Alternative TitlesJapanese: アイシールド21
Information
Type: Manga
Volumes: 37
Chapters: 333
Status: Finished
Published: Jul 23, 2002 to Jun 15, 2009
StatisticsScore: 8.641 (scored by 10009 users)
Ranked: #632
Popularity: #77
Members: 15,745
Favorites: 1,740 1 indicates a weighted score
My Info
Popular Tags
action comedy shounen sports |
SynopsisWimpy Sena Kobayakawa has been running away from bullies all his life. But when the football gear comes on, things change—Sena's speed and uncanny ability to elude big bullies just might give him what it takes to become a great high school football hero! Enjoy all the bone-crushing action and slapstick comedy that this heartwarming coming-of-age story has to offer.
(Source: Viz) |
Related MangaAdaptation: Eyeshield 21
Reviews
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Torisunanohokori
98 of 122 people found this review helpful
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333 of 333 chapters read
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| Overall |
10 |
| Story |
8 |
| Art |
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| Character |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
Sports manga in general (with a few notable exceptions) branch off into two main groups - the martial group and the teamwork group. The martial sports manga (featuring boxing, judo, etc.) usually sport characters with grit and guts struggling against one another. This type of sports manga also often suffers from overemphasis of the main character and weak side characters who only serve to show how awesome the lead is by comparison. The teamwork sports manga (featuring baseball, basketball, etc.) usually sport a large, well-developed cast. At the very least, the main team of a team sports manga will have a lot of fleshed-out players. The downside with teamwork sports manga is that it can sometimes feel like competition-lite, and it lacks the quantity of guts displayed in martial sports.
The American Football played in Eyeshield 21 is an interesting and ultimately successful combination of the two formulas, mixing the group dynamics of a genuine team with lots of hard-on action.
I have a lot of praise for the way the sport being played is used in ES21. Football is a large sport, requiring 11 players on each side, each with a different distinct role. As a result, you always have characters other than just the mains in play, being far from useless. 22 players, though, are a bit much to focus on at one time, and this manga acknowledges that, focusing only on small portions of the playing field at any given time. We get lots of different individual, small group, and large group confrontations throughout any given game, which makes up for the fact that a game may go on for 20-30 chapters. This effectively splits up screentime among a truly massive cast in a way which neither weakens the mains nor benches the non-mains. The cast is, in addition to being in the triple-digits, extremely diverse backstory-wise, ranging from a kicker who quit his team to help his father's business to a tall reciever who's good and popular, but failing to catch up to the true genius superstar of his own team. Odds are most, if not all, people will be able to find at least one character whose background they sympathize with.
And there are mindgames. Dear me, the mindgames. Possibly the best part of this manga is how the player confrontations are set up by a diabolical mastermind of a man, Hiruma Youichi, a gun nut with dirt on half the world's population. This guy comes up with the most outlandish trick plays which are usually a surprise, totally outlandish, and always fun to watch. What's more, they often don't work, giving an added thrill of uncertainty to each play.
The basic plot of Eyeshield itself is standard fare; weak, bullied kid (Sena Kobayakawa) with hidden talent gets forced into a sport and ends up liking it. His team gets stronger with him in it and goes on to compete at high levels. Just how high is a minor spoiler. Two things here. Firstly, you can expect the Devilbats to lose quite a bit, and not just in the introductory chapters to their eternal rival. Secondly, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE BASIC FORMULA. Just because it's common doesn't mean it's a weak one. Coming-of-age stories have been selling since forever for a reason, and the basic formula needs only to be applied correctly to produce a decent piece. High-schoolers passionately fighting tooth-and-nail over one inch of turf isn't going to get old anytime soon.
Not that Eyeshield is just decent - it's consistently hilarious, thrilling, and a whole lot of fun. I would recommend trying it out to just about anyone, including the people who aren't normally predisposed towards manga. It's a shining example of what sports shonen, and shonen in general, can be when it tries. read more
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MacAnkkuli
16 of 22 people found this review helpful
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333 of 333 chapters read
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| Overall |
10 |
| Story |
8 |
| Art |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
First time writing a review but since this manga didn't have that many I thought I could try
Story
I think this is quite a realistic manga. Of course it's not that realistic in comedy and with what happens to the characters, but the focus, American football, is realistic. At least I think. It's hid under the veil of shounen, where all attention is given to single persons or groups at a time, where time seems to stop as people discuss about what's happening and sometimes seem to read each others thoughts while doing that. Even with all that the game is not supernatural or anything. But sometimes it's hard to remember what's REALLY happening, as in if the reader could zoom out and see the field like it's seen on television. Especially the formations get a bit too little attention since you can't help but sometime think "where the hell did he come from?", "what was happening in the center?". But I believe the writer knew what was happening, he just did a conscious decision to not share everything in order to make it more shounen like.
But boy does the shounen bring out some of the most epic moments. Sometimes the despair in front of practically certain loss makes you want to just give up and check how it's really going to end. Every point the enemy makes feels like someone is pulling YOUR stomach and you start to question "it's just football. It's not like you're gonna die." But that's just a fleeting thought before you remember that emotions really are powerful in sports if you're playing seriously.
The power-ups are a bit unrealistic in the sense that there is a quite strict weak-strong scale between some people. And even when it isn't that strict it's hard to notice, since those many "normal" plays aren't shown. Nevertheless, no one can change physical attributes like muscle strength with some super training overnight, often it's all about mind, will and technique. What one can do when it's just impossible to win in physical prowess.
On a side note I was a bit disappointed the hints of relationships and drama never bore any fruit.
Art
The art is very clean and good. I guess it sometimes feels bland since it's not that unique, but the quality is unyielding.
The action scenes burst with athlete's anatomy and speed, and the comedy is highlighted well with different stylizations
Character
The characters are different and there are quite many of them. Everyone have their own struggles and motives when playing football. And it's not just the protagonist's team members, Deimon Devil Bats, but other teams as well. And even those supporting characters whose stories aren't told stay true to themselves. Especially Devil Bats' quarterback Hiruma uses in a genius way his team mates and enemies personalities in his unbelievable schemes. That wouldn't work if the characters' personalities didn't work.
The Devil Bats, who are a hastily collected ragtag team, face more and more fierce enemies often so they mostly try to cope with their own weaknesses and become stronger. But still the these personal struggles often times manage to be unique and even tearjerking. And with the other characters included they'e stories are nicely versatile.
Enjoyment
In one or two matches the switching from hope to despair happened so many times it was starting to get a bit too agitating. And I thought this manga might have given more if I had played football, since it was sometimes hard to get the whole picture.
Other than that it was very enjoyable and I wanted to keep on reading.
Overall
The ending made it clear that these people will keep on playing astonishing and unbelievable matches in their universe. It's not like it ended midway but you just can't help but have a bittersweet, heartrending feeling when you think that you can never hear those stories. And that is a testimony of a fantastic manga. read more
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the main characters start out very similar both very weak willed and give up easy, the story's although very different bring about change to them and along with the help of some brilliant supporting characters they find out they are far stronger then they first thought.
The main character are very similar scared and very protective the do anything to protect the ones they love.
The build up and changes and problems faced in story allow the character to develop and in that sense this story is very similar.
Both series have a hapless loser protagonist who becomes part of a group initially against his will and in doing so forms bonds and grows as a person. Together they face increasingly formidable opponents as the series increases in seriousness and intensity, with themes of teamwork, friendship, and hard work become becoming major elements. Although the overall subjects of the series are different, the structure, character types, and themes are remarkably similar.
well they both are down right funny and they both have action. but reborn iis about mafia and eyesield 21 is about football other than that and a few other things they have a lot a like.
It's really difficult not to make parallels between Eyeshield 21 and Katekyo Hitman Reborn. For me, at least. The protagonists are quite similar: Dame Tsuna who doesn't display tremendous skill for anything, but has a big heart and Sena, and often bullied high school student also with a big heart. Both manga deal with the growth and maturation of the main character whilst making great friends on the way. Tsuna and Sena also look quite similar. Though the universes both deal with are vastly different and some themes vary, there's a very similar large underlying. Both series are fun to read and have memorable characters.
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both are sportsmanga, very funny and the characters are just too creepy
Both Eyeshield 21 and Slam Dunk have a similar story: Player who originally wants nothing to do with the sport ends up playing the sport, and learning to love the sport.
Now, Hanamichi Sakuragi and Kobayakawa Sena have completely different reasons for joing their sports, but they do and they get very, very good at their sports. Each one has a rival that inspires them to work harder (Rukawa and Shin), and each one has a reason to win.
Both stories are very funny at times, and at other times, very dramatic. Both stories are similar in the fact that they both draw you in, allows you to relate to the characters, and you even find yourself rooting for the teams (Shohoku and Deimon) to win.
In my opinion, if you liked Slam Dunk, you'll like Eyeshield 21, and vice versa.
Sports series with a protagonist who starts out knowing nothing about the sport and ends up joining the team for frivolous reasons but ends up becoming a key player. Both have a fair volume count but span a single year, tracking their progress with a specific tournament goal in mind; both also stress the value of teamwork and hard work while also presenting well-rounded supporting characters and members of opposing teams to make every single one of them endearing.
Shonen sport mangas with very much similarities.
Protagonist:
- doesn't know anything about the sport they starts doing.
- reason why they choose the sport is similar.
- are genius.
Story is about to beat everyone on their way to the top.
Includes similar and really unique/memorable character = great character design.
The amount of sport and other things is balanced in similar way.
Humor is also built in similar way.
It's impossible for not to like the other if you like the another, imo.
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