Genzo Wakabayashi

Wakabayashi is a very charismatic, confident, and strong-willed individual, though also somewhat stubborn and difficult. He's a natural leader, and once he makes a decision, nothing can change his mind. He often comes across as obstinate and headstrong. If something doesn't go his way, he can have a short temper. On the other hand, he's very loyal to his friends. He hates to lose, is very ambitious, and always strives to improve his goalkeeping skills after being beaten by another player. This is evident not only after meeting Tsubasa, but also when he meets Hyuga, and later the international players Schneider, Levin, and Xiao, who are seemingly superior to him in their shooting techniques. He trains relentlessly against all odds to stop their respective shots. Since childhood, he has dreamed of becoming the best goalkeeper in the world; that is everything to him. It's worth mentioning that Wakabayashi often pushes himself to the limits of his health to achieve his goals, repeatedly sustaining serious injuries. At the beginning of the series, he was very proud, arrogant, and selfish, almost haughty, as he displayed his skills against weaker players and teams. However, this changes after his match against Tsubasa, and he begins to be much kinder and more of a team player, both as a person and as a footballer. Despite his charm, Wakabayashi often acts somewhat rudely and abruptly, but only because he always wants what's best for his team. He often keeps his true feelings to himself. He angers others, but his intentions are not malicious; this can be seen in Shin Captain Tsubasa. He resigns from his position as goalkeeper for the Japanese national team, criticizing the poor performance of the team members so they will see that European football is superior to what is played in Japan. He only explains his true intentions to Tsubasa.

In his first appearance, all the different sports teams from Nankatsu challenge him to a goal due to a dispute over who gets to use the town's public field. Wakabayashi easily catches every ball thrown at him, regardless of the sport (in the 2018 series, he's even faced with a javelin). Tsubasa, impressed by Wakabayashi's skill, decides to challenge him. Thanks to Ishizaki, who shows him where he lives, Tsubasa sends the ball flying with a cannon shot, a message written on it challenging him. Wakabayashi catches it, and his coach appears and asks where the ball came from. Wakabayashi says it came from the hill, to which his coach replies that it's impossible. When he looks at the ball again, he sees the challenge message and accepts without hesitation. Wakabayashi, walking down the street, runs into Tsubasa. Ishizaki then introduces Tsubasa as the one who kicked the ball and challenged him. Wakabayashi, who initially didn't believe Tsubasa had kicked the ball, sends him a powerful pass, which Tsubasa easily catches and returns, sending it flying under a moving vehicle. After catching it, he's amazed and thinks Tsubasa did all that as if it were the easiest thing in the world. Then the Shutetsu players appear, asking their captain why he wasn't home. Wakabayashi replies that he was challenged. Wakabayashi refers to Tsubasa as "a kid with an exceptional leg." He tells him that before trying to score a goal, he should dribble past all the Shutetsu players.

Once on the field, Wakabayashi orders his teammates, who were looking at Tsubasa with puzzled expressions because he was treating the ball like a friend, to go and take it from him. Tsubasa reacts quickly and manages to get past the Shutetsu players. Near the goal, Tsubasa decides to score with a header. Wakabayashi stops it, and the ball hits the crossbar. Wakabayashi is annoyed that Tsubasa almost scored. Then Roberto Hongo appears and crosses the ball to Tsubasa. Tsubasa heads it in and scores, astonishing everyone on Shutetsu. But due to the effort he made trying to stop the ball, Wakabayashi hits his forehead on the crossbar, causing a cut. Everyone stares at Tsubasa and Wakabayashi for a moment. Tsubasa asks Wakabayashi if he's alright, but Wakabayashi, noticing his injury and enraged at having conceded a goal, reacts badly, telling Tsubasa, "Don't touch me!" Angrily, Wakabayashi tells him that what just happened doesn't matter and that only if he manages to beat him in the inter-school tournament, in a 40-minute match[2], by scoring a goal, will he give up. He then leaves with his team. He's an extraordinary goalkeeper who can catch almost anything thrown at him. He didn't concede many goals as a child. From early childhood, he's strived to be the best goalkeeper in the world. He tended to be selfish and boast about his abilities before meeting and playing a couple of matches against Tsubasa Ozora. After his draw against Tsubasa, he's learned to enjoy playing with his teammates, though he retains a certain mischievous streak, as he's prone to getting into fights with other players due to his fierce competitive spirit.

After finishing elementary school, he went to West Germany with his coach, Mikami. There, Genzo joined the Hamburger SV youth team, where he had a tough start. The players looked down on him because of his nationality and kicked every ball hard at him. Genzo withstood everything until the team's star player used his best shot on him, surprising everyone by saving it despite his injury. It was in this way that Genzo met the young German emperor, Karl-Heinz Schneider, and from then on, their friendship began, though not without a certain rivalry. Three years later, the Japanese Under-16 team arrived in Germany, where they played matches against Hamburg's youth team and other local teams. The Hamburg team started with Wakabayashi and Schneider, and Japan, with Hyuga as captain and without Tsubasa due to his shoulder injury. Initially, Hamburg's defense seemed too weak, but later Wakabayashi revealed he was testing his team's skill, saving all of Hyuga's, Matsuyama's, and Nitta's special shots. Schneider proved superior to Hyuga, outplaying him in one-on-one situations and scoring three goals against Wakashimazu, injuring the goalkeeper's left arm with the friction of his Fire Shot. Schneider was disappointed. Then Morisaki came on and let in two more goals. The final score was 5-1 in Hamburg's favor. Wakabayashi told Hyuga that as long as Japan had a coward as Hyuga as their captain, the team wouldn't win a single match during their campaign. Afterward, the two men came to blows and started a fight until they were stopped, and Hyuga resignedly left, handing the captain's armband to Matsuyama.

After that, Mikami saw a sad Wakabayashi and told him he was sorry for making him play the villain, but Wakabayashi told him not to worry since he was happy to see a new Hyuga on the field. He also asked if he could be a member of the Japanese team. Mikami accepted and became the team's second goalkeeper, wearing number 22. He was on the bench until the match against Germany because Wakashimazu's right hand was injured. Wakashimazu said that if his hand were fine, he wouldn't let Wakabayashi play, but he had to play at that moment. The match ended with Japan winning 3-2 against Germany. Wakabashashi had performed exceptionally well in the Junior International Tournament, and the club's management had already been watching him. Then, during the Bundesliga season, when Austrian goalkeeper Mike Build suffered an injury that would sideline him for six months, Genzo secured his professional contract with Hamburg at the age of 15.