I am a sports fan, but I wouldn't go as far as saying I absolutely love sports. I enjoy playing sports, and I play a few of them on a regular basis. However, a manga about sports? I heard the name of Eyeshield 21 around on websites, but never considered it before. It was just one of those things that my eyes would simply pass over, but one day I was searching for a new anime series to dive into. Why not Eyeshield 21? It took me completely by surprise, and has certainly turned into one of my favourite anime and manga series I have ever experienced.

The story is not the usual stereotypical weak boy turns into a hero situation. It is rather different as the story is quite enthralling here. Sena, a young student, just passed into high school where his childhood friend goes. Mamori is a year older than him, but has been helping Sena for as long as she can remember by protecting him from bullies. Sena's small size makes him a target, but due to being bullied severely over years, he has developed an invaluable skill of dashing at an incredible pace, while being able to dodge obstacles.

At the same high school is the well-known villainous Hiruma. Wherever his name is spoken, shivers are sent down everyone's backs as he knows every detail of each student in order to bribe them when necessary! Hiruma is also the captain of the American Football team, if you can call it a team that is - only himself and Kiruta who is an extremely large person, ideal for the position he plays. Hiruma is on the lookout for new players and sees Sena dash away from some bullies, instantly fixing his gaze on Sena for the team.

Sena is physically weak, and petrified of Hiruma, but Kurita's kind heart and determination convinces him to help out with the team by becoming a manager. Hiruma takes this as the perfect opportunity to keep Sena's real identity hidden, and the new ace of the Devil Bats (the name of Hiruma's team) is born - Eyeshield 21.

As I said before, the story is extremely interesting largely thanks to the vast array of different personalities. Unlike other series, Eyeshield 21 does not use the character's personalities as much as using the story and actual American Football matches. This definitely gives a very different feel than reading most standard manga series and results in a very enjoyable title (especially if you are interested in sports). It's difficult to say whether people who are not so inclined towards sports will enjoy it, however my brother (who is completely lazy) has found the series interesting enough and has enjoyed it too.

The art is of a typical Japanese style, and with the blend of several humour scenes with more realistic serious drama-like situations, the art is diverse and covers almost every aspect in just this one volume. However, full credit must be given to Riichiro Inagaki who did the story, since in my opinion the story is what truly brings this manga alive.

The manga contains a good and interesting 21 pages of bonus material, with a couple of short stories utilising the main characters. There are also other materials there that relate to the manga and give a nice insight into things. It is nice to have this sort of extra features in a manga, and makes it worth the purchase knowing you are getting something extra. The manga is good enough without these features, so this really is a bonus.

On the whole, this is an excellent volume and sets the scene for the rest of the series quite nicely. I found that the anime was a little slow at times, but it seems that the manga is well paced and flows quite nicely. This really is a solid piece, and I would recommend people giving it a try anytime.

5/5

Originally published on www.mangaview.net