Every four years, national teams from all over the world play Soccer (or Football as it is known everywhere else other than the US) and the world returns the favor by being obsessed with it. The most recent World Cup was last year, won by the German National Selection. However, the year after the men leave the pitch, it's time for the women to play.
In 2011, with the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami a fresh memory, the Japanese Women's National Selection, nicknamed Nadeshiko Japan, won the Women's World Cup, beating the US Women's Soccer Team in an unforgettable final match. Nadeshiko Japan's win was a spirit-lifter for Tohoku, the area most affected by the crisis, and for the rest of Japan.
It's 2015, and this time teams from around the world are headed to Canada for the next Women's World Cup. Will the final be a rubber match for Nadeshiko Japan and Team USA? Or will it be other teams rising to the challenge? Who knows.
So what does this have to do with manga and TOKYOPOP global manga in particular? Well, one of our titles we'd love to reintroduce you to is Gothic Sports, a title originally published in German by Anike Hage. It's about a misfit teen named Anya, who desperately wants to fit into her new high school and make new friends. She tries joining the basketball team and washes out for being too short. She then tries out for the football (soccer) team, and ends up as a bench warmer along with the only other girl on the team. Frustrated, she goes to the Principal, and complains about the fact she never gets to play. While speaking to the Principal, she has an idea: why not start another soccer team at school? The Principal agrees, and Anya has to go out of her comfort zone and organize a new team.
Her idea is a team that is as stylish as it is strong: Gothic Sports FC! Anya's friend Filiz's Gothic Lolita style and sewing talents create uniforms with a touch of the elegant creature of the night, and joining Anya and Filiz are joined by nine other players, and Gothic Sports FC challenges the school's official soccer team in a test match that will determine whether they continue or are disbanded as an official school club. Will they make it? That's for you to find out in the three exciting and funny volumes of their saga!
Gothic Sports Books: [carousel type=books maxitems=12 cats=256 includesticky=0 hideviewmore=1] Gothic Sports eBooks on ComiXologyGothic Sports eBooks on KoboGothic Sports eBooks at the Kindle Store