Inazuma Eleven: Ares

I am a big fan of the original Inazuma Eleven series. While it wasn't a masterpiece by any means it was still a great anime that I really liked. The story while predictable at times was engaging and entertaining to watch. The characters were for the most part great and well written, the visuals while not being great had its own charm and style and the soundtrack while a bit repetitive at times was great. It is a show I loved and to this day I hold it on high regard. Then, we have the Inazuma Eleven GO saga and while it was pretty good it hadits fare share of problems especially when you into Inazuma Eleven GO Galaxy where things got bizarre. When I heard that Inazuma Eleven is coming back in full force I was really excited because it has been 4 years since the final episode of Inazuma Eleven GO Galaxy aired. I thought the alternative setting of the show would be the series back to its great routes in a different way. I thought Inazuma Eleven Ares is going to be one of the best animes of 2018. Sadly Inazuma Eleven Ares was not one of the best animes of 2018. Inazuma Eleven Ares is easily the single most disappointing anime of 2018. Where do I even begin with this fan-fiction mess. For starters, we don't see the Inakuni Raimon team train at all but yet as the series progresses we just see them unlocking and mastering overpowered hissatsus right out of the gate. This alone created some serious plotholes and plot contrivance that at various time damages the narrative. I know the Inazuma Eleven were not the best in the narrative directing but some of the stuff that happens here is downright unacceptable even for Inazuma Eleven standards. For example, where did Iwato even learn the hissatsu technique call the wall. There's no flashback of him practising to that hissatsu technique he just mastered the hissatsu out of fin air. Next up the pacing especially in the first episode. I will admit the original series and the GO saga did not have great pacing either but least these two did a pretty good at establishing it's setting, tone and character. Here they did the exact opposite. The first episode is nothing but a series of emotional manipulation for the main protagonist who not only he loses his soccer team, but he loses his mother due to an illness. I honestly don't like when a show starts like this because it just feels like a cheap way to make the audience feel bad for set main character that we barely even know yet. When I saw the first episode for the first episode I did not care about Austo struggle because all events were so rushed. What made this even worse is that the show doesn't give Austo to probably grief as after he cried in the hill about his mother died a couple of scenes later we him perfectly fine and happy like nothing has happened. We don't see him baring his own mother, nor we see him grief alongside with his friends we just see him behave a happy kid. What makes this worse it the directing where in one Asuto is a happy and cheerful kid however what the plot decided to talk about Asuto's mother he literally goes full crybaby at times emo on the viewer. This is poor directing at its finest. Another case of this show messy direction is how almost every single match gets interrupted by sudden flashbacks where the show tries to develop it's quote new "characters" but the most part it failed miserably due to how uninteresting the new characters were. It doesn't help the fact the three main characters are all forwards instead of being a different soccer role killing the show variety. Another problem with Inazuma Eleven Ares is the new characters absolutely have no character chemistry. A couple of new characters in the show were inspired by certain old characters, but they really don't interact with each other. This alone crated a chunk of plotholes where the series does a poor job at explaining of how certain new characters were able to know the old ones. Speaking of plotholes the amount of plotholes in this show is insane in even for Inazuma Eleven standards. Where did Austo mother get burial othe Island? Why did Kazemaru decided to become a spy? How did Kagayama escape from prison? How did some of the new charterers learn new hissatsus? Who is the person controlling the Ares programme? I could go on and on. The worst thing about Inazuma Eleven Ares is that is so god repetitive. Almost every single episode has a random soccer matches. There's hardly any down time all as the series just want to get back into the soccer matches and it ultimately kills all potential character development. Before I talk about the old characters that we all know and love from the original series let's go over the new characters first because I have a lot of complaints. First, we have Asuto. I really tried to like him but direction and pacing of the series completely ruin him to a point where it only ends up being an unlikable and annoying character for the first half. His motivation of playing the sport it dumb as he wants to play soccer because his dying mother said so. This is just stupid anyone can write such a script. Asuto doesn't develop well all that much as he still is the same annoying kid from episode 1 and his interactions towards the other characters feel so stuff and unnatural. Let's not forget that his an overpowered player who learns some of the most powerful hissatsus even though we don't see him train for shit. In many ways Asuto is no different to Kirito in Sword Art Online where he unlocks some of the most powerful skills, weapons and abilities in the games that he plays. What a waste of a character if I ever think of one. Next, we have Ryouhei. Ryouhei is a pretty good character and easily more interesting and than Asuto. I really enjoyed how Ryouhei uses football as a tool of revenge as he tries only beat Nosaka but the whole ares system and his reasoning overall fill justified as we can sympathise with him thanks to he's well-told backstory. Now we have Nosaka who is by far the best character in the show. Unlike Austo and Ryouhei he's the character that I enjoyed on a emotional level. He has a pretty solid backstory where before the events of the series he was diagnosed with a brain tumour where he only has 3 months to live before he dies. The show also a pretty job at making Nosaka a pretty sympathetic character where we know the full existent of his backstory and motivation of playing Ares programme? Now with Nosaka out of the way let's talk about the weakest characters on Inazuma Eleven. the New Ramion team. They are just a bunch of Mary sues who not only don't develop for shit but they are incredibly bland and unoriginal to a point they can put you to sleep. Honestly the only other character that is even noteworthy is Hiuru aka Kazemaru 2.0 who had the potential to be good but the pacing and fanfic writing completely ruins him. Now with the new characters done with let's talk about the returning characters. Now if you thought the new characters were bad enough you ain't seen nothing yet. While the new characters were mostly a bunch of empty shells avoid with personality. Endou for example went from being a charming, passionate soccer freak to this one dimensional kid who likes to yell a lot. The character that got the worst treatment is my favourite Inazuma Eleven character Kazemaru. What a way to kill a character that I adored. In the original series he was a friendly competitive guy who love to face off strong opponents in Ariesto this dark, soulless and one dimensional spy who barely did anything. Inazuma Eleven Ares visuals were underwhelming even for Inazuma Eleven standards. The one thing that I didn't like is how it tried to look too modern by being up to date with the current sport anime but it completely backfired itself as the show can be pretty rough to look at. The character designs in Inazuma Eleven Ares range from okay to terrible as many of the characters designs in this show feels like the animation staff took rejected characters designs from the original series and Go and decided to put them in this series and it really shows. I won't mention any of the characters but if you're a Inazuma Eleven fan such as myself you can easily tell of which character designs that the animation staff decided to scrap while making the original and Go series. The animation in Inazuma Eleven Ares is below average. I will admit that the original series wasn't the best when it comes to animation but least it had it unique flare that prevent it looking dated. Ares animation on the other hand felt like it was done without a second thought. The soccer matches in Inazuma Eleven were dreadful because not they ridiculously predictable but the matches themselves feel stiff, uninspired. I have never seen Inazuma Eleven soccer matches this lifeless and lazy. It honestly makes me want to turn off my computer due to how boring they are, It is almost as bad as Megalo Box boxing matches am not even joking. The worst thing about the animation is the hissatsu. The hissatsu were meant to be this special skill for each player to use in a match. However, the way the hissatus are portrayed in Ares is horrible. Some of the hissatus feel like they came straight from Dragon Ball Z. Some of the hissatsu were so bad it can literally piss off anyone inducing Inazuma eleven fans. When I saw Fire Lemonade in the last episode of the series I wanted to slam my head on a solid wall because who thought that having a hissatsu like that was a good idea. The soundtrack of Inazuma Eleven Ares underwhelming at best. I don't mean the old track from the original series as it still great as ever the problem the new track is very dull and lifeless. The same thing can apply for the opening theme Teppen e Dash! by pugcat's which is a generic kid's opening theme that barely has any energy put to it. The ending theme Koisuru Otome wa Amemoyou by alom is a mediocre ending theme. The voice acting thankfully is still pretty good overall as you expect. Not much to comment. Inazuma Eleven Ares is one of the most disappointing animes I have ever seen in a long while. After waiting 4 years for a new Inazuma Eleven I felt insulted of what I got. The story is poorly directed mess that is filled with plot holes and conveniences. The characters for the most part were subpar and uninteresting thanks to the shows fanatic writing. The visuals were at best underwhelming and the soundtrack is lifeless. Unless you're into bad fanatics I strongly recommended especially Inazuma Eleven fans to avoid this show at all cost because this series is ultimately not worth the wait at all as it will only disappoint you.

Inazuma eleven ares is a disappointment, the franchise of Inazuma eleven is not taken seriously, the development of the characters is bad, the death of the protagonist's mother at the end had no weight in the plot was only to feel sorry for him, the 3 main characters have flaws, the one who has it the most is undoubtedly Asuto being the poorest of the 3, Nosaka and Haisaki are much more decent, another big problem he has are the Hitassus taken from his sleeve, the last minute, although Whether in the original saga they had a reason or a story behind, here they onlyappear with magic, many characters have almost no relevance and others are only to play the role of comedy, but even so they do not succeed, it is very difficult to connect with even if it is a character, although the soundtrack is one of the best of the inazuma saga, my conclusion is that ares is an anime that if you are not a fan of the inazuma saga I do not recommend it, but if you are a fan it is something decent.

After the questionable Aliea Academy arc from the original Inazuma Eleven and after the Inazuma Eleven Go series that felt like getting the bad ending of a video game, Inazuma Eleven Ares feels like replaying the game and getting the good ending. Story 8/10 The story is similar to the first arc of the original Inazuma Eleven, where you have a new inexperienced football team that joins a tournament that has more at stake than a trophy. And here comes Midouin Munetada. He is an absolute exact copy of Kageyama Reiji except the fact that the story doesent follow him in such a mysterious manner like theoriginal did with Reiji. The first episode is a little confusing with a lot of new characters being introduced as well as the football field being demolished and some other things i wont spoil, but after that the story goes smoothly, in a nice peace. Art 8/10 The art is good, i like the colorful pallet as well as the more tall and mature looking characters, because in Inazuma Eleven and Inazuma Eleven GO even though the characters are 1 year younger, they look like they are 13 and not 16, so most of the characters look more realistic this time. The animation is smooth there is no annoying CGI, the only problem is the new hissatsus(superpower moves if you havent watch the original Inazuma Eleven) animations, they lack the spirit of the original ones, but are not half bad either. Sound 8/10 The op and ending are very good, good enough to put them in my anime songs playlist, the voice actors are good as well and the background music is fitting, but i wouldnt call any of them a masterpiece. Characters 8/10 About the characters, Inazuma Eleven Ares introduces a lot of very good, interesting characters like Nosaka Yuuma aka The Emperor of The Field, Haizaki Ryouhei aka The Devil of the Pitch and more, but in the same time we have the entire new Raimon Jr team, that lacks any personality. In 27 episodes in the first Arc of the original Inazuma Eleven, we learned a lot about almost every team member, so that in the end we know and care about everyone of them, but Inazuma Eleven Ares seemed focused only on a few good characters while disregarding the others. This might not be so bad because, for that small amount of characters we are able to dive deeper into their personalities then we could have if all the characters where properly introduced. Inamori Asuto is the only exception. He is the main character so of course he has a lot of screentime but that doesent make him a good protagonist. All the fans around the globe agree that Inamori Asuto is the worst Inazuma Eleven protagonist. Why? Because he is an exact copy of Endou Mamoru. Even Tenma from the hated Go series was better because even though he was similar to Endou he had different circumstances and problems while Asuto deals with the exact same things as Endou and solves them in the exact way(convincing the team to play in the tournament, convincing the director of the school to support them etc.). He has the same circumstances as him, he speaks like him and that makes him boring considering the fact that Endou is in Inazuma Eleven Ares as well. That doesen mean that Asuto is the worst character ever, he is better than the unknown Raimon Jr team, but he is just uninteresting. Enjoyment 9/10 I was able to have a lot of fun watching Inazuma Eleven Ares, I liked the few new good characters, and seeing the old characters in a different hypostasis was interesting. Conclusion Inazuma Eleven Ares does not get the popularity that it deserves probably because of the horrible Go series that made the fans quit the anime. I tell you to give this one a try at least because there are no more weird Avatars Space Trains, football pitches with traps and stuff. Just the normal classic hissatsus form the OG. Even if you havent watched the original Inazuma Eleven you can watch this series alone.

I watched all the Inazuma Eleven series so far, and I was super hyped for this one when it was announced. Even though I am much older than when I first started watching this show, Ares no Tenbin has not disappointed my expectations and I wholeheartedly enjoyed each episode so far. Story: The plot progresses quickly, unlike the previous series. Soccer matches and character interactions are not drawn out as they were in the previous seasons. As always, there is some shadowy force called Ares no Tenbin in the background and it is foreshadowed well in the first few episodes. The plot concerning Haizaki and his childhoodfriend is also intriguing and keeps me waiting for the next episode. I liked the conclusion too as Nosaka's history is revealed near the end. The story is done well for a children's show, but one part of the story really made me cringe. In the first few minutes of episode 1, Inamori's mother dies and his soccer club is disbanded in the same day. It's ok though because the mother told him to love soccer so Inamori quickly moves past her death. Also, everything about Inamori's father makes no sense and I could not comprehend why the writers would fail so spectacularly in the area of Inamori's parents. Children would not really care about this point, but it completely disappointed me. Art + Sound: Characters look great. Old hissatsu wazas have new animations and they look gorgeous. The sound is a highlight of this show as always and combined with the art makes my hyped for every soccer match. Unfortunately near the end the art gets worse. Character: Haizaki and Nosaka are great characters, and together with the coach make the show enjoyable. The coach is eccentric, but this show has portrayed him excellently, and I enjoy whenever he is there. Goujin was a surprise hit and I liked how he got quite a lot of limelight and was well developed too. We didn't get to see much of Endou, Kidou, and Gouenji, but when they appeared I really liked it. Inamori started off very awkward but he has development afterwards, but he doesn't get anywhere close to Tenma. I also dislike Inamori's motivation to play soccer, and the whole situation with his parents. Unfortunately, the story does not flesh out the other members of Raimon; they get one episode for character development and then are tossed aside. Hyped fights such as against Hakuren, Kira Orphanage, and Endou's team were a bit of a letdown too because we didn't like the characters as much. The managers are forgettable and not as memorable as the managers in past season, especially when compared to Aoi, Haruna, and Natsumi. Conclusion: I enjoyed the first half well, but I didn't get as hyped for the latter matches. I still give this show an overall 8/10 because hissatsus were cool, some characters were very entertaining, and the overall plot with the Ares organization was well executed.