YAAAAAAAHAAAA!!!! TOUCHDOWN!!! An Eyeshield 21 Review
by Josh Routt

If there can be a manga about basketball (Slamdunk), baseball (Mr. Fullswing), soccer (Hungry Heart: Wildstriker), and tennis (Prince of Tennis), why not one for American football?  Is it possible for a Japanese artist to take an American sport and make it more interesting than the actual game itself?

I SAY YES!

Eyeshield 21 is about Sena Kobayakawa, a small, meek boy that has spent his entire school life running errands for bullies.  His childhood friend, Mamori, urges him to try and make new friends on his first day of high school.  Little did Sena know that when the monstrous, chestnut-headed Kurita begs Sena to join the school's American football team (membership: two), Sena would setting himself up for one insane year. He figures that he won't have to play if he's the team manager, but when another incident causes Sena to dash through a crowd, team captain Hiruma discovers the secret of Sena's lightning-quick legs  Enter Eyeshield 21, the new Deimon High Devilbat’s running ace, who trained at Notre Dame (well, not really.), and is also little, shrimpy Sena under all that padding!  Are his ‘lightning legs’ really what the Devilbats need to get to the Christmas bowl?

AGAIN!  I SAY YES (And I haven’t even read the whole thing yet!)!!!

I was skeptical at first, but if you have appealing characters, an entertaining story, and quality artwork, you can make football AWESOME to read about.  And one of the common problems with manga about sports are their plot and structure, and many of the holes therein.  In many cases, its about a talented kid claiming he’ll be number one and challenge any person that’s lightyears ahead of him and he’ll beat them because hes full of VIGOR.  Not in Eyeshield, Sena’s running ability comes from years of running errands for bullies and wanting to not anger them, moving as fast as possible.  He also knows NOTHING about football, so they explain many things about the sport which can help people who also know nothing get acquainted with it.

But wait! Its not all about Sena! In order to get Sena involved in football, it takes the maniacal efforts of Hiruma, The demonic quarterback of the Devilbats.  Despite his sheer ruthlessness, it's hard not to laugh as Hiruma enthusiastically resorts to blackmail in recruiting students for the team. Kurita, a gentle giant off the field, but a unstoppable juggernaut on, is a much nicer guy.  The characters in Eyeshield 21 are all fairly easy to remember, even the characters you see for maybe one chapter.

Yusuke Murata (The artist) uses any number of artistic devices to capture the movement of the game, from Sena’s speed, to Kurita’s building fury, and Hiruma’s rocket-like passes: blurred outlines, exaggerated perspective, dense speedlines, and freeze-frame techniques. Murata's imagination isn't just limited to action, however. His character designs are equally imaginative, and there's no confusing the three main characters: Sena with his small frame and spiky hair, lanky Hiruma with his demon-like appearance, and Kurita, whose immense size is a hilarious contrast to his simple face. contrast to his simple face.

Eyeshield 21 is definitely worth the read.  Its an interesting and original concept, represented with sensational art and great writing and pacing.  The characters will grow on you as you grow with them as they fight their way to the Christmas Bowl in the Fall tournament.  I mean seriously, when the story’s main team’s rallying cry is “LETS KILL’EM!!!!!” What’s not to love?