to play.

* [[Remember the New Guy?]]: Aoi Shingo.

** Subverted with Kumi, who is an assistant too but ''is'' quite younger than Sanae and Yukari so she's more of [[The Cutie|a cute]] [[Tagalong Kid|little sister]] to them.

* [[Technician Versus Performer]]: Hyuga is the Performer, Tsubasa is the Technician.

* [[Those Two Guys]]: Tamotsu and Takai, the two cheerleaders who were often subjected to Sanae's temper tantrums. {{spoiler|They [[Took a Level In Badass|level up with time]] and reappear as assistants in the Golden 23 series}}

* [[To Be a Master]]: Indeed.

* [[Tyke Bomb]]: Santana.

* [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]]: Kumi, who is in love with Tsubasa but lets him go willingly so he can have Sanae, the girl he loves.

* [[Victorious Childhood Friend]]: Sanae, {{spoiler|who even ''marries'' Tsubasa and ''has a child with him''!}}.

* [[Vitriolic Best Buds]]: Ishizaki and Urabe.

* [[Volleying Insults]]: Ishizaki and the Tachibana twins.

* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]]: The series ''breathes and eats'' this trope, with a side of [[You Fail Physics Forever]].

* [[Yamato Nadeshiko]]: Yoshiko, Yayoi, Hyuga's unnamed mother, Natsuko. Sanae grows into one in the manga, but in the TV series she's more tempery so she doesn't fully qualify.

** Considering how deferent and devoted he is to his friends and family, Taro Misaki is one of the rare male examples.