If Tenma could see a manifestation of Soccer, like Unmei does, what or who do you think it would look like ?
Okay so this whole thought is derived from @geragerasole's VR post about a what-if Haru hallucinated Unmei too and not just the other way around. And, y'know, Tenma is kind of the OG of personifying soccer, so... hence the question !
Option 1 :
My first thought goes to Shuu, because not only is he already a supernatural entity of incredible power, but they even joke about him being a soccer god in Chrono Stones...! One reason why i think he wouldn't be the image of Soccer for Tenma is the heavy darkness theming. That and I don't see him crying for much of the disrespect/dishonesty that've been shown towards soccer... especially considering he was also one who, until recently, couldn't face soccer straight-on either.
Option 2 :
Second idea is that Soccer looks like Tenma himself. Out of all these, this is the option I'm most fond of maybe, because Tenma being a reflection of soccer and soccer being a reflection of Tenma would be kind of poetic, and cathartic, because of the love and devotion Tenma has shown for it. Really no one else is doing it like him !!
Option 3 :
Another idea is Soccer looks like Gouenji, because soccer is Tenma's savior, yes... but by extension, Gouenji is Tenma's savior. And he's such an enigmatic figure throughout the whole show... the elusive and dramatic nature of a soccer entity would fit him. Though I won't lie I can't see the image of Gouenji crying randomly either...
Option 4 :
Soccer could also look like Endou, with his many years of soccer protagonism and his friendly mentor attitude, and the admiration Tenma has for him, but while his love is fitting, his constant positivity makes it a little hard to imagine him in the role... it's hard to explain.
Option ??? :
Fuck it, y'know what, maybe soccer is all of them ! Add in any other friend Tenma has made while you're at it ! Get a party going ! Eldritch shapeshifting entity let's go !!!
_
Okay let's be real though.
If we let go of the Unmei presentation of the concept, this question actually has a pretty solid answer ! This is just my theory here, but the most likely option for Tenma's manifestation of Soccer would be... the wind.
Y'know the wind energy that's always associated with Tenma ? The so-called wind of rebellion ? I think that could be it ! It's very simple, but it's already in the source material !
Check out this scene from ep 44 of s1, right after Raimon wins the Holy Road finals ( video description under the cut ) :
Pretty self-explanatory, isn't it !
It even fits nicely with Shuu being his own higher soccer being, because y'know another thing Shuu is also associated with ? That's right, the wind blowing !
Wind is always moving, but it fluctuates. Its currents meet other streams and grow stronger until eventually it forms a storm, a tornado, a hurricane, sweeping up and carrying so many things with it along its path... and doesn't soccer do the same ?
You could go as far as to imagine that evolution to represent even the genetical course of soccer players, since the stronger the wind, the more destructive... bringing to mind the Second Stage Children gene mutation. Which we know Tenma was a precursor for, by the way.
In a similar fashion, I wonder if soccer's growing influence in the IE version of Earth allows the concept/entity/god of soccer to appear in increasingly understandable shapes to human minds as time goes on ? After all, it didn't really have a proper individual manifestation in OG Raimon's time, but it shows itself as wind in GO, and assuming it's not just Unmei's mind, it potentially takes up borrowed human appearance in Victory Road !
What're your thoughts ?
