Captain Tsubasa: Golden-23 - Wish for Peace in Hiroshima (キャプテン翼 GOLDEN-23 WISH FOR PEACE IN HIROSHIMA) is a two-part short story that takes place after the end of the Golden-23 manga.
The manga was originally released in Shueisha's seinen magazine Monthly Young Jump #8 and # 9 (2008), cover dates #2008-08-18 (on sale starting 2008-07-22) and #2008-09-16 (on sale 2008-08-19) respectively. It is the last part of the Golden-23 story arc. It was compiled in volume 12 of the tankobon edition of Captain Tsubasa: Golden-23. In this edition, the story is narrated at the beginning by Taro Misaki and ends with him remembering Boku wa Misaki Taro, which is included as a sort of epilogue after the end of the story in the tankobon along with the extra-pages with Misaki.
Teams[]
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Story[]
Part one[]
After qualifying to the Olympics, the Japan national team faces the Greece national team, a team that won the Euro last month (in real-life Greece won the Euro 2004). The match takes place at Hiroshima Big Arch. In the press conference, Greece coach Otto Zanbidis answer to the question of why he accepted the match against the U-23 Japan by saying that they respect the Japanese team due to their similarities. Japan was considered weak due to not participating in World Cups, much like Greece was considered weak at football until they won the Euro. He thinks that Japan could win at the Madrid Olympics and believes that the match will help even a little. Also, Greece is the birthplace of the Olympics, originally a festivity of peace, and he believes that playing in Hiroshima, a peaceful city known worldwide, with the Olympic Japanese team and Greece has a great symbolic meaning.
In the match, the defense of Greece stops Japan's attack and starts a counter attack with Kages, the sole forward of Greece. During the press conference, Kages, who won the top scorer title in the Bundesliga along with Karl Heinz Schneider, comments that he wanted a confrontation with Genzo Wakabayashi since he feels that Wakabayashi was the only reason why he tied with Schneider when Wakabayashi stopped a shoot that he was sure would score. However, as Wakabayashi's eye is still injured, he was on the bench while Ken Wakashimazu was chosen as regular. Gakuto Igawa is the one tasked with marking Kages, but the latter with his skill is able to shoot and score easily despite Igawa's efforts.
Once again at the pre-match press conference, Zanbidis says that another reason for accepting the match was to allow their top young players Therinas, Kyrious and Madris, the "Three Cavalry Gods of the Greek Acropolis", to test themselves against the World Youth champions. During a flashback, it is revealed that Japan's players aren't at their best physical condition due to the fatigue accumulated from the training camp that they did for the Olympics, being at its peak during the match, and the overseas players have just ended their leagues without resting, so Japan's performance is severely hindered. Returning to the match, the "Three Cavalry Gods of the Greek Acropolis" do a play that ends with Therinas scoring with a diving header. While Kozo Kira notes that his players aren't good physically, he also knows that if they can't get over this situation on their own, they won't be able to win the gold medal. For the second half of the match, Kira will use a new player who hadn't played with the team before, but was considered since the beginning: Yuji Soga.
During half-time, Tsubasa calls Japan players. In the press conference, coach Zanbidis says that the reason he respects Japan is Tsubasa Ozora. Back in the game, Tsubasa gives a speech that pumps up the team. Zanbidis comments that when Japan won the World Youth, Tusbasa's speech impressed him and it's the most important reason why he respect the Japanese team. The public in the stadium starts cheering Japan team, which makes Tsubasa say that to live up to that support they must play with their feelings.
Part two[]
Starting the second half, Tsubasa starts the attack by himself. A day before the match, coach Zanbidis visits Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum where he thinks about how the atomic bombing of Hiroshima took place at the end of World War II, close to the outbreak of the Greek Civil War where his great-grandfather died, and also recalls Tsubasa speech when Japan won the World Youth, where Tsubasa emphasized his wish that there there wouldn't be wars and that he wanted to appeal the world peace through football. In the match, Tsubasa dodges Kyrious and, while Therinas is trying to stop him, does a combination play with Misaki with which they escape from the "Three Cavalry Gods of the Greek Acropolis" pressure. As the rest of the defenders are preparing to stop Misaki and Tsubasa, they notice that they don't have the ball. Tsubasa passed the ball to Shingo Aoi without anyone noticing, and Aoi in turn does a pass to Kojiro Hyuga. This is a distraction as Hyuga passes the ball back to Misaki and Tsubasa, who score with a Twin Shot.
Now with a close match, Greece attacks again. Kages is marked by both Igawa and Soga (who replaced Nitta). They are able to nullify Kages, so he passes the ball to Madris, who shoots, but Wakashimazu catches the ball. In the next attack, Aoi passes the ball to Tsubasa who uses Misaki as a decoy to dribble alone and do a Drive Shoot. The shoot is in reality a pass to Hyuga who scores with a Raiju Volley with which the game is tied. Seeing this, Wakayabashi gets up from the bench and asks to play. Wakabayashi replaces Ishizaki which allows Wakashimazu to play as a forward with Hyuga. Kages, who was only going to play the first 20 minutes of the second half, decides to play the full time now that Wakabayashi is on the field. The "Three Cavalry Gods of the Greek Acropolis" are having fun playing against the full strength of Japan. Both teams defend and attack furiously, but the match ended in a draw.
Coach Zanbidis thinks like Tsubasa, young people should fight with a football ball, not with guns, and shaking their hands at the end of their struggle to become friends. When Kira is asked to give a speech, he leaves that duty to Tsubasa. Tsubasa says that the Japan team will work hard to get the gold medal.
Gallery[]
