Football Season!!!

Well I decided to do my first blog post today, and coincidentally it is the start of football season. So I thought it would be a good reason to talk about my favorite sports manga: Eyeshield 21.

FOOTBALL SEASON?!?!

So Eyeshield 21 is a sports manga written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata, the reason why this is my favorite sports manga is because the manga is based on american football which in my opinion is a pretty rare sight in the world of sports manga, which is overpopulated by the constant repeat of baseball stories that always end with a baseball team aiming for the Koshien (The Japanese nationwide high school baseball tournament). Although as time progresses we see that there are dozens of sports used for thousands of manga titles: baseball, basketball, soccer, track and field, kendo, swimming, tennis, rugby, and many other sports that seem to escape my mind at the moment. Now although an american football manga is still seen from time to time, I can not lie it is not the rarest sports manga I have encountered. The strangest and most unique I, myself have encountered is a manga about rhythm gymnastics, but back to american football and Eyeshield 21

Eyeshield 21 is a manga about the students of Deimon high school who hold the same dream of playing american football at the Christmas Bowl (the Japanese american football high school championship game). The manga starts with the introduction of the manga's protagonist the small and weak Sena Kobayakawa, the big and gentle Ryokan Kurita, and the cunning and demonic Yoichi Hiruma. Although a typical american football team will have around eleven players, the Deimon Devilbats only have three. The entire manga is put through different arcs which eventually lead to the Christmas Bowl. Throughout the story the Deimon Devilbats find teammates and rivals as each game is played. As you the main characters meet their friends and rivals there will be showdowns to look out for ,and even though I would talk more about the story itself and reveal all the spoilers I already know, but I feel that is for another time. 

The manga has lovable characters that grow throughout the entire story becoming better players and as you read the story you start to cheer for certain players as they fight through their hardships and work towards their goals as individuals. Inagaki did a great job combining the world of american football with the wackiness and comedic features of a manga. Players will have special moves and be able to do things that may not exactly be possible in real life, but at the same time Inagaki did do an extensive research on american football and brought all the rules and regulations that real american football has. 
If a person loves american football they should definitely try reading this manga, if a person loves comedy they should try reading this manga.
Eyeshield 21 has also been converted into an anime movie and an anime television series. I am not completely sure, but I am about ninety five percent sure that the manga series has been translated and licensed in the states, but it has been dubbed which would be the one downfall to buying it here in the states. However, if you can't read Japanese theres not much choice in the matter.


I will provide future posts that go more into depth of the story and reveal parts of the plot and characters, but for now I think I will end this post hoping that more people will check out Eyeshield 21 and quote my favorite character “We didn’t come to beat our enemy. We came to slaughter them!” “LET’S KICK THEIR ASSES!!! YA----HA!!!!”

The Deimon Devilbats

Sena, Kurita, and Hiruma