E2 - Tokyo City Esperion
Source: Crunchyroll
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(Please feel free to edit the speaker names if incomplete or inaccurate. Names are handled on a best-effort basis depending on the info on the source file. Dialogue is left as is.)
[00:08] Ashito
Is that the Tokyo Met building?
[00:11] Driver
No, it's just a regular office building.
So where are you trying to go?
[00:15] Ashito
Tokyo City Esperion's Soccer Town.
[00:18] Ashito
I'm here to play soccer.
[00:20] Ashito
And take part in the youth team tryouts.
[02:00] Ashito
All of this is one big soccer facility?!
[02:01] Sign
Tokyo City Esperion
[02:13] Ashito
They must be here for tryouts like me.
[02:16] Ashito
Guess I'd better get out there!
[02:19] Ashito
Oh, uh, the registration fee...
[02:28] Ashito
Oh, sorry.
[02:39] Hana
Are you the one from Ehime?
[02:43] Ashito
Uh, yeah, I am, but how did you...
[02:47] Hana
Your hair.
[02:47] Hana
I was told a guy with hair
like Valderrama's was coming.
[02:51] Hana
My bro said it, not me.
[02:54] Ashito
Your bro?!
[02:57] Ashito
Cut that out! Who the heck are you anyway,
showin' up outta nowhere?!
[03:02] Hana
My bro's been going on and on about you.
[03:07] Hana
So annoying.
[03:10] Mibu
Hana-chan, hurry it up.
The tryouts are about to start.
[03:14] Hana
Oh, coming!
[03:19] Hana
Follow me.
[03:21] Hana
You're here for the tryouts, right?
[03:26] Hana
We have a total of 86 hopefuls.
Candidates with promise include:
[03:31] Hana
Tachibana Soichiro from Yokoyama Musashino's
Junior Youth soccer team.
[03:37] Hana
He was on the team that won the
Kanto boys' soccer tournament.
[03:41] Hana
Kaneda Akinori, captain of the prestigious
Tama Central Junior High team.
[03:47] Hana
Hasegawa Yudai from Seiran Junior High.
[03:51] Hana
Lee Jong Suk, also from Seiran Junior High.
[03:55] Hana
Have you achieved
anything of note in Ehime?
[04:03] Hana
What's my bro thinking?
[04:08] Hana
The front desk's over there.
[04:10] Hana
You pay the 5,000 yen
registration fee there.
[04:13] Hana
Good luck. Do your best. See ya.
[04:16] Ashito
Wow.
[04:20] Ashito
A grass field!
[04:22] Ashito
I get to play soccer on
such a beautiful field today!
[04:26] Ashito
I wish Shun could see this!
[04:34] Date
I'm Date, the head coach.
[04:36] Date
As you may already know, Tokyo City Esperion FC
is in its ninth year in the J1 League.
[04:43] Date
We've won the league title once,
and the Emperor's Cup once, too.
[04:47] Date
Our first team's record is solid.
[04:50] Date
And it all comes down to the
training of our youth players.
[04:54] Date
Esperion's youth coaching is
considered the finest in Japan.
[04:59] Date
You can take it from here, Manager Fukuda.
[05:02] Fukuda
Thank you all for coming today.
[05:10] Fukuda
I believe that a team that fails to nurture
the next generation has no future.
[05:14] Fukuda
In reality, however, pro soccer clubs end up
[05:17] Fukuda
having to acquire players from other clubs
to shore up any weaknesses in their team.
[05:24] Fukuda
But what if that player you acquire
ends up being a disappointment?
[05:28] Fukuda
There's no such issue with players who
we've raised from when they were young.
[05:32] Fukuda
We know their skills and
personalities better than anyone.
[05:37] Fukuda
Plus their strengths and weaknesses.
[05:40] Fukuda
You guys can soak up the club's
style of play as you train.
[05:45] Fukuda
That's what it means to "raise" players.
[05:48] Fukuda
The future of Japanese
soccer lies in raising players.
[05:52] Fukuda
If you pass today, we'll work together.
[05:55] Fukuda
If you don't, use this experience
to become a better player,
[05:59] Fukuda
then come laugh at us because
we couldn't see your potential.
[06:05] Fukuda
All right!
[06:07] Fukuda
How was that, Benzen? No flubs whatsoever.
[06:10] Benzen
You just ruined it.
[06:13] Ashito
Crap. I know hardly anything about the
J.League, youth teams, or this club.
[06:20] Ashito
I only came 'cause I was invited...
[06:26] Ashito
And yet, I can't get my heart to calm down!
[06:34] Fukuda
Oh, just one more thing.
[06:37] Fukuda
It's quite rare for us to snap up
any players from these tryouts.
[06:43] Fukuda
There's a good chance we won't pick any of you.
[06:45] Ashito
What?
[06:47] Ashito
Why'd you spring that on us now, old man?!
[06:50] Benzen
What's that?! Show some respect!
[06:53] Ashito
But it's not fair!
[06:55] Ashito
So many people came here,
all wanting to get in!
[06:58] Ashito
Not picking anyone's just plain wrong!
[07:10] Tsukishima
M-Manager Fukuda...
[07:14] Fukuda
Oh, right. I guess I didn't mention that part.
[07:19] Fukuda
It slipped my mind, Ashito.
I was kinda short on time. My bad.
[07:25] Ashito
H-He's wearing sandals?!
[07:28] Ashito**
Th-This team's managed
by a crazy, creepy old man.
[07:33] Fukuda
Youth teams aren't soccer schools.
We can only take players who are game-ready.
[07:40] Fukuda
In last year's intake, with the
players one year above you,
[07:44] Fukuda
we added 15 players to our youth team.
[07:47] Fukuda
Of these, three were scouted,
one made it in from the tryouts,
[07:51] Fukuda
and 11 got promoted
from the junior youth team.
[07:55] Ashito
Promoted... from the junior youth team?
[07:58] Fukuda
Yes. Most of the time,
over half the youth team intake
[08:01] Fukuda
is made up of players promoted
from the junior youth team.
[08:06] Fukuda
Last year, there were 25 third-years
in the junior youth team.
[08:13] Fukuda
Which means 14 kids who'd worked hard
believing they'd be promoted weren't.
[08:18] Fukuda
Then there's the scouted players.
[08:20] Fukuda
Talent scouts are always on the
lookout for promising players in Tokyo.
[08:26] Fukuda
If we find someone worthwhile, we negotiate
directly with them to join the team.
[08:33] Ashito
So you're saying I wasn't "worthwhile"?
[08:36] Fukuda
In short, thanks to the work done by our
scout team, we already know all about you.
[08:43] Fukuda
All 86 of you here today are players
we didn't think were worth snapping up.
[08:49] Benzen
Hey, now...
[08:50] Tsukishima
Don't say it like that, Manager Fukuda.
[08:53] Date
Fukuda...
[08:54] Fukuda
However...
[08:56] Fukuda
All of you already know that.
[08:59] Fukuda
You know your worth, but you came here to take
a chance on what is a very slim possibility.
[09:04] Fukuda
So many of you came here
wanting to join Tokyo City Esperion.
[09:10] Fukuda
Players who can crawl up through a
crowd like this really do shine through.
[09:16] Fukuda
I'd say that spark is essential to this club.
[09:19] Fukuda
That spirit of defiance.
A player who can turn the tables.
[09:23] Fukuda
We'd kill to get players like that.
[09:26] Fukuda
Display that spark and we will find you.
[09:30] Fukuda
So do your best.
[09:32] Applicants
Yeah!
[09:39] Benzen
The first stage of assessment
is the fitness test.
[09:47] Tsukishima
That's 6.1 seconds.
[09:50] Applicant A
A new PB!
[09:51] Ohtomo
Hey, you're trembling.
[09:54] Ashito
Huh?
[09:57] Ohtomo
S-Seems like I am, too.
[09:59] Ohtomo
I get a stomachache when I'm nervous.
[10:03] Ohtomo
It hurts.
[10:04] Ashito
You're the very first person who's spoken
to me since I got here. Congratulations!
[10:09] Ashito
I'm Aoi Ashito.
[10:10] Ashito
My position is "Genius Forward."
[10:14] Ohtomo
I'm Ohtomo Eisaku.
[10:16] Ohtomo
But forget about names!
This is all your fault!
[10:20] Ashito
Huh?
[10:21] Ohtomo
Because you couldn't keep your mouth shut,
Manager Fukuda gave us that speech.
[10:25] Ohtomo
And now, everyone's fired up.
[10:28] Ohtomo
A bunch of 'em were
bundles of nerves before.
[10:31] Ohtomo
I actually had a shot...
[10:34] Ashito
Oh, is that so?
[10:38] Ashito
You're right. Lots of these guys
looked super stiff at the start.
[10:41] Ashito
But I like it this way better.
[10:43] Ohtomo
Huh?
[10:45] Ashito
I get to play soccer with
these guys at their best.
[10:54] Tsukishima
Next up, we'll play some
20-minute mini-games of 7-on-7.
[10:58] Tsukishima
This is the most important
element of the first stage.
[11:01] Tsukishima
Good luck, everyone!
[11:03] Ohtomo
Who the hell decided these teams?
[11:07] Ohtomo
This is so unfair.
[11:10] Ashito
Bring it on!
[11:23] Hana
Hey, bro! How's the grading going?
[11:26] Fukuda
Hana, I told you not to call me
that out here on the field.
[11:31] Hana
Oh, sorry, "Manager Fukuda."
[11:34] Tsukihima
Hana-chan, I'm sorry for making
you work under this scorching sun.
[11:38] Tsukihima
Even if you're Manager Fukuda's sister...
[11:41] Hana
I don't mind!
[11:43] Hana
It's nothing compared to the guys out there.
They're putting their careers on the line.
[11:50] Hana
Though the game going on here
seems kinda... one-sided.
[12:13] Ohtomo
Hey! What do you think you're doing?!
[12:16] Ohtomo
Don't try and do it all by yourself!
[12:18] Ohtomo
You keep giving the ball away, Ehime!
[12:21] Ashito
It's 'cause you guys aren't passing to me!
[12:24] Ashito
I wanna score, but since no one's passing to me,
[12:28] Ashito
I have to take it upfield all by myself!
[12:29] Ohtomo
No one's passing to you 'cause you
don't let go of it once you have it!
[12:33] Ohtomo
Despite all that big talk,
you're just another show-off.
[12:42] Ohtomo
You've got the guts to try things.
I can see that.
[12:45] Ohtomo
And it's not all your fault.
[12:47] Ohtomo
We've got zero teamwork.
[12:50] Ohtomo
We need to pull ourselves together.
[12:53] Spectator A
The white team appears to be arguing.
[12:55] Spectator A
It's understandable, though.
They're totally outclassed.
[12:59] Spectator B
Especially by that guy,
Tachibana Soichiro.
[13:05] Ashito
What was that?!
[13:06] Spectator B
Rumor is, the main purpose of these tryouts
is to work out whether or not to sign him up.
[13:15] Ashito
Nice!
[13:16] Ashito
I'm free over here!
[13:18] Ashito
I'm free!
[13:24] Ohtomo
Don't worry, Kaneda! It was a nice try!
[13:32] Hana
Bro, is it really okay to have such a
huge gap in skills between the teams?
[13:39] Fukuda
Their careers are at stake in these tryouts.
[13:43] Fukuda
All of them want to stand out and be noticed.
[13:47] Fukuda
It's all me, me, me.
[13:49] Fukuda
In a makeshift team where
no one knows each other,
[13:53] Fukuda
showing off your A-game
is next to impossible.
[13:55] Fukuda
"What's needed right now?"
[13:58] Fukuda
"What role should I play in
this imperfect situation?"
[14:02] Fukuda
We aren't judging their
physicality or techniques.
[14:07] ---
We're judging their ability
to think—their intelligence.
[14:11] Coach A
That boy from Ehime's no good.
[14:14] Coach A
He's stopped moving completely.
[14:16] Coach B
Why'd Manager Fukuda even get him
to come all the way out here?
[14:25] Ashito
Dammit. My bad habit strikes again.
[14:29] (Flashback) Ohtomo
You're just another show-off!
[14:35] Ashito
It was thanks to my friends that
I could play the way I wanted.
[14:41] Ashito
I must never forget that.
[14:47] Ashito
Playing with these guys,
I can see that they're all skilled.
[14:55] Ashito
I want to play real soccer with these guys!
[15:20] Ashito
Ohtomo!
[15:26] Coach A
Hey, what's he doing?
[15:28] Coach A
He's a forward, but he's dropped
all the way into defense...
[15:32] Coach B
Is he still hung up on making a
grandstand play this late in the game?
[15:35] Ohtomo
What are you doing, Ehime?
[15:37] Ohtomo
Pass it back to me! C'mon already!
[15:40] Nakano
Keep the ball away from our goal area!
[15:42] Benzen
Five minutes left! Do your absolute
best so you won't have any regrets!
[15:48] Ashito
Bear with it! I can do this!
[15:50] Coach A
Unfortunately, he hasn't made the cut,
even though he came all the way from Ehime...
[15:54] Coach A
Aoi
Ashito
[15:56] Kaneda
Dammit!
[15:58] Kaneda
What the heck is he doing?!
[16:11] Ashito
Please...
[16:13] Ashito
I'm begging you! Just take
one more step into our half!
[16:16] Ohtomo
What's going on?
[16:18] Ohtomo
Why's Ehime keeping the ball in that area?
[16:22] Ohtomo
What's he aiming to do?
[16:24] Red Team No.16
Funky Hair over there
is totally panicking.
[16:28] Lee
Yeah.
[16:29] Lee
If we press him, we can win back the ball.
[16:31] Lee
Let's go.
[16:39] Hana
Ah! What's he doing?! Why's he
dribbling towards his own goal?!
[16:43] Ohtomo
Kaneda, run!
[16:57] Ashito
Eat that!
[17:01] Ohtomo
Awesome! Well done, Kaneda!
[17:04] Ohtomo
That was me! My instruction was key!
[17:07] Ohtomo
Without it, you wouldn't have
been there, right? Right?!
[17:10] Ashito
Hey! Did ya see that?!
[17:13] Ashito
I'm the guy who shines even when he
doesn't score! Yup, that's me, Aoi Ashito!
[17:17] Ashito
Me, me, me, me!
[17:19] Ashito
I-It was pure luck that it actually worked...
[17:24] Ashito
Assists feel great, huh?
[17:35] Tsukishima
Amazing!
[17:36] Tsukishima
So cool! What a treat we just witnessed, huh?
[17:39] Tsukishima
It was all so perfectly timed, wasn't it?
[17:41] Tsukishima
As the forward, he dropped
all the way into his own half,
[17:44] Tsukishima
and drew in the opposition.
Even their defenders.
[17:48] Tsukishima
That created an opening in the
other half for a fraction of a second.
[17:52] Tsukishima
He seized that chance to send a long
pass upfield with pinpoint precision.
[17:57] Tsukishima
In his play, I saw a glimpse of his bird's-eye
view that covers the whole field!
[18:05] Fukuda
Okay, time's up!
[18:08] Fukuda
We will now go decide which 11 players
move on to the final stage of assessment.
[18:17] Ohtomo
How can you eat so much, Aoi?
[18:21] Ashito
Why are you hardly eating, Ohtomo?
[18:23] Ohtomo
The food won't go down 'cause
I'm nervous about whether I made the cut.
[18:27] Ohtomo
I didn't get any time on
the ball... Like, at all...
[18:32] Coach A
Tachibana Soichiro. Kaneda Akinori.
[18:35] Coach A
Hasegawa Yudai. Lee Jong Suk.
[18:38] Coach A
They're all solid choices.
[18:41] Fukuda
Tsukishima, what do you think?
[18:44] Tsukishima
Ohtomo Eisaku-kun!
[18:46] Tsukishima
He was very unique.
[18:48] Coach C
Ohtomo Eisaku?
[18:50] Coach C
I don't think he did anything of note...
[18:53] Tsukishima
It was more his behavior on and
off the field, rather than his skills.
[18:56] Tsukishima
Did you notice?
[18:57] Date
Of course.
[18:58] Benzen
I did, too.
[18:59] Tsukishima
Even before the tryouts started,
he was chatting to different players.
[19:05] Tsukishima
Especially those on the white team
with numbers close to his.
[19:10] Tsukishima
Do you know what that means?
[19:11] Tsukishima
In those interactions with players
likely to be on his team in the mini-game,
[19:17] Tsukishima
he was gauging their
personalities and playing styles.
[19:20] Coach C
Aren't you reading too much into it?
[19:22] Tsukishima
No, no, I'm telling you.
Trust me. He's a shrewd one.
[19:27] Tsukishima
He was also the only one who tried to pump up
his team when the chips were down.
[19:33] Fukuda
We're short on midfielders, so let's keep him.
[19:37] Coach A
The real question mark is Aoi Ashito.
[19:41] Coach A
We're very split on him.
[19:51] Ashito
W-Wait, you...
[19:53] Ashito
I see. I didn't realize
you were a cafeteria lady.
[19:56] Hana
I'm not! You saw me helping out
with the tryouts!
[20:00] Hana
I'm just volunteering for today.
I'm just a normal junior high school student.
[20:03] Hana
But never mind that.
[20:05] Hana
No more seconds for you.
[20:06] Ashito
What?!
[20:08] Hana
Why's that surprising?
[20:09] Hana
If you make the cut, you
have to play again right away.
[20:13] Hana
On top of that, you've had too much
fried food, which is hard to digest.
[20:19] Hana
Hey...
[20:21] Hana
A reckless guy like you couldn't think far enough
ahead to pull off a perfect pass like that.
[20:27] Hana
So was it just a happy accident?
[20:32] Ashito
To be honest with you,
I'm not totally sure myself.
[20:36] Ashito
They'd completely owned
us up until that point,
[20:39] Ashito
so I just looked around the field,
thinking we had to do something.
[20:45] Ashito
It's a habit of mine.
[20:46] Ashito
Looking around the field calms me down.
[20:49] Ashito
I don't really remember much after that.
[20:52] Ashito
My body just sort of reacted...
[20:55] Hana
I see! So it was intuition!
[20:59] Hana
I'm so relieved.
[21:00] Hana
I knew it wasn't something
a mere teenager could copy.
[21:04] Ashito
Huh?
[21:05] Hana
My all-time favorite player said
he never stopped thinking about soccer.
[21:11] Hana
During training, during a match,
even when he wasn't playing soccer,
[21:15] Hana
he thought and thought
and... thought about it.
[21:22] Hana
If you do, "You're able to do things
without thinking about them."
[21:27] Hana
"That's when you've truly
mastered your craft," he said.
[21:32] Hana
"It's similar to intuition, but different."
[21:37] Hana
Good luck.
[21:38] Hana
"A man is but a thinking reed."
[21:41] Hana
I'm Ichijo Hana. Nice to meet you!
[21:44] Hana
I'm Manager Fukuda's sister.
Or well, stepsister.
[21:54] Announcer
Goal!
[21:56] Announcer
Unstoppable 23-year-old, Fukuda Tatsuya,
[21:59] Announcer
sent a laser beam of a long pass
upfield from inside his own half!
[22:22] Announcement
Attention, all candidates.
[22:26] Announcement
We have selected who will
move on to the next stage.
[22:30] Announcement
Please make your way to the field.
[24:19] Sign
Next Episode
[24:19] Sign
The Final Test Begins
[24:19] Sign
This is a work of fiction, and bears no relation to any actual persons, organizations, or names.
[24:23] Fukuda
The next episode of Aoashi is:
"The Final Test Begins."