The Knight in the Area

The Knight in the Area (Japanese: エリアの騎士, Hepburn: Eria no Kishi) is a Japanese manga series written by Hiroaki Igano and illustrated by Kaya Tsukiyama. It was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine from April 2006 to March 2017, with its chapters collected in 57 tankōbon volumes. A 37-episode anime television series adaptation produced by Shin-Ei Animation was broadcast on TV Asahi from January to September 2012.

The Knight in the Area
Ninth tankōbon volume cover, featuring brothers Kakeru (front) and Suguru Aizawa (back)
エリアの騎士 (Eria no Kishi)
Genre	Sports[1]
Manga
Written by	Hiroaki Igano
Illustrated by	Kaya Tsukiyama
Published by	Kodansha
Imprint	Shōnen Magazine Comics
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Magazine
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	April 26, 2006 – March 29, 2017
Volumes	57 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed by	Hirofumi Ogura
Produced by	Motomichi Araki Tomoharu Matsuhisa
Music by	Yasunori Iwasaki Keiji Inai
Studio	Shin-Ei Animation
Original network	TV Asahi
Original run	January 7, 2012 – September 29, 2012
Episodes	37 (List of episodes)

Plot

Kakeru Aizawa is the younger brother to Suguru Aizawa, a soccer prodigy belonging to Japan's under-15 national team. Prior to the series, Kakeru quits his position as a forward after a traumatic experience prevented him from playing with his left leg and settles for a managerial position. After the two are hit by a truck, Suguru dies and has his heart transplanted into Kakeru. With it, Kakeru returns to soccer to achieve his brother's dream of winning the World Cup.

Characters

Kakeru Aizawa (逢沢 駆, Aizawa Kakeru)

Voiced by: Yūko Sanpei^[2]

Suguru's younger brother. He plays as a forward. As a sixth grader, and after causing an injury on his friend and teammate Hibino by shooting hard the ball with his left foot, he becomes wary of using it which seriously hinders his ability to score and particularly his confidence, to the point that he seems to be unable to score. As a consequence, he starts to play less and less often and starts working more as assistant manager, to the exasperation of his brother, ace Suguru. Nonetheless, he keeps practicing soccer secretly in the park every night.

Things began to change as his childhood friend and old crush, Mishima Nana, returns to Japan one day and becomes the team's manager. Further, a mysterious masked man appears one night at the park and challenges him to play, which they keep doing every night. This motivates Kakeru to try again at the team, and in a practice match he is the only forward to be able to keep up with Suguru’s sudden and strong passes, but he fails to score because of his fear of using his left leg. Feeling disappointed he tells his brother he’ll give up on soccer just minutes before they’re both hit by a truck. After he recovers from the accident and from the heart transplant he received from his brother as his "last pass", Kakeru discovers that he seems to have inherited some of Suguru’s skills and temperament, and that he can use his left leg again.

The masked man is revealed to be Nana, who had been asked by Suguru to help Kakeru, and she reveals to him that his transplant came from his brother. After learning that and finding out that his brother’s dream was that both of them would win the World Cup he decides to return to soccer and make his brother’s dream reality.

Suguru Aizawa (逢沢 傑, Aizawa Suguru)

Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama,^[2] Motoko Kumai (child)^[3]

Kakeru's older brother. Suguru was a genius midfielder and captain of the school soccer team, who even starred in the U-15 team for Japan. He was expected by many to shoulder the future of Japan's football world. He was aware of his little brother's talent as a soccer player and was irritated by Kakeru's lack of motivation. It is hinted in the manga that Suguru might have somehow predicted his own death, as he started having regular nightmares, which ended the day of his death. After hearing his brother's decision to give up on soccer, he is about to tell him about the great dream he had that morning, when both of them are run by a truck whose driver fell asleep. Suguru had the worse part, and it was soon obvious that he was beyond help. Knowing this and also that Kakeru would need a heart transplant to survive, the doctors and the family decide to have his heart transplanted to Kakeru, who accordingly dreams that Suguru is giving him a final pass. Giving his heart to Kakeru, he also gives him his dream of winning the world cup.

Nana Mishima (美島 奈々, Mishima Nana)

Voiced by: Shizuka Itō^[2]

A childhood friend of Suguru and Kakeru, nicknamed Seven. Since returning from Los Angeles, she has become a manager, like Kakeru. She is skilled in soccer and has a relation to Kakeru. She supports and helps him to improve his skills, and later ends up engaged to him in the epilogue.

Kota Nakatsuka (中塚 公太, Nakatsuka Kouta)

Voiced by: Minoru Shiraishi^[2]

Yusuke Saeki (佐伯 祐介, Saeki Yusuke)

Voiced by: Tarusuke Shingaki^[4]

Mito Aizawa (逢沢 美都, Aizawa Mito)

Voiced by: Kei Shindō^[4]

Aizawa's Father

Voiced by: Aruno Tahara^[4]

Aizawa's Mother

Voiced by: Rei Sakuma^[4]

Media

Manga

Main article: List of The Knight in the Area volumes

Written by Hiroaki Igano and illustrated by Kaya Tsukiyama, The Knight in the Area was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine from April 26, 2006,^[5] to March 29, 2017.^[6][7] Kodansha collected its chapters in 57 tankōbon volumes, released from August 17, 2006,^[8] to May 17, 2017.^[9]

Anime

See also: List of The Knight in the Area episodes

A 37-episode anime television series, produced by Shin-Ei Animation and directed by Hirofumi Ogura, was broadcast on TV Asahi from January 7 to September 29, 2012.^[10][2] The opening theme song is Higher Ground (ハイヤーグラウンド, "Haiyā Guraundo") by "S.R.S".^[10]

The series was simulcasted by Crunchyroll in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.^[11]

Reception

By August 2021, the manga had over 13 million copies in circulation.^[12]

References

1. Kimlinger, Carl (September 14, 2012). "Knight in the Area Episodes 1–25 Streaming - Review". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on August 25, 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
2. エリアの騎士. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
3. Credits from "I Like Soccer". The Knight in the Area. January 7, 2012. TV Asahi.
4. エリアの騎士 ■ キャスト・スタッフ (in Japanese). Shin-Ei Animation. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
5. 創刊時からの作品リスト (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on December 3, 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
6. Sherman, Jennifer (February 22, 2017). "The Knight in the Area Soccer Manga Ends in 5 Chapters". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
7. 「エリアの騎士」11年の連載に幕！マガジンに「七つの大罪」ゴウセルの外伝も. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. March 29, 2017. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
8. エリアの騎士（１） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on August 18, 2009. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
9. 「エリアの騎士」最終57巻発売で、月山可也のサイン会開催. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. May 10, 2017. Archived from the original on May 19, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
10. Loo, Egan (December 20, 2011). "The Knight in the Area Soccer Anime's 1st TV Ad Posted". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
11. Balistrieri, Emily (January 5, 2012). ""The Knight in the Area" Anime Joins Crunchyroll's 2012 Winter Season". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on August 17, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
12. 累計1300万部突破した『エリアの騎士』TVアニメが１ヶ月限定で全話公開！. PR Times (in Japanese). August 25, 2021. Archived from the original on August 25, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2023.

External links

• Official manga website at Magamega at the Wayback Machine (archived 2018-02-11) (in Japanese)
• Official anime website at TV Asahi at the Wayback Machine (archived 2018-02-13) (in Japanese)
• The Knight in the Area (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia