First of all: I am not interested in real-world football. However, other manga/anime about sports that I am not interested in got me engaged in the story because it was well-told or looked amazing. So, what about Shuudan? This review might contain light spoilers.

Shuudan is a football manga that finished serialization in Shounen Jump and ran from 2017 to 2018. It has 4 compiled volumes and was done by Yokota Takuma, who also worked on Onani Master Kurosawa and the previously in Shounen Jump released Sesuji wo Pin! to: Shikakou Kyougi Dance-bu e Youkoso.

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Because Shuudan is a sports manga that is following and underdog team, it has to compete with the more popular manga that cater to the same audience. Titles like Haikyuu (volleyball), Hajime no Ippo (boxing) and Days (football) come to mind.

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The artstyle is enjoyable to look at for the most part. The body proportions seem odd sometimes with legs being too short compared to the upper bodies. Or is my imagination of the human body so twisted by super long legs in anime that this "normal" looking depiction seems unnatural? There are also some panels where players are shooting the ball and twisting their body in weird directions. I guess it was done like this to show motion. I am not a master of anatomy, but these shooting postures sometimes look really painful and unnatural. Isn't the upper body supposed to turn in the other direction when kicking a ball?

I really liked how one of the main characters is a girl who joined the male-only team. I never seen that before and it was a welcome change to the usual male-only teams (or female-only teams). And she is crazy good as well! She basically has become one of the ace players of the team.

Talking about the story, it is easy to digest and pretty fast to read through. In the beginning of the manga, there is no deep story, masterfully crafted character development or world building. Just some kids playing football because they like it - and thats totally fine. Not every manga has to be an nobel prize candidate for intellectual challenging material. Sometimes I like to just read something I don't need to think too hard about. There are some team-building or out-of-game chapters as well, but the focus is on playing the game.

Then in the later parts of the manga, it is a little bit more about the character interactions, especially between Soushi and Nanase. In my opinion, Nanase is the driving force behind the team and behind the whole manga. So making her join a different team got me less interested in how the club was doing. I also felt like Soushi was developing more in the direction of a coach and adviser rather than an actual player. After the time skip to high school, the old companions went their own way and the introduced group of friends that formed the original team drifted apart with everyone following their own ways in life.

One thing that I am not liking about Shuudan (and also about other popular sports manga/anime) is the predictable outcome of the games. How high are the chances that each game they play will end a) with a deciding goal in the last second b) by a score difference of only one point c) with the protagonists team never losing? Of course, it is a Shounen manga and they are supposed to win in the end. But I would have liked to see them struggle more on their way. In real life, you don't win every game. There are also games you lose by a wide margin. Or games where you win and the opponents have no chance at all. But in Shuudan, every game is a nail biter. It is not necessarily bad, but I would loved it to be less predictable and to see the team lose more! I don't want to see the protagonists team win every time! Not because I don't sympathize for them but because for realisms sake. But then again, this is still a non-drama manga for a Shounen audience and I understand that seeing people win games is really motivating to play sports yourself.

One thing I liked is that they didn't go all out Shounen with super-moves. There are sports manga that are actually not tagged with Superpower but where the players are performing impossible or supernatural movements or abilities (like becoming invisible, like spinning in the air for minutes while hiding the ball, like making the opponents obey to your will just by looking them in the eye, I'm looking at you Kuroko no Basket). I like the absence of those in Shuudan.

All in all, Shuudan is a solid manga. Aside from minor flaws, it is succeeding at what it wants to do. Which kind of people have a high chance of liking it? I think if you are interested in football, underdog success stories, or a fast and easy read, there is a higher probability to like Shuudan. If you are looking for some story that develops beyond the game itself or if you dislike predictable games, then Shuudan might not be the most likely recommended one.