Captain Tsubasa 25th Anniversary (キャプテン翼 25th ANNIVERSARY), also known by fans as Captain Tsubasa: All-star Game, is a five-part short story released in commemoration of, as the name indicates, the 25th anniversary of the Captain Tsubasa series, which started with an oneshot in 1980. It is not part of the canon of the regular series.
The story was originally published in Shueisha's seinen magazine Weekly Young Jump issues #4·5, #6·7 and from #11 to #13 (2005), from 2005-01-22 (on sale 2004-12-22) to 2005-03-10 (on sale 2005-02-24). An interesting fact is that the members of the Japan and World teams were chosen based on a popularity poll. In said poll, the most voted character by far was Karl Heinz Schneider, followed by Taro Misaki in a distant second place.
The story was compiled, along with other short stories not related to the main series, in Captain Tsubasa Tanpenshu: Dream Field. in that tankobon, Captain Tsubasa 25th Anniversary is printed after Captain Tsubasa: Golden-23 - Japan Dream 2006 despite being published a year earlier.
Story
First chapter
In the year 20XX in the third Umihotaru, some people watch the J Island. There is a small reminiscence back before Captain Tsubasa started, when Japan didn't have a professional football league, but the sport quickly developed during the 1990s and 2000s, not only at professional level but also at amateur level with futsal. In the story, as fans want more, the Japan Football Association added to the J. League 100-year concept the J Island Project, an artificial island dedicated to football, with the J Town full of grass fields and futsal courts for the general public, a mini-stadium, training facilities for the national team, a referee training facility, a football museum, etc. The main feature is a big stadium dedicated exclusively to football.
The stadium is about to be used of the first time with a match between Japan against an all-star team with stars from all around the World selected by votes (based on a real-life poll). The world team has: Deuter Müller as goalkeeper; Salvatore Gentile, Shunko Sho, Elle Sid Pierre and Hermann Kaltz as defenders; Stefan Levin, Juan Diaz and Rivaul as midfielders and; Natureza, Carlos Santana and Karl Heinz Schneider as forwards. The substitutes of the all-star team are Gino Hernandez, Ryoma Hino, Louis Napoleon, Brian Cruyfford, Mark Owairan, Davi, Manfred Margus, Zedane, Franz Schester, Zangiev, Ramon Victorino, Alan Pascal and Radunga. The coach is Erick Van Saal. For the Japanese side, after having arrived in flamboyant fashion to the island through 12 boats, 11 for each one of the starting eleven and the other one for the rest of the team, the starting members are presented: Genzo Wakabayashi in goalkeeping; Jun Misugi, Hiroshi Jito, Makoto Soda and Mamoru Izawa in defense; Hikaru Matsuyama, Shingo Aoi, Tsubasa Ozora and Taro Misaki in midfield, and; Kojiro Hyuga and Shun Nitta in offense. Japan's substitutes are: Ken Wakashimazu, Yuzo Morisaki, the Tachibana twins, Takeshi Kishida, Ryo Ishizaki, Kazuki Sorimachi, Takeshi Sawada, Hajime Taki, Mitsuru Sano, Teppei Kisugi, Hanji Urabe and Tomeya Akai. The coach of Japan is Kozo Kira.
The captains of the teams, Tsubasa and Schneider exchange pennants and the football is delivered by air from a helicopter. All is ready for the match to start...
Gallery
