Young soccer hopeful Ashito is back for a seventh game at Mangetsu. In an impressive clifhanger of the previous volume, the coach relegated him, but will he accept this personal humiliation?
Making a place for yourself
Ao Ashi continues to follow the adventures of Ashito, a young provincial who has moved to Tokyo to become a professional football player. In Volume Six, a tough match for promotion to the A team caused Ashito to completely change his conception of football. Alone, he could not break through the opposing defense and his partners could not stand his personal game. However, the second half changed everything. Ashito understood that football is a team sport. It is obvious, but the teenager no longer sees football as a succession of duels, but as an overall plan. He realizes that it is through a triangle of players that attacks are most effective. This personal change also strengthened the cohesion of the U18 section of the Tokyo City Hyperion. While he is aware of the progress that needs to be made, Ashito is proud of his progress. 
Be put back in your place
However, after the match, the coach of the B team, Tatsuya Fukuda decided to keep him in the B team and in addition to position him as a defender. The coach explains to him that he has the level to reach the top, but only as a left back. He will never change his mind. Considering himself a born striker, Ashito is humiliated and does not understand this double demotion. A friend also knows how to put things in place by showing her the importance of family. The coach becomes coldly professional during the explanation and multiplies the criticisms: Ashito has no technique, he does not know how to keep a ball, he does not know how to run… Ashito's sadness is all the more cruel as many friends move to team one. They also find this decision surprising since it is thanks to him that the team scored. The volume is then very tense: will Ashito accept this decision or will he leave the team?
An author makes a place for himself
Writer and artist Yûgo Kobayashi is a chameleon in manga. He is as comfortable in action on the pitch as he is in feelings off it. His visible pencil strokes create dynamism. The crucial scene of the coach's announcement is very successful. The reader can only be moved by Ashito's strong disappointment. The overall storyline is as clever as a thriller, as Yūgo Kobayashi deconstructs the entire narrative so far. It reveals the other side of recruitment and Ashito's various exercises. All of the above is reread by the eyes of both coaches. In addition, changing positions is a clever way to learn more about football. The previous volumes focused on offensive techniques, but from volume seven the reader discovers defensive tactics, but also, through drawing, another vision of the field, from the back. One can still be surprised by cultural differences such as the duty of obedience and the slap of an educator. Ao Ashi is an impressive series, because like its hero Ashito, it continues to progress. We are no longer just in a sports series, but in a human story. The match scenes are increasingly tense and the relationships between teammates are touching. In this volume seven, the dramatic moment of Ashito's relegation is as touching as the announcement of a death, because all his dreams fall apart for the young man. If this series intrigues you, you can find articles on the previous volume and our best of manga on sport.
