Reviews #11--Eyeshield 21

Eyeshield 21, written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata and formerly serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump.


Eyeshield is one of my favorite series, and is also one of the best sports mangas I've ever read--although that doesn't mean a whole lot, as I don't read that many sports mangas. The protagonist, like any good sports manga--or shonen in general, is an underdog with an uncanny natural ability for football. Sena Kobayakawa was picked on his whole life and because of that became a very fast runner--though we find out in much later volumes that he was taught proper running technique early on in life, to make things somewhat plausible. He gets roped into the football team at Deimon High by the demon-like quarterback Hiruma and the gentle giant lineman Kurita. But his friend, Mamori, is very protective of Sena, having shielded him from bullies in elementary and middle school. She would never approve of Sena playing such a dangerous sport, so he poses as manager and hides his identity on the field under a tinted eyeshield. His jersey is #21, and there you have the name, Eyshield 21. This name creates interesting problems later in the series.

I love football. And now I love football that much more because of this manga. There's nothing like a themed team to make you understand a certain play--such as the Posidens and their tidal wave defense--a 3-4 defense set to block passes because of all the defensive backs. Never were tacky fighting names more appropriate in a shonen than in this series, with teams such as the Knights, Wild Gunmen, Scorpions, aforementioned Posidens, Titans, Sphinxes, Chameleons, Wolves, Dinosaurs, Spiders, and of course, our very own Deimon Devil Bats, all with their own unique and recognizable character designs.

There's 37 volumes overall, with 26 or 27 published in the US so far. Over time, the Devil Bats assemble a full team--albeit one that is forced to play both offense and defense. They claw their way to the top, traditional underdog-shonen style. But even though you know they're teammates to the title character, and therefore are going to win, you can't help but read anyway. Whether you know how to play football or not, you'll understand the series. It starts with the basics, touchdowns and running, and gradually eases readers into more complicated rules, passing, field goals, various formations and positions, until you find you know all the rules of football! (except penalties--these seem to not exist in Japanese football, because no one ever gets them. XD) The depictions of Sena's running are some of my favorite illustrations in a sports manga ever. Though, again, I have little sports manga experience. ^^; And it's not that the illustrations are all that impressive, I just like the way it's done. It's a fine example of how graphic novels differ from other mediums.

They even manage to work in girls who don't exist just for fanservice! Mamori and, after the America training arc, Suzuna are pretty much the only girls, but in a series about football, that's not surprising. They provide a little bit of romance, but mostly are just integral parts of the plot. In fact, there is NO fanservice in this series! In general, it's pretty young teen-friendly, with the worst anything being Hiruma saying "damn" in front of everything.

Positives: it's a real fun series with memorable characters, good character design, good execution of the standard underdog-fights-his-way-to-the-top, don't need to know football to read it.
Negatives: Underdog-fights-his-way-to-the-top, so it's predictable. If you don't like football, you're out of luck, because that's everything. Yeah, there's cool character development within every football game, but that's just it, they only develop during games.

Overall, I love the series to death. I re-read it all the time. I like football, too, so I suppose I'm biased. I give it a B+. It's tons of fun, and the best football series you'll ever read, but not all that groundbreaking otherwise. It's definitely worth checking out, though.