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1!!FridgeLogic
2* After all the talk of how Deimon and Oujou would face each other in the Christmas Bowl, it's only possible for one team to make it even if they both made it to the regional final before the Christmas Bowl.
3** The Deimon and Seibu Christmas Bowl matchup is the same way.
4* Also, how did Kurita's face scars magically disappear?
5* In the Deimon/Dokubari game, the Scorpions tried to watch the linemens' fingers to see if they were leaning on them in preparation for a run, which would cause blood to gather in them and turn them red (Hiruma tricked them). But... don't the linemen (and in fact all the players except the quarterbacks) all wear gloves?
6* For a series that glorifies African-American genes so much, only one person in America's pentagram is black.
7* Some of the Japanese players could totally make it to the NFL (Taka can pretty much fly, Agon is a freak of nature that never runs out of stamina and Gaou just need some training to be a top lineman.) They really just need to move to the U.S and while they would not be the best they are still professional athlete material. So the mvp being awarded a place in the NFL is not much of an award. Even Hiruma still have his own physical's skill like the laser bullet and has enough technique get a chance
8** The ending of the anime (which is considered canonical by the author)shows that Hiruma and Sena both make it into the NFL. Also winning a 3 million dollar contract straight out of high school is a really big deal, particularly considering how few college atletes make it into the NFL.
9* During the second to last play of the Deimon vs Shinryuuji match, Agon tackled Monta at a great distance on the field after Monta caught the long pass, causing the Devilbats to nearly lose the match due to not making it to their positions in time. If he advanced more than 10 yards, shouldn't Deimon get the first down?
10** Timer doesn't stop for a down especially when it's too far to ask the referee to measure the distance.
11* Agon got suspended during the Christmas Bowl because he punched one of his teammates, fair call but that's exactly what Musashi did during the Deimon against Shinriyuji without penalty.
12** Musashi did that when Deimon called for a timeout, and presumably, without the referee looking. Agon punched his teammate during the game and with the referee looking in front of them.
13** You can't punch someone during time out either and the whole point was to have the Naga and stadium witness it as part of a gambit the ref should have seen it or someone report it.
14** Knowing Hiruma, he probably told the referee that it’s just their usual routine of punching/kicking teammates to praise/encourage them.
15* Gonzalez is a clearly Spanish name, but very racist Apollo let the Gonzalez bros, who may or may not be of Spanish/Mexican descent, in his team.
16** Um, Apollo is racist against African-Americans specifically. While he does make anti-Japanese racist comments, those might be a combination of them being "the opponent" and Hiruma being, well, ''himself'' to Apollo, which exacerbated his tendency to make racist comments in the first place.
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18!!FridgeBrilliance
19* When the world cup reveals that Agon actually want his brother to stand for himself, a lot of past interactions makes more sense (even the EarlyInstallmentWeirdness where Unsui gets to scream at Agon). While Agon still makes fun of his brother, it's way less harmful than how he treats everyone else, even his insults are more like Hiruma's than his usual {{TrashTalk}}. He tries to get on Unsui's nerves to make him react and while he would kill, say Yamabushi, for talking back he lets Unsui get away with more because, while still a Jerkass, he doesn't hate his brother.
20* The Nagas making fun of Ikkyu's better than you attitude seems a little extreme, but when you are on a team with a psychotic freak of nature named Agon, it makes sense that they want to knock the second best player down a peg.
21* '''A'''-gon and '''Un'''-sui are [[RedOniBlueOni total opposites]].[[note]]In case this doesn't make sense, A-Un (阿吽) is the Japanese equivalent of alpha and omega.[[/note]]
22* The student body of Taiyou is obsessed with ancient Egyptian culture to the point that they actually seem to worship the sun god Ra. Taiyou students are also avid surfers and beachgoers with deep tans -- people who ''really'' appreciate the sun.
23** It's a little less subtle if you know a little Japanese; "Taiyou" means "sun".
24* How did Honjou manage to instantly recognize Monta when he only saw him once... ''ten years ago'' ...for a split second? He looked like a monkey as a kid, and he looks like a monkey now. That's how.
25* Shin, after analyzing his statement “I don't think anyone really cares about me” and cross-referencing it with the rest of the plot, is not just the typical socially-awkward stoic guy. He's actually clinically depressed, and severely at that. Depressed people feel chronically separated from everything and everyone, and paranoid about everyone's motives for their actions towards them, such as thinking people won't approach you because of inherent flaws, instead of because you appear quiet or antisocial. Other symptoms of depression are 1. a lack of motivation to do anything, 2. a near nonexistent ability to feel acknowledgement/empathy and 3. on the other side of the scale of No. 1, an intense motivation to be the very best, in every possible way, in an effort to feel that they are appreciated by others. Shin exhibits all three, although the first is replaced by 3 early on.
26** In middle school, Shin had no particular desire to do much of anything. He joined football pretty much as an afterthought because Sakuraba was excited about it. The recruiter is likely making a shotgun approach to garnering membership, but Shin wouldn't see it this way, instead getting a sense of lacking since he was noticed after Sakuraba. This lacking spurred him into working so obsessively, so he could catch up.
27*** Also notice how this is Sakuraba's point of view. When Sakuraba remembers this, Shin is always there because Shin is his best friend. Now, look at the exact same time from Shin's memory. First thing you should notice is how much attention Shin is getting from the class. He's being made to talk about himself (not something he's comfortable with) and he messes it up, so he's getting paid close attention to, but it is not positive attention at all. Second thing is at the bottom of the page. He remembers himself looking at the football table, being genuinely interested, yet the recruiters, who would normally be all over that, have shunned him in favor of Sakuraba, who stands off to the side and isn't interacting/showing outward interest in the sport at all. These are his feelings of being the odd man out.
28*** So, when we think about it, ALL of Shin's behavior takes on a new meaning. Like the iconic scene where Shin trains on the outside of a restaraunt. The scene is funny, yes, but it also shows a lot when taken into this new context. People with depression have a tendency to punish themselves mercilessly. He goes to the party, because he was invited, but he doesn't feel comfortable/accepted, so he quickly leaves. He doesn't eat, saying he's already had what he's allowed. He doesn't see that he's done well enough to warrant a reward, in fact, he goes to train instead. He feels that he's so far below the caliber of everyone else that instead of a reward, he has to punish himself with more work in a futile attempt to catch up. Shin never had an obsession with training, he does it because he thinks he has to in order to even get close to everyone else. (This is exacerbated wildly when he meets Sena, the one person who he can't catch up to in reality, instead of only in his mind.)
29*** Another thing is how he talks 'to' Sakuraba, and really just his speaking habits in general. He almost never speaks unless spoken to, and when he does, it's without empathy. Shin never responds with 'you'. He remains objective, indicating an emotional wall. Not only is he honest with the truth, he's downright brutal with it, not considering to lessen the blow just because Sakuraba is his best friend. He's doing precisely what he's been asked to do, because he's worried of being called out on it if he dares to do otherwise.
30*** This does, however, improve over the course of the series, as he starts to open up to other people and feel needed as part of the team. Here, he talks to Sakuraba, unsolicited and using the word 'you'. This same thing happens with Sena: First he was 'Eyeshield 21', then he was 'Kobayakawa Sena', and now he has further shortened it to 'you'.
31*** And as a final point, perhaps controversial, the Spear/Trident Tackles are indicative of a lack of empathy. They're clearly excruciatingly painful, since Shin refuses to let himself pull punches (so to speak), and as he appears to be aiming for the softer parts of the body at full throttle. He never seems to feel bad about it, much less apologize.
32*** Shin's mindset of "Nobody needs me" is pretty much confirmed during the joint interview. When asked their strongpoints, Shin says "I'm not a good enough player to say what I'm good at."
33* Monta's Devil Back Fire was forshadowed against Shinryuji when he catched the ball coming from behind when talking to Ikkyu.
34* Sena's eyeshield is a physical representation for his CharacterDevelopment. In the beginning, it's often noted that Sena's green eyeshield makes it difficult to see his face and discern his identity. This represents that "Eyeshield 21" is a FakeUltimateHero built on Hiruma's lies. When Sena ditches the eyeshield during the Bando Spiders match, he has resolved to become a real football player, and when he takes Akaba's blue eyeshield, it became easier to see his face and symbolizes [[BecomingTheMask "Sena Kobayakawa" becoming the real "Eyeshield 21".]]
35* The final score for the Deimon vs Oujou rematch is 42-40. 40 is Shin's jersey number while 42 is Sena's jersey number 21 multiplied by 2. RuleOfSymbolism in that after all this time, Sena finally surpassed Shin.
36* The only other occasion where Deimon Devilbats has to use their mostly-white “away” uniform is for the match against Bando Spiders. Why? Because the Spiders’ uniform is mostly red with black and white tints, like the “home” uniform of the Devilbats. From the spectators’ perspective, it’d be difficult to differ the two teams of which uniforms have similar color scheme, and so one of the teams had to switch to their “away” uniforms. Since the Devilbats’ “away” uniform was first and last seen in Taiyou match, which happened more than 100 chapters ago, it’s also a perfect opportunity to remind the readers that this uniform exists. And since the anime never bothered to have a second uniform for the Devilbats, this is also the reason why the black part of the Spiders’ uniform got changed to blue there.
37* Some regarding the all-stars coaching that the Devilbats underwent before the Christmas Bowl:
38** The main page mentions that Hiruma and Musashi didn’t need training at all because they’re already the best at their job. However, Hiruma was seen consulting things with Kid in one panel. The same panel also shows Tetsuma training Yukimitsu. Considering how Hiruma’s pass game with Yukimitsu is basically the same as Kid and Tetsuma’s, in a way Hiruma was trained by Kid to utilize Option Route better.
39** Komusubi and Ootawara. Aside from being a CallBack to the chapter when Komusubi learned to do a rib, training with Ootawara can make Komusubi a LightningBruiser PintSizedPowerhouse.
40** Kurita and Gaou. It was previously mentioned that Gaou is better when it comes to upper body strength, while Kurita is better when it comes to lower body strength and experience. Their training benefitted both sides, as Kurita learned how to utilize his upper body strength better, while Gaou got to gather more experiences playing football [[spoiler:which explains his massive improvement during World Youth Cup arc.]]
41** Togano and Banba. What’s the better way to train a MightyGlacier than to pit him against a StoneWall?
42** Why did Ishimaru, a player borrowed from other club, need to be trained while the other borrowed players didn’t? Because he’s a NiceGuy who had helped the Devilbats since the very beginning, and his unnoticeable presence might come in handy when the Alexanders’ defense is going to focus on the Devilbats’ key players. It’s essentially his ThrowTheDogABone moment.
43** How did Akaba manage to teach [[TheDitz Taki]] [[DifficultButAwesome Spider Poison?]] They’re “musically fit” with each other and, as an earlier chapter revealed, Taki is ridiculously good at learning things as long as they’re put on football terms.
44** Unsui and Takami were also seen training the Devilbats because someone had to replace Hiruma during mock matches to strengthen them as a team. And with both Hiruma and Kid still recovering from their injury, those two are the next best quarterbacks when it comes to passes.
45* The Tokyo Fall Tournament’s quarterfinals had three of the teams associated with the sea losing. You could say that [[StealthPun they’ve fallen to the bottom of the sea]].
46* On the Alexanders and their AncientRome theme:
47** Their captain, Heracles, is a prankster and pranks Karin (and the opposing team) ''during the Christmas Bowl''. Quite fittingly, the Ancient Romans were prone to pranks and jokes at the most inopportune times, such as the soldiers of a winning general chanting the most embarrassing insults they knew at him ''during the Triumph's parade''.
48*** The Romans were also big on insuring their greatest wouldn't get too big of a head (during the Triumph's parade, not only the general was insulted by his own soldiers, on his chariot there was a slave with the jobs of holding over his head a laurel crown and whispering in his ear "remember you're mortal" the entire time). Fittingly, [[DreamTeam the team composed in large part of the best players recruited from other schools]] has a captain who can keep everyone down a peg with pranks while making sure they can get a good laugh.
49** UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat is the team's namesake... But he wasn't Roman, he was ''Greek'' (specifically Macedon). This may be a reference to Livy's (a Roman historian) claiming that if Alexander had attacked Rome the Romans would have won because while he was indeed a genius general there was only one of them and the Romans had many that could compare.
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51!!FridgeHorror
52* When Heinrich Schultz is rattling off the statistics of the different Japanese players, Gaou is mentioned as averaging "3.17" sacks per game. Seems good... until you remember that Gaou generally breaks the bones of whoever he hits. Most teams carry three quarterbacks on their roster, meaning that Gaou ''averages'' three crippling injuries per game. Holy shit.
53* I realized this while re-watching the Death March. They start in Texas, and go through New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. In short, some of the hottest states in the country. They're also in the middle of summer. Summers in Texas usually range from 95 to 100 degrees ferinheight, and will probably climb 5 to 10 degrees in the middle of a desert. So, the Devil Bats are training day and night, in 100º plus weather, and barely enough water. Damn.

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