"A King Full of Scars" (Japanese: 傷だらけの王者) is the tenth episode of Farewell, My Dear Cramer, written and illustrated by Naoshi Arakawa. The series is published in Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Magazine since May 2016. The episode premiered on June 6, 2021 on Tokyo MX.
Note: "Wounded Champions" is the official translated name.
Overview[]
The first half of the match begins. Keeping Hanabusa's advice about Suou and Soshizaki in mind, the Urawa Hosei girls target Soshizaki first. The Warabis attempt to pull off a counterattack against Urawa's high press, but Chika Kirishima stands in the way.
Plot[]
The first half of the match begins on a rainy day. The Urawa Hosei girls pass the ball around, only to be cut out by Miyasaka. Keeping Hanabusa's advice about Suou and Soshizaki in mind, they target Soshizaki because she is important to the Warabis' ability to score. However, before the match the Warabis had the idea for Soshizaki to pass backwards until the team finds an opening. Before Suou can get the ball that Soshizaki kicked to her, Chika manages to kick the ball back to her own side of the field.
While looking at Urawa Hosei's previous scores on a clipboard, Echizen realizes that they finished last year's Saitama preliminaries with a clean sheet, meaning that they won every single time. In the match, the Urawa girls are passing the ball around then Chika gets the ball. When she kicks the ball at the goal, Kakogawa manages to block it, preventing a score.
Urawa's Catenaccio system
Goro points out that Urawa's coach Gotoda is trying to copy Antonio Conte's tactics, by having the team use the Catenaccio system.This system allows the wing-backs to be free and they can switch between offense and defense as needed.
Chika intercepts Onda
When Onda goes to score, Chika is there to crash into her and get the ball away from the goal. Chika becomes an intimidating opponent as she can pass, shoot, and has the mobility to cover the whole field. Goro notes that she is making up for anything Urawa lacks to make Conte's strategy work.
Soshizaki blocks the ball with a diving header
Chika offers a hand to pick Onda up from the floor. Onda gets up by herself and says that there's impressive players outside of Kunogi. Chika gets angry and declares that Urawa will beat Kunogi and that the Warabis will regret it if they get in the way. Onda replies that she will defeat Kunogi. Suou, Soshizaki, and Shiratori chimes in to say that they will defeat Kunogi. The referee comes over to break up the argument.
The first half ends with 0-0 which is thanks to Soshizaki who blocks the ball with a diving header. In the meeting room, Goro tells Onda that in order to beat Urawa, she needs to take down Chika.
Trivia[]
- Chika is compared to the Dutch-Surinamese former professional footballer Edgar Davids.