YMMV / Eyeshield 21

• Anti-Climax Boss: The Pentagon served as the final boss for a lot of the characters in the World cup arc (Sena and Panther having their rematch, Mr.Don being the final test of strength for Gaou, Kurita and Yamato), Unfortunately all the receivers pretty much completed their development so Bud was useless, Tatanka only serves to give Takami a final awesome moment with Sakuraba and Clifford battle of wits with Hiruma was way less intense than with Kid or Marco. and that is not counting that America aside, the World Cup as no team shining even though we have the world strongest bench presser and Schultz stopping Sena's first run dead on track.
• Awesome Art: The color spreads are◊ just◊ gorgeous. The whole manga itself can count after its Art Evolution.
• Awesome Music:
  • Be Survivor by ZZ. Several of the openings and endings would qualify as well.
  • Codename Eyeshield 21. Just try to say this song doesn't give you the sense of the final stretch of a game before victory.
• Base-Breaking Character: Takeru Yamato is either a fine Final Boss for the Christmas Bowl and a refreshingly passionate-but-good-natured rival after several story arcs' worth of Opposing Sports Teams (plus the real Eyeshield 21), or an obnoxious, bland Shin-clone who lacks Shin's series-long buildup. The World Cup tones it down a bit and does give him more depth, but the arc itself isn't very well-regarded.
• Cargo Ship:
  • Mamori and cream puffs.
  • Akaba and his electric guitar.
  • Kurita and the TV which everyone from Devil Bats wrote their name on. He even carried it to Enma!
  • Shin and his gloves. Alternatively, Shin and technology.
• Crazy Is Cool: Hiruma, Hiruma, Hiruma. Has taken over his school from the shadows, throws a long pass as a quarterback with his broken arm, runs across America for 40 days without showing any fatigue until the end, Has blackmail material for half the people in the world, and throws together a high-school American football team within a year that manages to beat an all-star high school team that has never lost before, among other examples.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Every other thing Hiruma does like creative and liberal use of his Hyperspace Arsenal on his teammates (and everyone else).
• Ending Fatigue: The World Cup Arc occurs after the team has already won the big game the entire series has been building towards, and is order-of-magnitude shorter and worse-written than what came before. However, the wrap-up, and subsequent Distant Finale at least gives everyone their dignity, and serves as an excellent ending to the series.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Rui Habashira of the Zokugaku Chameleons proved surprisingly popular in one of the character polls, where he placed 5th and was the only character not from Deimon or Ojou in the top 10 (well, besides Kakei at the #3 spot). Despite his fairly minor presence in the series, he has a very strong fan following - which is probably why he was revealed to be the mystery player on the World Cup team.
  • Juumonji, who has the most characterization out of all the Ha-Ha Brothers.
  • In an even more baffling example, you have Gokuu of the Shinryuuji Nagas, a character wedged deep in the background who hardly appears at all but has a surprisingly large fan following in Japan. Probably has to do with the fact that he's based on Wu kong
  • The cheerleaders of Kyoshin Poseidon, Otohime and Urashima, which managed to appear more often than the team’s actual manager. The Running Gag Urashima had with Mizumachi probably helped.
• Fanfic Fuel: The college lineups are just begging for this.
• Friendly Fandoms: Is this with Reborn! (2004), due to the main characters being incredibly similar: Short, cute-looking teenage males with messy, spiky brown hair and eyes who are no good in all aspects of life but are dragged into a crazy plot due to one particular talent. Their friends are anything but ordinary, and their stories revolve around a concept that's relatively foreign to Japan (American Football for Sena, Mafia work for Tsuna). Heck, even their names sound similar.
• Harsher in Hindsight: After the Seibu and Deimon game, where the rivals are awaiting the Kanto tournament for their rematch? Gets a lot less heartwarming when you know that they won't get a rematch, and all the gunmen have in their future is to get crushed by Gaou.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The 60-yards Magnum, said to be impossible to score and that not even in the NFL there were kickers able to score that and that only Musashi was able to? Denver Broncos kicker Matt Prater has something to say about that.
  • In the USA arc, Sena inadvertently tries out for the NFL team the San Antonio Armadillos, an obvious Bland-Name Product. However in 2020, the revamped XFL league started up a legit San Antonio team, which even survived the 2024 merger with USFL to remain in the UFL .
• Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Both Sena and Hiruma are paired up with everyone, including with each other. On the female side, Mamori is this too. And then there’s Karin, who has been paired up with every single named characters from the Alexanders.
• Love to Hate: Agon. Even those who loathe the character are willing to concede that the series was at its emotional best when he was the main antagonist.
• Moe: Suzuna.
• Narm:
  • When Gaou and Yamato tried to stop Mr. Don for the first time, an imagery of a Caesar riding a Tyrannosaur Rex is used to illustrate the former two while the latter stays the same.
  • In the anime, whenever Riko gets too excited during a match, she turns into a literal clone of her father, voice included, before Sanada calls her out.
  • The title of Chapter 262, “This Is An American Football”. Thank you, Gratuitous English Captain Obvious.
• Narm Charm: Mr. Don destroying the imageries of Yamato and Gaou without changing appearance. As to say he doesn't need to channel any fancy power like the Japanese characters, he'll just power through anything.
• Nightmare Fuel: Any of Hiruma's Nightmare Faces, in particular this one◊.
• Older Than They Think: Surprisingly, this isn't the first manga about football - just the first to be successful. The earliest, 5-Yarder, ran from 1977 to 1979.
• Periphery Demographic: Let's see: Lots of Ho Yay, shirtless scenes galore, and plenty of handsome, attractive football boys. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
• Seasonal Rot: Opinions vary on when the series loses its way, with the consensus being that it happens sometime after the awesome long-awaited rematch between Deimon and Ojo and has definitely happened by the World Cup Arc. It largely comes down to what you think of Hakushu and Teikoku as opponents.
• The Woobie:
  • Unsui. From the day he was born he was constantly compared to his naturally talented younger twin brother, Agon, who is a jerkass to say the least. No matter how hard he works (and boy does he work), he's only a good player while his brother is considered a once-in-a-century prodigy without even trying. Just when he thinks his efforts are finally acknowledged, it turns out people just mistake him for his younger brother. Ouch. And even after his Heroic BSoD, he still continues to work his ass off, only now it's to selflessly help his brother reach his full potential, despite the fact that Unsui has every reason to resent him. What does his younger brother do? He looks down on him, regularly insults him, and is a general ass to him. However, the game against the Americans hint that Agon may actually wish for his brother to be something more than his on-field assistant.
  • Kurita. The number of set backs he received before forming the team would have made most people quit: He has to carry every other clubs' equipment just to get a small piece of field to train, the school simply forces him to stop playing, even when he meets Hiruma who turns most f this around he doesn't get into the team he wanted because Agon hated him, watch his best friend sacked into unconsciousness by Gaou and unlike Hiruma he is nowhere near stoic enough to handle the pressure of having his final chance at the Christmas Bowl being so soon.
  • Ishimaru is a comedy example. He's a really nice guy who helped Deimon all the way to Christmas Bowl despite not being part of the club and is the victim of a Running Gag about being ignored by all.

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