# Inazuma Eleven (2008)

> A cheerful middle school goalkeeper gathers a ragtag team of football players to save his failing club from disbanding by challenging Japan's top school side.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/39163

## Facts

- Seasons: 4
- Episodes: 268
- Episode runtime: 24 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, family
- Network: TV Tokyo, TV Aichi, TVQ, TV Osaka, TVh, TSC
- Cast: Yuka Terasaki, Junko Takeuchi, Haruka Tomatsu, Sayaka Kitahara, Aya Endo, Mitsuki Saiga, Yu Kobayashi, Fumiko Orikasa
- TMDB rating: 8.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2189248/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: cheerful, sincere, energetic, comedic, wholesome

## What critics say

Audiences rate the series as acclaimed overall, with its energetic football action and team camaraderie praised, while the early seasons are judged stronger than the later ones.

## Synopsis

Inazuma Eleven (2008-2014) is a Japanese animated sports series created for TV Tokyo and its network partners, a shounen anime built around middle school football. Cheerful goalkeeper Mamoru Endou wants to save Raimon Junior High's football club from being disbanded, and his quest begins with a match against Teikoku Gakuen, the strongest team in Japan. To win he must recruit four more players, and the team's bonds grow with each new recruit and each rival match. Fuyuka Kudou and Aoi Sorano support the club alongside the players, while Takuto Shindou and Kyousuke Tsurugi bring rivalry and contrast to the squad. The engine of the show is the escalating tournament structure, in which each opponent is stronger than the last and each win demands more teamwork and nerve. Episodes are bright and comedic, with exaggerated special-move matches that play like wildly kinetic spectacle. The show spans four seasons and roughly 268 episodes, a long serialized run set in contemporary Japan. Its tone is sincere and high-energy, with sports rivalry balanced by warmth. Fans of Captain Tsubasa, Haikyu!! and Beyblade will find similar appeal in its underdog energy and youthful camaraderie.

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