Mizuno turns up the heat

Over the past several years while every other brand has been continually coming up with ways to reinvent the speed boot, Mizuno has been happy to sit on the sidelines. While others pushed for newer and reinvented ways to use synthetic, Mizuno has kept itself busy refining it’s own use of kangaroo leather. This is not to say that Mizuno has sat completely out of everything, if one looks at their running shoe releases one can see that this is not true, but it has kept that separate from football. That is, until now with Mizuno throwing down the marker with its own high-tech speed boot, the Mizuno Alpha.

Starting with the upper, it is made of five layers that have been pressed together to give a barefoot touch on the ball. These consist of a polyurethane material, Engineered Fit Woven, Engineered Fit Frame, Engineered Fit Sponge and Suede. The Engineered Fit Woven is the main material and is a new material developed by Mizuno that is light and soft. The Engineered Fit Frame is designed to help keep the foot locked in during play and stop the foot from moving about inside of the boot, while the Engineered Fit Sponge is a thin material that helps enhance the fit of the boot.

The tongue also has a five-layer structure that consists of two layers of polyurethane sheets, the Engineered Fit Frame, Engineered Fit Sponge and ZEROGLIDE Alpha Mesh. As one imagines given Mizuno’s use of the ZEROGLIDE naming, this means that this mesh material is designed to stop the tongue from sliding around during movement. This ZEROGLIDE Alpha Mesh is also used in the heel area in order to keep the heel from sliding around will give a nice, locked-in feeling.

Moving on to the soleplate, Mizuno did use the Morelia Neo soleplate for reference for stud positioning but has come up with the new Alpha Triangle studs to allow for more speed and agile movements. It also seems to be designed to be used on firm ground and artificial ground. Stay tuned for my review to see if they are right.

Things get very interesting in the midsole area. Mizuno uses a new version of KaRVO called KaRVO RS that reduces flex in the forefoot and gives a strong springback while sprinting which also stops the foot using too much energy while running. Mizuno has also made use of their Mizuno Enerzy material (which has been used on their running shoes) to help provide solid and comfortable support in the heel and helps reduce pressure on the joints while playing.

The insole also includes the ZEROGLIDE Alpha Mesh in order to further reduce slippage of the foot on the inside of the boot and also helps to extend the good fit the rest of the boot provides. So, overall there should be a lot of lockdown and grip available on the inside of the boot.

Lastly, the boot itself is built on the same last as the Morelia Neo III Japan so the fit should be similar though I will not be one hundred percent sure until I get the boots in hand myself. Given that there are a lot of people who love the fit of the Morelia Neo 3 Japan, this is good news and means that Mizuno did not try to do anything weird with the fit. As far as the weight goes, the Mizuno Alpha Japan comes in at 190 grams (6.7 ounces) in a 27CM (US 9/UK 8/ EU 42). While the boots are available for pre-order, the boots will release on the 18th of November in Japan and seems to be available in Europe/USA shortly thereafter.

What do you think of the Mizuno Alpha Japan? Please share this with your friends and make sure to follow me on Instagram and Facebook!

じゃあね！

All photos credit: Soccer Shop Kamo except for the stud layout picture credit to Sports Web Shoppers