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Captain Tsubasa Zero Smartphone Game Launches in Japan on Thursday

The official website for the Captain Tsubasa Zero ~Kimeru! Miracle Shoot~ iOS and Android game announced on Monday that the game will launch this Thursday.

The free-to-play game with in-game purchases has a story mode that recreates scenes from the new anime adaptation of Youichi Takahashi's Captain Tsubasa manga. The game will also have original characters.

Matches in the game are real-time simulations. The player can create a team of characters and assign an original uniform, team skill, and formation to their team. The player can also raise characters' levels and acquire "scene cards" that allow the characters to perform skills as they appear in the anime.

Another smartphone game, Captain Tsubasa: Dream Team, launched in Japan in June 2017 and got an international release in December. Like Captain Tsubasa Zero, Dream Team has a story mode and allows players to create and train a team of players, but it uses art from the manga instead of the anime.

The original soccer manga revolves around 11-year old Tsubasa Ōzora, a boy who loves soccer and is recognized by his coach Roberto due to his skill of the sport. Tsubasa goes with his coach to Brazil in order to train for the World Cup.

Takahashi's original 37-volume Captain Tsubasa manga ran in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from 1981 to 1988, and it inspired four television anime series, four anime films, several OVAs, and a stage play. The most recent anime (pictured right), a reboot of the story, premiered in April and is ongoing.

The manga spawned additional sequels and spinoff series, including Captain Tsubasa: World Youth Tokubetsu-hen Saikyō no Teki! Oranda Youth, Captain Tsubasa: World Youth, Captain Tsubasa: Road to 2002, Captain Tsubasa Golden-23, Captain Tsubasa: Kaigai Gekitō-hen in Calcio, Captain Tsubasa: Kaigai Gekitō-hen En La Liga, and the ongoing Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun. The manga has also spawned three novel volumes.

Source: Captain Tsubasa Zero game's website