The Knight in the Area

Plot

Kakeru Aizawa is the younger brother to Suguru Aizawa, a soccer prodigy belonging to Japan's under–15 national team. Prior to the series, Kakeru quits his position as a forward after a traumatic experience prevented him from playing with his left leg and settles for a managerial position. After the two are hit by a truck, Suguru dies and has his heart transplanted into Kakeru. With it, Kakeru returns to football to achieve his brother's dream of winning the World Cup.

Main characters

Kakeru Aizawa (逢沢 駆, Aizawa Kakeru)

Voiced by: Yūko SanpeiSuguru's younger brother. He plays as a forward. As a sixth grader, and after causing an injury on his friend and teammate Hibino by shooting hard the ball with his left foot, he becomes wary of using it which seriously hinders his ability to score and particularly his confidence, to the point that he seems to be unable to score. As a consequence, he starts to play less and less often and starts working more as assistant manager, to the exasperation of his brother, ace Suguru. Nonetheless, he keeps practicing soccer secretly in the park every night.

Things began to change as his childhood friend and old crush, Mishima Nana, returns to Japan one day and becomes the team's manager. Further, a mysterious masked man appears one night at the park and challenges him to play, which they keep doing every night. This motivates Kakeru to try again at the team, and in a practice match he is the only forward to be able to keep up with Suguru’s sudden and strong passes, but he fails to score because of his fear of using his left leg. Feeling disappointed he tells his brother he’ll give up on soccer just minutes before they’re both hit by a truck. After he recovers from the accident and from the heart transplant he received from his brother as his “last pass,” Kakeru discovers that he seems to have inherited some of Suguru’s skills and temperament, and that he can use his left leg again.

The masked man is revealed to be Nana, who’d been asked by Suguru to help Kakeru, and she reveals to him that his transplant came from his brother. After learning that and finding out that his brother’s dream was that both of them would win the World Cup he decides to return to soccer and make his brother’s dream reality.

Nana Mishima (美島 奈々, Mishima Nana)

Voiced by: Shizuka ItōA childhood friend of Suguru and Kakeru, nicknamed Seven. Since returning from Los Angeles, she has become a manager, like Kakeru. She is skilled in soccer and has a mysterious relation to Silva.

Suguru Aizawa (逢沢 傑, Aizawa Suguru)

Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama, Motoko Kumai (child)Suguru Aizawa was a genius midfielder and captain of the school soccer team, who even starred in the U-15 team for Japan. He was expected by many to shoulder the future of Japan's football world. He was aware of his little brother's talent as a soccer player and was irritated by Kakeru's lack of motivation. It is hinted in the manga that Suguru might have somehow predicted his own death, as he started having regular nightmares, which ended the day of his death. After hearing his brother's decision to give up on soccer, he's about to tell him about the great dream he had that morning, when both of them are run by a truck whose driver fell asleep. Suguru had the worse part, and it was soon obvious that he was beyond help. Knowing this and also that Kakeru would need a heart transplant to survive, the doctors and the family decide to have his heart transplanted to Kakeru, who accordingly dreams that Suguru is giving him a final pass. Giving his heart to Kakeru, he also gives him his dream of winning the world cup.

Manga

The series is written by Hiroaki Igano and illustrated by Kaya Tsukiyama. The series is serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine beginning in 2006 and ended in 2017. 56 volumes has been compiled from the individual chapters.

Anime

The adaptation of the series into an anime was first announced in Weekly Shōnen Magazine's 43rd issue in 2011. It is produced by Shin-Ei Animation and directed by Hirofumi Ogura. On January 5, 2012, Crunchyroll announced it will simulcast The Knight in the Area. The series premiered on January 7, 2012 on TV Asahi.

The episodes uses one theme music as of current: an opening theme titled Higher Ground (ハイヤーグラウンド, "Haiyā Guraundo") by "S.R.S".