Offside (OVA)

Aired: 1993

An OVA adaptation of Natsuko Heiuchi's Weekly Shonen Magazine soccer manga Offside, released on January 22, 1993. The story centers on high-schooler Goro Kumagai and his underdog soccer club, whose members clash and grow as they challenge powerhouse teams. Alongside tactical match scenes, the OVA earnestly depicts the friendships and rivalries of teammates, first loves and the tension between club life and schoolwork. Produced after the manga's original run concluded, it distills the energy of a series that helped drive the late-1980s boys' soccer manga boom in Japan into compact animated form.