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Valiant Soul Extended Cut - Inazuma Caravan Arc

On February 21st, I posted the 10th chapter of my ongoing fic, Valiant Soul, which put an end to the story’s first major arc: the Inazuma Caravan Arc, or, simply put, Inazuma Eleven episodes 43 to 65 but with less soccer and more fancy metaphors on soccer. Almost an entire year later and most of the next arc already posted, I’m posting this anecdote post.

Not that many people have read it (19 kudos on AO3, which is still a lot more than I ever expected), so I don’t expect many people to care (not that the concept of a multi-chapter, canon rewrite-ish Tachimukai character study that goes into way too much speculation was ever going to be a golden egg hen), but oh well, I figured it may be interesting to at least one person. Of course, since those are notes on a currently published (and hopefully updating) fic, there are gonna be spoilers for whatever happened that wasn’t in the actual anime, so reader discretion is advised.

Warning for mentions of child abandonment and, idk, soccer terrorism I guess. You know, the good Inazuma Eleven 2-patended stuff.

HOW VALIANT SOUL CAME TO BE

To explain Valiant Soul, I first need to explain Brave Soul. You probably didn’t see it because I don’t usually say anything about it, but BraSou is the name of the fic series ValSoul is a part of - because ValSoul used to be called “Brave Soul”. In fact, before I decided to go for the structure that the series is going to have, I first planned it to be a big-ass oneshot that’d have gone from the birth of the centric character to a point where the series will actually never reach, which was said character making his own family.

The thing is, I quickly realized I’d never be able to finish such a oneshot in my lifetime and that’d I’d have to sacrifice a lot of things I’d have wanted to speak about. What confirmed this to me was when I started writing what became the third chapter, “The Weakest Link”, and found it too fun to skip over matches like I did for the Yokato VS Raimon and Raimon VS The Genesis matches in chapter 2. Thus was born the idea to split what’d have been a character study oneshot into a couple fics, and the series’ name? “Brave Soul”.

Valiant Soul was almost called “Brave Soul”, though. My first reasoning was to give the series another name, but BraSou had stuck as a placeholder for so long that it just wasn’t a placeholder anymore. The name ValSoul being so close to it is a leftover of this reasoning.

Now, why write an entire series about one character that even the writers didn’t really give two craps about? I mentioned it before on the notes of another fic (one of my rare non-original work 0-kudos fic, btw; all of the others are Corpse Party oneshots I never bothered to translate from French), but if there was one character I’d almost unironically call my kinning character, it’d be Tachimukai. I’ve mentioned in my A/N having spent what surely must be way too much time speculating on very small details and, back in late 2018/early 2019, when I started writing the experimental oneshot which’d become ValSoul, I just had the urge to write my headcanons and proposed alternatives to canon, all motivated by a couple things I’d noticed during seasons 2 and 3. I felt pretty gucci writing this, and figured if not me, then no one else would, and thus was born ValSoul.

Now onto more specific notes, by chapters, because that’s probably why you’re here.

CHAPTER 1 - GOLDEN YOUTH

Just so you know, this chapter is supposed to be its own sub-arc, since it only barely relates to the actual series and events of the first arc.

This chapter was, obviously, the very first thing I wrote and it shows: most of the elements introduced in it (such as the missing parents and the deal around the name Yuuki) were always supposed to be for much later back when the story was meant to be an experimental oneshot. That explains the weird POV too, since this is the only chapter where you probably couldn’t tell with whose POV I was going for. Fret not: I’ve still got no idea either.

When I started writing this, in late 2018-ish, my Japanese geography was so awful I thought Fukuoka was an island to itself (it’s not), mostly because 1. I had done no research 2. the IE2 overworld map somehow got me confused 3. Kyushu is a thing and I somehow didn’t know.

Ironically, when I wrote and edited this chapter, I had no idea in mind for the good ol’ parents, aside from the fact they were probably workaholic jackasses who forgot to use protection one night. Now, I do have a clear picture of them (who’ve I’m previously sold as “Derek Stiles from Trauma Center’s aunt from his maternal side who is just as bad at parenting as his own mom and her stuck-up unmarried husband”; but hey, to understand this, you’ll probably have to read another fic of mine, Unrelated Relatives), and it can be seen in a story for another series of mine (Take Flight, Clipped Wings). Both can be found on my AO3, I can’t link them here because Tumblr will beat me up if I do.

Chihiro, the friend mentioned in the narration, was no more than an afterthought, but he’s becoming his own character since I do need to have a dormmate buddy for the next arcs to come.

Yes, I somehow forgot Endou Daisuke was from Fukuoka and not from Inazuma back then. If I had remembered, I’d have probably put more emphasis on the legendary status that guy must have in Yokato.

CHAPTER 2 - (UN)ORDINARY LIFE AT YOKATO JUNIOR HIGH

The title is a kind-of reference to Danganronpa. There, I said it.

For something that’s supposed to be oh so important to Tachimukai’s character, canon never spent much time developing why he admired Endou to the point of switching positions, so of course I had to do it myself (a recurring theme with ValSoul and, well, my Inazuma writing in general). Back during the original writing of ValSoul (circa 2018-2019), the story was supposed to be much more expeditive and that’s why I never bothered developing much of it either... I should’ve, in retrospect, because that’d have helped me a lot for future chapters. I’ve been slowly trying to patch this up whenever I get the chance.

Originally, the first part of this chapter was meant to be with Chapter 1 and the rest was meant to be Chapter 2; but said second part was too weak to stand on its own imo and I really didn’t see myself writing in great details three curb-stomp battles. Raimon VS Yokato is a boring match all things considered (haha majin the hand go brrr), Yokato VS Genesis is literally pitting a Lv1 Magikarp against a top-level Smogon Uber player and Raimon VS Genesis is, y’know, what it is.

Yes, Yokato VS Genesis is a game-cutscene-only match, and that’s probably the most you’re going to see from the game sipping into ValSoul events. It’s no secret that I know jack shit about the games aside from passive things and their file structure so... don’t expect much else. I just felt like it fit into my narrative.

CHAPTER 3 - THE WEAKEST LINK

I know Yokato is supposed to be made out of Endou and not Raimon fans, but it felt a little... off to me. It made more sense for them to support the entire team rather than just their captain. Helps balancing out the Endou macrocephism that franchise has.

I expected to write more about Raimon VS Oumihara because it’s legit my favorite match of all Inazuma with Raimon VS The Genesis, but truth be told, there isn’t much to be said about it from the perspective of a swamped midfielder. Writing a fish out of the water is always a fun thing to do, though.

The title is a sly reference to a TV show I used to see a lot when I was younger of the same name... but in its French version. Ask anyone my age in this country what they thought of “Le Maillon Faible”, they’ll have funny answers to give you.

I’m still surprised I didn’t lie emphasis on the “Everyone runs too fast, too much for him to keep up without losing his breath.” part, since back in 2014 when I started the speculations that lead up to the fic’s birth, it was one of the points I tried way too hard to explain. I’d be glad to explain it but... it’s a little too embarrassing to talk about, to be honest, haha.

The matches against Epsilon Kai and Diamond Dust (especially the former), while super important to the show’s structure, were far less important to what I wanted to say, since it’d have all been said in the Raimon VS Oumihara part anyway. As I said: fish out of the water. It was fun to rediscover the scene at the end of episode 52 where Gouenji gets to show off his new and stronger Fire Tornado, though.

I’m also disappointed in myself that I never lay emphasis on that makeshift goalkeeper outfit either, it’s so cute. I remember my younger self being frustrated at its existence, but my 2021 (generally chiller) self is feeling tempted to draw it.

I somehow never caught that Raimon only gets back to Inazuma after the change in their formation, not after the Epsilon Kai match. To be fair, I didn’t even rewatch the match against Diamond Dust for this chapter, I just looked at the collection of screenshots I had courtesy of Inazuma Perfect Pics on Twitter.

CHAPTER 4 - RIPPLES IN THE ENDLESS SEA

I wonder if ValSoul readers are aware of my track record or if they just took interest in this one story, but anyone who knows me has to have guesed this chapter had an ulterior motive for literally years from now. (In actuality, I preferred to have Haruna as a preeminent character before the equivalent of episode 89 so it felt less like the writers realizing they could have a nice dynamic for ship teasing purposes and more like actually trying to build a cool dynamic).

Writing the weird practice match from episode 56 was one of my favorite parts of this arc because it’s such a weird moment and it’s filled to the brim with BROTP energy. The anime writers knew they had something magic on their hands when they decided Tsunami and Tachimukai needed to interact.

still why is nobody concerned for the 13-year-old child who can see double that doesn’t sound healthy

CHAPTER 5 - FOUL FEELINGS

As I mentioned in the notes for this chapter, I was originally planning on having it be much saltier, especially compared to canon. I don’t think I’ve ever stated why explicitely, though, and my reasoning can be summarized to “oh, so it’s okay for your goalkeeper to tank 10 shots, but when your captain takes a hit to the head, you’re suddenly worried and get better at soccer?”. While I still believe Raimon’s lack of reaction before Endou used Megaton Head is sus, I had to take into account scenes I hadn’t thought much about and one of Touko’s lines (you know the one, the “won’t last much longer” one), and that made me go softer.

The title for this chapter actually originates from the saltier perspective that got cut during the writing of the chapter, but since it still fit with Chaos and that I found it too cool-sounding to scrap it, it stayed.

CHAPTER 6 - REACHING FOR THE STARS

Introducing elements for future fics is always one of my guilty pleasures and that’s what happened with the mention of Tsunami’s siblings in this chapter. It was also a way for me to very unsubtly tell you this fic is never going to be romantic TsunaTachi in case you don’t know the other side of my (very) specific Inazuma fanfic brand.

I’ll admit, playing a bit with the fact I introduced the Yokato VS Genesis match in this story for this chapter was pretty fun, however short it was. The theme of “these middle schoolers surely are traumatized by what they saw and lived through” starts here I wanna say.

The focus on the fact Raimon replied with a plural to Gran’s taunt about Tachimukai being a terrible goalkeeper was something I was hesitant at first - after all, maybe the subs I watched mistranslated it! However, considering this line is a plural too in at least three other dubs (for reference: English, Spanish and French, the three European dub languages I can understand), I had to cave in: Endou is just that laser-focused on his fallen friends.

CHAPTER 7 - THE COLOUR OF DESPAIR

The original title for this chapter (as you may remember it being named differently for a couple hours) was “Purple-Tinted Despair”, but i quickly changed it because I found it too on the nose.

This match was the occasion for me to solve a question I’ve never been able to find an answer to: “what the hell is that hand injury? is it just the one hand, both, or the wrist is also injured?”. You can have guessed I’ve been frustrated by not knowing (and canon just deciding it didn’t exist anymore by the end of the episode; yo canon even Captain Tsubasa doesn’t pull off that shit) I decided to go for all three, because I’m extra like that, and because there is one shot in episode 65 where it looks more like Tachi’s holding his wrist rather than his hand. To this day I still have no definitive answer to what that injury was exactly. I hate the funky soccer anime for making me look more like a maniac than I usually do.

My biggest motivation for this chapter was having Mugen the Hand reach G5 during the DE match. I’ve alway been uselessly frustrated at it only reaching it against South Korea. It’s an element I had spent so much time thinking about before VS was a thing that I knew I had to include it and tell canon to fuck off for once.

CHAPTER 8 - WATERED-DOWN AFTERMATH

An issue I’ve come to know during my years on AO3 is how thinking in another language can bite you in the ass. This chapter’s title was such a case: I discovered, to my dismay, that the French édulcoré actually didn’t have a direct translation into English and had to settle with what was the closest to what I wanted to convey.

The scene in the infirmary was a sort of rewrite of a previous fic of mine, Burning on the Inside, Burning on the Outside, where a similar conversation took place (but with more broken English). It’s quite old since it dates back to 2018 and it was the first Inazuma fic I was properly posting in English online; it’s insane to think there had to have been a first! Also, you may’ve been able to tell thanks to the characters in this scene, but it was a HaruTachi fic.

CHAPTER 9 - SUNSET IN FUKUOKA

I’m pretty sure I subconsciously associate Fukuoka to the sunset because its game incarnation just reminds me so much of Twilight Town from Kingdom Hearts 2.

Writing Yokato Eleven is always a little weird, but exciting. We know jack shit about these guys, so I got to get a little creative and imagine their personalities on what little we see of them in the anime (and a wittle of the games). That may be why I now have a fully-fledged Toda for my fics...

CHAPTER 10 - SUMMER LONELINESS SYNDROME

I made the mistake of planning this entire chapter’s gimmick -- discovering a summer of loneliness (duh) -- before rewatching the first episodes of season 3 and that, of course, bit me in the ass. Season 3 starts 3 months after the end of the Aliea arc, but I thought it happened later than that, and got bamboozled. Not a good look on my planning abilities... not that I’ve ever had any.

DISCARDED CONCEPTS

For a moment, I considered making the entire Fukuoka arc the one from the game or, at least, have Kazemaru leave that way instead of the anime’s... but then I remembered my crippling addiction to the scene in episode 46 when Majin the Hand Kai gets completed and I threw that out of the window.

#valiant soul #writing tag #valiant soul extended cut

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