Do you remember Sakamoto from the Spring 2016 series Sakamoto Desu ga? It has been a year since we last saw the coolest high schooler of Japan. Isn’t time for somebody else to take the throne?
Aoyama is a genius soccer player with the looks and cool attitude to enthrall everyone who sees him. However, he has only one weakness–he is an extreme germaphobe. He puts his own cleanliness above his participation in a match. He’s been compared to Sakamoto with his effortlessly cool way of handling things and Levi Ackerman with his single-minded focus on cleanliness.
Here are three reasons why you should consider adding Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun to your watchlist:
Compared to the likes of Haikyuu!!, Kuroko no Basuke and Yuri on Ice, the first of episode of this anime is the most drama-free yet. The second episode is the same. Instead of focusing on soccer itself, it is about the antics of Aoyama and his teammates at Fujimi high school. It is more of a comedy series than a sports series. Most sports anime give you the urge to play the sport after watching a few episodes but Keppeki Danshi just makes you want to cringe and laugh.
One of the Aoyama’s main characteristics is that he is an extreme germaphobe. It gets to the point that he won’t touch a ball that’s been passed his way. He refuses any form of contact with other people including his teammates and opponents. While this is a problem for any other athlete, it is shown in episode 1 that Aoyama’s teammates don’t see it as such. In fact, they are the ones who adjust to Aoyama; they intercept balls that come his way and they don’t force him to change at all. Even Zaizen, who was against Aoyama’s play style at the start, learns to accept his way of doing things. Despite the negative impact of germaphobia in Aoyama’s daily life, he uses it to his advantage. He creates his own style of playing soccer that the people around him respect and accept.
The series has put a twist on some common sports anime tropes. First is the main character’s motives. In other sports anime, there’s always a story behind why a character chose a certain school. For Kuroko from Kuroko no Basuke, it was because Seirin had a basketball he liked. For Hinata from Haikyuu!!, it was because the Small Giant went to Karasuno. For Aoyama, it was because he liked the toilets in Fujimi. The anime also twists the protagonists’s partner trope and the team manager trope. Usually, the partner is the ace that compliments the protagonist’s unskillfulness. Keppeki Danshi turns that trope on its head–Aoyama is the ace and Zaizen is a clumsy player that’s only good with headers. Oh, and the supposedly cute and tiny team manager? Yeah, she’s a yandere.
From the first two episodes, Aoyama-kun has the potential to be a good comedy series to watch this summer 2017. There might be a few surprises in store given its twist on the normal sports anime. What surprises are these? Well, there’s only one way to find out!
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