The author of the popular football-themed manga Captain Tsubasa – best-known to locals as the source material for the iconic Super Campeones cartoon series – has blown the final whistle.
Artist Yōichi Takahashi confirmed on Friday that his spectacular creation, which has delighted tens of millions of readers across the world, would be ending after a run of 43 years.
The manga strip Takahashi created was first published in 1981 in the Japanese weekly publication Shonen Jump. Its iconic hero, young footballing prodigy Tsubasa Ozora has inspired millions of people to pick up their boots and take to the field, including such legends of the game as Zinedine Zidane, Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Kylian Mbappé.
Known as Holly e Benji in Italy and Super Campeones in Spanish-speaking Latin America, it spawned animated films, video games and even statues in Takahashi's hometown in eastern Tokyo.
Takahashi, 63, announced the end of the series in early April in an interview published in the latest edition of Captain Tsubasa magazine, claiming health problems and the evolution of the manga industry.
“It’s not an easy decision to make and it may disappoint and sadden those who love reading Captain Tsubasa, but I hope they can understand my decision,” he wrote in a letter to magazine’s readers.
Takahashi stated his hope for his characters to continue to live on in the work’s multiple adaptations.
His cartoon has been broadcast in over 100 countries and over 90 million copies of the manga have been sold, according to specialist site Mangazenkan.
In the Spanish-speaking world, Super Campeones lives large in the memory of many.
Takahashi, who became passionate about football when he saw the 1978 World Cup – which was hosted and won by Argentina – said earlier this year that his idea was to popularise the sport in Japan, where the professional championship (J-League) was not created until 1993.
The is also the president and owner of a football club, Nankatsu SC, which he hopes to take from the regional championship to the elite of the sport.
“In Europe, it’s a natural thing to support your local club, but we don’t have that culture in Japan. I didn’t have a local club, so I created one,” he explained in an interview.
– TIMES/AFP
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