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I'm French.

In life, sometimes that is a disadvantage. In the case of Ahiru No Sora, which isn't fully translated in english but is in French, it's a blessing.

I think a quote from the manga that summarize and explain its thematics the most is made by the author himself and Toby :"The future doesn't exist". This applies both to the perception of the world, the story and the characters. Many times, the manga will do Flash-forwards, showing us the futur of these characters after the end of the manga's story. This shows us that, clearly, the result isn't the important part of the manga. It's the ... journey.

Nao, the manager, says it well herself during a flash forward : This isn't the story about an underdog team that topples the nation. It's about boys doing their best to redeem themselves. To become athletes, to become good persons. And these characters, these boys, are exceptionally well written.

This is, yes, a basketball manga. But it's also about love, interpersonnal and other. Loving a sport, loving doing your best. It's incredibly beautiful and it takes its time.

Now, don't come into this manga expecting players that are top tier or insane basketball plays. This manga is about a no-name school that, yes performs well to a certain degree, but will inevitably fail in their pursue of the interhigh. This was never put into doubt. They'll lose, maybe even before making it to the main tournament, the nationals.

But it's not a bad thing, it's good.

It's good because it helps the realism of this manga. It's good because it shows us that even though they will lose, them doing their best and striving toward a goal is what's important. Winning is cool, sure. But striving to accomplish something is big, especially for so many delinquents, depressed, yips touched people.

So read it. The art is great. The story is magnificient. The characters are among the best you'll ever see in a sports manga. It's great. One of my favorite manga ever.

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