Sunday 4 March 2012

EYESHIELD 21


The plot of Eyeshield 21 revolves around a weak and non-assertive boy named Sena Kobayakawa 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 to prevent other teams in the school from recruit him for his speed, 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

HIRUMA YOUICHI
Yoichi Hiruma, usually referred to as Hiruma, is a protagonist and major driving force of the plot of Eyeshield 21. At the beginning of the series, he witnesses Sena Kobayakawa‘s running abilities and forces the boy to join the team as the ace running back, and hides his identity during games by having him use the codename “Eyeshield 21″. He captains and plays quarterback for the series’ protagonist team, the Deimon Devil Bats, but also serves the duties of a coach, as the team lacks one. He is responsible for arranging all of the Devil Bats’ matches between the Spring and Fall Tournaments, and also devises the majority of the team’s practice sessions. His major goal throughout the series is to form a complete team and win the Christmas Bowl with his first two teammates, Ryokan Kurita and Gen “Musashi” Takekura.
Hiruma has a deliberately demonic appearance that is even further accentuated by his daredevil attitude at both in and out of the football field, and is a subversion of the standard sports hero character archetype. In fact, his last name is spelled with a kanji meaning “leech demon,” and his first name is spelled with a kanji meaning “bewitching one.” His name can ultimately be read as “demon in broad daylight.” He has dyed, spiky blond hair, fanged teeth, and pointed ears with multiple piercings. For various reasons, Hiruma is an intimidating person. He possesses a vast array of firearms, including but not limited to automatic rifles, flamethrowers, and rocket launchers. He frequently fires his guns into the air to intimidate others or simply when he is excited. He also tends to shoot at his teammates to make them practice harder, but it is implied that he does not use live ammo in these circumstances (Mamori once deflected a shot from Hiruma using nothing more than a clipboard). Despite his status as a protagonist, Hiruma is often described as “evil” by the other characters, including his comrades, and he has a reputation as a terrifying person throughout Deimon High School. This is not undeserved, as Hiruma has, through blackmail on virtually every person in the Tokyo area, acquired tremendous resources, including nearly complete control over Deimon High. He also seems to enjoy having his prized running back, Sena, to gain a fearsome reputation as Eyeshield 21 in the football field, as well as to some extent, outside of it. To this end, Hiruma often resorts to methods, that are hardly vied as legal (illegal hacking, disguising himself in the Eyeshield 21 attire, etc.). In spite of this reputation, Hiruma’s influence and behavior are frequently portrayed humorously, due to the fact that his actions tend to be over-the-top and presented lightly

MUSASHI
Gen “Musashi” Takekura
Gen “Musashi” Takekura a.k.a The 60-yard Magnum (武蔵　厳 / ムサシ, Takekura Gen / Musashi?)
  • Position: Kicker/Linebacker/Punter
The place kicker for the Devil Bats and one of the original three members of the team, along with Hiruma and Kurita. He is often mistaken for an older person, since he initially has a bit of stubble and has a buzz-cut. When he finally joins the team, he grows out his hair and shaves. He leaves the team during the spring season of his freshman year, because his father had become seriously ill. As a result, he was forced to drop out of school and take over as the construction foreman of Deimon High. Though he desperately wanted to get back into playing, he refused to rejoin the Devil Bats. However, after meeting with Sena and Monta and seeing how determined they are to get him back on the team, he agrees, but only if they become a strong team. In the manga, he makes his comeback during the game against Seibu, when his father hit him for abandoning his team. In the anime, he does not rejoin the team until the game with the Bando Spiders. He has a one-sided rivalry with the kicker of the Spiders, Kōtarō Sasaki, who according to Hiruma, has NEVER missed.
Musashi has an incredibly strong right leg which helps the Devil Bats on kickoffs, often pinning their opponents deep or forcing them to down the ball deep in their own territory, or in their end zone for a touchback. The title of the 60-yard Magnum was actually a lie fabricated by Hiruma, in order to make Musashi seem invincible, and Musashi keeps telling people that it is a lie. However, the kicker of the Bando Spiders STILL wants to prove that he’s better than the Deimon player. During the game against the Nagas, he is instrumental in the Devil Bats’ onside kick at the start of the second half, and even pounds some sense into Hiruma with his fist, (though it was all an act). He also has been the only player on Deimon to score during the climactic game against Ojo, making two field goals that kept Deimon within range of the White Knights with a 14-6 score at halftime.
Following the Bando game, there is an omake strip in which Hiruma and Kurita take Musashi to a barber as ‘punishment’ for not coming back until that game – if he had kicked against the Wild Gunmen, Deimon may have won. They give him various comedic hairstyles (which lead to Hiruma in particular nearly killing himself laughing) before deciding on shaving the left and right sides of his head, giving him a mohawk hairstyle. The omake was shown in the anime’s special episode, but Musashi’s hairstyle still remains as it was during the Bando Spider game. It might have been a mistake on the animator’s part, but the reason is still unknown.
The kanji in Musashi’s last name, Takekura, can also be read as Musashi, thus his nickname. The name is derived from Miyamoto Musashi, a famous samurai, who was famous for his skills with two swords, which relates to the fact that Musashi must put up two kicks for every successful possession (extra point kick or field goal and the kick off). Gen’s rivalry with the Bando Spiders kicker Kōtarō Sasaki is also a play on Miyamoto’s rivalry with the legendary swordsman Sasaki Kojiro.
In the manga, Musashi has a habit of picking his ear whenever he’s not serious (or as a comedy gag). He also has a knack for making insensitive statements (Claiming that the Devil Bats are a weak team when Monta and Sena ask him to rejoin, and also saying that the Ha- Ha brother’s are weak compared to him who worked for a year as construction worker, claiming that he is the one more fitted to be quarterback) to cover his true, much more noble, motive (he can’t rejoin the Devil Bats since his father’s company is in danger and with his father’s illness, he’s the one who expected to work, and he doesn’t want to see the first year get injured by Gaō).
In chapter 297, it was revealed that, even though Musashi’s kicks were considered legendary with great power, he was holding back the entire time. Hiruma tells Musashi to go all out, and he kicks it almost all the way to the goal line. During a kickoff, if the ball crosses the goal line, then the opposing team gains twenty yards. Quite luckily, before it crosses over, it hits a pile of snow and slows down. This resulted in a safety.
With the final play of the game and the Devil Bats down by 2 points, Sena notices that the distance to the goal is 60 yards. Now with the entire team focusing on stopping Yamato, Musashi is given the chance to live up to the nickname, ’60 yards Magnum’ by attempting the longest field goal of his life. He tells the other players to hold back Yamato for 3 seconds, in which he promises to kick the winning field goal. In the end, he manages to achieve the legendary 60-yard field goal, just barely clearing horizontal bar of the goalposts.
Due to his strong leg winning the game for Deimon, he was presumably recruited onto the team as the kicker for kickoffs and long field goals, while his rival Kotaro will handle shorter Field Goals.
TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES
  • Onside Kick - Basically, Musashi kicks the ball at an angle and a shorter distance than usual in order for his teammates to try to regain possession of the ball.
  • High-Altitude Kickoff - Due to his kicking ability, Musashi is able to launch the ball into the air to an unbelievable altitude. This causes the opposing team to fall back deep into their own territory. The longer the ball stays in the air, the more time the Devil Bats have to surround the enemy and pin them down near their own goal line.
  • Hyper High-Altitude Kickoff - The true strength of Musashi’s kick is revealed in chapter 297, when he kicked the biggest kick-off in the entire season, with the ball landing near the goal line. The ball stopped near the goal line, luckily, because of the snow. This was half-predicted by Hiruma; because of the high altitude, the ball most likely will landed in the pointy ends; and if it lands on the snow, it will (hopefully) stick in the soft snow.
  • 60 Yard Magnum – The legendary 60 yard field goal only achieved on the final play at the Christmas Bowl. The kick only just has the legs to dink off the crossbar twice, going through on the second bounce, gaining the 3 points that awarded the Devil Bats the Championship. See Chapter 304.

  • Hayato Akaba (赤羽 隼人, Akaba Hayato?) is the tight end for the Spiders and the team’s captain. He is obsessed with music and often plays his electric guitar. He uses musical metaphors to state his opinions, and he has the belief that everyone has a similar obsession for music. He joins the Alexanders, but after a confrontation with the team’s kicker, he decides to return to Bando. Though he cannot play for six months due to the school’s policy, he helps the team by devising their strategy and teaching them “Spider Poison, which he created through many hours of research. He introduces himself as “the real Eyeshield 21″, and uses a technique called “Run Force” to force blockers into certain positions to set up a tackle. He joins the college football club Saikyodai Wizards after high school. Voiced by: Daisuke Hirakawa

  • Shun Kakei (筧駿, Kakei Shun?) is the de facto captain of the team due to Osamu’s shyness. He wishes to meet the “real” Eyeshield 21, having witnessed his ability during middle school in the United States. Though Eyeshield promised to play Shun again, he soon disappears, which causes Shun to travel to back to Japan in order to find him. He despises Sena for using the name and wishes to prove that he is inferior. He eventually learns that Yamato is the player he is looking for and helps train Jumonji to make sure he is defeated. Kakei is physically distinguished by his great height and long powerful arms, which allows him to gain leverage on an opponent. Voiced by: Kosuke Takeuchi

Haruto Sakuraba
(桜庭　春人 Sakuraba Haruto) A typical, good-looking pop idol who works in an advertising company called Jari Productions. When he was young, he used to watch sports all the time and dreamed of becoming a professional athlete. In high school, he managed to enter the team as a Wide Receiver after drawing much attention from the seniors due to his height; however, the coach, Shoji, was more interested in Shin. Shin soon surpassed Sakuraba, becoming the ace of the team. Sakuraba felt a little envious of Shin’s success and achievements, and was disappointed with himself for not being able to soar to greater heights. He eventually became less interested in training and sports in general. One day, Miracle Ito of Jari Productions noticed him and decided that he would be a good model. Feeling wanted and pleased to be in the spotlight for once, Sakaruba agreed to work for him. He is constantly misunderstood. Because of his popularity, people mistake him for the ace of the Ojo team, and disregard the true ace, Shin.
Sakuraba feels pressured to do well and to live up to assumptions people made about him. Then,in an accident in the Ojo vs. Deimon game changes his will. Sena, as Eyeshield 21, accidentally tackled Sakuraba while running, injuring him when he ran onto the field to grab a card that Miracle Ito told him to wear as advertisement. In the hospital, after meeting Sena, Monta and his fan Torakichi, who admires Sakuraba for his catch in the game against Deimon the year before, he finally decides to stop being pessimistic and to succeed just as Shin has done. Just before the Fall tournament started, he quits working with Jari Productions and focus on American football with the help of his friends after he heard Takami complimenting him and how he had waited for a friend like Sakuraba, someone like him who understood his predicaments. Before the opening ceremony, he cut his hair in a crew-cut style and started growing a goatee to show his renewed vigor in pursuing success in American football, much to the dismay of Miracle Ito.
His skills as a wide receiver rapidly improves and Sakuraba is considered a real ace. He was also complimented by Shoji as the player with “the strongest heart” in Ojo, and by Unsui as one of the big four in the wide-receiver battle (along with Ikkyū, Monta, and Tetsuma).
He was recruited as a receiver for the Japanese Representative team in the World Youth Competition. After the World Cup, he rejoins Shin & Otawara in Ojo Silver Knights.
  • 40-yard-dash: 5.0 seconds, 4.92 seconds in Volume 11, 4.86 seconds in Volume 25
  • Bench-press: 50 kg, 70 kg in Volume 11
  • Position: Wide Receiver
  • Height: 186 cm(6’2″)
  • Jersey Number: 18
  • 2nd Year student (Grade 11)
  • The teams once nearly made a total loss to Sankaku Punks by 6-7, but thanks to Sakuraba’s improved receiving skills, they dominated the rematch and won 82-0 in the fall tournament.
TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES
  • Everest Pass — Sakuraba’s height plays to his advantage as a receiver, especially since Ojo’s quarterback Ichiro Takami is also tall. He launches the ball at a high angle over the field, in which Sakaurba leaps up to catch it. The pass is at such a great height that the opposing team can do little about it, even if they know where it will land. It’s simply too high to intercept. However, this technique has a weakness since Sakuruba still relies on SEEING the incoming ball in order to catch it. Blocking his field of vision will stop him from properly receiving the pass. This weakness is evident as he is now unable to intercept passes meant for Monta, since the Deimon receiver can catch balls from behind his head, without even looking. Sakuraba cannot keep his eyes on the ball with Monta charging straight at him without turning around. His own attempt to copy the Devil Backfire is thwarted as Monta displayed his ability to catch a football with one hand.
  • Twin Tower Arrow — An advanced form of the Everest Pass, this technique combines the laser like passing strength of Hiruma or Clifford with the height of Takami and Sakuraba. Used during the world cup to defeat Tatanka’s Human Dome, as the pass is so high, even he can’t block it.
  • Sagittarius: A combination of Sakuraba’s Everest Pass and Shin’s Trident Tackle, the duo take a formation where Shin blocks any opponents approaching them (such as Sena and Monta) while Sakuraba reaches for Takami’s pass. Unlike the Everest pass, Takami throws a short pass to prevent Monta from using the Devil Backfire to intercept. This strategy has its own weakness by dividing Shin’s attention away from Sakaruba, causing Takami to change strategies, and making the quarterback vulnerable to sacks.

Seijuro Shin
Main article: Seijuro Shin
(進 清十郎 Shin Seijūrō) Shin is the ace linebacker and 2nd year student of the Ojo White Knights American football team. Known for his obsessive training habits and defensive power, he and Sena initially face off early in the Spring Tournament, where Sena gets a understands real American football and Shin discovers the true power of the Speed of Light Pace. After making a promise that they would meet again, he obsessively trains for their eventual rematch, which would not happen until the semi-finals of the Kantō tournament.
Later on it was revealed that Shin is the reason why Hiruma recruited Sena on the team. Hiruma and the newly founded Deimon Devil Bats challenged Ojo White Knights to a practice game where Deimon lost with a score of 99-0. Dumbfounded by the outcome, Hiruma recognized Shin as being invincible but Shin responded by telling Hiruma that his weakness is a player that can run so fast that his Spear Tackle would be useless.
Shin and Sena have played against each other two times. The first was in Sena’s second game ever played. Sena was only able to get past Shin once after many tries in that game. Their second game was in the semifinals leading to the Christmas Bowl. Deimon won the game and advanced to play in the Christmas Bowl. Before the Christmas Bowl, Shin was called by Hiruma to become a special trainer for Sena. After the World Cup, Shin joins Ojo Silver Knights in his college years.
40-yard dash record: 4.2 seconds
Bench Press: 140 kg
Position: Linebacker, Running Back (in ballista)
Jersey Number: 40


Reiji Maruko
Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita
Reiji Maruko (円子令司, Maruko Reiji?), also known as “Marco”, is the quarterback and captain. He has a very suave attitude while things are progressing his way, but he is easily flustered when faced with a strong opponent. He goes by Marco because he thinks his real name sound like that of a girl’s name, and he wears an Italian suit. He is smitten with the manager of the team, Maruko Himuro (氷室 丸子, Himuro Maruko?), and he vows to show her “the morning sunshine after a victory” before she graduates. Marco makes it his absolute goal to beat the Alexanders, so he has no problems with having other players injured. This strains their relationship somewhat, though she still admires his optimism and ambition. Marco is an expert in following the movements of the ball, allowing him to completely ignore the other players and their feints, and stealing it with his spinning “Screw Bite.” He is also able to follow and react to the opposing quarterback with extreme efficiency.

Rikiya Gaou
Rikiya Gaou (峨王 力哉, Gaou Rikiya?) is a rookie to American football with an extremely large build and monstrous strength. He holds the Japanese bench press record with over two hundred kilograms and is capable of tearing metal guardrails, breaking regular mouthpieces with his teeth, causing him to use one made of a titanium alloy, and breaking normal people’s bones with his bare hands. He wishes to find someone who can match his power, which leads Marco to recruit him with the promise of facing the strongest individuals. Despite wanting a power match, Gaou respects all of the rules, though he will destroy property outside of games on a whim. He has little respect for those not willing to face him directly and tremendous respect for those who do even if they are crushed. He is not above asking for help if he requires it, such as learning Akira Chuubou’s Delta Dynamite move in order to win against Mr. Don. After his high school years, he joins the semi-pro football club Takekura Babels in the X-League.

Character list:

Deimon Devil Bats
Sena Kobayakawa -
Hiruma Yoichi -
Kurita Ryoukan
Anezaki Mamori -
Juumonji Kazuki -
Kuroki Kouji
Toganou Shouzou
Cerberos –
Doburoku Sakaki
Taro Raimon “Monta” -
Manabu Yukimitsu
Daikichi Komusubi
Natsuhiko Taki – おたく
Gen “Musashi” Takekura -
Suzuna Taki -
Deimon Substitutes
Yamaoka Kenta
Satake Youhei
Ishimaru Tetsuo
Futoshi Omosadake
Oujou White Knights
Shin Seijuro
Haruto Sakuraba
Ichiro Takami -
Makoto Otawara
Daigo Ikari -
Gunpei Shoji
Koharu Wakana
Taiyo Sphinx
Banba Mamoru
Harao Kiminari
Niinobu Kasamatsu
Ken Kamaguruma
Nasa Shuttles/Aliens
Leonard Apollo
Panther -
Jeremy Watt
Homer Fitzgerald
Gonzales (Big Brother)
Gonzales (Little Brother)
Amino Cyborgs
Atsushi Munakata
Suguru Aoyanagi
Naosumi Kadoguchi
Kyoshin Poseidon
Osamu Kobanzame
Shun Kakei
Kengo Mizumachi
Hiroshi Ohira
Hiroshi Onishi
Seibu Wild Gunmen
Shien Mushanokoji “The Kid”
Jo Tetsuma
Riku Kaitani
Tenichi Saba
Buffalo Ushijima
“Doc” Billy Horide
Hina Aiuchi -
Bando Spiders
Hayato Akaba
Kotaro Sasaki
Juri Sawai
Hakushu Dinosaurs
Reiji Maruko
Rikiya Gaou
Hiromi Kisaragi
Hanasaka Tengu
Teikoku Alexanders
Takeru Yamato
Karin Koizumi
Taka Honjo
Kureji Hera
Shinryuuji Nagas
Doujirou Tenma
Kongo Agon -
Kongo Unsui
Hosakawa Ikkyu
Yamabushi Gondayu
Sumito Sendoda
Others
Orio Tokashiki
Mikoto Sano
Hotei
Kirio Ibarada
Ganjo Iwashima
Heinrich Schultz
Kaoru Hatsujo
Kumabukuro
Masaru Honjo
Miracle Ito
Nakabou Akira
Oka -
Onihei Yamamoto
Rui Habashira
Sasuke Kanagushi
Torakichi Nanpa
Bud Walker
Clifford D. Louis
Kamiya Taiga –
Crispin Freeman
Daisuke Atsumi
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