SURF 'S UP!

Their first "appearance" was on Episode 70, although here they were only represented by their coach Robert Cliser, as the first FFI matches were being decided by a lottery.

However, it wouldn't be until the next episode where the whole team would debut in the anime! To give context, their first appearance is in a DVD that Inazuma Japan plays in hopes to learn better about their first FFI rival. However, what seemed to be a recording of Big Waves' training ended up being cut short and it had to be replaced instead by recorded footage of them having fun at the beach. It is there where we can see a different side of the team, that despite the pressure of the nearby tournament matches they can give time to what they like. And we pretty much learn the obvious; that they use the sea to strengthen themselves and whatnot.

And so, the match day comes...

While the anime kept mostly hidden Big Waves' strategies and attitude in matches, around the end of episode 71 and the whole of 72 we managed to see clearlier what kind of players the Aussies are. During the start of the match they kept Inazuma Japan on a very tight spot, thanks to the usage of their defensive tactic Box Lock Defense and their offensive hissatsu Megalodon.

Note: Taking advantage of the animated medium, I decided to share videos of the hissatsus used to better appreciate them. And for those who don't know about Inazuma or its hissatsu techniques/tactics, feel free to have a little bite with these videos!

Now with the match over, Big Waves was officially out of the Football Frontier International just one round. Something good for the japanese protagonists, but when we see it another way... Things aren't so happy.

Overall, this was the end of Big Waves' main appearance out of the entire anime, since they didn't appear again during the season; minus some small cameos that the BW captain (Nice Dolphin) is featured in.

Any Comments?

First off, I'd like to point out a small curiosity: Big Waves had it's anime debut around February-March 2010, literally months before the actual Inazuma Eleven 3 was released to the public (July 2010) and the manga catched up to this match (...I think) So I think this appearance should be put in high regard, since it pretty much introduced the aussies to the franchise and defined how the latter entries would have to potray their personalities.

I think that overall, this match was fine. It's purpose in-story was to show what international teams were capable of during the Football Frontier International, specially compared to the rivals of Season 2; and I do believe a team as versatile and tricky as Big Waves helped to do the job. They served their purpose as a first-season-rival nicely and they also helped many of the main team characters to either shine or start to do so. (Kabeyama, Tsunami, Toramaru, and even coach Kudou!)

I don't think I have much to point out when it comes to negative points, but I'll mention that unfortunately, while most of the team gets to do something, sadly a few players got quite overlooked... That happen to be my favorites. Whoops. Guess that's a rant for another section, but honestly it isn't THAT bad. I have a few odd gripes with how the goalkeeper and his hissatsu's power was treated too, but I don't think this is the place to discuss it either. Overall, Big Waves' was given a pretty solid first appearance here.

Also, here, have an extremely low quality photo of the BW bench. For... No reason at all.

So, like mentioned before, when the third game of Inazuma Eleven was released after the anime, BW had a guaranteed spot! Their plot was pretty similar to the animated series, although there were some interesting differences...

• First off, after Inazuma Japan is finally formed, we get a cutscene that shows us a few glimpses of the rivals that will be faced in the Asian qualifiers, including Big Waves. We get to see the full team (minus the reserves) getting ready to leave to Japan!



• Some time after, and before the first FFI matches are set up, a few BW players pay a visit to the protagonists' school! Although, they don't seem to bring the best intentions or atitude with them, which almost leads to a conflict breaking out between Tsunami Josuke vs the Box Lock Defense players, who take this as an advantage to show off their star tactic:

• The actual FFI match set-ups ceremony is quite different on the anime, and not even the BW appears there...

• Before the match, the BW captain Nice Dolphin goes to check in Inazuma Japan one last time, making yet another annoying comment that gets into Tsunami's nerves.

• This same captain is the one that makes BW's first goal in the actual match (And not the forward Jaws like in the other mediums).


• Although in the earlier cutscene the players who do the Box Lock Defense are the same as in the anime, during the match when this tactic appears the ones who realize it are totally different. Continuing the funfacts about Box Lock Defense, in the videogame match it ends up breaking quite earlier than on the anime, but by a specific counter tactic of Inazuma Japan, Trap Dance.





Ignore the text in spanish, I wanted to use it since I liked the quality better of a spanish walthrough than the english ones.



• There can happen player switches during both the first and second half, but only as long as a rival player wastes most of their TP. These aren't given enough attention as the anime does, although it helps to highlight the mechanic many rival teams will take advantage on in-game.


• The GBR gets "nerfed" in the sense that if using the right hissatsu, the player can score aganist Australia at any time without needing to use the main counter hissatsu. HOWEVER, during the start of the second time, a special cutscene plays to both give relevance to Utsunomiya Toramaru and to make Tsunami soon learn The Typhoon, which can be used by the player... Or not.



• After the match ends, we do get to see at least a more redeemable side of Nice, who decides accept Tsunami's request to surf together. Something he had rejected the first time they met! However, it'll be as long as Inazuma Japan keeps on winning the asian qualifiers. Consider that done!

As a last extra from BW in-game, they appear in IE3's game credits.

Besides releasing a new anime season and a game, Inazuma Eleven also has a manga to tell its story. However, this later medium is usually treated differently, due to its "controversial" choice of pretty much skipping the whole of season 2. This meant that all the players playing for Inazuma Japan that were from Season 2 had to be abruptly introduced during the selection match, lasting for a few chapters before they faced BW. But why does this matter for Big Waves? Simply because since the team dynamic is quite different within Inazuma Japan already, it also will be between teams.

Out of all the BW appearances, I could maybe say that it's on paper where the aussies' personality do show off a bit more than in the anime... Although, sadly it isn't a nice one. Like their spoken lines in the anime, the BW players tend to be quite cocky, boasting about their skills and how superior they are to the japanese ones. And to make things worse, when an Inazuma Japan defender accidentally makes a goal aganist its own team, the Big Waves players do mock him on his failure, laughing at him and calling him their "hero".

Also extremely extra addition, but the team does not appear again on the manga, except minor cameos of some characters. In story, the BW Captain appears in the many characters watching the final FFI match of Inazuma Japan vs Little Gigants. Wherever it's in Liocott itself, in Japan or at home, it isn't clarified by the manga at all.. A midfielder named Matt Angler also appears on a '4koma' strip in a special volume (Of course, Tsunami is also there), but... Let's just say... He got a pretty unique redesign for the occasion.

Personally, I'm a bit conflicted with this potrayal the most over the two. I'm very glad the aussies managed to speak more! But it is rather dissappointing to see that they are even worse people here than in the other mediums (Even REEF, really!?). At least I like their match as a way to develop Tsunami more and also present his personality to the manga readers.

Design wise.... This BW is a HUGE can of worms to open. I actually like a lot of the players in the manga's art style, some even seem like they were designed for it (Joe, Daniel, Nice, etc)! But there's also a few character designs choices that I don't like at all.

Now on positive points, I do like the potrayal of the hissatsus a lot! Adding some waves effect to Box Lock Defense might seem like such a slight detail, but I do like it waaay better than the videogame or anime. Not only it makes them look more badass and actually intimidating (As there are waves blocking your path now), but it also makes the tactic fit more with Big Waves' oceanic motif! Great Barrier Reef also looks pretty too, and I like the idea of the keeper making circles on the air to summon it. I feel bad that there isn't any official colored release of the manga, because if that were the case I would have bought it asap just for this hissatsu alone!

As for Megalodon... I guess it's fine? Not as improved as BLD or as pretty as GBR, just fine enough. Either way, here's enjoy this last section being a small manga hissatsu showcase.

Ok so, first off, this is a last minute add-on over a finding I did like 3 months ago, so this might be a bit more poorly coded than the other things here. Apparently it's important to mention that the IE manga has other "branches" such as Ina11 Baku Gaidentsu and Ina11 Special, which is the one we'll touch today. I have zero idea how the plot of the FFI is handled here, apparently it could be a re-telling of the story but I'm not sure. What matters here is that the Big Waves match is also covered here. However being honest I don't think there's enough differences within both versions; just that two are drawn on a different artstyle.

In my own opinion the art looks better for some characters, but also a bit strange for others. Nonetheless it's interesting the approach it took with the designs; avoiding to change them too much unlike the Tenya Yabuno version.