Sayonara, Football 1

さよならフットボール [Sayonara Football] #1

by Naoshi Arakawa

14-year-old Nozomi Onda has only one thing on her mind: playing beautiful football. There's just one problem: no matter how much she longs to participate in official matches, she'd have physically superior boys as opponents. But when a boy from her past confronts her on the street, she decides she can't wait any longer.

Genres: Manga, Sports, Contemporary, Young Adult, Comics Manga, Comics, Realistic Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

See also 新川直司

Reviews

[Apollo Mul · Rating 1 out of 5]

My coworker brought this manga to my attention because he knows I love sports manga/anime. Oh cool, a manga about a girls’ soccer team, right?

NOPE!!! This was a manga about a girl wanting to be in a game with the boys’ soccer team, but everyone kept telling her “you’d be a part of this team IF YOU WERE A BOY.” EVERYONE SAYS THIS TO HER. “You’re a GIRL, your physical level isn’t like a BOY’S!!” Also, for her two childhood friends that are part of the boys’ team liking her is giving me an ulcer. ONE OF THEIR REASONS FOR HER TO NOT PLAY IS BECAUSE HE “DOESN’T WANT TO SEE HER GET HURT.” B I T C H, I SWEAR!!!! I can’t deal with this shit, bro; I’m withered and gay.

I think we have progressed past the need for manga like this.

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sports mangas are always so hard since it can be tricky to show the nuance of a move or tactic in static panels. This one has gotten the closest I've seen as it captures some of the magic of the dribbling, passing, spacing, and action of soccer. It's also a nice tale of growth (with some very interesting flashbacks), has a fun love pyramid (because a love triangle is just too simple?), and addresses gender and physicality versus skill in a somewhat overbearing but endearing way. Fun read and I've already purchased the second volume.

**Thanks to the artist, publisher, and NetGalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Kellee Moye · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cannot wait to get this manga for my middle school library! It does a wonderful job of looking at the debate around co-ed sports. Nozomi had always played soccer with her male teammates but now that they are fourteen, tournament rules don’t allow her to play. Also, can her skills keep her equal to boys who are often “physically superior” (the words of the author)? So much to discuss here! And I will say that the end had a bit of a weird turn, so now I definitely have to read volume 2.

[Kali · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Manga was really not that bad. The art is a little hit or miss for me, and I’m my opinion the story was not exceptional. I’m very happy to have found a soccer manga since I have never seen any before, and soccer holds a very special place in my heart 🥰

The end (like the last 3 pages) is slightly confusing to me, however for the sake of not adding spoilers I will not discuss specifically what happened! Just know that towards the end it gets to be a bit...strange? Not totally sure how to explain it!

I will for sure continue with this series, since (again) it’s the only Soccer manga I have ever seen and I think the premise of it is interesting.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A football (Or soccer in America) by the creator of Your Lie In April. So did I ball my eyes out?

Well Nozomi Onda loves the game of soccer. She wants nothing more than to play but she wants to play on the boys team. Everyone treats her like she can't cut it due to physicall differences. Maybe they are partly right but she doesn't to hear that. So the story is mostly focused on her trying to achieve her dreams while also a slight love story sprinkled in aswell.

This was pretty cute. The drawings were real solid, the soccer play flowed well, and I liked Onda never give up fight. I didn't love the love story because felt a bit cliche but it was cute none the less. This isn't as impressive as Your Lie In April and I know I shouldn't compare because two different styles but just speaking the truth. But I will check more out!

A 3 out of 5.

[Erika Sarutobi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The manga is about a girl who loves playing football and is very amazing at it but since there's no female club, she bothers the male club to let her play in one of the matches in the tournament for reasons explained later. The club obviously refuses because they would get disqualified but oh, she finds a way in the end. *wink wink*

Now, the story concept was good but the execution, not so much for me. Nozomi is somewhat violent even when it is a joke, it's never funny. Moreover, many things happen impulsively that I wonder what's the point. There were so many characters introduced all at once and despite the names on the screen, I had a hard time knowing who's who unless they had very different features.

Another issue I had were the speech bubbles, I had a hard time figuring out who's speaking because of the many characters and they all spoke similarly so it was hard to distinguish between them half the time.

Overall, it wasn't bad but I didn't enjoy it because I was exasperated from all the violence from Nozomi and all the flat chested comments towards her. The speech bubbles didn't help either because they didn't have arrow markers and sometimes were drawn in an empty panel so you can't make out who's talking. I'll probably just read the next volume to see how the ending in the first volume plays out over to the sequel but I don't think I'll read further than that.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for a free review copy of this book!

This was a pretty good sports manga. It follows Nozomi Onda, a 14-year-old girl that wants to play football. The only problem is, no matter how good she is, they won't let her play on the boys team. Wanting to prove herself, she gets a chance when she runs into one of her childhood friends on the street and he tells her that small girls like her have nothing on the boys.

Overall, I really enjoyed this manga. I usually don't read sports manga but the cover art and story of this one really caught my eye and I'm glad I gave it a chance! I'm excited to see where the story goes in volume 2, which I'll be sure to check out.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this manga a lot. And I think main character was well-written. I liked that she didn't listen others when they were telling her that football was only for boys. She continued pursuing her dream. She was trying to prove that girls can play too.

Waiting for next volume.

[EyrisReadsTheWorld · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing manga with a strong feminine character that makes you dream

Key words: manga, football, talent, young adult, teenager, contemporary

This was a really frustrating manga. I mean, I loved the main character and admired her ambition and talent but the fact that she couldn’t play on an official football game just because she is a girl was so frustrating. The characters kept saying that physical abilities were key and that the gap between the boys and the girl was too big. Nothing more frustrating than seeing her outplay the boys and still not make the team. I loved the ending though and I can’t wait to read the second volume to see how the story is developed and if she is going to have a chance to play against her ex-friend. It was great to see Nozomi’s refusal to let her gender define her. I really recommend this one.
4/5

Thank you Netgalley for this eArc in exchange of my honest opinion.

[Danni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book in return for an honest review.

This manga is about a girl who adores football and is really good at it. She wants to join the football team but is met with a lot of resistance like misogyny. We see her fight back as she wants to get back on the pitch and go against the person she trained back when they were little. Things have changed between them and tensions are high. This manga leaves on a glorious cliffhanger making you want to read the second volume straight away.

Rating: 3⭐
Would I Read It Again? Yes
Would I Recommend it? Yes

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Naoshi Arakawa’s work. I first read Your Lie in April and loved it, so when I found out he was writing another series I just had to get my hands on it!!

I really enjoyed this series. I love soccer, grew up with it. It may not be Days or Blue Lock, but women’s (or girls in this case) can also be aggressive and passionate!

[lauren♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay this was just fine, i love the soccer parts but the series is very clearly dated because it does that old manga trope where the 'tomboy' FL is just VIOLENT like you can be not stereotypically feminine and not be violent and angry....
I'll continue because i have up to volume 7 borrowed from my library lol but ill drop after 3 if it's not my cup of tea

[Shae · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid first volume!

For more thoughts, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUZ6s...

[Craig Schorling · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy Arakawa's art. It captures the action of soccer very well and has a very likable main character that you can't help but root for.

[Pixie 🍜 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love a good sports manga but this really isn’t it.
I will write in more detail soon but suffice to say I’m not sure I’d want to continue especially given some of the awful art lol

[Laura A. Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

VIDEO REVIEW HERE: https://youtu.be/8TtpYKCTuzg

Updated Review 1/7: Still so so so good! I forgot how fantastic the art is!

I don't even know what to say!

Because I'm too busy laughing! LOL!

What an unexpected twist at the end! I did not see that coming and it was SO well played by Arakawa! Well done!

This is my first time reading an actual sports manga straight through and I LOVED it! What an epic and thrilling experience! It brought me back to the days I played soccer and made me so happy to see soccer come to life on page. I especially loved the short Mia Hamm reference! Super cool!

While this story is packed full of action (and was my favorite part! Did I mention I loved it?), I deeply appreciated Nozomi's drive to not let her gender "define" her. What I mean is that she plays for a boys’ soccer team and despite what anyone says of her being lesser because she’s a girl, she keeps playing her strongest and strives to get better. The conversation she has with her best friend about wanting to scream because of her supposed “weaker” physical abilities, I wanted to stand up and clap. Talk about empowering to chase after your dreams!

Due to this, there are some really good things to reflect on because of her struggle as well as being told she'll always be physically weaker. I think seeing a character like this can be very inspiring for young women. I know it personally inspired me to keep giving my all in the things I do (even though I don't play sports)! And to not let anyone say I can’t do something simply because I’m not a man.

I was a little confused on who exactly likes Nozomi, but I LOVEDDD the team! I'm excited to see how they will all grow together and hopefully kick Egami West's butt! I also wasn't overly fond of some of Nozomi's antics to get the coach to change his mind on letting her play, but that is minor.

Overall, this was a fantastic first volume! With that kind of ending, I'm desperate to see how this story unfolds!

*(I received an e-copy from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts expressed are my own.)*

[Cee · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

I picked this one up because I wanted to see if it would be a good fit for my library collection and also because I played soccer when I was younger, which makes me partial to series featuring soccer. This one is so much fun! We have the girl who loves to play and wants to keep playing with the guys she's been playing with for ages. She keeps being told if only she was a girl they'd allow her to play with them officially, which means she's good enough, but they don't want her getting hurt. It is frustrating, especially because she is so good. She has a goal though and wants to work towards it. At this point, I feel like this is a good start to the story as there is much room for development and growth for all the characters. The biggest problem I see if is things don't change and she has to stop playing -- which I'm hoping really doesn't happen.

The art is pretty good, but I will say some of the joking violence and jokes about her body can and do get annoying at times.

A decent read and something I would recommend to people wanting a manga about sports and fighting against a system that keeps telling you no.

[Tilápia frita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me sentia assim quando eu era criança, só tinha eu de menina jogando e quanto mais o tempo passava mais eu ficava pra trás, depois de um tempo parecia que eu era uma jogadora fantasma, os meninos pareciam só jogar a bola uns pros outros, nenhuma das minhas amigas jogava mais e perdeu a graça, parei de jogar.
Esse negócio de ela ter tres caras que gostam dela achei muito paia? Nem precisava botar isso na história, aquelas partes de "fulana tem peito pequeno" e botar coisa de stripper na mesa do professor foi extremamente desnecessário, completamente desconexo da história.
Adorei a personagem principal, nunca desiste, cabeça dura e sempre avançando em direção ao seu objetivo, uma querida injustiçada a coitada. O "Por que eu tinha que nascer mulher?" meio que me matou, ja me senti assim também em várias situações, muitas coisas teriam acontecido de uma forma diferente se eu fosse um homem, teria sido tratada melhor, etc.. essa parte do mangá me atingiu como uma bomba asydahuefijaisksdf

[Aaron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Setting aside the irrelevant (misprinted?) promotional summary, SAYONARA FOOTBALL #1 is a clever but exhausting coming-of-age manga that would have fared much better as a squirrely romantic comedy than as the ham-fisted sports drama it purports to be. Nozomi Onda is a soccer prodigy who puts in the hard work; she's neither as strong nor as fast as the boys on the team, but her skills are top notch and her strategic know-how owns the field. Her only major roadblock to success is her gender.

SAYONARA FOOTBALL #1 will tickle the fancy of any manga fan who enjoys crisscrossing topics of social justice and the common inadequacies of youth. However, comics about girls being as good as the boys are plentiful, and are therefore, markedly unoriginal.

Here, Onda's grueling practice regimen is inspiring and her competitive nature definitely gets one's blood pumping. And yet, beyond the usual, inspiring interior monologues, this manga doesn't have much to offer. It's all been done before. There are the usual, hyper-competitive and hyper-sexist peers on the soccer team. There are the usual, friendly but daft coaches. There are the usual, violent and foolhardy cross-town rivals.

The only narrative engine capable of propelling this thing forward is the dynamic between Onda's two closest friends on the team -- Yasuaki Tani and Tetsuji Yamada, the captain. Tani and Yamada exhibit their fair share of horridly sexist behaviors, to be frank, but there is one minor twist: both boys are quietly, feverishly, competing for Onda's affection. The two boys are shallow and imperfect except in their adoration of Onda, her skill, and her ambition. The boys aren't mean to each other and they don't tease each other; their rivalry is private and respectful. Unfortunately, the manga doesn't highlight this crucial dynamic beyond one or two scenes (as opposed to, say, focusing Onda's asymmetrical attempt to make the team even though it's illegal for girls to compete on the boys' team).

SAYONARA FOOTBALL #1 makes weak strides toward earning it's stripes as a sports-themed drama. Onda's efforts to overcome sexism feels agonizingly immaterial, in some respects, considering the girl knowingly chose a junior high school that doesn't even have a girls' team. Further, the book's use of violence and its predicative egotism as markers of maturity feels woefully and uncomfortably dated.

On the plus side, the book's occasional swipe at being a schoolyard comedy is certainly worth mentioning. For example, Onda attempts to circumvent the rule about playing on the boys' squad by bribing or blackmailing her lazy soccer coach. When her attempt to win over coach Samejima with a ton of chocolate ends in utter failure, the girl resorts to Plan C: Bribery (Part 2), which includes in dumping a pile of women's underthings on the coach's desk in the teacher's lounge. The way Onda executes this gambit with genuine innocence ("What? But you like them, right?!") and is flat-out scolded ("I'm not into that!") while coach Samejima fights off side-eye from others is one of the book's oddest and funniest moments.

SAYONARA FOOTBALL #1 makes an effort to pad Onda's corner with hopeful and helpful elements, including her soccer friends, the coach, her little brother (also on the team), and her buddy, Sawa, who serves as the club manager. But the story is too brittle to hold together on these elements alone. Further, the manga's art is considerably lacking. It behooves one to encounter a sports drama for which the artist doesn't seem particularly invested in drawing characters whose bodies comply with real-world physics, but alas, such is the case here. The author, Arakawa, earns credit for including characters with sanpaku eyes or epicanthic eyefolds as common features, but beyond that, the book's approach to action sequences are either boring, befuddling, or just plain awkward.

[Skjam! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fourteen year old Nozomi Onda has the best technical skills on her school’s soccer team. She trains harder than any of the other members, and has a true passion for the sport. But since her school doesn’t have a girls’ soccer team, Nozomi had to join the boys’ club. And while she can practice with them, girls aren’t allowed to be in official games.

And to be fair, there’s a bit of a point to that. While Nozomi is the most technically skilled player in the club, she simply doesn’t have the size or muscle mass to handle physical contact from her male teammates. Even her younger brother is already the same height and a bit heavier than her! The coach is thrilled to have Nozomi around to spur her teammates to better efforts, but the league’s rules are firm, even if she was bigger.

Nozomi understandably is put out by this restriction. From her perspective, it’s unfair to bench the best player just because of biology. And honestly, she only must play in one game to meet her purpose. Y’see, the boy she trained in how to play soccer in elementary school is on the team her school will be playing first in the upcoming tournament.

Yasuaki “Namek” Tani used to be a bit of a wimp back in the day, but he’s had a serious growth spurt. At age fourteen, he’s already a good five, six inches taller than Nozomi and still filling out. He’s also become kind of sexist, pointing out that boys’ soccer is about physical ability and he’s surpassed Nozomi in that category just by being biologically male. He feels safe belittling her skills because he knows that the rules forbid her from playing against him in a legal match.

So Nozomi is getting desperate for the coach to let her play in the tournament, rules be damned. Her attempts to bribe or persuade the coach take up most of this first volume.

This series is by the author of Your Lie in April, a popular but heartbreaking manga. It’s relatively short, but almost immediately had a sequel, Farewell, My Dear Cramer that takes place a couple of years later when Nozomi finally gets to a school with a girls’ team.

There’s a bittersweet feel to this series; the coach and Nozomi’s male teammates are well aware that the situation’s unfair, but they’re also aware of the potential damage that could be done if the rules are not obeyed. It’s a more realistic take than many sports manga (and the author shows his research.)

The art is expressive and the soccer scenes are good. There’s surprisingly little male-oriented fanservice, we see more of the boys in a locker room scene.

There is a major production error in the US release–the back cover blurb is for the first volume of the sequel, not this series! If you’re looking for the story of the other two girls mentioned, you’d be disappointed.

Tentatively recommended for soccer fans-a lot will depend on whether the ending is satisfactory.

[Nina {ᴡᴏʀᴅs ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀ} · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many thanks to Netgalley and Kondasha Comics for this!

I often find myself interested in a sports manga when it has 2 things: 1) a female protagonist and 2) a good balance of drama, self-ambition, and sports info.

There are very few sports manga I fully enjoy that fulfil all three. But, Sayonara Football does a good job despite some less pleasant points.

Good things:
- Lots of sports detail
- Ambitious female lead
- Unwilling to compromise female lead (as in, she'll do what she needs to do to achieve her dream if she has to)
- A team who believed in her (for the most part....)
- A favourite moment about the kind of football/soccer that she wants to play
- She's technically skilled even when she's not physically compatible (as she's a girl and her teammates are boys)

Not so great things - the things that I wish weren't included since they undermine the main female:
- The main female lead is really talented but because she's a girl, her wishes are almost always ignored. It makes sense in some ways because it's a boys team, but it's also a pity that in some places it makes it seem like she's really no match at all.
- Sometimes the commentary can be read as a little sexist. But at the same time, the setting of the story tends to dispel this - because it IS a boy's team, and there isn't a girl's team that she could have joined (if this was a longer manga, I'd probably ask why she just didn't go to a different school)
- Sometimes the action scenes are a little too complicated, but I loveeeee football (this, soccer kind) and so I was definitely enjoying myself reading this.

Overall, I will note that the other mana that fulfils the above criteria, was ノノノノ 1. The thing is, the three criteria also means that not everyone will like these manga, since sometimes the story seems almost unbelieveable. Furthermore, neither Sayonara, Football nor the other one, are shoujo manga, so you'll see traits of the shounen/seinen genre and art styles.

[Becky B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Onda loves soccer, but there aren’t enough girls at her junior school to have a girls’ team. She trains with the boys but they won’t let her play with them. She has a score to settle with the captain of the first team they are facing in the tournament, so Onda is cooking up plan after plan for ways to play in that game.

I have so many fans of Haikyu!! at my school when I saw this I wondered if it could be another popular sports-based manga for the teens. The premise of this had promise, it brings up some interesting gender imbalance questions (that I’m sure totally happen in small schools all over the world at secondary levels), but the execution had way too much edgy content for me to put it on our school library shelves. I also felt like I saw the plot twist coming from a mile away (it has totally been done before in the movie She’s the Man).

Notes on content [based on the ARC]: 9 mild swears. A boy talks about a girl letting him feel her up. Two girls barge into the boys’ locker room while they are changing and a guy talks to them in nothing but a speedo (only shown from the back below the waist). In her quest to convince the coach to let her play she uses lurid pictures she aims to use for blackmail (of someone else, only suggestive in the drawing doesn’t show anything), and then tries to bribe him by leaving bras on his desk and escort service info on his desk (every time the coach tells her to stop, its gross). Some rather harsh soccer training methods used by kids to train other kids is shown. The coach smokes.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Ruthsic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warnings: a person is struck, blindfolded and bound

The story of Sayonara, Football is about a middle school girl who is awesome at football, but because her school doesn't have a girls' football team (and she tried creating one but not many girls were interested) she practices with the boys' team, and yet she is never allowed to play in official matches. The manga opens with her getting past 5 of the team members, in an effort to convince the coach to let her onto the team, but despite everyone and their mother acknowledging she has skills for days, it all comes down to the fact that she is not a boy. Our girl Nozomi has to oft hear the same chant "boys are physically superior to you" and "you might get hurt" but like, she is really good, and motivated and even boys get hurt and so do girls in their matches so like most of the argument made me go 'ugh, this again'. She is especially charged up to play in their upcoming official match against another school, because her childhood friend she used to mercilessly train *ahem*bully*ahem* has grown to be the star of that school's team and basically threw down a gauntlet she can't help but pick up. Obviously, she is going to go to some lengths to prove she is perfectly capable of playing in boys' matches, but oh my god, what she did was further than I thought. The artwork is good, and with so many scenes primarily about on-the-field action, the storyboard is engaging and fast-paced. There are some romantic possibilities with at least two guys vying for her attention, but I hope we don't get to that anytime soon. Overall, it is enjoyable even if you aren't that into the game, and with such a dauntless protagonist, the story has lots of potential.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Kodansha Comics, via Netgalley.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nozomi wants to play soccer, but her junior high doesn’t have a girls’ team and she didn’t find enough people willing to sign up, so she joined the boys’ team. Despite her excellent skills, their age group means that boys now have the advantage of greater strength on their side, and there’s no way they’re going to let a girl play in a real game. When Nozomi encounters her old friend, Namek, and finds out his team is up against hers in the first round of the upcoming tournament, she has to find a way to play, by whatever means necessary.

Nozomi was quite an extravagant protagonist, which makes sense given her refusal to back down in an environment where the odds are stacked against her. Most of the male characters however were very frustrating; their attitude towards Nozomi and girls in general left me disinterested in their flat personalities.

The story was interesting, with a lot of hilarity from Nozomi, however the next volume would probably determine whether or not the series is going anywhere plot-wise, and I am not currently invested enough in the characters for me to pick up the next one.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for providing a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Siina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really love sports manga and I was excited to try this, since this is shounen but with a girl as the main character. A sports series for boys promises a lot of playing and this was the case too, which is great. Onda Nozomi is 14 years old and loves soccer and is actually really good at it too. High school is sadly so brutal and she cannot play in the boys' team, since no girls are allowed because of physical differences. She wants a payback and wants to play and thus makes a plan to get to do that. The idea is quite simple and even cliched at parts, but it still works. This is a two-part manga, which kind of bugs me, since this could be longer! I really love that Nozomi is actually a better player than the guys and has more ambition. Only in Japan could "physical differences" be a problem though, old stereotypes die slowly.

The art is OK, although nothing special or memorable. Scale doesn't fully work and the characters are wonky at times and do impossible postures. The depiction of movement is good though and you can feel the games and ball moving, the characters running and all. This is important in sports especially if it's the core of the story. Also, no romance on Nozomi's part and I hope it stays that way!

[Tom Ewing · Rating 2 out of 5]

Earlier work by Naoshi Arakawa, of the hit classical music / romance manga Your Lie In April. This one's about football, and the struggles of Ondo Nozomi to get a chance to prove herself on her all-male school team. Arakawa is great at capturing the intensity of a decisive moment, which ought to chime well with football, but the strip runs into the problem so many team sports comics do - a focus on individual emotions and reactions makes it harder to get a picture of the game as a whole, without which all the angst lacks crucial context.

British football comics got round this by liberal use of commentators to overlay breathless exposition - "if Roy can't score from here, Brian, Melchester Rovers are OUT OF THE CUP!". High school football games lack such figures, and besides manga has no great tradition of narrative captions. The upshot is that for all Arakawa's obvious love of the game and its tactics, Sayonara Football's action sequences feel frustratingly abstract.

[Hal · Rating 3 out of 5]

arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review

This volume was a pretty good start to the series! I hated that it ended on such a cliffhanger but I can’t lie, I do really want to read volume 2 now!

I liked our main character a lot especially as she navigated through all of the sexist people involved in soccer. I could feel her frustration every time the coach refused to let her play simply because she’s a girl even if she’s a better player than all of the boys combined!

That little plot twist near the end was great. I sort of saw it coming but it was in a good way, it was definitely what I hoped would happen. Now I just need to get my hands on volume 2 to see how it all turned out!

Overall, this was fun! I definitely recommend it if you’re into sports!

3/5 🌟

TW: sexism.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Sayonara, Football 1' by Naoshi Arakawa is a sports manga about soccer.

Nozomi Onda just wants to play soccer, but she is a girl and her school only has a boys team. That doesn't stop Onda from practicing with the team and practicing harder than anyone. When a rival team is coming to play the team, Onda finds the team has a boy from her past. Will Onda ever get to play?

I like sports manga, but this one might be a tough sell to Western audiences. The argument is made repeatedly that Onda is a female, and slighter in build and muscle than the boys. Still, I found it a fun read and the art of the games was pretty exciting.

I received a review copy of this manga from Kodansha Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this manga.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

My biggest problem with this sports manga is that I hated almost every character in it. The soccer action read well enough to somebody who isn't into that sport, and I definitely get the impression that the writer is very well-versed in it. There's a lot of casual misogyny flying around, but I strongly suspect that's going to be a problem to be addressed rather than just something the main character has to deal with. Could be wrong, though, and if it's really just observing the sexism instead of critiquing it, that would eventually be an issue for me. So that just brings me back to not really wanting to continue because I don't like the characters. Also, I feel the need to point out that the cover copy on the English language paper release doesn't seem to have anything to do with the actual story, which is really bizarre.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A manga about a young, passionate female soccer player, who is constantly told that she will never be as good as a male soccer player.

Came across this while browsing the manga section. I’m enjoying most of the art style (especially the soccer scenes!) and I do feel like the story is starting off at a fast pace. Still getting a feel for the characters in this volume. I appreciate that this volume is about 50/50 sports / romance and I hope the rest of the series is like this! I plan to continue reading it! I really wish I had the next volume because of how this one ended.

Side Note: the summary on the back of the manga is not at all what the story has been about so far…not mad, but it’s definitely odd.