Eyeshield 21

Eyeshield 21 (アイシールド21) is a Japanese manga series written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. The series tells the story of Sena Kobayakawa, an introverted boy who joins an American football club as a secretary, but after being coerced by quarterback Yoichi Hiruma, becomes the team's running back, wearing jersey number 21 and an eyeshield to conceal his identity. Inagaki chose American football as a central subject of Eyeshield 21 after realizing that it fit perfectly with his idea for the series.

The manga was originally serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from July 2002 to June 2009. The series consists of 333 chapters collected in 37 volumes. An anime adaptation consisting of 145 television episodes was co-produced by TV Tokyo, NAS, and Gallop. The television series first aired on Japan's TV Tokyo network from April 2005 to March 2008. The Eyeshield 21 franchise has spawned two original video animations (OVAs), audio albums, video games, and other merchandise.

In North America, the manga was released by Viz Media from April 2005 to October 2011. The anime series was later licensed in North America by Toonami Jetstream as a joint effort with Viz Media and aired in December 2007, on its site, but before its completion, the streaming service was shut down. The whole series was streamed in English by Crunchyroll, while Sentai Filmworks licensed the series, with distribution from Section23 Films on DVDs.

In Japan, the Eyeshield 21 manga has sold over 20 million volumes. The manga and anime have been featured at various times in weekly top ten lists of best-selling in their respective media. The anime has been watched by a large number of television viewers in Japan, helping to raise American football's popularity in the country. Publications for manga, anime, and others have commented on Eyeshield 21, which received praise for its artwork and characters, and criticism towards its non-football related plotlines.

Plot
In Tokyo, a weak, unassertive boy named Sena Kobayakawa enters the Deimon Private Senior High School. Sena's only remarkable physical abilities are his running speed and agility, which are noted by the school's American football team captain and quarterback, the ambitious and intimidating Yoichi Hiruma. Hiruma 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 the team secretary and enter the field under the pseudonym of "Eyeshield 21" wearing a helmet with an eyeshield as a disguise. The makeshift team initially takes part in the spring football tournament hoping to win through the strength of their new "secret weapon". However, the extremely weak team is eliminated early by the Ojo White Knights, one of the best high school football teams in Tokyo.

After Deimon's defeat, the spring tournament is revealed as secondary in importance to the fall tournament, a single-elimination tournament where the Tokyo area teams compete for the chance to play in the Christmas Bowl—the high school football league championship between the best teams from the Kantō and Kansai regions, respectively. Hiruma, Sena, and head lineman Ryokan Kurita regroup and slowly build a real team from misfits and students looking to define themselves, such as Tarō "Monta" Raimon—a former baseball player who can only catch— who becomes the team's star wide receiver and three delinquents collectively known as Ha-Ha Brothers, who make up the team's remaining linemen. Other characters slowly join the team, and the series follows the building and growth of the Deimon Devil Bats and its members, and rival teams as they all strive to achieve their goal of playing in the Christmas Bowl. Due to a rule at several high schools, including Deimon, that prohibits students from participating in club activities in their third and final school year, the fall tournament is last chance for second year students Hiruma and Kurita to participate in the Christmas Bowl, raising the stakes for the Devil Bats. The Devil Bats partake in several exhibition games that boost their popularity, including a match against the visiting NASA Aliens from the United States, whose ball boy turned running back Patrick "Panther" Spencer befriends Sena.

After losing to NASA, the Devil Bats spend their summer vacation in Houston, where they meet Hiruma's and Kurita's former mentor Doburoku Sakaki, who reluctantly allows Hiruma's request to put the team through a dangerous training regimen known as the "Death March"—which involves traveling on foot from Houston to Las Vegas through the Mojave Desert. During the Death March, the team works to improve their strength and stamina and strengthen their bonds with each other; Sena reveals his identity to the rest of his teammates. The Devil Bats complete the Death March and return to Japan, stronger than ever.

The Devil Bats enter the Tokyo fall tournament and make a strong impression by winning their first three games. While facing the Kyoshin Poseidon in the quarterfinals, Sena learns that his Eyeshield 21 identity belonged to another footballer of Japanese descent from Notre Dame High School's football team in America. The Devil Bats advance to the semifinals where they lose a close match to the Seibu Wild Gunmen; however the Devil Bats can still qualify for the post-season Kantō tournament if they can win a consolation game against the Bando Spiders. After learning that Bando's team captain Hayato Akaba is supposedly the real Eyeshield 21, Sena publicly reveals his identity before the game between Deimon and Bando. The Devil Bats emerge victorious, allowing them to qualify for the Kantō tournament and Akaba officially names Sena as Eyeshield 21, revealing that Eyeshield 21 is in fact a title traditionally passed down to Notre Dame's best runner.

In the Kantō tournament, the Devil Bats overcome several obstacles—including facing against the Shinryuji Naga in their opening game, who are led by the sociopathic prodigy Agon Kongo; a rematch against the Ojo White Knights in the semifinals, who have gotten stronger since the spring tournament and are more determined than ever to defeat the Devil Bats; and are forced to play against the Hakushu Dinosaurs in the final without Hiruma after the latter is taken out of the game when his throwing arm is temporarily broken—to win the Kantō tournament, achieving their dream of participating in the Christmas Bowl. The Devil Bats face off against the Teikoku Alexanders, the undefeated and reigning Christmas Bowl champions from Osaka, who are led by Takeru Yamato, the real Japanese Eyeshield 21 from Notre Dame. In the game's final moments, Deimon narrowly defeats Teikoku with a record 65-yard game-winning field goal from kicker Gen "Musashi" Takekura, ending Teikoku's winning streak and becoming the first team from Kantō to win the Christmas Bowl. Teikoku graciously accepts their defeat and Yamato acknowledges Sena as the true Eyeshield 21.

Shortly after the Christmas Bowl, Japan's high school football commission begins to gather the nation's best high school football players to form a team to represent the country for the American Football Youth World Championship hosted in New York City, where the MVP will be awarded an NFL contract with the San Antonio Armadillos and $3 million. Team Japan reaches the finals against Team America, whose roster includes Panther; the game ends in a tie, and both teams are declared winners. However, Japan and America are unsatisfied with the outcome and return to the field for their own, improvised overtime. It is unclear which team wins the unofficial extra period, but Panther is named the MVP.

The series concludes with Sena being named the captain of the Devil Bats in his second year after Hiruma, Kurita and Musashi retire in their third year. In his final year of high school, Sena is invited to attend Notre Dame High School in America for the Fall semester. In the final chapter, Sena returns to Japan to enroll at Enma University and joins their football team, reuniting him with his friends, former teammates and rivals, many of whom have either joined Sena at Enma, other rival universities or Musashi's construction company team; all participating teams make a vow to win the Rice Bowl—Japan's national league football championship between the best college team and the best X-League team.

In a bonus chapter set some time later, the Armadillos offer a spot on their roster for one Japanese player through the NFL's International Player Pathway Program, with Sena and Hiruma being chosen as the two candidates. To determine who receives the spot, Sena and Hiruma face off against each other with their respective college teams—the Enma Fires and the Saikyodai Wizards—in the Koshien Bowl, the college football national championship game. Although Enma is implied to win the championship, the chosen candidate for the Program is never revealed.

Production
Before the series was published regularly, Riichiro Inagaki and Yusuke Murata published two one-shots called and  on March 5 and 12, 2002, in Weekly Shōnen Jump. When it would become a serial, the editorial department asked if Inagaki wanted to both write and draw the series, but Inagaki felt he was "so rookie", so he asked Murata to be the illustrator. Before being asked to work on Eyeshield 21, Murata had read some of Inagaki's manga and noted that they "had many cool design concepts of uniforms and equipment". He said, "it could be turned into a great manga story" and he would "be happy to take the challenge"; eventually he was chosen.

During Eyeshield 21's original run in the magazine, Inagaki went to the United States to see college football matches, and National Football League games. Despite having never played American football, Inagaki chose this theme after deciding that he wanted to create "a protagonist that was wimpy at the beginning, yet could perform outstandingly in a sports game", and with this premise in mind he decided that American football would be "a very suitable material". When originally creating Eyeshield 21, Inagaki said he was wary because he did not want his manga becoming "a simulator of football". The fact that football is not a popular sport in Japan also worried Inagaki. As last resort, he thought to turn the series into a "Kamen Rider-style masked hero story" if it could not met the popularity required for the magazine. However, it was such a popular series that online commentators said that, considering the series' final length, the editors may have insisted that Eyeshield 21 be kept going due to business reasons. However, Inagaki declared that the manga was "exactly how [he] wanted to tell the story" and that Murata also seconded it.

Manga
The Eyeshield 21 manga series was written by Riichiro Inagaki, illustrated by Yusuke Murata, and originally serialized by Shueisha in the manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from July 23, 2002,  to June 15, 2009. The manga consists of 333 chapters spanning 37 (collected volumes), released from December 20, 2002, to October 2, 2010. Eyeshield 21 has also been published as part of the Shueisha Jump Remix series of magazine-style books. Fourteen volumes were released between June 28, 2010, and February 14, 2011. A special 55-page one-shot chapter, to celebrate the series' 21st anniversary, was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump on January 29, 2024.

An English translation of the manga was published in North America by Viz Media under the Shonen Jump Advanced label between April 5, 2005, and October 4, 2011.

The manga has also been licensed in some countries such as in France by Glénat, in Hong Kong by Culturecom, in Indonesia by Elex Media Komputindo, in Italy by Panini Comics, in South Korea by Daewon Media, and in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing.

Original video animations
Two original video animations (OVA) based on the Eyeshield 21 manga series were developed. The first one, named The Phantom Golden Bowl (幻のゴールデンボウル), was developed by Production I.G and shown as part of the Jump Festa Anime Tour in September 2003 and in Jump Festa 2004. The second OVA, titled Eyeshield 21: Christmas Bowl e no Michi – Minami no Shima de Tokkun da! YA-HA!! – (アイシールド21 クリスマスボウルへの道 〜南の島で特訓だ! YA-HA-!!〜), was shown at Jump Festa 2005. The two OVAs were later released on DVD; the first was released with the second OVA of Naruto in a compilation called Jump Festa 2004 Super DVD. The other was released by Bandai Visual as an extra track on the sixth DVD of the Eyeshield 21 anime series.

Television series
The Eyeshield 21 anime adaptation was co-produced by TV Tokyo, NAS, and Gallop, and was directed by Masayoshi Nishida until episode 103, and by Shin Katagai from 104 to 145. The series of 145 television episodes aired in Japan from April 6, 2005, to March 19, 2008, on TV Tokyo. In Japan, Bandai Visual distributed the anime in DVD format; thirty-six volumes were released between July 26, 2006, and June 26, 2007. Some changes were done in comparison to the manga; for example, swearings and guns or gambling references were reduced. Initially, Viz Media and Cartoon Network planned to air a dubbed version of Eyeshield 21 on the internet video streaming service Toonami Jetstream, and on NFL Rush site as a joint effort with National Football League (NFL). The anime was eventually posted only on Toonami Jetstream, with the first episode, which condensed three episodes, being available on December 17, 2007. However, it was not completed due to Toonami Jetstream's cancellation and shutdown. In December 2008, the video streaming service Crunchyroll announced that it would begin to stream Eyeshield 21 subtitled on its site on January 2, 2009. The last episode was available on November 1, 2009, for premium users, and on March 7, 2010, for free users. On February 26, 2010, Section23 Films announced that Sentai Filmworks received the license to the anime. The first fifty-two episodes were released on four subtitled-only DVDs between May 18, 2010, and February 8, 2011.

Audio
The music for the Eyeshield 21 anime adaptation was composed by Kō Ōtani. The series use twelve pieces of theme music, five opening and seven ending themes. The opening themes are "Breakthrough" and "Innocence" by V6, "Dang Dang" by ZZ, "Blaze Line" by Back-On, and "Honō no Running Back" (炎のランニングバック) by Short Leg Summer. The ending themes are "Be Free" by Ricken's, "Blaze Away" by The Trax, "Goal" by Beni Arashiro, "Run to Win" by Aya Hirano, Miyu Irino, Koichi Nagano and Kappei Yamaguchi, "A day dreaming..." by Back-On, "Flower" by Back-On, and "Song of Power" by Short Leg Summer.

A number of audio CDs linked to the anime series have been released in Japan. The original soundtrack was released on two discs by Avex Mode on March 5, 2008, under the title Eyeshield 21 Complete Best Album. Three compilation albums, Eyeshield 21 Original Soundtrack Sound Field 1, Eyeshield 21 Sound Field Especial, and Eyeshield 21 Song Best, featuring opening and ending themes, insertion songs, and character and team songs were released on August 31, 2005, December 21, 2005, and March 23, 2006, respectively. Six maxi singles containing character songs have also been published. The first three, for Sena Kobayakawa, Mamori Anezaki, and Monta, were released on October 26, 2005. The other three, with the songs of Haruto Sakuraba, Seijurou Shin, and Suzuna Taki, were released on January 25, 2006. In addition to the musical CDs, Eyeshield 21 Drama Field 1, an audio drama CD, was released by Avex on September 21, 2005.

Video games
Konami produced Eyeshield 21 games for Sony video game systems; it released Eyeshield 21: Let's Play American Football! Ya! Ha!! (アイシールド21 アメフトやろうぜ! YA-! HA-!!) for the PlayStation 2 on December 22, 2005, and Eyeshield 21: Portable Edition (アイシールド21 ポータブル エディション) for the PlayStation Portable on March 2, 2006. Nintendo secured the rights to the Eyeshield 21 video game license for its systems in December 2004, releasing Eyeshield 21: Max Devil Power for the Nintendo DS on February 2, 2006, and Eyeshield 21: Devilbats Devildays for the Game Boy Advance on April 6, 2006. Another game was scheduled for release on the GameCube, but it was later canceled. Nintendo published an Eyeshield 21 game for the Wii, entitled Eyeshield 21: The Field's Greatest Warriors (アイシールド21 フィールド最強の戦士たち), which was released in Japan on March 8, 2007. Two non-football games, Jump Super Stars and Jump Ultimate Stars, released for the Nintendo DS, have featured characters from the series. Various Devil Bats, Shin and Sakuraba from the White Knights appear in support cameos.

Print media
Two art books based on Eyeshield 21 were released. The first, Eyeshield 21 Illustration Collection: Field of Colors (アイシールド21 イラスト集 Field of Colors), was published on November 2, 2006. The second, entitled Paint Jump: Art of Eyeshield 21, was released on December 19, 2008. Eyeshield 21 Official Databook: Chou Senshu Retsuden Ballers High (アイシールド21公式データブック超選手列伝Ballers High), a databook, was published on October 4, 2005. A pair of light novels were launched; the first, written by Katsumi Hasegawa, based on and named for the first OVA, was published on March 24, 2004. The second, Eyeshield 21: Netto no Hundred Game! (アイシールド21 ～熱闘のハンドレッドゲーム！～), written by Eijima Jun, was published on May 26, 2006. The only original creator of the series who worked on these light novels was Murata, who illustrated them.

Other
In Japan, jigsaw puzzles, action figures, plush dolls, calendars, key chains, and a medal game machine were sold as merchandise for the series. Konami also released a collectible card game series.

Popularity
The manga has sold more than 20 million copies in Japan; individual volumes frequently appeared on top ten lists of best-selling manga there (see table). Individual volumes have appeared in Diamond Comic Distributors's lists of 300 best-selling graphic novels in North America several times. The anime adaptation was also featured several times in Japanese television rankings, with the first episode having a 7.5 percent television viewership rating. In 2006, Japanese television network TV Asahi conducted a poll for the top hundred anime, and Eyeshield 21 was placed 47th. Moreover, Eyeshield 21's series is credited with increasing the number of Japanese teenagers playing American football. However, commenting on its genre's lack of popularity in the United States, Jason Thompson wrote in Anime News Network that "Even Eyeshield 21, a sports manga which is practically made for Americans, wasn't a big hit here".

Reviews
Critics have generally given the Eyeshield 21 manga positive reviews. Deb Aoki from About.com wrote that tying with Bleach, Eyeshield 21 was the best continuing manga of 2007, because it "has well-written characters, dynamic artwork, nail-biting cliffhangers, plus a winning mix of comedy, action and drama". On the 2008 list, Aoki listed Eyeshield 21 as the best continuing, as it was able to "[come] into its own" from other series. In that same year, Pop Culture Shock's Sam Kusek elected it the best continuing manga series. Chris Zimmerman of Comic Book Bin was positive on his review of the volumes 30–33; he affirmed it is "one of the best shonen titles out there" and described it as "a superb series, with well developed characters, intense action, and touching humor". Scott Campbell of Active Anime commented it is an "action-filled" series with great artwork and humor, and that it "has managed to continually get more and more dynamic with each volume".

Jarred Pine from Mania.com praised the humor and how the creators "bring out the energy and excitement of the game for the readers". June Shimonishi, reviewing for School Library Journal, wrote that it "delivers a fresh and entertaining take on all the standard sports clichés". She also said that its art is "superb ... with every inch filled with details and no gag left unseen". Zac Bertschy from Anime News Network (ANN) declared Eyeshield 21 "defies convention" by turning what most might consider "a really ridiculously bad idea" into "something most everyone would be able to enjoy". Carlo Santos from ANN called it a "typical sports story", writing that what make it an above average series are its characters and artwork. He also wrote that people who think American football is boring "may change their minds after seeing the action sequences in Eyeshield 21." Later, Santos said, "[a] lot of familiar clichés show themselves" in Eyeshield 21, and that "[t]he storyline also does a sloppy job of keeping track of the game ... making it even less believable than it already is". However, overall, he considered the story has good art, action and pace, featuring "pure sports storytelling at its finest".

The anime adaptation of Eyeshield 21 received positive and mixed responses. Bobby Cooper from DVD Talk praised how the rules of American football are "explained to a foreign audience that has no clue what it's all about", adding that instructions at the commercial breaks "were informative and similar to the Go lessons of Hikaru No Go." He also said the explanations were "hilarious", but that "Eyeshield 21 is an excellent introduction to football". The on-field action was also praised, with he saying the sports action is "where Eyeshield 21 truly shines", although he criticized the scenes away from the football field, "the pacing slows to a crawl and the storyline gets a little boring". In her review, Erin Finnegan from Anime News Network stated, "[t]he pace of Eyeshield 21 is its saving grace. It's way less boring than all the time outs and commercial breaks in a regular NFL game. Football is hard to understand, but Eyeshield 21 explains the Byzantine rules ... in an entertaining way. We're never left waiting for the ref's decision for long minutes like in real life. A lot of dramatic tension carries the action between plays". Finnegan also criticized the artwork, saying, "any episode [of the show] without a game is clearly farmed out to an inferior animation studio". Chris Beveridge from Mania Entertainment wrote that Eyeshield 21 "has a good solid story idea, showing a young man finding his way through sports by finding friends and realizing he has potential, but it is so sidelined so often that it's frustrating to see it deal with situations as it does".