Giant Killing 26 – CURRY PARTY (END) (?)

Would it be too much to ask for Giant Killing to get a second season? I hope not. This statement doesn’t mean much, since I have such limited experience with the genre, but Giant Killing is the best pure sports series I’ve seen. (Cross Game is a better show, but it’s also not totally a sports series, whereas Giant Killing is all about the sport.) Exciting, solidly (though not perfectly) paced, and shows more dimensions of its sport and the world around it than most shows would bother with, Giant Killing has been one of the most fun shows for me to write about week in and week out.

The curry party at the end is quite representative of what I love about this series: ETU as an entity is not just limited to the players on the pitch. They do the work on the field, but there’s much more to their universe. The fans, for instance, get a nice treat when the players, coaches and staff at ETU throw the party as a nice bit of community service and a good way for the players to get some rest and let loose a bit. Don’t know what it’s like for sports leagues around the world, but the major pro sports leagues in America have prominent community service programs where the athletes can give back to the people in the cities (and the surrounding areas) in which they play. And there are a fair number of athletes who give back above and beyond that, which people often don’t hear about since good news isn’t as exciting as bad news.

And I like the unsung heroes — the PR department, the managing staff, the dining hall workers, etc. — being prominently involved too. Tatsumi of course comes off as weird and random for throwing this party together out of nowhere and getting his players to stand around and pass out fliers (btw, this must be a really small town if the players aren’t being mobbed immediately, haha; where are the Skulls?!), but the party shows that he cares about everyone who contributes to ETU, no matter how big or small the job is. It really sells ETU as a unit, a family.

What would make it especially frustrating if Giant Killing were to not get a second season is that there are some interesting storylines coming to play here. The most obvious, of course, being Akasaki getting some time with Japan’s Olympic squad and getting more exposure for ETU at the expense of a game or two of league play. It’s a chance for Akasaki to play with superior players surrounding him at all positions and learn a few tricks (basketball fans often hear about this when the more competitive members of America’s teams take notes at the FIBA World Championships and the Summer Olympics), while at the same time it leaves the door open for someone on ETU to try his hand at Akasaki’s spot and gain some valuable experience.

Then there’s the continued conflict between Gino and Natsuki; it’s not too intense right now, but you never know what could happen if Gino decided to slight Natsuki a little more each game in favor of other players. Natsuki doesn’t seem like the type to mess up team chemistry, but then again, I’m sure nobody has slighted him in the past like Gino is doing now. (Although I guess we don’t know if this is a regular thing between them, even going back to when Natsuki injured himself.) That would be interesting to see evolve.

And random thing at the end: I have a crappy memory, but I don’t recall Kuro getting any yellow cards in games the series showed in detail. So were the apparent yellow cards Kuro got just offscreen? Haha, that seems kind of odd. Guess that wouldn’t have fit in with the quick game montage. Oh well!

Tatsumi and the audience agree — the season is not over yet! More Giant Killing! Yeah!