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I know this manga has not been fully scanlated yet (last time I checked only first volume) but I just bought all released volumes yesterday and I am in thirst of talking about how satisfied I am with DAYS. For the start, I am indeed a fan of Yasuda Tsuyoshi's (especially Over Drive *sob*) works, but soccer really never become my thing. I did following some soccer series in the past, however only Giant Killing and this series that was able to give me a real enjoyment of the sport.

On the beginning you might think that the premise is not that original and some of ... the elements were already done by some manga in the pasts. However, I think the one who made me can't stop reading it is the characters (and its development). Tsukushi the main character, with support from eccentric and sport-genius Kazama, seems started as a typical weak and small MC which later surprisingly growing into a realistic outstanding player. And 'outstanding' here does not means that he has to be good in soccer; he got his own way. He is seriously a fresh character, who has a unique trait that can motivates his team mates. He is not that much of help, but the team needs him. And it does not look odd at all.
The Seiseki soccer club is of course a bunch of genius players, but they are also really stupid and hilarious. Moreover, each of them got relatively enough show time to make you feel attached to them. And unless you care, all the guys are good-looking, just not in the bishounen way.

I would not say anything about the art. It's perfect.

And yes, I really recommend you to start reading this and let's hope that the scanlation will be a lot more active soon.

I never get interested in writing a review before but this anime is really underrated and underscored even though it did it's job well. Please beware that english is not my native language and the review is more and less cover both seasons.

At first I thought Shounen Hollywood will be just like other generic idol animes like Utapri or Idolmaster. But this anime actually took a different route, and it was a great decision. Instead of talking positive craps like 'idol is about your heart', Shohari taught the audience that 'there is no thing such as an eternal idol'. This shows conveyed the reality ... in a very humble way; not criticizing it but also not glorifying it. You can dream as high as you can, but Shohari reminds you that dream can change and your future does not equal your dream.

They are practically talks about realistic things such as the importance of handshaking event, had to do embarrassing introduction, forced to do ridiculous TV job as a newbie, fans rejection of the new debuted group (Shohari actually has 2 generations and this anime revolves around the junior group), the rotation of who stands on the center, etc. One part I like about it is that they don't restraint of showing the rivalry between band members, but also not exaggerate it to turn into unnecessary drama. Before rival and friend, they are team mates.

The anime takes a slow pace, slow enough to make general audience get confused which direction this show is taking. But actually every episode this anime has its own importance. If you miss one episode, you will miss one great moment of character development. The characters are lovable and relatable, at least for me. Their worries are too ordinary that we even forgot we also has that kind of useless worry when we were young.

The script was also well done. It was not the best out there but it has deeper meaning than what it seems.

The voice acting is OK too, at least for the junior group. The casts for 1st generation was kinda unfit, but you can endure it because they are not the focus of the show. On the other side, the music is really good. They don't make it half-assed even though this is an underdog shows. I really love the OP and the changing ED songs are entertaining too, to the extent I never skipped it.

Animation is so-so. There are a lot of derp faces but not that much to turn you off. Instead they compensate it with an awesome backgrounds. Well, you can't expect much from a low-budget show.

Overall, it could be hard for a non J-pop fans to get into this because this anime bring a lot of J-idol references and that is one of the reasons why I enjoyed it. I as a fan of Johnny's, think that this show tried to make a vague reference of real Idol like AKB (the handshaking event) or Johnny's groups (the scene of counterfeit photos in unofficial idol shop, their performance in Mste, and actually the 1st generation kinda resembles Hikaru Genji). However, if you wanted a fresh Idol anime without unrealistic nonsense and you have enough patience in your mind, then you should not miss Shounen Hollywood.

*) probably will edit this after season 2 completed