The anime for Whistle! spans 39 episodes. It'll take awhile to complete all the summaries for it, so please bear with me! I sort of go in a random order when writing these summaries, so 'scuse that. Also, there's obviously going to be a lot of spoilers here, just in case you didn't already realize that, so continue on at your own risk! Episode 1 > > Break Through the Wall! It's the first day of school for Kazamatsuri Sho at his new school, Sakurai Jyousui Chuu. Originally, he went to Musashi no Mori, a school famous for its athletics and academics, and especially its exceptionally talented soccer team. Though Sho was a hard-worker and decent player, he was never allowed to play soccer despite being in the soccer club because he was too short. Therefore, he got stuck with all the dirty work such as wiping the dirt off of soccer balls and cleaning everyone's shoes. Because of that, Sho decides to leave Musashi no Mori and transfer to Sakura Jyousui, a school with a second-rate soccer team. At school, everyone seems to know that he is a transfer student from Musashi no Mori and they immediately assume he is an amazing soccer player. Once he steps on the field and plays soccer with the rest of Sakura Jyousui's soccer team though, he clumsily trips and falls down during the game. Everyone soon learns that he wasn't a starter at Musashi no Mori after all, and Sho runs away in embarassment. Eventually, Sho realizes that his one true love is soccer and resolves not to give up on his dream of becoming a pro. He practices under Inochi River Bridge day and night, sometimes even past midnight. He even skips school several days, just so he can practice. Episode 2 > > Run With Teammates! For the spring soccer tournament, Sakura Jyousui is matched up against Musashi no Mori in the first round. Because of that, the current captain of the soccer club, Honma, feels that there's no point in practicing because they're just going to lose in the tournament anyways. This angers Mizuno, who says it's important to still work hard and try your best. Eventually, a mini-soccer match is scheduled to determine who will become captain of the soccer club: Honma or Mizuno. For the game, Honma keeps the team regulars while Mizuno recruits the lesser-noticed club members for the game: Takai, Koga, Hanazawa, and of course, Sho. The five of them meet under Inochi River Bridge to practice and go over strategies, and Sho discovers how fun it is to play soccer with friends. Episode 3 > > Hit the Goal! This episode features the match between Mizuno and his team of subsitutes versus current team captain Honma and his group of regulars. Basically, even though Honma and his team start to play dirty and injure Mizuno's legs, Mizuno's team still wins with the help of Sho. Overall, they had very nice teamwork. Since Mizuno won, Honma had to step down from his position as captain, and Mizuno became the new captain of the soccer team. Episode 4 > > Never Give Up on the Future Pretty much all of the seniors and freshmen in the soccer club quit, and Sho visits all of them to try to convince them to come back. They all refuse, saying they don't want Mizuno as captain, that a talented guy like him can never understand the feelings of ordinary players. It seems that the freshmen have been bullied to quit the team by the seniors as well, because the seniors wanted to cause trouble for Mizuno. Fortunately, Sho is able to get through to at least one person, Hiroyoshi Noro, a freshman. By befriending Noro and playing some soccer with him, Sho inspires Noro to rejoin the club again, despite the seniors' beatings because of it. Sho also gets another person, Sato Shigeki, to rejoin soccer. He had quit the club earlier before because he dislikes the seniors' arrogant attitude. Episode 5 > > Gotta Be the Forward! Sho accidentally listens in on a confrontation between Mizuno and his father, Coach Kirihara of Musashi no Mori. There's definitely some tension between father and son, as Mizuno's father tells his son that he should have gone to Musashi no Mori because Sakura Jyousui's team basically sucks. At the end of the little fight, Kirihara vows that he'll crush Mizuno in the first round of the tournament. During practice, Sho has trouble getting the ball past Shige. Later on, he learns to find other ways of getting through instead of just using brute strength, and he becomes the team's forward. Episode 6 > > Venge Forward The match between Sakura Jousui and Musashi no Mori begins! The Musashi no Mori's 1st-stringers, meaning the absolute best people on the team, are up against Sakura Jousui in the first round. Although Sho and the rest of the team put up a good resistance, Musashi no Mori still leads in the first half. Mizuno and Sho have a cute little mind-reading thing going on here, where they know where to pass the ball even though they don't verbally communicate. Really cool. Episode 7 > > VOR! During half-time in the locker rooms, Takai and Mizuno get into an argument. Takai is trying to get everyone's spirits up, but Mizuno tells him it isn't a time for laughter and that he should get more serious about winning. Then Sho blurts out the fact that Musashi no Mori's coach is Mizuno's father. Mizuno is embarassed, but he's cute when he blushes. XD Then everyone understands why Mizuno was so serious, and they all band together again to win. A regular customer from Oyassan's yatai visits the team, and he gives them advice on how to go up against Musashi no Mori in the second half of the game. That person's name is Matsushita Souju, and he seems to be very knowledgeable about the game of soccer. Also, an old friend from Musashi no Mori comes to visit Sho. He helps get Sho fired up by telling him, "If you can dream, you can do it!" Later on in the match, Sho is able to finally score a goal for Sakura Jousui. Comments: This is what Takai says about Mizuno in this episode: "I thought you were cool... but you're quite hot." Ha. XD Episode 8 > > Catch the Last Pass! After trying their hardest and running their fastest to put up a good resistance against Musashi no Mori, Sakura Jousui is getting exhausted. When Sho tries to kick a goal, it misses and his ankle gets seriously hurt. Shibusawa purposely kicks the ball out of bounds so the game stops and Sho can get treatment for his injury. After listening to Sho and Noro speak pasionately about not giving up, everyone on the team is revived and fired up again, even though they were totally breathless earlier. One minute is left in the match! Episode 9 > > Leap Over the Wall! Everyone is passionately giving it everything they've got in the final part of the match, including Noro, Morinaga, Koga, and Takai, who used to be told that they weren't good enough, or that they shouldn't waste their time on soccer. In the last few seconds of the match, Fujishiro is about to score a goal for Musashi no Mori, but Shige blocks it and kicks a powerful shot straight across the field and towards Musashi no Mori's goal! With the help of Sho, they score a goal, and the game is tied! In overtime, Fujishiro scores a goal and Sakura Jousui loses. Everyone in the stadium stands up to applaud Sakura Jousui for a very well-played match against Musashi no Mori. After that match, Musashi no Mori went on through the tournament, never allowing their opponents to score a single goal. They eventually win the tournament, and when Shibusawa is interviewed by reporters, he says that because their match against Sakura Jousui was the hardest match they ever played, Musashi no Mori was able to beat all the others in the tournament. Episode 10 > > Grab a Position on the Team! While walking home from school one day, Sho spots a boy looking like he's about to jump into the river and commit suicide. Sho rushes over to stop the boy and accidentally pushes the both of them into the river. Later on, Sho finds out that the boy, Fuwa Daichi, wasn't actually going to commit suicide. He was in fact just trying to get a closer look at the water. It turns out that Fuwa is a very intelligent, curious, and analytical person. Yet, he doesn't know what soccer is, so Sho shows him. While showing Fuwa what a game of soccer is, Sho discovers that Fuwa is an amazing goal keeper. When Sho tries to get Fuwa to join the soccer club, the other members of the club oppose it. They say that Fuwa's nickname at school is the Crusher, because he's so smart and blunt, he unknowingly puts down other people and crushes their pride. He's also a very scary person. Meanwhile, Katori-sensei is trying to get Matsushita-san to coach the team. In the end, Matsushita is convinced by an old friend, Amamia, to coach Sakura Jousui. Fuwa also joins the soccer team, saying that his reason for joining is to find out the reason behind Sho's smile. (He can't understand how Sho can always keep smiling and why he has so much fun playing soccer.) Comments: Matsushita and Amamia's past together is a little depressing... but it's still a nice, inspiring story of overcoming obstacles. Episode 11 > > Back to the Field! Sakura Jousui has an upcoming match against Kokubu Junior High, but one of their members, Yamaguchi, is injured. Sho suggests that Kojima take his place because she's really skilled. He defends her by saying that there's no rule saying that girls can't play, and Kojima is really happy and grateful to Sho for giving her the chance to play soccer. During the match against Kokubu though, one of the guys accidentally brushes his hand against Kojima's breasts, and he realizes that she's a girl. Throughout the rest of the game, Kokubu doesn't play their best against Sakura Jousui because they don't want to get too close or too rough with a girl. Kojima is then kicked out of the match, and she runs away. Kojima is saddened by how she loves soccer a lot, but she had to be born a girl. Mizuno and Sho appear later on to talk to Kojima. Mizuno tells Kojima that Sho had his own obstacle to overcome -- his height, but Sho didn't run away, and Kojima did. Sho encourages Kojima to start her own girls' soccer team, and from then on, Kojima resolved to do just that. Episode 12 > > Make a Way! After intense practices, the starts for the soccer team are finally announced, and Takai isn't one of them. Depressed and feeling worthless, Takai tells Sho that he's going to quit the soccer team. Kojima appears and purposely makes Takai angyr, firing him up by saying that he's weak for getting depressed over a small little thing. She challenges him to a small soccer match where Takai has to try steal the ball from her. After some more taunting from Kojima, Takai is totally fired up and finally lets out his full power to beat Kojima. With encouragement from Sho and Kojima, Takai decides not to quit soccer just yet and keep working at it until another chance comes along. Episode 13 > > Find Your Own Path! It's the match betwene Sakura Jousui and Kokuba Junior High. A tall, scary, and cold person is on Kokuba's team, by the name of Tenjou Ryoichi. When Sho spots Tenjou's grandmother, Kazue, standing in the sun, Sho offers to give her an umbrella. Tenjou sees this and smacks the umbrella away, saying that he can never trust anybody else's help. It's discovered that Tenjou has a very strict and wealthy father, who tells his son that he needs to work hard on his own to get what he wants, that only a weak man depends on others for help. Throughout the game, it is apparent that Tenjou is taking his father's words to heart, as he hogs the soccer ball to himself and never passes to his teammates. Still, Tenjou is a very skilled player, able to make powerful shots into the goal. Episode 14 > > Run Over the Tears! Despite Tenjou's powerful and skillful plays, he alone is still no match for the teamwork of Sakura Jousui. In the deciding point of the match, Tenjou chooses not to pass the ball to his teammate and instead tries force the ball to the goal himself. He misses, and Sakura Jousui wins the match. Later on, Tenjou is at the roof top of the school building thinking about the game and old memories. Sho appears and accidentally catches Tenjou crying. Sho tells Tenjou that he admires him and wants to become just like him. Tenjou thinks Sho is insulting and pitying him, so she gets extremely angry and pushes Sho against the wall. Sho tells Tenjou that he isn't there to make fun of him, that he truly does admire him, that he loves soccer so much, he'll work so hard until he can fulfill his dream of becoming a pro. All of this shocks Tenjou, and Sho walks away. Episode 15 > > Go For the Ball Fujishiro goes over to Sakura Jousui for a friendly visit! He brings a big bag of snacks and candy for the team, too, as a sort of thank-you present for the well-played game last time. During his visit, he participates in a practice game with Sakura Jousui. Fujishiro also encourages the team to do their best in the upcoming tournament so Musashi no Mori can play Sakura Jousui again. During one night of practice under Inochi River Bridge, the former captain of Sakura Jousui's soccer club, Honma, appears in front of Sho. He admits to Sho that he was jealous of the team at first, how everyone tried their hardest and almost beat Musashi no Mori. Sho encourages Honma to not give up on soccer, and Honma agrees, saying that he'll restart soccer again in high school. He helps Sho practice some moves, and he gives the team a valuable book of research on Sakura Jousui's next opponent. Because of the help and encouragement they've received, Sakura Jousui achieves an easy victory against Wakasaka Junior High. Episode 16 > > Let's Beat 'Em With Teamwork! Communication and teamwork between Fuwa and the other team members are bad. Fuwa is really harsh when he tells the other people what they're doing wrong, and Noro even went close to crying. Sho stops Fuwa from pissing off anyone else by jumping on his back, covering his mouth, and then dragging him away. XD Then, Fuwa tells Sho that he still can't figure out the reason behind Sho's smile. Sho tells Fuwa that probably another goal keeper, like Shibusawa from Musashi no Mori, could help answer Fuwa's questions. Then, Fuwa goes to Musashi no Mori to visit Shibusawa. He jumps one Musashi no Mori person, knocks him out, and steals his uniform so he could go on the field. XD When he finally gets to talk to Shibusawa, he understands a little better about how important a position a goal keeper is, and how he needs to gain trust from others. Comments: Mizuno is scared of Fuwa. XD And the scene where Fuwa apologizes to Noro for being mean is hilarious, too. XD Episode 17 > > Let it Go It's a match between Sakura Jousui and Iwakou Junior High! Noro is feeling unconfident about his skills and thinks he's useless on the team. During the game, he accidentally scores a goal for the other team. Mortified, Noro is extremely distressed and decides he's going to quit soccer once and for all, so he doesn't slow down the team any more. After his talk with Shibusawa about gaining trust with teammates the other day, Fuwa brings it upon himself to help Noro. He tells Noro, "A mouse will even bite a cat when it is cornered," implying to never give up until the end. And, in the end, Fuwa's words do get through to Noro as he tries his hardest to defend the goal and block Iwakou from scoring. Comments: Fuwa's so cool here. You get to see him nicer and gentler than usual when he sits down next to Noro to talk to him. XD And, he even has a really nice little smile towards the end of this episode, too! Also, it was hilarious when Fuwa first went up to Noro to talk to him. Noro was so scared, he was crying so hard 'cause he thought Fuwa was going to beat him up or something. XD Episode 18 > > You've Gotta Believe in Yourself In the last half of the exciting match against Iwakou, Sakura Jousui eventually wins, 2 - 1. Noro decides not to quit soccer after all, feeling happy after winning the game, despite the tough obstacles. Long after the game, a confrontation erupts between Mizuno and his dad after Mizuno finds out that his dad set up the transfer papers for him to go to Musashi no Mori, even after Mizuno refused to go. His dad tells Mizuno that his skills will only grow worse at Sakura Jousui and that he'll never become a pro if he decides to stay there. Mizuno realizes that his dad only wanted a soccer genius, not Mizuno Tatsuya himself. He leaves his dad's house, completely angry. Sho overhears the entire confrontation. Episode 19 > > Understanding One Another Sho gets to talk to Mizuno's dad and understand his point of view. Mizuno's dad wants his son to transfer to Musashi no Mori so they can win the nationals because he is pressured by the directors at school to win, or else he'll lose his job. Mizuno's dad tells Sho not to let Mizuno know about this as he doesn't want to buy sympathy. Later on during Sakura Jousui's match against Kaga Junior High, Mizuno hogs the ball and wins the entire game by himself. He is evidently still angry about his father, and he's taking his anger out on soccer. After the game, a confrontation arises between Mizuno and Shige. As Mizuno is about to punch Shige, Sho jumps in front of Shige and gets punched by Mizuno instead. Sho shouts at Mizuno to not talk bad about his father because Mizuno doesn't understand his father's feelings. He then runs away, embarassed. Afterwards, it starts to rain. Mizuno goes to Shige's house asking for advice on what to do with Sho and how to apologize. Eventually, Sho and Mizuno make up again, and the sun shines through the clouds. Episode 20 > > Feel My Friend's Pain This time, it's a match with Sakura Jousui going up against Rakuyou Junior High. After a talk with his mother, Mizuno finds out how his dad was about to get fired from his job if Musashi no Mori didn't win the nationals, and the reason why his dad wanted him to transfer. Still, Mizuno refused to go. During the match, Mizuno's father shows up to watch the game and his son. Sho watches Mizuno throughout the game, thinking about how Mizuno has all these pains and hardships yet he still pretends like it's nothing. Episode 21 > > Always Run Ahead The hard match against Rakuyou continues in the rain. During one incident, Mizuno gets accidentally kicked hard on the back while trying to catch Sho's ball pass. Despite that, he continues to play throughout the match, and he even tells Sho that he's always there for him if he needs him. Also in this episode, an amazing goal made by Sho when he goes for the ball and even falls upside-down into the goal! Episode 22 > > Fly With Your Friends Since Sakura Jousui and Rakuyou tied, the game goes into overtime with five penalty shots for each team. When Mizuno kicks his penalty shot first and misses, he's really hard on himself about missing. But later on, he realizes that there's still hope for Sakura Jousui to win, and he isn't alone. He's proud about the great teammates he has. Eventually, Sakura Jousui wins. When Mizuno and his father meet after the game, his father smiles and says that he understands why Mizuno likes Sakura Jousui so much, because everyone on the team is so hard-working and close to each other. They become friendly rivals from then on. Episode 23 > > Pursue the Palpitation Coach Matsushita, Mizuno, Sho, and Kojima go to Hiba Junior High to do some research since Hiba is Sakura Jousui's next opponent in the tournament. Also, Coach Matsushita heard from Coach Amamia that Tenjou wasn't playing his best since someone very close to him, his grandmother Kazue, died right before the game. He says Tenjou will probably quit soccer, and Sho is distraught. They find five members of the Hiba Junior High soccer team ditching school and playing mini-soccer. Sho also spots Tenjou nearby. Mizuno, Sho, Tenjou, Kojima, and Coach Matsushita play a game of mini-soccer against the 5 Hiba students. One of them is very short like Sho, but he's a genius in both academics and soccer. His name is Shiina Tsubasa, and he's incredibly blunt and talkative. XD Sho and his team get beaten, and now they are all aware of the extent of Hiba Junior High's power, even though their team was just formed last year. Episode 24 > > Aim for the World An old, childhood friend of Shige appears, but Shige unfortunately doesn't remember him! Later on, Shige realizes that the person he saw was the guy he used to always beat at soccer when they were little kids. That old friend of Shige's is Inoue Naoki, or Saru (monkey) as Shige always called him. They'll meet again on the field as Saru is part of Hiba Junior High, Sakura Jousui's next opponent. Meanawhile at Hiba, the team members in the soccer club reminisce about how they first met their tough, short captain, Tsubasa. All of them used to be total delinquents back then, never listening to teachers and often skipping classes. When Tsubasa first arrived, he got picked on by those delinquents, but he didn't let them get their way. Tsubasa beat them at soccer, and when they tried to punch him, he threw them to the ground. It was a rocky start, but eventually Tsubasa and the rest of the delinquents became friends, connected by soccer, aiming to be the best in the world. Episode 25 > > Break Through Their Flat 3 Mizuno's father, Shibusawa, and Fujishiro from Musashi no Mori go to watch the match between Hiba and Sakura Jousui. (And Fujishiro is so cute and hyper here!) Also, we find out that Hiba's cool female coach actually used to be in the J-League (professional soccer in Japan). During the first half of the game, Hiba's powerful wall of defense proves to be extremely tough for Sakura Jousui to break through. Their defense is called a Flat 3, which is a line of three defenders moving up and down the field together. It's a tough and risky defense to maintain, but Hiba totally pulls it off. Tsubasa, the captain and the center of this line of defense, is extremely charismatic and skilled and proves to be a formidable opponent during the match. Comments: It's a really interesting match, I swear! Tsubasa is so freaking awesome, you just love watching him. XD Shige and Tsubasa pull of some nice acrobatic moves here, and Shige even says to Tsubasa, "Hey, princess!" XD Episode 26 > > See the Father at the Shoot The fierce battle rages on! Shige and his old friend, Inoue Naoki, go one-on-one, like old times. It turns out that Naoki is still angry and sad about when Shige ran away from home without telling him. Naoki is also angry about how Shige always runs away and avoids things he doesn't want to hear or talk about. Also during the game, Shige cheats by purposely using his hand to bounce the soccer ball behind his back and score a goal. (In case you didn't know, you're not supposed to use your hands in soccer. Only the goal keeper can do that.) The goal didn't count, by Sho noticed that Shige was purposely trying to cheat. Shige said he did that since Hiba's defense was so hard to beat, and they had to do whatever they could do so Sakura Jousui could win and go on in the tournament. Later on when Shige lured one of Hiba's players into giving Sakura Jousui a foul, Shige gave the penalty kick to Sho. Sho purposely kicked the ball totally off-course, which told Shige that Sho doesn't want to cheat, he wants to play a fair game of soccer and beat Hiba with their own skills. After that incident, everyone's morale in Sakura Jousui goes down, but Sho is still determined to win. Episode 27 > > Take a Chance on the Unknown The match against Hiba comes to an end, as Sho makes one incredible play to score a goal, and the second winning goal was made by total luck after the ball bounced off the back of Santa's head. It is in this episode where we learn more about Sho's family. Mizuno's father invites Sho to go over to his house with Mizuno to watch very old videos of Sho's father, Shiomi Kensuke, playing soccer when he was a pro. Kojima and Miyuki do some research and find out that Shiomi Kensuke and his wife died in a head-on truck collision. Sho's current parents, Kazamatsuri Mamoru and Reiko, visit Sho and Kou at their apartment. They talk to Sho about his father and family stuff, since it's the first time they found out that Sho realized they weren't his real parents. After their talk, Sho lets everyone know that he's happy to have them all as family. Comments: It was really touching when Sho was watching those old videos of his father. It was the first time he ever saw his father playing soccer, you know? And it's just really sad about his real parents... Episode 28 > > Beat Your Rival Mizuno, Sho, and Fuwa arrived at the Junior Senbatsu Camp. There, they meet talented new junior high students like themselves, as well as old friends from previous matches, like Shiina Tsubasa and Tenjou Ryoichi. The first day of camp is mainly testing, where everyone is divided into groups and then do trials that test their speed, agility, accuracy, power, etc. Sho scores the lowest on all of these tests, but Coach Saionji (whose part of the junior senbatsu team staff) says that Sho possesses that one very important thing, the thing that a lot of people, even pros, don't have. Episode 29 > > Never Regret Narumi Takashi arrives at the junior senbatsu camp, and he gives Sho hell during practice. He's a very agressive player, pushing and elbowing people out of his way. Since Sho is so short, he makes it especially hard on the younger boy. Sho continues to persevere though, and finally, he is able to push past Narumi. Although Sho didn't score a goal, he was still able to top Narumi. Back at Sakura Jousui, Coach Matsushita explains to Shige that he was selected for the junior senbatsu camp, too. Because Shige didn't seem serious enough and he had an injury, Coach Matsushita declined the invitation. This leaves Shige down in a slump for the rest of the day, and he even considers quitting soccer. It's a good thing his old friend from Kyoto, Inoue Naoki, is there to set Shige straight. Episode 30 > > Control the Game Everyone is divided up into two groups, red and white, for a soccer match to test everyone's skills in an actual game. It is during this game that the final members for the junior senbatsu team are selected. The pressure is hard on everyone, and it even causes some people to lose their cool and worsen their game. Sho, as usual, is trying his hardest, while at the same time still enjoying the game. Episode 31 > > Sharpen Your Skill The red and white match continues on. The red team is leading, which is no surprise, because generally all the really talented players were put on the red team. Sho keeps working at it though, and he manages to even score a goal. Coach Saionji remarks what a great moodmakers Sho is, for both his teammates and his opponents, who get fired up whenever they see how hard Sho works and the incredible plays he can pull off. The game eventually comes to an end, with the red team winning 6 - 5. At the end of the day, the final members for the junior senbatsu team are announced. Among those selected are Mizuno, Tsubasa, Tenjou, Shibusawa, and Fujishiro. Although Sho isn't a started, he is selected as one of the two alternates for the team. Despite that, he becomes a very important player in future games, and Coach Saionji even calls him their "secret weapon." Episode 32 > > Find Your Way Out After Mizuno, Sho, and Fuwa return to Sakura Jousui for regular club activities, they find out just how much they've really grown at the junior senbatsu camp. When Mizuno and Sho play on the field with their teammates, they realize how drastically different playing at Sakura Jousui is from playing with the other talented students at the junior senbatsu camp. Mizuno is frustrated at how weak Sakura Jousui's skills are, and he even begins to snap at his teammates. During a small tournament (37th Tokyo Combined Physical Education Soccer), Mizuno and Sho manage to get Sakura Jousui through the first two rounds, but there's only so much two players can do on their own. Sakura Jousui loses in the third round, and everyone is saddened. Sho is depressed as well by how he feels like he's leaving Sakura Jousui behind, since his skill level is way beyond the team after the junior senbatsu camp. Takai and Morinaga appear to assure Show that they're extremely happy for him, and it's because of Sho that Sakura Jousui was able to get so far. Episode 33 > > Back to Origin At the junior senbatsu practice, Saionji Akira is announces that she'll be the the team's new coach since the original director became sick. Narumi says that a woman isn't good enough to coach him, let alone the entire junior senbatsu team, so he two of them have a little match. Coach Saionji kicks Narumi's butt, and Narumi accepts that she's better than him. After that, they start training. Meanwhile, Shige is going back to his home in Kyoto, where he first ran away. He visits his mom again for the first time in years, and he tells her that he's going to be mature and serious now, that he's serious about his dream to go pro and play soccer. Episode 34 > > Be the Wind The junior senbatsu team has a practice match with one of Sakura Jyousui's past opponents, Rakuyou Junior High School. In the first half of the game, Rakuyou is leading because the senbatsu team members don't work communicate and work together. Eventually, a fight breaks out between Tsubasa, Narumi, and Mizuno, and Coach Saionji has to throw water on all of them to get them to shut up. Then, she replaces Mizuno with Sho on the field. Mizuno is bewildered at being benched and having to give up his jersey for Sho. (Mizuno's jersey number is 10, which is reserved for the most important player on a soccer team.) Coach Saionji tells Mizuno to watch the game and see what Sho has that Mizuno and many others don't. In the end, Mizuno realizes that although Sho isn't the fastest or strongest player, he is the most trusted player on the team. He gets everyone to work together and cooperate so they finally beat Rakuyou and win the match. Comments: My FAVORITE part in the entire anime: Sho kicks the ball to Narumi and the ball hits him straight in the nuts. XD Everyone is silent for moment, and then they all say at the same time, "That's gotta hurt." Episode 35 > > Brand New Tomorrow During practice, Tenjou seems off his game, so Sho walks home with him to talk. It turns out that Tenjou is still preoccupied with thoughts about Kazue's death. He also finally met his mother, who had separated from his dad years ago and moved to Germany. She goes back to Japan to see Tenjou, and Tenjou also meets his little sister, Marie. The only Japanese word she snows is oniichan, meaning "brother." Tenjou's mother asks him to go back to Germany with her. To settle things once and for all, Sho challenges Tenjou to a soccer game. After Tenjou wins, it just somehow makes things all clear for him, and he decides to go to Germany with his mother. He promises Sho that while in Germany, he'll become even stronger. The two friends vow to meet again someday. Comments: This is the episode where Narumi loses a bet with Fujishiro and he has to suck noodles up his nose! They even show him doing it at the end of the episode. Dude. XD Episode 36 > > Look at This Uniform During practice, Mizuno isn't paying attention and gets hit in the face by a soccer ball, causing a nose bleed. He sits out on the side for the rest of practice, thinking about Sho, soccer, and life in general. He comes to realize he hasn't established a bond with anyone else on the team, and while Sho has improved greatly, he hasn't improved at all. Mizuno eventually asks himself, "What is my goal? What is my joy? What is it?" Later on, the entire soccer club goes to their first temple visit on New Year's Eve. They play a game of mini-soccer afterwards, where Mizuno watches how Sho can work together with a soccer amatuer like Miyuki-chan to score a goal. Mizuno becomes frustrated at how Sho can do a thing like that and work well and connect with others while Mizuno himself can't. At the very end of the episode, Mizuno says to himself, "Damn it! My soccer... my joy... I will find out what they are! I swear!" Comments: Yeah... Mizuno's a little angsty in this episode, but that's sort of natural at this age, right? Trying to figure out who you are, the point of doing things in life. Mizuno really seemed to be in pain, and I almost felt like crying. Episode 37 > > Enjoy a Game The junior senbatsu team flies on a plane to Seoul, South Korea. Kaku reunites with his cousin and rival in soccer, Ii Yun-gyong. The "friendly" match between the Seoul and Tokyo senbatsu teams doesn't turn out to be so friendly at all. The Koreans are fierce and giving it their all during the game, and they're not holding back. During the match, Kaku gets angry at Mizuno and says that he should take his jersey off, that he doesn't deserve to wear the number ten jersey. (The number ten jersey is worn by the best person on the team.) After some thinking, Mizuno finally decides to enjoy the game more. His facial expression has totally changed. Episode 38 > > Get a Chance Finally, at long last, Mizuno is enjoying a game of soccer and feel free, without the pressures of winning or anything. Because of that, he is able to play at his best and come up with good plays that help the Tokyo senbatsu team to score. So far, Seoul leads 2 - 1. After the Tokyo goalkeeper, Kozutsu, is injured, Fuwa steps in to sub. Also, after sitting on the sidelines during the first half, Tsubasa and Sho finally step onto the field. Episode 39 > > Whistle for the Victory The game rages on in the snow. In the last minute of the game, SHIGE ARRIVES! He takes Narumi's spot on the field, as Narumi was having some sort of stomach problems that were causing him some pain. With Mizuno, Sho, and Shige together, or "Sakura Jousui's triangle combination" as Coach Saionji called it, the Tokyo senbatsu eventually makes an awesome comeback. In the end, the game ends in a tie, 4 - 4, but everyone in the huge stadium stands up to applaud both teams for an incredible game. As everyone is exiting the stadium, Sho stays back to gaze at the snow falling on the empty field. He vows to himself that he'll work even harder from now on and become a professional soccer player for sure! The Tokyo senbatsu team flies back to Japan soon afterwards. Among the crowd of friends and family excited to see everyone back from Seoul, Sho spots Kojima standing off to the side alone, looking a little sad. Sho calls out her name, kicks a soccer ball to her and says, "If you believe in yourself, your dreams will become reality!"