Eyeshield 21
a review by DNSS
a review by DNSS
Every review I write is confronted with 3 major problems. Memory, Patience and Sense of Purpose.
1 - My memory is horrible, writing a review on a certain subject implies mastering that subject to a certain extent. And that, personally, requires revisiting, noting and re-reading. Activities that I usually practice, but it requires the use of the second part, patience.
2 - To write a review, I need to write primarily in my native language (Portuguese) to then translate into English, an unfortunate submission to the Anglo-Saxon imperialism that I face with each text on a foreign website. To ensure that my analysis is not nullified by bad grammar and the fear of judgment of being considered an illiterate, enormous care is put into this part, even if in a limited way. All this requires from me a huge effort both creative, intellectual and willingness, simply to write, regardless of the quality of what was written.
3 - This is the most difficult, I cannot produce anything when I do not feel that I will be relevant or differentiated in some way (apart from academics works that I am obliged to do even without wanting to). That is, it is not easy to produce something new and interesting from scratch. Something new is usually impossible, something interesting is unfortunately even more beyond my range.
Now, what allows me to produce this Review? The complete disregard for the three rules I set for myself. I made an effort of revisiting and memorizing, which I don't usually do. I am having patience and spending my time on an activity that many would consider useless, making a point of being prolix enough and producing countless lines of text introducing my experience with writing and so far, with zero mention of the reviewed work. Finally, choosing now to finally address what should be addressed, to recognize that my review will not be spectacular or new at all, but even so, compared to the horrible and amateurish level of the other reviews on this site, my amateurish and horrible review will be an amateurishly and horribly superior review to those that have already been produced here.
Concluding, not the Review, concluding the introduction to my review. I like to write, and today I decided to write about Eyeshield 21, a manga published in 2002, in the Japanese Magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump, written by Riichirou Inagaki and drawn by Yuusuke Murata. The division of this work will not be the conventional one, divided by arcs or moments, doing that would be, personally, both tedious and unnecessary. I will not enumerate and categorize things like a bot. There is no separation between "art: rating 9", "characters: rating 8". If you do something like that, you are a complete and total dumbass, not wanting to be rude, sorry. Now, regarding scores... they are useless. They serve only as a north of direction, not as an end or something defining. But well, if you care so much about little numbers, if I were to categorize, Eyeshield would be in my parameters an ''8", the spoiler is given. However, you will notice at the end that I will give it a top grade, the maximum. Why? Because I can and because I want to. That way it draws more attention and raises your expectation, read it and create your own experience. Maybe the 100 is exaggerated, I think so too, or maybe not, but then you will have to read it and correct me. Anyway, it would not be an unfair grade. If it is good it is 10 if it is bad it is 0. Let's stick to this monochrome world for now.
Now, more important than an empty number, is to understand what this story wanted to tell me, if it succeeded, and if it did, how well it succeeded. Then we can, together, decide whether or not it was a good read, if my time was well spent, because if it was used in a good way, it will not have been a waste of time. And how could I develop this if not through my personal experience in a totally partial and subjective way? After all, there is no objectivity in art, implying that there is a wrong would imply that there is a right, and the other way around, and this does not exist at all when it comes to art. Well.
How do you ensure the motto of the magazine that shelters you, ''Perseverance, Friendship, Victory'', without establishing bonds of friendship, and perseverance towards victory. Nothing embraces this more than Sena and its friends. Nothing here is handed out, nothing is given. If you watch American Football, you know well that there are positions that matter more and which matter less, which receives more importance and which receives less importance. This information I pulled out of my head, my experience following the sport is null, it was the manga of Inagaki/Murata that made me create interest in the art of the oval ball. I will support the Denver Broncos, they have a cool logo. Back to the point, everything is earned, nothing is handed out on a plate. We see a cast carefully assembled, it's poetry, nothing is more beautiful than seeing the careful importance that each character receives throughout the Manga, each position matters, each member is added to the group over time, slowly, with patience, in a cohesive, natural and organic way, in a genuine manner. Concluding this story and seeing where each one has come, seeing where this same group started from, what they have accomplished, is the satisfaction that can only be achieved by a story that pours passion for its cast, successfully accomplishing the non-simple writing exercise, the good character development. This of course is not limited to the main core of heroes, in a sports manga, rivalry is as important as brotherhood, confrontation, dispute, your enemy is as necessary as, if not more, than your ally. Naturally, its development is of equal importance, and again, seeing its outcome makes us reflect how well written the whole journey was.
Sport, competition, in its very essence, survives through cruelty and the need to overcome the loser. What would be the second place if not only the first loser? What conquers those who are left behind on the journey, what is left for the defeated, or even worse, for the one who has lost before even having the chance to compete, whether out of fear or inability. It is not about recognizing the cruel insignificance of the defeated, but recognizing that this is the only goal, victory, always victory, above all else. Just as the Buddhism teaches us not to fear the inevitable death, Eyeshield teaches us not to fear defeat, but to embrace it. The loser is not glorified, the loser does not receive flowers, he receives purely defeat. What he will do with it, is what makes the total difference, whether the cycle ends in it, or will become a step towards victory, the defeated will only be a defeated during this crucial decision.
To the defeated, oblivion, to the conqueror, the next battle awaits. Glory is temporary and the next opponent presents itself, the path of a winner is endless, there is always the next opponent, and for the elite, the battle is to stay in the elite. It is truly never ending. And it fails to conclude those who believe that victory or defeat matters more than anything else; just as the journey matters more than the destination, the challenge, the battle, matters more than the outcome.
The challenger, trying to prove himself the best, even though he isn't, and not being, seeking to be, is what matters. To assert oneself, to test oneself, to challenge oneself, is the duty and destiny of the sportsman, it is his path, and it is where Eyeshield 21 resides.
Just as Blue Lock exposes in a not so subtle and superficial way the selfishness within sport, we can project the same idea, in an extremely superior and improved way in Eyeshield. Sport is the selfish desire to be the best, to overcome the opponent. And just like the selfishness of the sportsman, it also shines through in his reader. My desire to produce the best review aligns with Sena's goal to become the best Running back, Monta's to be the best Wide Receiver. That's what sports is all about. Compete, sweat, be better than your opponent, if not, don't chicken out and try to be anyway. You can absorb what you want from a story, you can project and interpret it in the way you want, just as Musashi managed to become the best Kicker, other athletes seek to overcome him, challenge him, stop him in different ways. We express ourselves and find different responses in the face of adversity, never without giving up, It is always better to fail by giving it your all than not trying at all.
The duo Murata and Inagaki with few flaws and many merits recreate and apply with exquisite all the classic bases of the supreme sports genre, one of the most delicious aspects of our favorite media. The beauty of sport, the beauty of competition, the frustration, the pain of the pursuit of victory, the desire to rise above all. Eyeshield 21 addresses everything and a little more, never forgetting its macro or its micro. A reading that, did not prove to be a waste of my time at all.
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