Well, at first, it was some indecison, and then some laziness, and then exams, then I was busy again. But I've decided to dedicate some time to making another post, and hopefully start some regular posts again.
Well, when I mean busy, I really mean so. My friend and I (for now, I shall refer to him as CJ), have been busy on a new project. It is still in the developmental stage, but the first product should be coming out in a while. It was a lot more work than I thought it would be, and I can imagine how much work he has to do as well :P Hopefully we can get it off the ground and launched successfully. Also, hopefully, I can post some more fun fiction and maybe poems/song parodies on the blog soon. But I digress; today's forecast is American Football. Yes, it is Eyeshield 21.
Title: Eyeshield 21
Author: Riichiro Inagaki
Artist: Yusuke Murata
Magazine: Weekly Shonen Jump
Chapters: 333
Status: Finished
Synopsis: Kobayakawa Sena is a short and timid boy who just got into Deimon High School. Unimpressive and not very smart, he is constantly bullied and forced to run errands. Later, he joins the American Football club as a secretary. On the same day, one of the football club players, Hiruma Yoichi, spots him running away from a bunch of bullies, and recognises his talent and speed, and "recruits" him as a player. To prevent other high schools from finding him and recruiting him, he is disguised as the legendary player from America, Eyeshield 21. Playing under disguise and that moniker, Sena soon delves into the world of American Football, as the team, Deimon Devil Bats, fights for the right to play in the Christmas Bowl, the most prestigious high school American Football match.
Review: Hey, a sports manga. When will I get to an actual fighting one? Who the hell knows. Right now, I'm only going to review finished series, so there. For those of you who didn't know, Eyeshield 21 ended just this year, before to-Love-ru. Ignoring that, I generally avoid sports manga, or at least I did. Being a sportsperson, and hearing all the shit about Prince of Tennis (I still haven't read it; I feel a bit insulted by it being a tennis player and all), I was very apprehensive about reading about a sport when I could watch or play it. But, due to the insistence of a friend, I began reading, and before I knew it, I was hooked. The art of the manga is very good, and though a bit over the top, it captures the story very well. The amount of research done is good as well.
For the plot, the start is boring at times, especially all the shit about Sakuraba (What a prick), and it takes a while for steam to build up. But once we hit about the start of the tokyo play-offs, namely against Kyoshin Poseidon, that is when the real action starts. The matches before are good in showing the development of the team, and the training arc is interesting too, but screw that, the matches from then on are absolutely AWESOME.
Yes. Awesome. Anything and everything happens, and everything from injuries to pure brilliant play comes up. Bonecrunching action, mind games, and all out thriller. I have reread some of the matches several times, and let me just say the match against the dinosaurs was the most epic shit ever. Okay, that was a bit of a spoiler, but I needed to say that. The matchflow is brilliantly constructed, and the plays, even more so.
Another strong point are the characters. Yes, there are some characters whom I find pricks (Monta and Sakuraba are the culpits there), but there are a lot of good characters that support each other, and there is great chemistry between characters. A lot of interesting and funny characters, but a lot of cool ones as well. Too many notable ones. But there is one: Hiruma Youichi. Yes, he is one of the best manga characters ever. He is not physically amazing, yet his hard working attitude is inspiring. He is an anti-hero; he uses under handed methods and trick plays to fulfil his objectives, being able to blackmail practically any person. He is violent and often uses firearms as well. The opposite of an ideal sportsman. Yet, his actions are funny at the same time, and his insults add even more humour. He also uses many trick plays, both funny, thrilling and nothing short of brilliant. As the team leader and quarterback, heis the catalyst of most of the story, and is also undoubtedly the most popular character as well. In the dinosaur game, he is just legendary. Nothing else. He is a great character, and you will understand why if you read the manga. Without him, this manga would be a shadow of what it is. It would FAIL.
I have some issues with the story, though. I mean, some of it is a bit lame and rather silly; shuttle pass? NASA Aliens? Come on, be a little less stupid. No team in their right mind would base EVERY SINGLE ONE of their plays, names and techniques on their team's nickname. That's retarded. Also, there is the issue of the realism (Gaou for example). For some people, they won't mind it, but for me (Who enjoyed Cross Game and Slam Dunk), some realism is appreciated, please. There will be sportsmen will agree with me. Some parts of the story did bore me (Sakuraba, you bastard), and the last arc was HORRIBLY done. I think that's the problem when you get cancelled, or whatever. Bad last arc. Leave it with the arc before, and it would have been good enough.
Summary: Some realism is needed, and some parts of the story were boring/not well done. However, the parts which were are absolutely amazing, and that's what counts. The cast as a whole is great as well, and there is a lot of diversity. Hiruma is just an amazingly done character, and is probably the deepest one of them all. The artwork and story is really good as well. Extremely recommended, especially for Shonen readers. Gutbusting humour and bonecrunching action awaits you, so I reccommend you start reading.
