Shun Nitta is Japan's go-to second forward, backing up Kojiro Hyuga as a regular starter. He's technically a year younger than the rest of the Golden Generation crew, which sometimes gets overlooked given how solid he's been.
Nitta first showed up in the original Captain Tsubasa manga back in chapter 52. His career path took him through Nankatsu and Otomo during his school years before he went pro with Kashiwa Reysol. He's worn number 9 for both his school teams, switched to 35 with Kashiwa, and rocks 18 for the national squad.
What makes him dangerous offensively is pure speed paired with his signature Hayabusa Shot—a technique he eventually refined into the No Trap Running Volley version. As the series went on, Nitta developed into a more complete threat: he picked up two-footed shooting from both running and jumping positions, and started showing real tactical awareness by pulling defenders out of position and threading passes through the cracks.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
