Captain Tsubasa (キャプテン翼), commonly referred in Japan as Captain Tsubasa Yomikiri Ban (キャプテン翼 読み切り版, Captain Tsubasa one-shot version) and in the West as Captain Tsubasa Chapter 0, is the very first story with that name, was the debut work of then 19-year old mangaka Yoichi Takahashi and is the prototype of the series to which this Wiki is dedicated. It was originally published on 1980-04-01 (#18 of 1980, cover date #1980-05-05) of Shueisha's magazine Weekly Shonen Jump.
The existence of the story was first known to the public through Weekly Shonen Jump #13 (1980) where the winners of the 10th Fresh Jump Award were announced. At the time he was working as an assistant of mangaka Shinji Hiramatsu, Takahashi submitted his Captain Tsubasa story to Shueisha. The story was one of the winners of the 10th Fresh Jump Award, which entitled it to be published in Weekly Shonen Jump to be the professional debut of Takahashi.
While the series doesn't have its own volume, it was republished in Weekly Shonen Jump special compilation magazine Captain Tsubasa Netto Special on #1985-08-10. It was also compiled in the tankobon 100m Jumper: Yomikiri Kessakushu on 1986-02-15 and in 100m Jumper: Takahashi Yoichi Kessakushu on 2014-02-07, both of which compile several short manga of Takahashi.
This oneshot tells the story of a middle school boy named Taro Tsubasa and his struggle to defeat his childhood friend and rival, goalkeeper Genzo Wakabayashi, whom he has never beaten before and also keep her loved Aki Yamazaki. The story takes places in secondary school
Story[]
Nankatsu and Shutetsu are playing the final of the national middle school football championship under rain. Taro Tsubasa, captain of Nankatsu is determined to defeat Genzo Wakabayashi, the captain and goalkeeper of Shutetsu, who is also a childhood friend and rival of Taro.
Days before, during the first round of the tournament, Taro successfully captained the team to reach the final stage. Ryo Ishizaki, teammate and friend of Taro jokes at how Taro gets along with his childhood friend Aki Yamazaki, almost like a couple, although Aki insists that they are just friends. Genzo, who is a former childhood friend of Taro and Aki, appears and makes fun of Taro's accomplishments. While Genzo is a prodigy with great skills that has been successful since the beginning, Taro has no natural talent and only now he has find some success. In elementary school, both tried for the same team, but Taro didn't have the skills. Genzo, on the contrary, is so good that he has never received a goal outside the penalty area, so Taro doesn't consider himself a rival to Genzo.
During the semifinal, Aki wonders why the coach made Taro captain of Nankatsu with his kind personality, which is reflected in the fact that he doesn't really give orders to his teammates in the field, to which the coach replies that she should not talk like that about her boyfriend, which makes her mad. After the team relaxes in Ishizaki's family public baths, while returning home, Taro watches Genzo confess his love for Aki to her, telling her that if he wins the match against Taro, he wants to go out with Aki, and would only give up if Taro defeated him. After that, Taro reminiscences how the three were good friends before playing football.
Returning to the final, Taro and Ryo get close to score, but Genzo manages to defend the goal. In the process, Taro gets injured. Ryo and Aki ask the coach to change Taro, but Taro refuses and just asks that his leg be bandaged. The coach complies with Taro wishes and orders Aki to bandage him. While Ryo and the rest are doing their best to hold on, Aki ask Taro why he insist on keeping on playing. Taro answers that he has never been able to defeat Genzo even once since they were children. Aki still doesn't understand why he risks injuring his leg even further. At that point, Taro's true determination surfaces and it's seen that he has suffered enough humiliation by losing to Genzo all those times before. It is then that the coach reveals that Taro hates losing more than anything and that's why he made Taro captain. Even so, the coach also tells him to try again at high school, but Taro declines since he doesn't want to give up on Aki. At that point, Aki inadvertently blurts out that Taro is the one she loves. In the last play of the game, Nankatsu manages to get a free kick that Ryo is ready to take, but Taro enters the field and asks to shoot. Ryo complains about Taro's injured leg, but Taro uses his authority as captain and demands Ryo to move out. Seeing this determination, Genzo asks his team to remove the barrier, saying that he doesn't need it to stop a shoot outside the penalty area. Despite Genzo's efforts, the ball enters the goal and Nanaktasu wins the game and the championship. After that, Genzo carries the injured Taro on his back and they both agree to play again in the future.
Notes[]
From the prototype, only Genzo Wakabayashi and Ryo Ishizaki reappear in the regular manga.
Genzo physical appearance changes a little, with the most notable change being the removal of the sideburns he uses in the prototype. His personality is mostly the same, with the exception of having childhood friends and being in love.
Ryo appearance an general manners are the same as in the regular series, although his skills in this prototype are above the regular Ishizaki.
Taro Tsubasa is a prototype of both Tsubasa Ozora and Taro Misaki, although, contrary to those two, Taro has no natural skills for football and his main drive isn't simply his love for football but his love for Aki and his dislike for losing.
Aki Yamazaki can be seen as a prototype of Sanae Nakazawa, although her interests and personality are different from Sanae. Aki is already in love with Taro from the beginning and is the manager of the football team, while Sanae started as a cheerleader that fell in love with Tsubasa after he came to Nankatsu and started playing football there. Also, Sanae is a portrayed as a tomboy at the beginning while Aki is not, and Sanae, while always worried for his health, understands Tsubasa's love for football and determination better than anyone.