At its surface, Eyeshield 21 doesn't feel all too distinctive from most sports series. Like its brethren, it has a spastic sense of humor, a spineless kid protagonist who wants to be a real man, and overall bleeds teen testosterone from every pore. It's stranger still when the series is about American football, something that only would really catch on in the states, where the concept has already been done to death.
So it comes as all the more surprising that this is hands down my favorite shonen manga, and this is coming from an after-school hermit with the build of a 5-foot chopstick. Perhaps what's most impressive about it is that for me, it did what a sports series should be able to do: create a story that can attract both fans and non-fans of the featured sport without turning into a manual. At times the story does stretch itself a bit thin (especially the ending arc, which is fairly enjoyable, but still mostly fan panderinng), but overall the action in the manga is very well-paced and dynamic, coupled with some of the best art you'll see for a shonen sports manga. The high quality of the art also stretches into the characters: each character is distinctive, even from a distance, and incredibly entertaining (even it they may be bit stereotypes, but hey, it's shonen). The series' madcap sense of humor is bound to leave you ROFLing at least once a volume, but Eyeshield 21 is not just loony high school hijinks; you feel for the underdog team of Devil Bats every step of the way, and even when the drama gets a little over the top, it overall doesn't matter because the story has such a strong heart. While the matches themselves are very well done, the story focuses more than just the end goal of winning the tournament: most of its characters want the championship title for different reasons, and the matches ultimately matter in what they signify rather than just watching kids tackle each other to a pulp. Simply put, it's a bright, light-hearted, and gorgeous-looking manga that embraces its genre as a shonen sports title with passion, and if that's your type of entertainment, this series definitely isn't one to miss out on.
The Unexpected Touchdown
At its surface, Eyeshield 21 doesn't feel all too distinctive from most sports series. Like its brethren, it has a spastic sense of humor, a spineless kid protagonist who wants to be a real man, and overall bleeds teen testosterone from every pore. It's stranger still when the series is about American football, something that only would really catch on in the states, where the concept has already been done to death.
So it comes as all the more surprising that this is hands down my favorite shonen manga, and this is coming from an after-school hermit with the build of a 5-foot chopstick. Perhaps what's most impressive about it is that for me, it did what a sports series should be able to do: create a story that can attract both fans and non-fans of the featured sport without turning into a manual. At times the story does stretch itself a bit thin (especially the ending arc, which is fairly enjoyable, but still mostly fan panderinng), but overall the action in the manga is very well-paced and dynamic, coupled with some of the best art you'll see for a shonen sports manga. The high quality of the art also stretches into the characters: each character is distinctive, even from a distance, and incredibly entertaining (even it they may be bit stereotypes, but hey, it's shonen). The series' madcap sense of humor is bound to leave you ROFLing at least once a volume, but Eyeshield 21 is not just loony high school hijinks; you feel for the underdog team of Devil Bats every step of the way, and even when the drama gets a little over the top, it overall doesn't matter because the story has such a strong heart. While the matches themselves are very well done, the story focuses more than just the end goal of winning the tournament: most of its characters want the championship title for different reasons, and the matches ultimately matter in what they signify rather than just watching kids tackle each other to a pulp. Simply put, it's a bright, light-hearted, and gorgeous-looking manga that embraces its genre as a shonen sports title with passion, and if that's your type of entertainment, this series definitely isn't one to miss out on.