How 'Captain Tsubasa' became an icon for Millennials

After 43 years of publications, the final issue of the magazine hosting the series known and marketed in Italy as Holly e Benji will be released. The respective animated series achieved enormous success between the 1980s and 1990s, becoming a cult favorite among Millennials and beyond. The reason was simple: it was one of the few cartoons entirely centered around the most popular sport, soccer – portrayed with a sensationalistic and heroic approach. But in Holly e Benji, typical values of Japanese culture were also exaggerated – such as the sense of sacrifice – and perhaps this was what made the series so beloved: individual characters were willing to risk their own health – or even their lives – just to win. This is demonstrated, for example, by Jun Misugi, one of the main characters of the series, who despite suffering from a heart condition, chooses not to leave the field during an important match, risking his life. The matches themselves were not depicted as normal sports competitions but more like "battles". The series also leveraged exaggeration to its advantage, with shots on goal capable of piercing the net, goalkeepers leaping onto posts, and fields that seemed kilometers long. These aspects, among others, contributed to the success of the animated series and are some of the most cited elements – to the extent that Holly and Benji almost became a genre of their own.

Reception of Holly e Benji in Italy

Holly e Benji was first aired on Italia Uno in 1986, while the sequel – Che campioni Holly e Benji!!! – aired on the same network starting from 1999. The story told by the cartoon follows that of the original manga, also published in Italy and called Captain Tsubasa, where the talented Japanese soccer player Tsubasa Ozora – after gaining recognition in the local soccer league – goes to play in Brazil and then in Europe, becoming a superstar. In the Italian version, Tsubasa is called Oliver Hutton (hence the abbreviation "Holly"), while "Benji" comes from the name of the goalkeeper Genzo Wakabayashi. Initially rivals, the two later become friends and together contribute first to the victories of the New Team, the team that gathers all the best players in the city, and then to the Japanese national soccer team. The last chapter of the series, to be published by the end of April, focuses on the team's participation in the Olympics – with Holly as the captain of the under 23 division. The manga consists of five chapters in total: Captain Tsubasa, World Youth, Road to 2002 (designed to celebrate the World Cup in Japan and South Korea), Golden-23, and Rising Sun – which is the ongoing one. Several specials have also been published, and four films have been made based on the story. In 2020, Star Comics, the company that handled the Italian adaptation of the manga, launched a collection version of the Holly e Benji manga composed of five sets.

The Creators behind Holly e Benji

Drawn by Yōichi Takahashi, the first series of Captain Tsubasa was published between 1981 and 1988 – when the Japanese manga artist was still under thirty. Takahashi became passionate about soccer while watching the 1978 World Cup, and for the story that would later become Holly e Benji in Italy, he said he was inspired by the path of the Japanese soccer player Musashi Mizushima – who played in Brazil. Subsequently, Takahashi continued to expand the narrative universe of the manga, always postponing the end of the series. Earlier this year, however, the manga artist announced that he would stop dedicating himself continuously to Captain Tsubasa, due to a worsening of his physical condition – particularly his vision. Although the manga – or rather: the spokon, the term used in Japan for sports manga – will no longer have a print edition, Takahashi confirmed that he will continue to publish short stories related to the narrative universe of Holly e Benji: they will find space on a dedicated online portal, called Captain Tsubasa World, and will effectively be sketches. The manga and its related products have contributed to spreading soccer culture in Japan to such an extent that it is believed to have been one of the factors that led to an improvement in the performances of the national team over time. Some well-known and beloved soccer players – like the Japanese Hidetoshi Nakata (who played in Italy for several years) or even Alessandro Del Piero – have said in the past that the series contributed to sparking their passion for soccer.