Yoichi Takahashi
17:54 JST, April 4, 2024
Football comic “Captain Tsubasa” ended its 43-year print run Thursday, but its creator said the stories that inspired Lionel Messi will continue online.
Yoichi Takahashi started the comic about an 11-year-old football prodigy in 1981 and it became a big hit among fans of future superstars Messi and Andres Iniesta, among others.
On Thursday, the final volume of Captain Tsubasa Magazine hit shelves in Japan, tightly sealed in bookstores to protect against spoilers.
“Burn the courage of Tsubasa and the gang in your heart!” the magazine said on the cover, next to an illustration of main character Tsubasa Ozora wearing a Japanese national team kit.
“Here’s to new challenges!” said another banner headline.
Takahashi said earlier this year that the series would end in April, citing his deteriorating health and changing circumstances in the manga industry.
“Now that I have drawn the last episode of the series, I am relieved to have finished everything and feel liberated to finally live a life without deadlines,” the 63-year-old wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday.
The author said he would continue the story in sketches published online and try new “forms of expression” free from the constraints of the publishing world.
Known as “Super Campeones” in Spanish-speaking Latin America and “Holly e Benji” in Italy, the story has also been adapted into cartoons and video games.
The books have sold more than 70 million copies in Japan and more than 10 million abroad.
“Captain Tsubasa’s story is not over yet! That is a fact,” Takahashi said.
“Please continue to support Captain Tsubasa as you have done in the past.”
