Eyeshield 21
Encyclopedia
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 (shown at Jump Festa
), an anime television series in 2005, several video games and a trading card game from Konami. The manga is serialized in Shueisha
's Weekly Shōnen Jump
. The manga is published in English by Viz Media
.
The anime version, produced by NAS
and animated by Studio Gallop
, premiered across Japan on TV Tokyo
from April 6, 2005, and ended March 19, 2008 with episode 145. The anime is sponsored by NFL Japan. The English dub aired on the free on-demand Toonami Jetstream as a joint effort with NFL Rush on December 17, 2007, but no more episodes will be dubbed, as the deal with NFL Rush fell through in 2008. It has subsequently been picked up for broadcast on Crunchyroll
in a subtitled format. It is also aired in Singapore
, Taiwan
, Hong Kong
, Indonesia
, Philippines
and South Korea
.
who enters the high school of his choice, Deimon Private Senior High School, where his childhood friend Mamori Anezaki attended school the year before. His only remarkable physical abilities are his running speed and intense agility, the result of a school life spent complying with the demands of bullies. It was revealed later that a friend, Riku, taught him how to run fast to help him against bullies. His abilities quickly catch the eye of the high school's American football team captain Yoichi Hiruma
, who forces Sena to join the Deimon Devil Bats as its running back
.
To protect his identity from other teams who want to recruit him, Sena is forced to publicly assume the role of team manager and enter the field wearing a helmet equipped with a green-tinted eyeshield
in order to hide his features under the pseudonym of "Eyeshield 21". The makeshift team initially takes part in the spring football tournament hoping to win with through the strength of their new "secret weapon." However, the extremely weak team is eliminated early on by the Ojo White Knights, a powerhouse football team that focuses on defense.
After Deimon's defeat, the spring tournament is revealed as secondary in importance to the fall tournament, where the teams compete for the chance to play in the "Christmas Bowl
", the high school football league championship. Hiruma, Kurita, and Sena regroup and slowly build a real team from other misfits and students looking to define themselves, such as Tarō Raimon
, a baseball player who can only catch, and the Ha-Ha Brothers
. Other characters slowly join the team, and the series follows the building and growth of the Deimon Devil Bats and its members as well as various rival teams as they all strive to achieve their goal of playing in the Christmas Bowl.
Following the Christmas Bowl, Japan begins to gather the best football players to form a team that will represent Japan at the American Football Youth World Championship, where an MVP will be rewarded an NFL contract and $3 million. Team Japan manages to make it to the final against Team America. The result is that a final touchdown by Sena at the buzzer ties the score, and both teams are declared winners, since no one expected anyone to win against America; however, the two teams are unsatisfied with this and tear straight back onto the field for their own improvised "overtime," causing chaos with officials. It is unclear which teams won the unofficial extra period but Panther of Team America won the MVP trophy aloft, winning the pro contract with the San Antonio Armadillos.
The series concludes with Sena becoming the captain of the Devil Bats when Hiruma and Kurita go off to college. In his final year of high school, Sena is invited to Notre Dame High School by Clifford, therefore fulfilling Hiruma's proclamation at the beginning of the series: the famous Eyeshield 21 of Notre Dame High has been born. All of the main characters are shown in the final chapter to be in college or playing amateur-league football while maintaining a job.
s." He added that this is "not very significant" and that aspects of the hometowns of the two creators are reflected in the setting.
under the Shonen Jump Advanced label.
website. The English subtitles and translation is produced by MX Media LLC On February 26, 2010, Section23 Films
had announced that Sentai Filmworks has received the license to the anime and will be released on subtitled-only DVD, May 18, 2010.
appears to have the rights to produce Eyeshield 21 games for Sony
video game systems. They have released for the PlayStation Portable
on March 2, 2006 and for the PlayStation 2
.
Nintendo
secured the rights to the Eyeshield 21 video game license for their systems in December 2004. They have released for the Nintendo DS
on February 2, 2006 and for the Game Boy Advance
on April 6, 2006. Another game was scheduled for release on the Nintendo GameCube
, but it was later canceled.
Nintendo published an Eyeshield 21 game for the Wii
, entitled . It was released in Japan on March 8, 2007.
Two non-football games have featured characters from the series, both on the Nintendo DS
: Jump Super Stars
and Jump Ultimate Stars
. Various Devil Bats as well as Shin and Sakuraba from the White Knights appear in support cameos.
considered the series as the Best Continuing Shōnen Manga of 2007, along with Bleach
, praising the "well-written characters, dynamic artwork, nail-biting cliffhangers" and "a winning mix of comedy, action and drama".
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
about American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
written by Riichiro Inagaki
Riichiro Inagaki
, born June 20, 1976 in Tokyo, Japan, is a Japanese gensaku-sha . He's best known for writing the manga Eyeshield 21, in collaboration with artist Yusuke Murata. Eyeshield 21 was completed in June 2009....
and illustrated by Yusuke Murata
Yusuke Murata
, is a Japanese manga artist. He's best known for illustrating the American football manga Eyeshield 21, in collaboration with writer Riichiro Inagaki. During the creation of this series, his art style developed dramatically. Eyeshield 21 was completed in June 2009.He was once the assistant and...
. It has been adapted into an anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
movie in 2004 (shown at Jump Festa
Jump Festa
is an annual party or exposition in Japan, all about anime and manga, sponsored by Shueisha, creators of the various Jump anthologies. New movies, manga, games, and merchandise are introduced during this event...
), an anime television series in 2005, several video games and a trading card game from Konami. The manga is serialized in Shueisha
Shueisha
is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...
's Weekly Shōnen Jump
Weekly Shonen Jump
is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.8 million copies...
. The manga is published in English by Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
.
The anime version, produced by NAS
Nihon Ad Systems
, NAS for short, is a Japanese anime production and character merchandising company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the advertising agency Asatsu-DK. The "Ad" in its title is an abbreviation for "Animation Development". Along with animation studios Sunrise, Toei Animation and TMS Entertainment, it is...
and animated by Studio Gallop
Gallop (studio)
, sometimes credited as Studio Gallop, is a Japanese animation studio.-Production:*Touch *Tekkamen wo oe! Dartanyan Monogatari Yori *Kiteretsu Daihyakka *Gaki Deka...
, premiered across Japan on TV Tokyo
TV Tokyo
is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...
from April 6, 2005, and ended March 19, 2008 with episode 145. The anime is sponsored by NFL Japan. The English dub aired on the free on-demand Toonami Jetstream as a joint effort with NFL Rush on December 17, 2007, but no more episodes will be dubbed, as the deal with NFL Rush fell through in 2008. It has subsequently been picked up for broadcast on Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is an American website and international online community focused on streaming East Asian media including anime, manga, drama, music, electronic entertainment, and auto racing content...
in a subtitled format. It is also aired in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
.
Plot
The plot of Eyeshield 21 revolves around a weak and non-assertive boy named Sena KobayakawaSena Kobayakawa
is the main protagonist in the manga and anime series Eyeshield 21. He is a dynamic character who, at the start of the series, willingly becomes a gopher for other people to avoid being bullied more...
who enters the high school of his choice, Deimon Private Senior High School, where his childhood friend Mamori Anezaki attended school the year before. His only remarkable physical abilities are his running speed and intense agility, the result of a school life spent complying with the demands of bullies. It was revealed later that a friend, Riku, taught him how to run fast to help him against bullies. His abilities quickly catch the eye of the high school's American football team captain Yoichi Hiruma
Yoichi Hiruma
is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Eyeshield 21. His Japanese voice actor is Atsushi Tamura .-Conception and development:...
, who forces Sena to join the Deimon Devil Bats as its running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
.
To protect his identity from other teams who want to recruit him, Sena is forced to publicly assume the role of team manager and enter the field wearing a helmet equipped with a green-tinted eyeshield
Eyeshield
An eyeshield is a piece of football equipment. It is a visor that attaches to the helmet of a player to protect the eyes. It leaves the mouth exposed and covers the eyes and nose. Only clear eyeshields are allowed in high school football. On the college level, a clear eyeshield may be used if the...
in order to hide his features under the pseudonym of "Eyeshield 21". The makeshift team initially takes part in the spring football tournament hoping to win with through the strength of their new "secret weapon." However, the extremely weak team is eliminated early on by the Ojo White Knights, a powerhouse football team that focuses on defense.
After Deimon's defeat, the spring tournament is revealed as secondary in importance to the fall tournament, where the teams compete for the chance to play in the "Christmas Bowl
Christmas Bowl
The is the annual Japanese high-school American football championship game. In a way similar to the Super Bowl, the top two teams from throughout Japan come together in Tokyo Stadium to play against each other for the championship. As with most American Football leagues, the league setup is split...
", the high school football league championship. Hiruma, Kurita, and Sena regroup and slowly build a real team from other misfits and students looking to define themselves, such as Tarō Raimon
Monta (Eyeshield 21)
, commonly known as is a fictional character in the manga and anime series Eyeshield 21. He is the wide receiver of the Deimon Devil Bats American football team.-Characteristic:...
, a baseball player who can only catch, and the Ha-Ha Brothers
The Ha-Ha Brothers
The Ha-Ha Brothers: , and , are fictional characters of Eyeshield 21. Though constantly re-affirming that they are not brothers, the Ha-Ha Brothers give that impression since they are constantly together. They are so called due to their schtick of saying "Ha?" in rapid succession with a crescendo...
. Other characters slowly join the team, and the series follows the building and growth of the Deimon Devil Bats and its members as well as various rival teams as they all strive to achieve their goal of playing in the Christmas Bowl.
Following the Christmas Bowl, Japan begins to gather the best football players to form a team that will represent Japan at the American Football Youth World Championship, where an MVP will be rewarded an NFL contract and $3 million. Team Japan manages to make it to the final against Team America. The result is that a final touchdown by Sena at the buzzer ties the score, and both teams are declared winners, since no one expected anyone to win against America; however, the two teams are unsatisfied with this and tear straight back onto the field for their own improvised "overtime," causing chaos with officials. It is unclear which teams won the unofficial extra period but Panther of Team America won the MVP trophy aloft, winning the pro contract with the San Antonio Armadillos.
The series concludes with Sena becoming the captain of the Devil Bats when Hiruma and Kurita go off to college. In his final year of high school, Sena is invited to Notre Dame High School by Clifford, therefore fulfilling Hiruma's proclamation at the beginning of the series: the famous Eyeshield 21 of Notre Dame High has been born. All of the main characters are shown in the final chapter to be in college or playing amateur-league football while maintaining a job.
Setting
Inagaki said that Eyeshield 21 is set in Tokyo, specifically, "but perhaps not in the center of the city—more in the suburbSuburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
s." He added that this is "not very significant" and that aspects of the hometowns of the two creators are reflected in the setting.
Manga
Eyeshield 21 has been collected into more than 35 tankōbon; spanning 333 chapters, or 'Downs', they were all numbered until the final episode, which was named 'Touch Down'. The series totals 37 volumes when fully collected into tankōbon form, the final volume having been published October 2009. The story within the manga continues past the end of the anime, which ended after the D-Bats' Kantou semi-final against Oujou. Eyeshield 21 has been published in the U.S. by Viz MediaVIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
under the Shonen Jump Advanced label.
Anime
Eyeshield 21 began airing in Japan on April 6, 2005, with its last episode broadcast on March 19, 2008. It played a total of 145 episodes with two OVAS. The English dub aired on the free on-demand Toonami Jetstream as a joint effort with NFL Rush on December 17, 2007, but was dropped before its completion. In December 2008, the video streaming service Crunchyroll announced that they would begin to stream Eyeshield 21 on their site on January 2, 2009 by offering the first eight episodes for free while providing a Higher quality ad-free version for paid members. As of November 2009, all 145 English subtitled episodes have been uploaded to CrunchyrollCrunchyroll
Crunchyroll is an American website and international online community focused on streaming East Asian media including anime, manga, drama, music, electronic entertainment, and auto racing content...
website. The English subtitles and translation is produced by MX Media LLC On February 26, 2010, Section23 Films
Section23 Films
Section23 Films is an American home video distribution company specializing in anime and Japanese films. The company is one of five successors to ADV Films, as well as the distributor of titles from Sentai Filmworks and Switchblade Films. ADV had announced that it had sold its assets to a group of...
had announced that Sentai Filmworks has received the license to the anime and will be released on subtitled-only DVD, May 18, 2010.
Games
KonamiKonami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
appears to have the rights to produce Eyeshield 21 games for Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
video game systems. They have released for the PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
on March 2, 2006 and for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
.
Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
secured the rights to the Eyeshield 21 video game license for their systems in December 2004. They have released for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
on February 2, 2006 and for the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
on April 6, 2006. Another game was scheduled for release on the Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, but it was later canceled.
Nintendo published an Eyeshield 21 game for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
, entitled . It was released in Japan on March 8, 2007.
Two non-football games have featured characters from the series, both on the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
: Jump Super Stars
Jump Super Stars
is a 2D fighting game for the Nintendo DS. It was developed by Ganbarion and published by Nintendo. The game was released on August 8, 2005 in Japan and accompanied the release of a red Nintendo DS...
and Jump Ultimate Stars
Jump Ultimate Stars
is a fighting video game developed by Ganbarion and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It is the sequel to Jump Super Stars, also released for the DS. The game was released in Japan on November 23, 2006...
. Various Devil Bats as well as Shin and Sakuraba from the White Knights appear in support cameos.
Reception
The twenty five volumes have collectively sold over 26 million copies in Japan by the time it was finished, and the number of children playing American football has tripled in the time it was finished years since it began. Deb Aoki from About.comAbout.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
considered the series as the Best Continuing Shōnen Manga of 2007, along with Bleach
Bleach (manga)
is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Noriaki "Tite" Kubo. Bleach follows the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki after he obtains the powers of a —a death personification similar to the Grim Reaper—from another Soul Reaper, Rukia Kuchiki...
, praising the "well-written characters, dynamic artwork, nail-biting cliffhangers" and "a winning mix of comedy, action and drama".