Interest
Soccer Star Kengo Nakamura Endorses Soccer Manga Football Nation
posted on by Eric Stimson
The soccer (football) manga Football Nation, drawn by Yuki Ōtake, now has a major fan endorsement: that of Kengo Nakamura, midfielder for Kawasaki Frontale and recipient of 2016's J. League MVP Award. On the sash that adorns the newly published 10th volume, Nakamura "highly praises" the series with the comment: "I imagine myself implementing these theories while reading, but I'm hunchbacked so I would hurt myself a bit (LOL)."
Nakamura also lends his voice to this commercial for the manga, which airs this month on TV, including on the TV Tokyo soccer program Foot × Brain. It claims that to make Japan better at soccer, things like celebrity coaches, modern strategies, and fantasisti (playmakers) aren't needed: it's all about hamstrings, since they are the key to pivoting. "To make Japan an true advanced football nation," the tagline reads.
Football Nation follows an amateur soccer team, Tokyo Crusade, as they try to pull off an improbable victory at the Emperor's Cup, Japan's oldest soccer championship. They rely on unique theories such as using the difference between "inner" and "outer" muscles to get an edge on their opponents and recruit players with good-looking legs. Volume 10 has the team competing in the Emperor's Cup semifinals. The series has been published since 2010 and runs in Big Comic Superior.
Another famous midfielder, Shinji Kagawa of Borussia Dortmund, showed off his soccer moves last year with One Piece Film Gold's Luffy.
Sources: Comic Natalie and Shogakukan
