If last week we retraced the touching story of Anna with red hair, this time we move to a very different world with All in the field with Lotti. We are in 1988 when the story of this teenager arrives in Italy for the first time, in 47 episodes, who dreams of becoming a champion and excelling in golf. However, its rise will be particularly difficult and full of unexpected events. But let's go in order, starting to find out what this anime entitled Tutti in campo con Lotti is about.
Everyone on the pitch with Lotti: the plot
Who is Lotti?
Lotti he is a boy who does not live in a very simple family situation. His father was a truck driver who unfortunately died following an accident. Her mother, left alone, runs a restaurant and, to help her, Lotti not only looks after her three younger brothers when she is at work, but tries to contribute financially by doing odd jobs. One of them is selling rice balls cooked by his mother in a golf club. It is precisely here that the first contact with this sport comes which, initially, Lotti finds it boring. Three members of the golf club make fun of him, inviting him to hit the ball and betting double pay for his meatballs. Lotti fails miserably but the challenge ignites a spark in him that leads him to invite the three to a new heat the next day. In the evening he trains alone and so much that the next day he manages not only to win the challenge but also to amaze everyone.
Lotti's debut in the world of golf
Observing him during this challenge is not only the president of the golf club, Mr. Gervaso, but also Mr. Kenton, a great expert on this sport who notes in You struggle a strong talent. The boy, on the other hand, after this challenge begins to understand that perhaps this can be his path and, also attracted by the large earnings that a professional can reach, decides to become a golf champion. It will be Kenton who will take him under his wing and train him to make this dream come true. Then the time comes for a first challenge proposed to Lotti by his coach: a match as a couple against Mr. Bear and his niece Pamela with a cash prize up for grabs which for Lotti would instead translate into a set of clubs to be able to train without financially weighing on his mother. A challenge that Lotti manages to win.
The first Lotti tournament
The victory of this first official challenge and the conquest of a personal set of clubs gives Lotti the final push to kick off his career as a professional golf player. The opportunity to prove himself once and for all comes when some classmates ask him to participate in the student tournament on their team after a couple of elements fell ill. He is hesitant but in the end he accepts, however he decides to give them some lessons, mindful of what Mr. Kenton taught him. It is precisely in this phase that his 'magic word' is born, the one that will then scream in the most difficult shots becoming his trademark: "Spaghetti". It will be her friend Taky - daughter of Mr. Gervaso and her friend from school - to suggest it to a student of Lotti to hit the best. The idea, however, is so successful that Lotti makes it his own. During the tournament, Lotti is in the group of the strongest teams, among which he stands out Reginald, the champion of the previous year. For the protagonist there is no shortage of difficulties (even indigestion during the game), however in the end he manages to make a great comeback and win.
Admission to the school for professionals
Lotti improves day by day, which is why Mr. Kenton decides to recommend him to his friend Drake, the admissions manager of the school for the training of professional players. The latter therefore challenges him to a match and is impressed by it, so he decides to give him the opportunity to take the admission test which consists of a tournament with other players who aspire either to enter the school or to level up. Here it meets Buster, an opponent who tries to put him in trouble even with incorrect methods that make Lotti lose concentration. In fact you will find that it was Kenton who asked Buster to do this, so as to temper his pupil and better prepare him for any kind of difficulty. Eventually Lotti recovers and plays a grand finale, winning the game and conquering admission to school. After participating in the first course, Lotti is therefore admitted to a tournament for semi-professionals where he clashes with the favorite Victor. The clash with the latter proves to be very difficult and, in the end, it is the rival who wins. Lotti comes in second, tied with another player, but once again manages to impress, gaining admission to the Professional course.
Lotti becomes a professional
Once again, Mr. Kenton will give Lotti a new and great opportunity: participate in the Professional Circuit. The boy is in seventh heaven: he will represent his circle of great champions and, to do so in the best possible way, he is sent in advance to the Club to better study the path. The tournament thus begins but Lotti has to deal with Hans, an opponent already met in the previous tournament in which he finished second against Victor. Hans is convinced that on that occasion Lotti has stolen what should have been his place in the standings, so he begins to sabotage him by moving his ball in awkward places. A backlash of spite is born that causes both a disciplinary reminder. However, when he discovers that he has advanced an unfounded accusation against Hans, Lotti decides to withdraw from the tournament. It will be Hans himself to convince him to stay, a gesture that will dissolve the enmities between the two. On the other hand, Lotti also finds his bitter opponent Victor, with whom a close and aggressive competition is born. In the end, between difficulties and hallucinations, Lotti manages to hit the target: wins and becomes a professional.
The end
In the last three episodes of the anime All in the field with Lotti, the protagonist plays his tournament as a professional against the best champions in the world. Among these there is also Valentino, reigning champion and real thorn in the boy's side. At some point in the race, Lotti decides to call himself out of the fight for victory, so that he can play without pressure. He thus manages to get a good score. The real surprise comes when, due to a series of errors, Valentino reaches equal points with Lotti, now convinced that he has lost, decreeing the need to a playoff. The ending could only be happy for the protagonist: Valentino misses the last shot while Lotti manages to hit the hole directly from the bunker with a shot that leaves everyone speechless. Lots, therefore, wins the tournament and prepares for a bright future in the world of golf, with the next goal being the US Open tournament in America in St. Andrews.
Everyone on the pitch with Lotti: curiosity
The sorceress and the passion for golf in Japan
During our column dedicated to 80s anime we have already dealt with sports cartoons. Volleyball with Mila and Shiro, basketball with Gigi the top and still football with Holly and Benji. Of course, sports that are more than famous and widely practiced. Yet the kids of those years also began to be interested in clubs, irons, holes, par and everything related to he golf, later becoming adults who are strongly passionate about this sport. Thanks to Lotti, whose story is taken from a manga released in Japan only a few years earlier, in 1981. It should be noted that the anime does not cover all of the manga but only the first part: there is, therefore, a long part of the story that is not told in the cartoon.
"Spa-ghet-ti!"
It is Lotti's “magic” word and is recommended to him by Taky to mark the phases of the swing, a particular golf stroke, and to make it more successful. It is clear, however, that in Japanese it is not the same. Even in the original anime, as in the spokon, Lotti uses a magic word which is "Cha-shu-men! ". It is a particular quality of ramen of which, therefore, Lotti (who we remember being the son of a restaurateur) is greedy. We could therefore say that Italian spaghetti are the tagliolini used in ramen in Japan.
Small Golf Lessons
Nice to note that at the end of each episode there is a sort of deepening of the game of golf. In the last moments of the episode, in fact, issues concerning sport, rules, movements and techniques are explored which serve not only to better explain what is shown in the cartoon, but also to delve into and thrill the viewer even more in the story of the young Lotti.
The abbreviation
The theme song bears the same title as the cartoon, All in the field with Lotti. Written by Alessandra Valeri Manera and Enzo Draghi, it is sung by Manuel De Peppe (Matt from Bee Hive in the live-action Love Me Licia).
The characters
Lotti (in Japanese Taiyo Mukai) - the protagonist of the cartoon, a great little golf champion
Taky - her great class friend and daughter of Mr. Gervaso
Sig. Gervaso - Taky's father, director of the golf club
Sig. Kenton - talent scout and Lotti coach
Reginald - student tournament champion
Victor - champion who beats Lotti in their first tournament together
Hans Jean- rival and then friend of Lotti
Valentino - world champion that Lotti beats in the final
Curious to rediscover other stories of 80s anime? After the story of Flo and her Robinson family, we ventured between Cursed Springs with Ranma 1 / 2, among the thousand messes of Doraemon e Nobita. We were moved by the story of Anna with red hair, and we are passionate about the sporting challenges of Holly and Benji e Mila and Shiro. But also a lot, more!
Anime cartoons golf all in the field with Lotti Everyone on the field with Lotti: how to become a golf champion
