Eyeshield 21
| Eyeshield 21 | |
 The cover for Eyeshield 21 Vol.1 (Viz Version) | |
| Genre | Sports, Comedy, Shōnen |
|---|---|
| Manga | |
| Written by | Riichiro Inagaki (story) Yusuke Murata (art) |
| Published by | Shueisha |
| Anime | |
| Eyeshield 21 (Jump Festa) | |
| Directed by | Tamaki Nakatsu |
| Studio | Production I.G. |
| Anime | |
| Directed by | Masayoshi Nishida |
| Studio | NAS, Studio Gallop |
Eyeshield 21 (アイシールド21, aishīrudo nijūichi) is a manga about American football written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. It has been adapted into an anime movie in 2004, an anime television series in 2005, and two console games are due for release.
The manga started in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump. The manga is published in English by VIZ Media. The anime version, produced by NAS, began airing on TV Tokyo on 6 April 2005. The anime is sponsored by NFL Japan.
Nintendo announced they have secured the rights to the Eyeshield 21 video game license in December 2004. Two titles have been announced, one for the Nintendo GameCube, and the other for the Nintendo DS. It is not known whether the games are being developed by Nintendo, or merely published by the company. The September 2005 issue of V-Jump magazine unveiled the first image of the Eyeshield 21 video game for the Nintendo DS. Since then, games have also been announced for the PlayStation 2 and Sony PSP.
Story
Template:Spoiler The plot of Eyeshield 21 revolves around a physically unassuming and non-assertive boy named Sena Kobayakawa (小早川瀬那, Kobayakawa Sena) who enters the high school of his choice, Deimon Private Senior High School (泥門高等学校, Deimon Kōtōgakkō), where his childhood friend Mamori Anezaki (姉崎まもり, Anezaki Mamori), one year older than Sena, already attends. His only remarkable physical abilities are his running speed and dodging techniques, which catches the eye of the high school's American football team captain Yoichi Hiruma (蛭魔 妖一, Hiruma Yōichi). Sena was then forced into playing as the team's running back by Yoichi.
To protect his identity (on the basis that other teams will try to lure Sena to their school teams) Sena is forced to assume the role of team secretary, and enter the field with a helmet featuring a green-tinted eyeshield to hide his features. The anime revolves around the adventures and misadventures of the football team as they acquire other characters and compete in local tournaments leading up to the "Christmas Bowl", the high school football championship.
The series concludes the initial manga story arc (with the first loss by the Deimon Devil Bats to the Ojo White Knights) after Episode 8, and began introducing the rest of the football team starting with catching specialist Raimon Tarou (aka "Monta-kun") as of Episode 9.
Deimon Devil Bats (泥門デビルバッツ)
- Logo: Red Devil Bat, a nonexistent breed that bears a striking resemblance to Hiruma Yoichi.
- The protagonist team of the manga and anime series, this team represents the Deimon Private Senior High School. At first, there were only three members in the Deimon American Football Club. However, after its inaugural year, there were only two members (Yoichi Hiruma and Ryokan Kurita) after Gen "Musashi" Takekura left. This remained so until Hiruma found Sena Kobayakawa and his amazing running ability. Their team's chant is "Kill'em! YA-HA!"(ブッツバス! YA-HA!! Buttsubasu! YA-HA!!)
Characters
- Sena Kobayakawa (小早川瀬那, Kobayakawa Sena)
- Sena is the protagonist of the series. He is a running back and wears an eyeshield on his helmet and the number 21. Throughout the games, Sena develops new techniques, including some fake handoff plays and the Devil Bat Dive. This involves him running at full speed toward the goal line, then jumping high over the defending linemen in a corkscrewing motion. Sena cannot sustain running at high speeds for very long, and may even faint if he overextends himself as it shown during the match against the NASA Aliens. Seiyū: Miyu Irino
- Character Statistics:
- 40-yard-dash Record: 4.2 seconds (High School Record), 5.0 when not under pressure, though he has been estimated by Shin and Homer to run at about 4.6 during games. His ability for 'Change of Pace' makes his speed very erratic to measure.
- Bench Press: 10 kg (High School Record Low), 40 kg in vol. 5, and 45 kg in vol. 10
- Position: Halfback / Tailback / Free Safety / Club Manager
- Jersey: 21
- 1st Year Student (Grade 10)
- Yoichi Hiruma (蛭魔 妖一, Hiruma Yōichi)
- Yoichi Hiruma is the Deimon's de facto team captain who has pointy ears and sharp teeth, and looks and acts like a demon. Hiruma is usually carrying some kind of firearm (Which was his imaginary machine gun). Hiruma lies, cheats, bullies and manipulates people to do his bidding. His most potent weapon is probably his "Book of Threats" (originally "Devil's Handbook"), a small black notebook filled with everyone's darkest secrets, which allows him to blackmail anyone into doing what he demands of them. Although portrayed as a cruel slave-driver and an inhumane captain at times, his passion for football (and winning) is unrivaled, and he is known to goad, tempt, bribe, force and inspire the team to victory. Although very stubborn, it is evident that Hiruma loves his team, occasionally showing a sly content smile in times of happyness involving his team. Also, to show he his proud with his team mates he began to kick them and make a some what positive comment afterwards, this is picked up by Kurita during the match between the Ojo white knights. He has a vast knowledge of football, this includes not only the rules, plays, formations etc. but a lot of knowledge from famous NFL players etc. This is how Monta's nickname was created, Hiruma named it after football legand Joe Montana. As well as this, it has been discovered that Hiruma collects comics about football involving a hero with the number 21, whether this is an attempt to break the 4th wall or the reason Hiruma gave Sena that particular number is unknown.
- Hiruma had been extremely frustrated when he had not been able to pass during games, as it could be assumed that Hiruma's speciallty is passing judging by Monta's surprise at how pwerfully Hiruma threw the ball and how much he loved to practice passing, and though he doesn't really show it, he is quite happy that he has a wide receiver in Monta. He gives names to many people, usually using the prefix "Damn" (watered down by Viz Media from the original Japanese, which is translated by fans as something a lot more colourful). His family ties and where he lives are unknown, but most readers assume that he lives in the clubhouse, as this was the room featured in the 'bedroom inspection' special in Volume one of the manga so this also leads readers to assume he probably uses the school's restrooms, the locker room's shower, and lives off of the groceries from the Son-Son market), but he seems to be on bad terms with his father. He's been known to chew excessive amounts of gum (sugar-less of course), even during games. Never seen opening a door with his hands, he seems to prefer slamming them open with his feet, as he always has his hands in his pockets. Despite his what maybe considerded inappropriate nicknames for his fellow team mates, Hiruma is very much respected and liked by the team because of his sheer passion and commitment to the game. It is evident though that the team mate closest to Hiruma is Kurita as they have struggles together to gather a proper football team for quite some time. Hiruma also shows a likeness to Sena, defending him from the Ha-Ha brothers and other dangers, but this may just be because of Sena's talents as eyshield. Seiyū: Atsushi Tamura
- Character Statistics:
- 40-yard-dash record: 5.1 seconds
- Bench Press: 75 kg
- Position: Quarterback / Strong Safety
- Jersey : 1
- 2nd Year Student (Grade 11)
Manga
Anime
Music
- Composer - Ko Otani
- Opening
- Break Through by Coming Century (Episodes 1-35)
- Innocence by 20th Century (Episodes 36-64)
- Dang Dang by ZZ (Episodes 65-)
- Ending
- Be Free by Rikkenzu (Episodes 1-14)
- Blaze Away by Trax (Episodes 15-35)
- Goal by Beni Arashiro (Episodes 36-64)
- Run to Win by Sena, Mamori, Monta, Kurita (Episodes 65-)
- Insert songs
- Be SURVIVOR by ZZ
- Chain Of Power by V6
- MIDNIGHT SUNSHINE by Ojo White Knights
Trivia
- It has been rumoured that the creators based the character of Eyeshield 21 on St Louis Rams rusher Marshall Faulk, who neither wore #21 or played at Notre Dame - he wore his usual #28 at San Diego State.
- In reality however, there is indeed a running back in the NFL who wears an eyeshield and the number 21 - LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers. LenDale White, recently drafted by the Tennessee Titans, wore the number 21 and an eyeshield when he played college football at USC. The Titans have assigned him #25 as cornerback Reynaldo Hill already has #21. There are also several other defensive backs in the NFL who wear #21 and wear eyeshields.
- In another incongruity, considering the protagonist, Volume 15 of the manga features a picture of Miami Dolphins (and for the 2006 season due to a year-long NFL suspension, Toronto Argonauts) RB Ricky Williams, a non-eyeshield-wearing player who wears #34. Due to his dreadlocked image before his retirement prior to the 2004 NFL season, Williams may have been at least partial inspiration for similarly-coiffured wunderkind, Agon Kongo of the Shinryūji Naga.