Reviews for Eyeshield 21

Sports manga in general (with a few notable exceptions) branch off into two main groups - the martial group and the teamwork group. The martial sports manga (featuring boxing, judo, etc.) usually sport characters with grit and guts struggling against one another. This type of sports manga also often suffers from overemphasis of the main character and weak side characters who only serve to show how awesome the lead is by comparison. The teamwork sports manga (featuring baseball, basketball, etc.) usually sport a large, well-developed cast. At the very least, the main team of a team sports manga will havea lot of fleshed-out players. The downside with teamwork sports manga is that it can sometimes feel like competition-lite, and it lacks the quantity of guts displayed in martial sports.

The American Football played in Eyeshield 21 is an interesting and ultimately successful combination of the two formulas, mixing the group dynamics of a genuine team with lots of hard-on action.

I have a lot of praise for the way the sport being played is used in ES21. Football is a large sport, requiring 11 players on each side, each with a different distinct role. As a result, you always have characters other than just the mains in play, being far from useless. 22 players, though, are a bit much to focus on at one time, and this manga acknowledges that, focusing only on small portions of the playing field at any given time. We get lots of different individual, small group, and large group confrontations throughout any given game, which makes up for the fact that a game may go on for 20-30 chapters. This effectively splits up screentime among a truly massive cast in a way which neither weakens the mains nor benches the non-mains. The cast is, in addition to being in the triple-digits, extremely diverse backstory-wise, ranging from a kicker who quit his team to help his father's business to a tall reciever who's good and popular, but failing to catch up to the true genius superstar of his own team. Odds are most, if not all, people will be able to find at least one character whose background they sympathize with.

And there are mindgames. Dear me, the mindgames. Possibly the best part of this manga is how the player confrontations are set up by a diabolical mastermind of a man, Hiruma Youichi, a gun nut with dirt on half the world's population. This guy comes up with the most outlandish trick plays which are usually a surprise, totally outlandish, and always fun to watch. What's more, they often don't work, giving an added thrill of uncertainty to each play.

The basic plot of Eyeshield itself is standard fare; weak, bullied kid (Sena Kobayakawa) with hidden talent gets forced into a sport and ends up liking it. His team gets stronger with him in it and goes on to compete at high levels. Just how high is a minor spoiler. Two things here. Firstly, you can expect the Devilbats to lose quite a bit, and not just in the introductory chapters to their eternal rival. Secondly, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE BASIC FORMULA. Just because it's common doesn't mean it's a weak one. Coming-of-age stories have been selling since forever for a reason, and the basic formula needs only to be applied correctly to produce a decent piece. High-schoolers passionately fighting tooth-and-nail over one inch of turf isn't going to get old anytime soon.

Not that Eyeshield is just decent - it's consistently hilarious, thrilling, and a whole lot of fun. I would recommend trying it out to just about anyone, including the people who aren't normally predisposed towards manga. It's a shining example of what sports shonen, and shonen in general, can be when it tries.

Eyeshield 21 is a sports manga that focuses on high school students and American football. That fact alone often turns people away usually because they are not interested in sports and understandably assume a manga about sports would be uninteresting. This is far from the truth. Eyeshield 21 has such a wonderful story, good pacing and length, well developed and in depth characters, and fantastic art style that whether or not the viewer likes football is irrelevant. Those who dive into Eyeshield 21 and stick with it will most certainly have a nice payoff and will remember the series for years to come. The focal pointof the series is the Deimon Devil Bats team as a whole. Technically Sena Kobayakawa is the main character however almost all of the other team members are treated equally in level of importance of development. The writer, Riichiro Inagaki, also takes the time to show the other rival teams, their back stories, and what they're all about. Aside from the Deimon Devil Bats, rival teams usually only have 1-4 characters that will be named and have any sort of dialogue or back story. Throughout the series' course it introduces a wide array of characters but not too fast or too numerous that you would be overwhelmed.

Eyeshield 21 is a mixture of drama, action, and comedy. This series generally avoids ecchi, fan service, and romance. The story is deep but also simple. It's centered around a tournament and the characters walk you through it as well as walk you through each individual football match so you'll be able to moderately follow even if you're not football savvy. There are many unexpected turns and twists not just during the matches but also with the characters themselves. Riichiro Inagaki does a fantastic job at delivering a completely believable cast and world. The pacing and overall length of the series is excellent. It's not too long or too short. It gives you everything it has and doesn't overstay it's welcome. The ending is satisfactory and even gives you some bonus pages that tell you the fates of the characters.

The artist of Eyeshield 21 is Yusuke Murata. His art style starts off a bit rough and sketchy but still pleasant. Throughout the course of the series it evolves and becomes more cleaner and sharp. Murata is skilled in being able to draw different faces and body types and is able to create memorable and unique designs making the world of Eyeshield 21 all the more believable. Murata's art really makes the comedic scenes pop out and is able to so skillfully illustrate different emotions that can range from downright silly to dead serious or anything required of him. His color spreads are absolutely breath taking. Full of detail and life. He always puts all his effort into every panel of Eyeshield 21. A possible way to describe his style is "pretty shounen" or maybe "cute shounen". There's enough for those who desire a shounen look as well as those who are drawn to a sort of shojo style.

Eyeshield 21's strongest attribute is probably it's colorful characters. They come from all different walks of life all with their own goals, weaknesses, and strengths, some of which you may even be able to understand on a personal level. Some characters that you may have thought were one dimensional and easy to read will end up having more depth than you first assumed. Eyeshield 21 tackles on many different types of personalities and mindsets. You'll see examples of inferiority complexes, egotistical monsters, a strong desire to achieve, and much more. Some characters have more depth than others who sometimes just serve as support but they are just as likable as any of the fleshed out ones. The entire cast is likable and even the most cold hearted villains you'll learn to love for one reason or another. Watching these characters grow and having different kinds of people come into contact with one another and seeing who triumphs is one of the great joys of the series.

I think this series will be a nice surprise to anyone who gives it a fair shot. It provides so many desirable attributes for a manga that I wonder how someone couldn't possibly enjoy it. Great art, good story, fantastic and memorable characters, what more could you want? In comparison to every other manga I've read this has made the greatest impact on me. It will always be in my mind. I simply cannot ever forget what this series has given me. I've re-read it several times already and I will continue to do so. Most manga I don't care if I physically own or not but with this series I simply need it in physical form. Eyeshield 21 will always be that manga I recommend to all my friends and consistently praise above all else. I don't personally like football....but Eyeshield 21 managed to become my favorite manga of all time and it always will be.

First time writing a review but since this manga didn't have that many I thought I could try Story I think this is quite a realistic manga. Of course it's not that realistic in comedy and with what happens to the characters, but the focus, American football, is realistic. At least I think. It's hid under the veil of shounen, where all attention is given to single persons or groups at a time, where time seems to stop as people discuss about what's happening and sometimes seem to read each others thoughts while doing that. Even with all that the game is not supernatural or anything. Butsometimes it's hard to remember what's REALLY happening, as in if the reader could zoom out and see the field like it's seen on television. Especially the formations get a bit too little attention since you can't help but sometime think "where the hell did he come from?", "what was happening in the center?". But I believe the writer knew what was happening, he just did a conscious decision to not share everything in order to make it more shounen like.

But boy does the shounen bring out some of the most epic moments. Sometimes the despair in front of practically certain loss makes you want to just give up and check how it's really going to end. Every point the enemy makes feels like someone is pulling YOUR stomach and you start to question "it's just football. It's not like you're gonna die." But that's just a fleeting thought before you remember that emotions really are powerful in sports if you're playing seriously.

The power-ups are a bit unrealistic in the sense that there is a quite strict weak-strong scale between some people. And even when it isn't that strict it's hard to notice, since those many "normal" plays aren't shown. Nevertheless, no one can change physical attributes like muscle strength with some super training overnight, often it's all about mind, will and technique. What one can do when it's just impossible to win in physical prowess.

On a side note I was a bit disappointed the hints of relationships and drama never bore any fruit.

Art

The art is very clean and good. I guess it sometimes feels bland since it's not that unique, but the quality is unyielding.

The action scenes burst with athlete's anatomy and speed, and the comedy is highlighted well with different stylizations

Character

The characters are different and there are quite many of them. Everyone have their own struggles and motives when playing football. And it's not just the protagonist's team members, Deimon Devil Bats, but other teams as well. And even those supporting characters whose stories aren't told stay true to themselves. Especially Devil Bats' quarterback Hiruma uses in a genius way his team mates and enemies personalities in his unbelievable schemes. That wouldn't work if the characters' personalities didn't work.

The Devil Bats, who are a hastily collected ragtag team, face more and more fierce enemies often so they mostly try to cope with their own weaknesses and become stronger. But still the these personal struggles often times manage to be unique and even tearjerking. And with the other characters included they'e stories are nicely versatile.

Enjoyment

In one or two matches the switching from hope to despair happened so many times it was starting to get a bit too agitating. And I thought this manga might have given more if I had played football, since it was sometimes hard to get the whole picture.

Other than that it was very enjoyable and I wanted to keep on reading.

Overall

The ending made it clear that these people will keep on playing astonishing and unbelievable matches in their universe. It's not like it ended midway but you just can't help but have a bittersweet, heartrending feeling when you think that you can never hear those stories. And that is a testimony of a fantastic manga.

I recommend reading the manga of Eyeshield 21 , because it's funnier than the anime and gives much details about all the characters ( specially of you are a fan of Hiruma ) unfortunately Eyeshield 21 anime completed and I don't know if they're making a second season of it .. but if you can't wait for that just read the manga .. Ya ha!

Eyeshield 21 is basically about a timid boy who is forced to join the high school football team by a devilish bully and a gentle giant. At first, I didn't really want to read this manga because it was about football, which I don't really enjoy. But then, I just decided to give it a try. From the very beginning, I really enjoyed it. Eyeshield 21's characters are lovable and unique. I thought this manga was great right from the start. Story: I thought the story was very enjoyable. At some points, the most unexpected thing happened which made me have to keep on reading. Some things mademe laugh so hard I started crying. When something bad happened, I started actually crying. Although the plot isn't the most original for a sports manga, I thought it was still great, so I give it a 9/10.

Art:

The artist does a good job drawing the characters, but nothing really stands out to me that much. I think the art is better than other sports manga, but compared to other shounen manga, it's quite basic, but still good. 8/10.

Characters:

Eyeshield 21 has a diverse group of characters. I can't help but love all the characters and the things they bring to the manga. The characters are what I love most about Eyeshield 21. A couple of them are a bit cliche, but are still great. The part about the characters that amazed me the most was how much they grew throughout the series. I give the characters 10/10

Enjoyment:

I thought this series was very enjoyable. Re-reading it is still fun after 2 times around. I thought every aspect of this manga was enjoyable: the characters, the jokes, the story...10/10

I highly suggest this manga to pretty much everyone. It's great, so just give it a try even though it is about football. Who knows? This manga may be better than you think it is. That's what happened to me.

Eyeshied 21 is an American Football themed manga where a few hopefuls try to recruit and mature a team together for their joint goal of becoming the national champions. [10] : Art Thankfully the art of Eyeshield 21 is at the top of it's genre. Amazing action sequences, along with detailed shading and unique characters. The art will keep you reading long enough to appreciate the series even if a football-themed manga didn't initially appeal to you. Being a shounen series naturally there are "special moves," which are brought to life in an imaginative manner with this great art style. [9] : Character I feel likein the Eyeshield 21 universe, each character comes across as unique. The design for each character is well done, and overall very impressive. Where the character department starts to earn more of an 9, as opposed to a 10, is lack of development for certain characters (main characters not on the football team). The motivations for the characters although straight forward are well represented, and there isn't much room for criticism. There are certain areas that could have been expanded on, but despite it's length the series remains very on-task and I feel like some character backgrounds were left short deliberately, which didn't take away from the story as a whole. I felt one well-done and essential element to the characters was how they were introduced. In order for it to feel believable, there was often set-up before they faced each new team. The preview of characters talents or given examples of their notoriety in a natural sensible way, before they came into contact with the main cast, made it so you as a reader could be accepting of their power level (a level you identify that the main characters have worked so hard to achieve).

[9] : Story

The story for Eyeshield 21 is superb. The primary goal for the main characters is to become national champions, and in order to accomplish it they need to assemble a football team. The story follows the characters as they at first merely try to find fillers so they themselves can participate and carry their team. However, it develops as they find individuals with specific talents to compliment a certain role of the team. With each of the characters coming on board for their own reasons in this well-known "join up" style of story building (used in other manga such as One Piece, or Yu-Yu Hakusho) the team is finally given shape. More than just any of the characters individual dreams or motivations alone, they give their all for the sake of each other and the team as they innovate, train, and face opponents on and off the field. If this style of storyline progression appeals to you as it does to me, you're in for a real treat as Eyeshield 21 executes it in impressive and compelling fashion.

[10] : Overall

All in all, Eyeshield 21 is a very well drawn manga that goes far beyond it's underestimated sports-anime genre. It's compelling storytelling coupled with all the bad-ass shounen elements readers have come to love ingrained into these unique characters keeps the series in my personal top 5.

One of the best sports manga I've ever read, and will always be. Eyeshield 21 is like the most awesome thing in this world. Oh my god. Got absolutely no knowledge nor passion for American Football? Doesn't matter. Football might as well be your favorite sport after finishing this manga. Story - ES21 tells the story of our protagonist Sena Kobayakawa. He, like most shounen anime protagonists, is extremely weak, good-for-nothing, and is constantly bullied. The premise is actually very interesting, because Sena developed a skill which matches him being constantly bullied! Yes, the skill lies within his pair of legs. Sena has always been special since the start,but being special doesn't mean that he has to be invincible. No, Sena tastes a lot of crushing defeat throughout this story, but nevertheless he just keeps on getting up, continue to fight on, and in the end emerges victorious. And it's not just Sena who's fighting, it's all of his teammates. It's the whole Deimon Devil Bats. Each members has their own story and their own passion.

The execution is BEAUTIFUL. This could probably be the most passionate sports series out there. All of the matches are amazing and you can go around re-reading it for many, many times. It is really weird how the duo mangakas could make all of them very interesting and even though there is a lot of them in this manga, none of them feels repetitive. Each of the matches are unique in their own way. The matches also have perfect length, just the perfect bit of drama, and as always, the satisfying conclusion. It shows how even when the team's on the brink of defeat, they can always get up and NAIL IT!! (with regards to common sense still)

The techniques. Sports mangas ought to have weird techniques, and what's really weird of this manga is: the godlike techniques don't seem weird at all... Maybe it's due to the explanation given, but at any rate, it's actually pretty realistic if you think about it (minus the weird visual effects of course). Some, well, like Don, might seem very unrealistic but hey, you can't take mangas too seriously.

The ending might seem really vague, especially the last match they have together (not gonna tell, read it read it READ IT YOU'LL REGRET NOTHING!!), but I think it's fine just the way it is. It left us kinda wondering at the end, so I would consider it a good cliffhanger ending.

Can't believe I have blabbered this much JUST for the story, but in short: the story is fricking awesome.

Art - Holy sh*tting goodness, the art is wonderful. The first 8 volumes will probably keep you "lol the art" but on the later volumes, oh my god once again: it's beautiful. One of the best art improvement I've ever seen. The later art looks really masculine and the techniques are very easy to understand. I really love how the movement just flows and it's like we can see the pictures moving. Even the anime couldn't animate this better. Yusuke Murata is pure genius. If you have read One Punch Man before ES21 you'll probably get blown away by the improvement.

Character - We have tons of characters here. Aside from the unique traits of each individual, the character development is also really great. Monta, after letting go of his longtime ambition, finally finds his true life on American Football. Hiruma learns to trust others and leave his back to his teammates. Kurita learns to, even though he's kind, to fight fiercely in order to protect what he cares for. The trio gets to understand their passion. Sakuraba matures and he leaves his old life behind to fully dedicate himself to being an athlete. And most of all, the one who grows up the most, is Sena, who throughout this series has grown, from a weak-willed boy into a very formidable young man with solid dreams, and he is willing to do whatever it takes to reach that dream of his.

Enjoyment - This is no doubt my favorite manga ever and I fully enjoy this. I mean, a LOT. Maybe the first 5 volumes will get you bored but believe me after volume 9, it is all action and it's freaking awesome. It gets better after each chapter, and all of the matches are very intriguing they will surely keep you glued to your seat.

To sum up from this longass review (the longest I've ever written): if you haven't read this manga, READ IT. It is a masterpiece.

"It's a sports manga, why would I enjoy it?" This is probably the first question that enters your mind if you know nothing about Eyeshield 21 except that it's based on American football. The fact that it's based on American football may drive you away from the series. One thing I can tell you is, you are right. But it's more than American football, and I guarantee that you will be sucked into this series just like I was. Not only will you be thoroughly entertained, but you will find yourself picking up on the rules of American football throughout the entire series. This rather entertaining storyfocuses on the weak-willed protagonist, Sena, who has an uncanny ability to run. This catches the eye of the quarterback of Deimon High's football team, Hiruma, who forces Sena onto the team. Little does Sena know that his speed will eventually bring together a formidable football team that becomes somewhat of a rather dysfunctional family. Together, they endure brutal training and seemingly impossible games against various notable teams, which each bring an experience like no other.

A hilarious story requires hilarious characters, and Eyeshield 21 provides some extremely well developed characters that won't be like any other. From the maniacal mastermind Hiruma, whose strategic ways will leave you jaw dropping or laughing, to the overeager teddy bear Kurita (known for his large structure as well as having a chestnut-shaped head), each character brings something unique into the story that ultimately circle around our main protagonist and their football team.

The artwork is just unbelievable. Artist or not, you'll take notice of the over exaggerated perspective when the characters are out on the field, from their stances to their sprints. Despite these over exaggerations, they do nothing but complement the series. Prepare to be in awe of Yuusuke Murata's detail in characters, scenery, anatomy, and games.

Enjoyment can really go in different directions. I find myself developing an interest in American football, making the story all the more enjoyable. However, if the sports didn't attract your attention, then comedy will, as the manga is chock full of it. Either way, I find it almost hard to believe that you wouldn't enjoy this unless you were absolutely against laughing and American football... which in that case, I'm going to ask, why are you reading this?

Overall, Eyeshield 21 is what it portrays: American football. However, don't dismiss it as merely just that. There's more to it than meets the eye, and such an underrated series deserves more attention for an outstanding job in story, art, and characters.

I will keep it simple, it is much better than the animated version. I would suggest taking the time to read it. The story is funnier, more attention to details regarding the game play and tactics.

This review is coming for a NFL fan, so if you are not a fan of football or you know nothing about it then just ignore this review. Now that i have gotten that out of the way ill tell you why i gave it a 5. The good parts are the diverse characters and the art work. Just about every type of character you can think of you can find in this manga and the author does a pretty good job of meshing them together in this manga. Art work is artwork so i dont really need to go intotoo much detail about that.

Now the parts i dont like so much pretty much deal with the football games themselves. I love manga that are unrealistic like the rest of you, naruto, OP, bleach, FMA, etc but for some reason it doesnt work for me when it comes to the game of football. (possible spoiler but not really) One of the things i hate the most is that because the devil bats (protagonists football team) dont have a kicker so every time they get a touchdown they only score 6 points. They always go for a PAT (they dont use the right terminology either which gets on my nerves as well) when they know they will miss instead of going for a 2 point conversion. Also they say they have 4 chances to attack but in real football you get 3 and then you usually punt. There are quite a bit of these little details in the manga that just annoy me.

I will probably finish the manga since i am already done half of it but i dont see my impression of this manga changing in the remaining 160 chapters.

This review probably doesnt apply to the majority of you but if you do enjoy NFL then i would suggest you skip this one. There are plenty more great mangas to choose from. I just started reading he breaker (a manhwa) and i got to say its turning out to be 1 of my favorites, try it.

This is a MUST READ (if not the BEST) sports manga, even though you might have no idea what American Foorball is. The best things I like about Eyeshield 21 is Characters' Development, which I give a 10/10: Most sports manga have characters who are gifted or simply acquire some 'special traits' that make them suitable: Sawamura, Kuroko, Hanamichi,... Eyeshield 21 brings up a game where even the weekest player, or someone without any talent, can become the star. Not to mention, every character in the series have a lot of chances to shine and development. Because the nature of American Football, where a team requiresplayers specializing in one field (Speed, power, technique, catching, tactics, etc.), and there are a lot of one-on-one situations happening on the field, no character is neglected, and the intensity of the series come with, two words, tactics. Like One Outs, the author builds the best character of all time (in my opinion), Hiruma Yoichi, who overcome any hardship and CLUTCH situations using trick plays. Hiruma Yoichi is one hell of a genius, in comparison with great mind like L , Light and Lelouch. However, the fun thing is that his tactical plays come from hardcore practice, which bring the whole team together.

Story: 9.5/10 - The action throughout the game is every intense, while the tournament bracket is full of surprise. The author sets up for the team, SPOILER ALERT, to lose early at the very first game, so that the team can go training early and ready for their final tournament. So, yes, you will not be let down from cliffhangers like in Diamond no Ace. The plot twist in the manga is real, and it occurs very unexpectedly (according to all the comments I read). And the manga gave you goosebumps on every one-on-one situation.

Drama/Romace: 9/10 - There is actual drama/ romance relationships between a few characters in the manga. And they are very satisfying (Definitely better than Nise Koi).

Art: 10/10 - This comes from the artist of One Punch Man. So if you saw OPM first, you would see some characters with similar designs (Not Saitama, though).

Sportslike? - at least 9/10 - Of course, it is manga. So it is understandable that Japanese high school players can be a little bit overpowered. However, it is actually not at the level of UNREAL actions like PRINCE OF TENNIS. Many of the actions in the series are actually seen in many NFL games, though not usually. The timing where the new skills come up in the game definitely make you scream like any sports fan. My enjoyment with this manga makes me re-read it at least 5 times.

Comedy - 9/10 - If you feel OPM funny, then the comedy in this series is around that level.

SPOILERS ALERT - My disappointment is that Hiruma Yoichi is not annouced MVP. However, the game vs. American showed us his worth. And rumors said that Hiruma Yoichi is actually the MVP of that game and given the opportunity to play football in US, but he gives it to Sena in the end.

first time i heard about it .. i thought it will be a bored comic ,, because it about american football .. i think most people will say that .. but my uncle said eyeshield 21 so good and i can be love to read because he known i like comedy comics .. and his comment 100% right ,, i like to read eyeshieold 21.. and if you like comedy comic ,, you have to read eyeshield 21 !!

Perhaps artistically, the delicate details that range from proportion, angle shots and equally detailed hair might be reflective of the author's assistance with the death note manga, which has only helped to heighten the enjoyment of this series even further for me. A manga that can turn an indifferent artist into a rabid sports fanatic, is powerful. Eyeshield has my respect for winning me over, but moreso for delivering such a fascinating story that possessed me, as I literally pulled all-nighters just to read on to the next chapter. Is my review biased? Any lover of a particular series would attempt at advertising what bringsthem so much joy, for it to be shared amongst others. Hiruma, Sena, Mamori, Shin and the other characters have so much of the author's personality ingrained into them, they're alive. As with the progression of time, people change-these characters mature in unpredictable ways, and in that sense, this fast-paced manga is thoroughly exciting. Repetition is hard to avoid as this is a sports manga, but with some patience, I doubt anyone can ignore this series if they recognize high quality manga.

The anime version lacks all the depth delivered here, but the animation quality is superior in the sense the motions are fluid and captivating to look at, as long as speed lines aren't in the way. I do prefer the manga, of course.

Taken from my recommendation post (with accompanying picture snaps) on http://sekijitsu.com/2010/03/09/recommendation-eyeshield-21/ The Hard Sell: If you are automatically turned-off by the fact that this is a sports manga, you are missing out on something much, much more. I know plenty of people who won’t even give this manga a chance because of the premise. Hopefully I am able to convince some of you that sports is just the outer layer of this series, since it is actually much deeper than that. If not, I don’t think it would have stood a chance in the highly-competitive world of JUMP, where rankings are king and new series getdropped so often that it’s saddening. For a manga which focuses on the relatively-unpopular American Football (at least outside America), for it to stay serialized for 300+ chapters is astounding, and has actually helped to boost the sport in Japan.

You don’t even need to be a fan of the sport. When I first picked this up, I was actually just starting to get into American Football, as I was interested in the sport after watching “Longest Yard”. This manga helped me understand it more, as it builds up on the rules slowly but surely, acting as a helping hand for newbies to the sport. You don’t even need to understand it to love it, as I know some others who read it out of pure love for it’s characters and comedy. For those who want to know more about the sport, I can’t recommend an easier and entertaining way than to read this, as I’ve pointed plenty of people to ES21 when they ask me of the sport.

The Characters: The thing that you can pick up on right from the first chapter is the easy-going attitude of the series. It’s not serious (although there are plenty of those moments later on), as it is quite a light-hearted take on the sports-genre. It is definitely no Slam Dunk (arguably the greatest sport manga ever) but what it lacks in seriousness it more than makes up for in humor and character (although SD has plenty of those as well). The characters all have their quirks and the mangakas do not hesitate on blowing them up. Take the main character for example, Sena Kobayakawa. An unassumingly weak character, he is seen as the victim of bullies early in the story. He even needs to rely on his female childhood friend, Mamori Anezaki, for protection and help. The only thing he has going for him is his inhumane speed, which he ends up using to run errands for others rather than to fend bullies off. He was also forced to join the Football team, but learned to grow as a person through the hardships of teamwork and battle. A cliched rise really but the way at which he climbed up to the top is the stuff of legends, as I’m sure plenty of readers will agree on.

Then there is the fan favorite Hiruma. He is the unique one of the bunch, as he is mainly viewed as the cunning and devilishly wicked leader of the team. What he lacks in physical prowess he more than makes up for in cunning plays, laser vision and genius tactical knowledge. He may seem like a horrible person on the outside but later on we learn that he is a great leader, someone who is willing to sacrifice everything for the cause of the team, as well as his comrades. He doesn’t show this freely but the team knows this and by using his devilish and shocking facade, he is able to build the team up from scratch and into a formidable squad. Also, his antics and way of doing things are hugely entertaining, as I’m sure you’ll find out in the images I posted along with this entry.

These two are just some of the colorful characters that you will learn to love through your reading. If you think these guys are awesome, wait till you see the rivals they face. All of them exude originality and confidence, and the designs never fail to amaze as everyone looks amazing and non-generic. If you like Bishies or even hot cheerleaders, look no further as there are no shortages of either of these in Eyeshield 21. For the ladies out there who need a little push, here are some of the bishies up for show (don’t worry guys, there’s some for us here too).

The Humor: The humor is what I’d like to describe as slapstick, since it is pretty crazy the lengths that the characters go through to give us our laughs. Since the main team the Devilbats are essentially a bunch of misfits that band together after blackmails and threats, you can expect that their teamwork will be shoddy at best in the beginning. This itself leads to some very funny moments, since there are clearly factions within the team that don’t really like each other. Couple this with the fact that Hiruma rules with an iron-first (or more accurately, weapons of mass destruction), you can expect a good laugh whenever the team doesn’t go through the plays that they should (since 95% of the team don’t even know the sport nor the rules when they first joined).

Most of the laughs come from our very own Devilbats but their rivals also get into the act at times. A key piece of rival team Oujou Knight, Ootawara is a stereotypical all brawn, no brain player, as he often finds himself butt-naked no matter what the situation. While this may seem childish, it just shows the range of the comedy available as every player is susceptible to a bout of craziness themselves. The comedic duo of Monta and Sena, the one-man show Hiruma, the huh-huh rivalry, the perverted helpers, the technologically-challenged genius and plenty more show just how crazy this ensemble really is, and I am sure that they will manage to tickle your funny bone, no matter how hard-headed or mature you claim to be.

The Art: Oh gawd, the art. This is what initially drew me in, since I am as crazy an art-whore as any. The Eyeshield artstyle is easily my favorite since it is the perfect blend of shouneny clean lines and intricate attention to detail. Whoever thinks that drawing about American Football is easy has to be delusional, since it is waaay harder to illustrate than say soccer or basketball. Since there are 22 players on the field, the amount of players drawn as well as details such as stadiums and uniforms make it so hard to illustrate, especially since Eyeshield is a weekly serialization. With the amount of detail going into each character and their gear (the helmets themselves are notoriously hard to draw, and that doesn’t take into account the shading and tinting), it is mindboggling how the mangakas are able to keep this up week-in-week-out for over 300 chapters.

The style at which the character faces and physiques are drawn are also perfect to a T in my book, since there are no characters that look remotely alike. The character and uniform design is just unique and refreshing, and they do not even resemble characters from any other mangas. The originality alone makes it easy to stand out from the crowd, and with the amount of characters there are in this manga (easily ranging in the 50+), I’m at a lost for words at how creative you must be to think them up. Another good thing is that the manga develops it’s own style very early in the series, since you can see the improvements in every chapter. While the first chapter isn’t much to write home about, come chapter 20 or so there is a markedly noticeable difference.

Because of the art, Eyeshield also gets a lot of colour pages since it is very popular. This is where the mangaka shines since he is able to use copics to illustrate things such as water and reflections beautifully. While the colour selection is not as awesome as say Amatsuki, the depth of each colour spread itself is enough to make up for this fact, since nearly every colour spread has like 10-20 characters coloured in detail. My favourite of the spreads are the ones where the lines are taken off, giving the pictures a more realistic effect. If your jaw doesn’t drop from seeing the colour images in this entry, then you’re just blind. No two ways about it.

The Epic Battles: It wouldn’t be shounen without the epic battles right? Since this is a sport manga, it definitely has it’s fair share of awesome fights. Since the Devilbats are perennial underdogs, they are always underestimated by their opponents. This may be due to the fact that the Devilbats were only formed not long before the manga started by Hiruma and his best friends Kurita and Musashi. Since the three were the only full members of the team, they needed all the help they can get, as they blackmailed and (forcefully) persuaded members from the school’s other sport teams to help them out to gain enough numbers for a proper team. This lead to some major losses and it wasn’t until their second year of high school did they stumble upon their gem, Sena. With Sena acting as the foil and team ace, they slowly but surely gained respectable and capable members to help fill the team numbers. With the growing potential of newcomers, the team improved immensely as they gained experience, with Hiruma cunningly picking the right opponents to help them fight to their limits.

Because of their rapid rise, as well as Hiruma’s cocky persona, the team gained their fair share of rivals, such as Shin of the Oujou Knights and Agon from the invincible Shinryuuji Nagas. These are just two of the best and the developing rivalry between their teams throughout the manga is very entertaining, as they go through a lot together. Sena and Shin are the ultimate rivals as they are forever improving themselves in order to catch up to the other, leading up to an insanely emotional final battle. I’m not gonna spoil too much about their journeys here but believe me when I say that the character development and the way that backstories and rivalries are fleshed out make the manga a very well-told story. If you think that this is gonna be very shallow than you’re sadly mistaken, since I actually think that there is more depth in character here than Slam Dunk. Hopefully the panels I’ve chosen for this section is enough to make you tempted, since they are just a sample of what you can expect.

CONCLUSION: Hopefully what you’ve read so far has been enough of a push for you to give this great series a chance. I personally guarantee that you will like it and even if you don’t, I’m sure the art still made it a worthwhile experience. Since the manga is really light-hearted and not too intense, it is very easy to get into so don’t feel too afraid that it is based on a sport that you don’t know anything about. If you do give it a read and end up loving it, I’d love to hear your comments and we can hopefully discuss about the stuff that we loved. Promoting Eyeshield was one of the main reasons why I started blogging in the first place so it has a very special place in my heart (I’ve read it 11 times now so you know that I’m crazy for it). I can only wish for it to be the same for others.

If you liked the review, you can find more of my work on my blog www.sekijitsu.com

Well First off I'm not an amazing at this reviewing manga or anime thing yet so... I personally love Eyeshield 21. The story of Sena Kobayakawa wanting to be the best football player in Japan was ultimately interesting. The determination that he and the other players showed gave goose bumps and gave me shivers. The Art by Yusuke Murata was amazing. Only that quality could be expect from my favourite manga artist. He knows what he's doing. You could feel the emotion pouring off of the page You felt what the characters feel and more. It was so well done. The poses the characterand everything was beast. You could tell a character was a beast by just how they looked. The way he depicted presence of a person was awesomely done. The character were fun and epic. You just couldn't help but respect everyone if them. They wor so hard to get to where they are. I felt for the characters. I love that when you feel for a character in a manga. My enjoyment for this manga was over 9000. Out of every manga I have ever read I enjoyed Eyeshield 21 the most. I don't know why that s but that is what it is. I am so glad I came across Eyeshield 21 and I hope anyone who has not read the manga yet and is reading this review, that you read it right now. Enjoy.

*This review mentions the anime as well Eyeshield 21 initially had me curious because of its premise; outside of the US and Canada, works of fiction that feature American football are next to non-existent, if not straight up unheard of. A lot of the people who liked the show/manga, much to my surprise, were also people who weren’t even remotely interested in sports anime and often mentioned just how utterly fun the whole ordeal was. Fast forward a few years and the show faded from mainstream anime attention, having a cult following of loyal fans but otherwise largely forgotten. While randomly scrolling, I ended up marathoning 14episodes, finding the show immensely entertaining but due to real-life happenings, ended up putting it on hold.

Eventually, I marathoned the anime, read the manga (from the beginning, no less) in the space of 5 days.

If there’s one sentence to sum up Eyeshield 21, it’s that it’s earnest, loveable and endearing; the manga never pretends it’s something it’s not, and not once while watching or reading was I ever disinterested or bored. It’s charming and incredibly fun to read, and everything meshes together to create a near-perfect experience with something for just about everyone.

The characters are varied, well-developed and likeable, with the manga humanizing all the opponents the main characters face and focusing on their struggles as well as the heroes. The manga’s incredibly funny and touching, and there’s no sense of mood whiplash.

This is also thanks to the incredible artwork, which does an amazing job in showing off attractive and interesting designs to all the various characters, making them easy to recognize and appealing to look at at the same time. Matches are intense and captivating, and there’s no sense that the manga is ever dragging its feet.

The one flaw the manga has (which carries over to the anime) is the presence of some…questionable, racist stereotypes. While exaggeration is something this manga does incredibly well and falls into narm charm, there are moments where it also falls into unfortunate racist stereotypes, especially a particular dynamic early on between a black player and a white coach. While the manga by no stretch of the imagination glorifies this, this can be an issue for some people.

This manga/anime is fun, energetic, engaging and above all something that just about anyone can enjoy. I cannot recommend this highly enough.

I'm not normally big on writing reviews for things that seem to already have a lot of fans, but this is an exception. THIS is Eyeshield 21. Where to begin? I guess I should really start by saying this: Before this manga, I couldn't care less about ANY sport let alone American Football. Sure, I knew the rules and had seen a few games, but I never thought it possible that the game could feel like more then just big headed idiots crashing into each other. I was dead wrong. Story? Enter Sena, high school freshman who spent his life running away. He never expected to bescouted by Deimons American football club. He REALLY never expected to enjoy it! Under the guise of Eyeshield 21, the story follows not only Sena's struggle to make the lie of his title a reality, but the fight to make the dreams of three friends come to fruition. Along the way, Sena, QB Hiruma, and LB Kurita are joined by a wacky cast of characters, each one adding to the team in numbers, rivals, or skill. Deimons goal? The Christmas Bowl! But just how far can they climb? In short, maybe the story had a basis of the age old under dogs fighting for the top, but they put such a spin on it, you can't help but be drawn in!

The characters in Eyeshield 21 are unforgettable. I know I personally struggle to remember characters names (especially when they are all in Japanese and not particularly short). The fact that I can remember the name of every major character in that comic is amazing (I'd like to point out that there are at least a good 20 key characters or more in the story (11 on Deimon alone)). Thats how memorable every personality was! From the violent gun collector Hiruma, to the passive and honest Kid, to the mighty lineman Gaoru, to the smooth talking Kicker Kotaru. Just a few examples of the colorful personality of the Eyeshield cast. Even the people like Mamori are hard to forget.

Art. One of the best things to me was that, even with characters that looked similar (like Kakei and Takuto) you could still understand which one was which with out reading the speech bubble. It takes a lot of talent to be able to draw the action of a sport on the still pages of a manga. But the artist greatly exceeded my expectations there. Every move from Shin's Trident Tackle to Riku's Rodeo Drive, Even Sena's Devil Bat Ghost, was drawn so well, it was like you could see the move before your eyes. Such vivid illustration really helped the story come to life. After all, the characters and story can be perfect, but it's useless if you can't depict it.

All and all, this has got to be my favorite manga. With me, taking out everything for the top spot isn't easy, but Eyeshield deserves it. I was sad to see it end, but completing it was a journey! I defiantly recommend this to anyone and everyone. If you're into football, don't pass it up, and if you aren't, read it anyway. You never know how much something can surprise you.

Do you like American football? Well, inform you, this review have some spoilers. And includes bad English. So, be ready. SPOILER ALERT! This review is written by some idiot (Ahahaha) and don’t have any informational importance. So, Eyeshield 21…I have many different feeling, so to put them in one review is quite a ordeal, but I'll try, nevertheless. Story(FUNNURABA/FUNNURABA): This is story about completely ordinary shrimp, who is trying his best to become someone in his life. One day he enrolled in very special school, where he got involved in some club activity. At beginning, he was thinking that this will be a easy manager-like job, but he wasseverely wrong. Because, this shrimp is have unique leg power. And starting by this, he is left his dream to become a manager, and became a runner. With epic title – Eyeshield 21, which means a best runner from Notre-Dame University. Story is hot blooded sport shounen about dreams of everyone. Characters is need to score, or catch, or stop opponent, even if they die (Yeah, it’s that serious). Some characters speaks on stands with speed of 4.1. yard in second. Really, they can discuss someone's biography while ball is flying, and after they're done, ball is still flying.

Art(MUKYA/MUKYA): Art is great. Dynamic scenes, or daily life scenes or unrealistic scenes, it’s done on very high level. Well, it is Murata after all. That is really great – he make almost every characters looks different, so it is easy to recognize them. Yeah, some characters is look unrealistic as hell, but it is a decent price for individuality.

Characters: fucking: shrimp, fatty, manager, monkey, idiot, ha brothers, baldy and many of others. Characters are various, and everyone can find a favorite for himself.

BEHOLD THE SPOILERS

Overall: Eyeshield 21 is have more from shounen, than sports. It’s not bad, but if you prepared for a serious sport anime, I think you should pass on the Eyeshield 21. But even without matches, Eyeshield 21 have many other things, which can be interesting. Light comedy, some drama moments and overall slice of life events – for me to read these moments sometimes is more interesting, than actual matches. And I think, that Death March is one of most interesting training arc. It have some romance – big adventure to improve himself, serious preparations to fight on the tournament. Maybe, after this arc, I set plank too high, expecting the same quality from matches. It’s not like matches are bad, just overexaggerating and sometimes repeated patterns. And after final match of Winter Cup is come to end – there is a great scene, where Sena is thinking about old TV, where everyone is wrote their dreams. Really, maybe most powerful moment for me.

So, with this, I ended my small review of this really interesting manga. Eyeshield 21 is have his up and down, but overall it is very memorable story. And my final score will be…Uguya!

«-To all little punks, who is reading this. After you read this shitty review until the end, you automatically join to a Deimon High school club of American Football!!!Kekekeke!!!!!!!!»

Final score-WE WILL KILL THEM!!!YAAAAA-HAAAA!!!!!!

eyeshield 21 is the one of the best manga that can caught me off guard. the story is really unpredictable in a good way and the tension, emotion and joy is what makes this manga distinguishable from the other. the story, which is "generic" if you read a lot of sport manga, still delivers some good and quality plot. character and plot development excels any sport manga (haikyuu etc). in eyeshield 21, we were given a good amount of explanation about the character so we can relate to them, even the ha ha brothers, the author really do a great job in that department. hiruma,which is the center and the most interesting character in my opinion, is really well told. we aren't getting the overpower and really genius, unbeatable character, instead, we know that hiruma, the evil and genius person, isn't invicible and untouchable at all. he has a weak side, and thats why we can relate to them.

the art is one step forward from it's time and well drawn. i even get the goosebumps because of the art. and i really enjoy the heck of it. i even get emotional and feel like i'm one of the spectator in the stadium. i really grateful to read this manga. astonishing. 10 out of 10.

A few points I few should be pointed out about this manga that makes it outstanding. 1) Hilarious and lovable cast of unique characters. 2) Extremely exciting and made me want to try and play football myself sometime. 3) When the series does end, it dosen't have one of those cliche happily ever after ending. The ending basically says, life goes on.