This anime tells the story of Kanou Kyousuke, who has just transferred into Jyoyo Orange High School. His brother Kanou Seisuke is a famous footballer, who plays for A. C. Milan. When people start comparing Kyousuke with his brother, he becomes disheartened and stops playing football. But when he meets Tsujiwaki Miki, an enthusiastic girl with a lot of passion for football, he rediscovers his love for the game and is once again determined to make it big.
I feel the need to say that this anime is really underrated. The matches that are shown in a very realistic way yet how they manage to become intense is really praiseworthy. Kyousuke's passion for game will really motivate you. This is not the kind of anime, in which the main character's team always win. At times, they lose even the crucial matches but the way they give their all in all the matches is something you won't be able to ignore. We saw how Youichi Takahashi showed Japan winning so many matches in the anime Captain Tsubasa. That was perhaps his desire to see Japan making it big at a world stage. In Hungry Heart, Takahashi takes us to the reality of Japanese football and how and where it is struggling. Those who have followed 1998 FIFA World cup may find it exciting that one the former Japanese international player, Masashi Nakayama has been animated in this series. Overall, we see a wonderful display of the teamwork and the players' enthusiasm for the game. Almost each character have their moments in the anime. Even the ending was perfect in my opinion. Even though the main character achieves great things towards the end, it was never about 'he made it' but rather it was like 'the journey continues'. After all, this isn't supposed to be a drama but one of the most important journeys of life and one can never afford to stop.
Despite such an amazing plot, there are things which I couldn't understand. Other main characters, Sakai and Rodrigo, had a chance to play at a higher level. They were initially excited but later rejected the opportunity just because they became attached to their school team and wanted to make it big 'in a more appropriate way'. Same signs were shown by Kyousuke towards the end. However, when he realised how much he could gain by accepting the opportunity, he decided to grab it with both hands making Sakai, Rodrigo and other teammates upset. Now what I didn't get is despite the players being on a good term with their coaches and other mentors, they did not receive any proper guidance in this case. It is understandable that the teenagers would be at least bit confused when presented with such opportunities but how their mentors did not attempt to clear their doubts or confusion has been beyond my understanding.
Overall, it is more than just a decent watch. You really feel so fired up with 'Akanegaoka spirit!' The anime has couple of great songs too. Particularly, the first opening song Kids alive's 2nd stage. I always get goosebumps whenever it is played at the crucial stage of an important match. It really manages to make players' expressions look more intense. Kids alive song 'Song for lovers' is also a great romantic song and suits to the last episode or the last scene of the anime. The animation is all right. Its decent as per the 2000s standards. I totally recommend this anime.
