Sakanoue Noboru

Sakanoue Noboru is a libero for Tonegawa Tousen in Inazuma Eleven Ares no Tenbin. He is also a defender for Inazuma Japan in Inazuma Eleven Orion no Kokuin.

Appearance
Sakanoue has slightly tanned skin and is average in height. He has short spiky ruby-red hair. He also has dark-purple eyes. In general, he resembles Utsunomiya Toramaru from the original series in appearance.

Personality
He seems to be very attached and loyal to Endou Mamoru and he treats him as some kind of a mentor. He is also always very enthusiastic, caring, and kind toward his teammates. Sakanoue is shown to be quick-thinking and clever, especially when he rapidly formulates a plan of revenge against Luci Fanos's blades.

Inazuma Eleven Ares no Tenbin
Sakanoue was present at the ceremonial entry for the nationals of the Football Frontier tournament along with his teammates.

Inazuma Eleven Orion no Kokuin
Sakanoue was present at the ceremonial entry for the nationals of the Football Frontier tournament along with his teammates. He was selected as a member of Inazuma Japan as a defender. The players, aside from Nosaka, later went to their training facility with the bus and there they were introduced to their coaches and managers. The next day, Clario Orvan appeared, using Diamond Ray which nobody was able to stop. When the day of their first Football Frontier International match arrived, which was against Red Bison, Sakanoue wasn't a starting member and was sitting on the bench besides Saginuma Osamu. He was shocked when Korea shot their first goal after they obstructed Endou's view. He stated that it would be difficult to prove as a foul play. While during the match Haizaki Ryouhei and Kira Hiroto were competed with each other instead of playing together, Sakanoue criticized their actions and stated that this is a world tournament. He couldn't understand why they were not happy after Inamori Asuto scored first goal for Inazuma Japan. Sakanoue visited Gouenji in hospital with his teammates. He agreed with Asuto that names "Goujin" and "Gouenji" are very similar. Before the match with Australia coach Zhao Jinyun didn't manage to find out anything usefull about opponents and let the team do what they want. Sakanoue then asked Endou what they should do.

During the match with Shining Satans he realized that the opponents were using some tricks against them to win. When coach advised Inazuma Japan players to close their eyes while playing, Sakanoue stated that excellent players are able to hear and sense the other around them and they can play soccer without using their eyes. When Haizaki and Hiroto kept shooting to Ichihoshi Mitsuru, Sakanoue passed the ball to Haizaki. After that Asuto asked him if he was involved in this as well. But Sakanoue didn't know what he was talking about. Later new player from Shining Satans Luci Fanos attacked Sakanoue with blades hidden in his cleats. When Kidou Yuuto wanted to intervene, Sakanoue said that he had an idea what to do. When Luci tried to attack again, Sakanoue outsmarted him and Luci failed. Sakanoue managed to use Hiura Kirina's hissatsu technique Koori no Ya, which surprised Hiura and made him admire Sakanoue's abilities. When Kidou revealed that Ichihoshi intended to hurt Endou, Sakanoue was shocked and ready to protect Endou, even fight if needed. During the match with Uzbekistan's team, Eternal Dancers, he was sitting on the bench. When he found out about Ichihoshi's brother illness, he suggested that they could set up a fundraiser to cover Ichihoshi Hikaru's surgery.

During the match against Phoenix Army of Arab, he stated that teamwork is essential for defense. He was worried about Fubuki Shirou's injuries and promissed him to tighten the defense around Japan's goal, with Iwato Takashi as well. Later he passed the ball to Haizaki and Hiroto to score the leading goal with their hissatsu technique Penguin The God & Devil. After Saudi Arabia players used against Inazuma Japan their tactic Driblaze to get through Japan’s defense, Andreas Bebo shot with his Burning Hinotori and Sakanoue wasn't able to stop him. When Ichihoshi was hit by falling meteors and left the field, Nosaka Yuuma and coach Zhao revealed to the team true about Ichihoshi and his brother. Sakanoue was shocked seeing Ichihoshi talking to himself like to another person. Later he agreed with team to let Ichihoshi continue playing in order to help him. He was surprised after Ichihoshi used tricks and easily passed Andreas without losing the ball. After Haizaki and Hiroto scored their second goal, Sakanoue celebrated with his teammates their winning. Later in the evening he joined the rest of the team to support Ichihoshi, who intended to leave.

During the meeting before the final match with Soccer Acrobatic Troupe, the team were talking about their next opponent wondering what kind of team they were. Sakanoue stated that Inazuma Japan and China tied in points. Mansaku Yuuichirou revealed that he heard that China has never been a strong competitor in soccer before now and was wondering about their progress. Sakanoue suspected they had to undergone a lot of training. To their great surprise Li Kobun appeared and informed the team about his leaving. As if that weren’t enough, Hiura revealed to the team that Li was in fact Mutekigahara Fujimaru who played with them before and completely beat them. Coach Zhao uncovered later his real identity as a Li Hao, forward of a Chinese team, who was his supporter as well, and Li told everyone about his past. Coach emphasized that his real goal was to free soccer from the Orion Foundation, not only the winning of the FFI tournament. When Ichihoshi and Asuto disappeared and didn’t show for a whole day, the team decided to look for them. Sakanoue was very excited when he heard about strange creature Kappa that could leave near the waterfall but Tatsuya denied that it existed, stating it was just an imaginary animal. Despite his opinion Sakanoue was convinced that Kappa was real. Later when the team were going to the camp and talking about Kappa, Asuto confirmed all Sakanoue‘s conjectures, making him even more happy.

Before the team left to the stadium for the final match with Soccer Acrobatic Troupe, Japan’s players watched the message from their coach Zhao. He explained that he wouldn't be able to join them because of his unexpected health problems. Sakanoue was a little bit shocked when Kazemaru Ichirouta realized them that it was a really important match and now they would play without the coach’s supervision. During this match Sakanoue was benched, watching Inazuma Japan striving with the unusual play of Chinese team. When coach Kudou Michiya told them the story about the three arrows that couldn’t be broken when combined together, Sakanoue was very excited when he understood its meaning. Later when Endou Mamoru, Nishikage Seiya and Saginuma created new powerful technique The Asura which stopped the Chinese attack, Sakanoue looked at them stunned and surprised. After a long and hard fight Inazuma Japan managed to tie after Fudou’s shot and later took the lead with Haizaki’s Shark The Deep. But Chinese team didn’t give up and kept fighting. When Li Hao and Zhou Xing were trying last time to shoot they created very powerful technique Tenhou Chiretsu which almost broke The Asura. Sakanoue was looking at them in fear, shouting Endou’s name. Luckily with the help of Haizaki, Nosaka and Asuto, they stopped this shot and Inazuma Japan won the final match.

During the send-off party for Inazuma Japan, some Spanish players appeared as a special guests. Endou welcomed Clario Orvan and served him a plate with wide selection of the dishes. When he ate everything in a blink of an eye, Sakanoue stated that Clario’s speed of eating was also at the world’s level. Before the departure to Russia Sakanoue went to a gift shop and chose a small key ring who looked like a plush Kappa bear.

Anime

 * Koori no Ya

Inazuma Eleven AC: Dream Battle

 * Volcano Cut
 * Koori no Ya