Whistle!, Volume 2 Book

Whistle!, Vol. 2 continues where the previous tankobon left off and contains the next nine chapters (8-16) of the on-going manga series.

Apparently, Yasuaki Honma, the former captain of the soccer team has been threatening people to quit the soccer team en masse and not to return, so the soccer team would practically be useless, because they need eleven people to form a team and to enter competitions. When Yasuaki Honma heard that Hideyoshi Noro, a first year student who is a rather chubby, would occasionally play with Shō Kazamatsuri after his practice - Yasuaki Honma thought that he would teach Hideyoshi Noro a lesson.

Through the determination and friendship of Shō Kazamatsuri, Hideyoshi Noro and Shigeki Satō, who has been tailing Shō Kazamatsuri for a while decided to join the soccer team. Shigeki Satō was one of the strongest players on the team during their freshmen year, but quit because the team wasn't serious enough for him and Tatsuya Mizuno was way too serious and no fun.

With these two new members, Sakura Josui Soccer Team, was able to join the upcoming competition with just the minimum people needed - eleven. Unfortunately, they drawn Musashinomori Soccer Team - the best soccer team in their district - the school that Shō Kazamatsuri transferred from, because he wouldn't get the chance to play soccer - a sport he loves.

We also learned that the coach from Musashinomori Soccer Team is Tatsuya Mizuno's father. Apparently, Tatsuya Mizuno took his mother's maiden name and transferred to Sakura Josui Middle School and joins their soccer team, because his soccer philosophy differs from his father. His father believes that winning is all that matter in soccer and that his son is wasting his talents playing on a third-rate team, but Tatsuya Mizuno believes that soccer should be enjoyed and played with camaraderie.

On the day of the match, Tatsuya Mizuno was surprised to see that they would be playing not the second-string players as his father told him, but the main team. Musashinomori immediately scores two goals, but Sakura Josui played a very defensive game afterwards, which was spearheaded by Shō Kazamatsuri. Tatsuya Mizuno almost scored by a penalty kick - it seems that one of the players on the Musashinomori team is out to get Tatsuya Mizuno - at any cost, which is why the opposing team is against him. The tankobon ends in the middle of their game.

Daisuke Higuchi has written and illustrated this tankobon. For the most part I really liked the story, Higuchi is a tad too verbose in some of her dialogue, but it's not too prevalent, albeit still noticeable. I really like the protagonist of the story - Shō Kazamatsuri is the spirit and soul of the team and I love reading about his growth. The illustrations are rather good as well and it emphasizes the text rather well.

All in all, Whistle!, Vol. 2 is a wonderful continuation of the series that seems really intriguing and I can't wait to read more.