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INAZUMA ELEVEN GO REWATCH Logging through episodes as I rewatch them. I'll talk about my thoughts, headcanons, etc. Just something self indulgent for my own enjoyment!
Some episodes will have more thoughts and tangents than others.
☆01: 雷門に吹く新しい風！ "A New Wind Blowing at Raimon!"
Air Date: 04/05/2011
Inazuma Eleven GO is about to start! (Woof!) Episode 1, let's go! This is mostly an establishing episode, so I probably won't go too off-track with my thoughts for this one~ I'll save those for later! I've seen this episode so many times, it's difficult to remember what my first impressions were.

It takes under 40 seconds to recap where we are before jumping into some bizarre imagery with the Holy Emperor. (Who could he be!?) Why is he in a church? I wish we could've seen more of Fifth Sector and how everything functions behind the scenes, but it's fun leaving it up to the imagination as well. You can get a bit wild with it all. I wrote a personal longfic in 2023 from Tsurugi's POV which got into it quite a bit. It's incomplete for now, but I'd love to complete and (maybe) share it some day.

Anyway, I already went on a ramble. Get ready for plenty of those! This episode is pretty faithful to the game (with some minor gameplay tutorial stuff with Aoi removed). Tenma greeting his dog and chatting with him before school is really cute. He's so excited for his first day of Junior High School, I feel a little sorry for him with how the day turns out.

Tenma explores Raimon school, and eventually bumps into Haruna. I always appreciated how this series handles the returning characters. It's a random comparison, but it reminds me of Digimon 02 in the sense that some of the original characters return, but they don't dominate the show for the sake of fanservice.

Anyway, Tenma introduces himself and my very favourite anime opening plays! "Ten Made Todoke" is just great. The part where Tenma kicks the ball through the clouds and the rain stops is the best. The game does a bit more with the gloomy sky and rain in its cutscenes, but I like how it's shown here at least. "Let the colors dazzle with our dreams and thoughts" ahh, I love it. The image of the whole team together is nice too, even if we haven't got to meet them just yet.

Tsurugi makes his appearance, here to destroy the Raimon soccer club, and I hope he's enjoying the evil-boy larp. He's a dear character to me, and I feel very bad for him here as well, lol. He's doing a lot of things he doesn't want to do, and Tenma isn't making it much easier for him to get it over with. It's still Tenma and Tsurugi's fated meeting. They call back to it in Galaxy, but I'm getting so far ahead of myself-- Tsurugi says, "you're the type I hate the most!" and maybe I do have a little thing for enemies to lovers... I'm not a big shipper, but they are my one true pairing, so expect these two to be brought up a bit... I'm sorry, this is my heart. They're both having a pretty awful day, but it's one they'll always remember.

Tsurugi kicks a ball into a trash can! It's all quite dramatic. I love that this show has never had a lick of irony. This is the most serious thing ever, actually.

I like how Tenma's personality is shown right away. He has the endless determination of the typical shonen protagonist, but his natural awkwardness makes him stand out to me. He's so cute, and he doesn't come across as an attempt to replicate Endou at all. It was a concern I had before starting GO (since I was a huge fan of the original). Yuka Terasaki is the perfect voice actress to portray him, and (obviously...) Tenma is my favourite role of hers.

The episode ends with the appearance of the first Raimon team here to save the day. It took me a while to warm up to these guys, but I'm very fond of them all these days. Their personalities get more time to shine in the games.

It's a decent start to the series. I struggle quite a bit with TV show pacing, but I think this one sets itself up pretty well. It's very much partnered with episode 2, which is where things get a bit crazier!!
The Inazuma Eleven GO's proverb today is...
"If I have my mind set to do it, I'll do it no matter what!"
That's all!
☆02: これが化身だ！ "This is a Keshin!"
Air Date: 11/05/2011
Shindou makes his proper appearance! I really love him in this first season. I think he's a bit of a "chronically misunderstood by fandom" type of guy. I like him. He starts the episode with an iconic line:

Shindou: "What do you think you're doing on these sacred grounds?"
Tsurugi: "Soccer."

I love the GO Raimon uniform we get a good look at here. The original Raimon uniform really felt like an underdog team, whilst this one is more vibrant and has a feeling of a prodigal team that's forcibly fallen from grace. I have an official version of Tenma's uniform shirt, which was a CD bonus at some point. It came in two sizes; somehow one of them was mine.

The new managers make their appearances, and I think they're okay! I'll discuss them and more of my headcanons when they show up properly. I have some thoughts on Aoi, and I've written her interacting with Tenma a lot in my personal longfic. She's Tenma's only childhood friend, but the series sadly doesn't do too much with that fact. I've found that this rewatch in particular has made me like her a lot more, for some reason! (I also love her singing voice.)

"Goalkeeper Sangoku couldn't even move!" is a line we'll be hearing a lot. I really love him. Bless him. He barely missed being in the series where the GK was the main character. Sorry, man!

Poor Tenma gets put into the match against Tsurugi's team. (The way he speaks incredibly polite to Shindou is very cute here.) He's been granted his life-long dream in the worst possible way, but he won't give up! "Things will work out somehow!" I really love Tenma's catchphrase. We'll be hearing a lot of it this season.

Tsurugi doesn't have any trouble knocking the team out. He doesn't even take his hands out his pockets... I... Think his outfit is so... Unique! But I like the little cape swishing around here a bunch.

During the half-time, Shindou explains in vague terms what Fifth Sector is, and how people are valued in society based on their soccer abilitiy. I really like the way this story is told. You can interpret it in a lot of ways, really. I like the theme of being crushed under the weight of achieving in society; throwing away your morals and sense of self in order to do so. Ultimately, this series is--to me--about freedom, your values, and your true self.

Shindou says to Tenma, "You came to Raimon, like the rest, for its strong soccer reputation, right?", which Tenma immediately denies. It's been his life-long dream to play at Raimon, for his own reasons. (Throughout the series, Tenma has almost net zero knowledge of the soccer world despite it being his ultimate killer special interest, it's so funny). Shindou replies that Tenma is the only person saying such earnest things like this. Tenma's eyes shake, because he's not a person that wants to be told "this is the way things are."

"Retribution awaits if you try to retaliate." Fifth Sector really is interesting-- But we still need to reach the climax of this episode so I'll leave that thought train for another time.

Tenma watches the team get beaten up once again for the second half. It's really not the ideal morning to your very first day of Junior High School. All his hopes and dreams trashed before they even had a chance to begin! The soundtrack in GO is so awesome. I can't really convey it in words. This series takes itself dead seriously despite the premise.

Tsurugi kicks the ball to Tenma, hoping to kill his resolve by messing with him once again. But wait! You simply cannot defeat the dribbling skills of a boy with no friends!!

Aoi provides some background context, explaining that Tenma practised dribbling the ball since he never got into a soccer team, always having to play by himself instead. He's made fun of for this in the IE3 postgame, which shows Tenma in Elementary School. Tenma's oddly lonely childhood in spite of his friendly attitude says a bit about him, to me... because I'm crazy! I'm thinking too hard! I love him! But I've already said too much. I'll elaborate later.

Tenma dribbles the ball without passing to anyone, hoping to keep his teammates from getting hurt any further. Tsurugi's had more than enough, though, and follows orders by calling out his Keshin; Sword Saint Lancelot. Tsurugi's Keshin, his spiritual energy, being a saintly knight is very sweet. Bless him. Keshin being treated by the kids as an urban legend come true is a fun idea. Tsurugi's still ten episodes too early to be nice though, and uses his Keshin to beat Tenma. Haruna drops a "This isn't soccer!" The classic.

The voice acting is great in this series. There's so many lines and performances I could pinpoint, but I'd be here forever. It's the series that made me take an interest and start remembering names though.

Shindou has his first cry of the series as Tenma begs him not to give up on soccer. His emotional outburst and feelings of inadequacy as captain cause something big to happen. "Damn it!!" and Shindou's Keshin makes its appearance!! Thus the unique gameplay mechanic of this entry in the games is revealed. Hah.

I really rambled on this one, huh? The episode sets up a lot. It was inevitable!

The Inazuma Eleven GO's proverb today is...
"If you make it to the very end, you'll surely find a way through!"
That's all!
☆03: 崩壊！雷門サッカー部！！ "Collapse! Raimon Soccer Club!!"
Air Date: 18/05/2011
Shindou is great right from the start! He's so mad!! He's very motivated by his anger here, and he demands that Tenma move before shoving him out of the way. And we're right on track for our second episode in a row where Shindou cries! Sorry it's been such a rough first day back at school, Captain. Saiga Mitsuki's performance as Shindou is really good as always, and I always associate her with this role.

They touch a bit on the "Keshin Resonance Phenomenon" here, and how Shindou was able to awaken his Keshin due to being in proximity with Tsurugi's Lancelot. I appreciate that they explain why Keshin are suddenly popping up left and right. Anyway, with the new development, Tsurugi's team are called off and make a tactical retreat. "You could say your existence has protected Raimon, Shindou-kun." Poor Shindou, he's now target number one for Fifth Sector indoctrination.

Tenma walks off to stare at the ball as Shindou's taken away to the infirmary. I really love him. I'm being self-indulgent, but isn't this Tenma really cute? He looks so sad. I'm sure soccer has the answer, Tenma.

Not to mention, he completely forgot about the induction ceremony! Thankfully Aoi reminded him. Like I said, they have a cute friendship, I just wish Aoi did a little more on screen. I remember her saying she has a pet budgie in the games, and I wrote about her and Tenma visiting a pet shop together whilst in university once. I imagine they go to school in different cities, but she'd still visit every so often for a daily outing together. They'd get fun drinks!

Even Tsurugi is attending the induction, bless him. I always imagined that the Seed's had grade adjustments for their cooperation with Fifth Sector, but he's still here! This is also where we meet Shinsuke! My opinion on him changes like the wind, but he's a nice first-day friend for Tenma. I think meeting him must've been the highlight of his terrible first day. He's never had a soccer friend from school before. Tenma feels a bit awkward, and blushes at Shinsuke's compliments. I like the feeling of whispering with a friend in school when you shouldn't be, getting too excited and being told off. It's a really cute scene. It's nice to see Tenma get to laugh about something today.

I wish I had some more headcanons about Shinsuke to share, but he's a character I need to think about some more. He's an important friend of Tenma's.

Back in the infirmary we establish that Kirino and Shindou are friends. I'm... amazed they never did more with these two, considering how popular they were back when this show aired. I remember reading an interview that touched on how they'd do it differently if they'd known, but they don't do much in later seasons either. Bizarre.

Aoi, Tenma and Shinsuke meet each other as they're in the same class! This episode has way too many tangents for me to go on, and I know more are coming up. So let's hurry past this one. They're cute! That's enough!!

Let's go back to the soccer club now that classes are over! But wait, the entire second team has resigned! People are quitting! Uh-oh! Everyone starts shouting and fighting here, and I am genuinely obsessed with how much drama this show has right from the start. The epic highs and lows of middle school football, man. Thus commences one of my favourite scenes, and one of the many reasons that Tenma is my favourite character.

...Is everyone gone? Perfect! Let's start sharing my actual self-indulgent headcanons. If you stuck around to read this for some reason, um... let's go get a drink together on me some time!

Have you ever said something so deeply earnest, from the bottom of your heart, only to end up with an entire room laughing at you? I know! I know this is a classic trope, but something about the way Tenma doubles down on his strange belief that soccer has feelings, only to be jeered at by the people he admires makes me feel kind of sick. Is it that serious? Yeah, I guess so. I think when you grow up being autistic, you get used to being treated like that. The way Tenma just looks unsettled makes my heart ache in a certain way.

I've alluded to it, but this is the dearest headcanon to my heart. I don't give it out very often (honestly, never) but Tenma is the only character I've found relates to that part of myself. More-so than any "canon" autistic characters in media. I don't know. They accidentally wrote him this way. Tenma's personifying soccer is treated as weird and off-putting by others, but he keeps doing it anyway. It's the way he navigates the world and he uses soccer to convey his feelings and emotions. I have way more to say about this later on in the series.

Anyway, the OST track here is one of my favourites. It's called "Broken Wings" apparently. This part of the anime really captures that... "This is the way the world is, accept it," and how impossible that is to just accept.

At least Tenma's happy not everyone quit, even if some of them are only there because it'll look good on their student record. But still, he quickly lightens up and I like that about him. Shinsuke and Tenma are still excited to join the team, no matter what! Poor Hayami is faceplanted into the table for this entire scene, bless him. I love him too! I wish he had more screen time.

"So you finished your dramatic first day as a jr. high school student."

It really has been a day. I like that Tenma, Aoi and Shinsuke all walk home together. Tenma's feeling a bit gloomy, and they tell him to cheer up and look forward to the entrance exam tomorrow. I really like the banter between him and Aoi, with her announcing she's going to be joining the club as well, only for Tenma to go "Eh. Which one?" I feel like they don't do as much of this later on, but this rewatch made me pay attention to it and is randomly making me like Aoi more than I did!

Oh boy! This really is one of my favourite episodes when it comes to setting up all my favourite things, hahaha. Tenma shows Shinsuke the shabby apartment building he lives in, and Aki shows up again, yay! She's one of my favourite characters from the original series so I'm happy she's a consistent recurring character here too! In the games, her dialogue changes when you go to visit her depending on where you are in the story. It's a little detail I really enjoyed.

Aki is just so nice. She's a bit insulted when Shinsuke asks if she's Tenma's mom. Aki's just one of his relatives! (And the landlord of this shabby building!) The game dub called her Tenma's auntie, so I always just used that to form my headcanon. How many of these can I shove into one episode? (Well, another is coming...) My headcanon is that Tenma's mother's family are historically from Okinawa, whilst his dad's are from Tokyo, and that Aki is his dad's (much) younger sister. Some people like them as cousins, but this is how things formed in my head a long time ago. It can't be helped now.

Shinsuke hangs out in Tenma's apartment to eat cookies and we get some Tenma background exposition! Yay! This has no detail to it at all...!!!!!!!!!!

Tenma! (head in my hands) I need more information! Why are you living alone!! Well, I've spent a long time thinking about all of it. My headcanon is that his parents moved from Okinawa to Tokyo for a work transfer, and that Tenma's still living with his parents during the times we see him in elementary school. I imagine the transfer period ended and they move back, but Tenma was able to stay with Aki to attend his dream school. I'm not really interested in "his parents are dead!" headcanons. Tenma's pretty earnest, and I don't think he'd lie about something so huge.

They show stairs here, and they approach Tenma's apartment to the left... But Tenma lives on the ground floor on the right side. Imagine my distress. Anyway, Tenma's apartment is cute. It's very tidy and not what you'd expect from his character type. I think he's actually very organised when it comes to his personal belongings, though Aki definitely makes him keep things clean.

I've gotta breeze through the rest. We meet Sasuke again, Tenma's dog! He's ugly and I love him. I'll have to leave the Sasuke ramble for a later episode. My personal Tenma longfic had a lot of chapters about the dog. Maybe I'll get into it some time. It's really sweet how excited Shinsuke is to meet him.

Right *exhales* We've still got time for the soccer ball that saved Tenma's life. They really cram a lot into these episodes, don't they?

If you've ever wondered why I won't watch AreOri... Let's not go on that ramble, actually. I've always loved that they called back to Gouenji's time in Okinawa for this part. Gouenji is... an interesting character, that I like a lot. This really is a story about plenty of connected fates.

Baby Tenma is the cutest! He looks like his mom, it's cute! In the games he says, "ワンちゃん!" to Sasuke, it's so cute... He likes dogs and has a selfless nature from the start. I love you Tenma!! He looks like a puppy himself!

I think that's enough for this episode. Phew. We get another scene with Fifth Sector, then see Tenma ask Aki if she's had any calls from America. Every scene with Tenma, Aki and Sasuke is a favourite. We finish off with Tsurugi announcing that he's joining the Raimon soccer club. Oh dear!
The Inazuma Eleven GO's proverb today is...
"If you think it's fun, then I'm sure soccer would be happy too!"
That's all!
☆04: 天馬の入部テスト！ "Tenma's Entrance Test!"
Air Date: 25/05/2011
WIP! These take me over an hour to make, because I'm crazy.
The Inazuma Eleven GO's proverb today is...
"I won't give up. Because, I want to play soccer!"
That's all!