Top anime in the Arab world (based on Arab News Japan's How Arabs view Japan Study)
Genre: Sport
Original run: 1988
“Captain Tsubasa” (“Captain Majid” in Arabic) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoichi Takahashi since 1981. The series revolves around an 11-year-old student with a deep passion for football.
Known as Tsubasa Oozora in Japan, Captain Majid follows his dreams of one day winning the FIFA World Cup in Japan and takes viewers on a journey of rivalry, friendship, and talent.
According to the ‘How Arabs View Japan survey’ conducted by Arab News and YOUGOV, 75 percent of respondents ranked “Captain Majid” as their favorite anime of all time
“Captain Tsubasa” became one of the most memorable manga and anime worldwide, most notably in Japan due to how it popularized association football. Many real-life players have been reportedly inspired to become professionals after seeing the series.
As of 2010, the manga had been translated into English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish. The series was also dubbed in various languages, most notably Arabic where it aired on Spacetoon TV, the pan–Arab free–to–air television channel.
Several volumes have been available in an official Arabic translation since 2017 and one-third of the first print run of these were donated to Syrian refugee children by the publisher, Kinokuniya.