The words spoken to Ashito cut deep. The point is that Ashito didn’t absolutely need soccer like so many of the teammates from Barcelona. This is one aspect in the series that it has constantly been in the dialouge as Hana’s words of it is just soccer was a bit moment for Ashito. As it is a reflection to her of what happened to her brother with the injury. It’s a core part of Ashito’s growth is that even making a career out of soccer he doesn’t need to make soccer his whole life.
Akutsu’s arc was one where he literally had nothing but soccer. His development was a complement to Ashito’s, where, unlike for Ashito soccer was his only escape. But it was through soccer that he found something more for him than only soccer. He found a family in Esperion where he can always come back to.
The transition now with Barcelona is that for many of these players soccer was their escape like Akutsu. The difference is the support system that Fukuda provided wasn’t something they cared to implement. Demian’s flashback arc is strongly evident because of his abusive father. His grandmother protected him for so long and is the clear reason why he believes in God so much. Though perhaps Demian symbolizes also how Ashito would have been if Hana hadn’t saved him. Demian worships soccer so much that it is equivalent to God for him. Soccer is Demian’s life when obviously it shouldn’t be.
Even through all the adjustments Esperion makes, Demian’s talent is on display. We see him being the addition to their 3 playmakers in creating the diamond. For Ashito learnign defense and tactics was a huge thing for him, but right now he is seeing how much a talent like Demian changes the playing field. No surprise it messes him up a lot because this hasn’t happened. The curious thing will this be something that regresses him or forces him to grow?
Even before this their goalkeeper was showing what the ideal forward is. He has the confidence to stay cool and make the exceptional plays look routine. It really shows how much an ideal goalkeeper changes the playing field. No doubt it shouldn’t be a surprise that Barcelona can find someone of his skills and develop. It is just demoralizing to see something make exceptional plays look so mundane.
It’s a bit unfortunate this happens after the nice focus Ootomo has. He has always been the little guy of this manga. Just seeing him able to assert himself is just nice to see.
Still it looks like Ashito is hitting a breaking point with Akutsu at the end of the volume. It’s very curious how the match proceeds from here because them letting out another goal would certify things would be over.
