Ranked #53

Eyeshield 21 (Manga)

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

Eyeshield 21 is basically about a timid boy who is forced to join the high school football team by a devilish bully and a gentle giant.
At first, I didn't really want to read this manga because it was about football, which I don't really enjoy. But then, I just decided to give it a try. From the very beginning, I really enjoyed it. Eyeshield 21's characters are lovable and unique. I thought this manga was great right from the start.

Story:
I thought the story was very enjoyable. At some points, the most unexpected thing happened which made me have to keep on reading. Some things made me laugh so hard I started crying. When something bad happened, I started actually crying. Although the plot isn't the most original for a sports manga, I thought it was still great, so I give it a 9/10.

Art:
The artist does a good job drawing the characters, but nothing really stands out to me that much. I think the art is better than other sports manga, but compared to other shounen manga, it's quite basic, but still good. 8/10.

Characters:
Eyeshield 21 has a diverse group of characters. I can't help but love all the characters and the things they bring to the manga. The characters are what I love most about Eyeshield 21. A couple of them are a bit cliche, but are still great. The part about the characters that amazed me the most was how much they grew throughout the series. I give the characters 10/10

Enjoyment:
I thought this series was very enjoyable. Re-reading it is still fun after 2 times around. I thought every aspect of this manga was enjoyable: the characters, the jokes, the story...10/10


I highly suggest this manga to pretty much everyone. It's great, so just give it a try even though it is about football. Who knows? This manga may be better than you think it is. That's what happened to me. read more

I recommend reading the manga of Eyeshield 21 , because it's funnier than the anime and gives much details about all the characters ( specially of you are a fan of Hiruma )
unfortunately Eyeshield 21 anime completed and I don't know if they're making a second season of it .. but if you can't wait for that just read the manga .. Ya ha!

first time i heard about it .. i thought it will be a bored comic ,, because it about american football .. i think most people will say that .. but my uncle said eyeshield 21 so good and i can be love to read because he known i like comedy comics .. and his comment 100% right ,, i like to read eyeshieold 21.. and if you like comedy comic ,, you have to read eyeshield 21 !!

I will keep it simple, it is much better than the animated version. I would suggest taking the time to read it.
The story is funnier, more attention to details regarding the game play and tactics.

to be honest, i dont remember why i pick up this manga, whatever the reason, i know this : i havent regretted it!

the story, an underdog team, make up of various outcasts characters aim to to the impossible, win the championship title, sound like every other sport manga right? trust me, it's not ^^

sure, the theme and story arent really original, but what's original, are the characters: -

from the Devil Commander Hiruma, the true underdog Sena, and various other interesting supporting characters, and their dream of doing the impossible :)

regardless whatever the reason, if you hate sport manga(like i do), i guarantee this sport manga will make up wish you had the chance to play american football! truly the best sport manga, if it make one want to play it no?

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