Eyeshield 21
a review by atomicqwark
a review by atomicqwark
I am not a fan of American football, or rather I never even tried to watch one single match, let's just say I wasn't interested. I started the serie because I was curious and wow what a slap! I ended up watching some "all you need to know about football" youtube videos just to be sure I am catching up and able to understand everything that is going on in the field.
Within 3 episodes I was already, completely addicted... (so addicted in fact that right after finishing the anime, who doesn't cover the entire manga, I started from the beginning and read it all.
Everything has been done perfectly in that manga, from the omnipresent ridiculous humour that, if it doesn't make you laugh will put you on a good euphoric mood, to making vibrate your sensitive cord and make you cry, all characters are so attaching that we don't follow their adventure we LIVE the adventure with them, I think I was more excited/panicked than a real player at the end of most of their matchs, that always manage to brings a climax so strong and even if following the shonen codes, you will have some surprises.
The also dosed perfectly the courage, the strength of friendship and the supremacy of self without making it cringe (yes, I am pointing my finger at you naruto), really a magical recipe that make it an unforgettable experience.
The main character Sena, make me think of Ippo from another excellent manga I recommend about boxing (Hajime no Ippo):
Another character that I love is Hiruma, the quarterback of the team, who is an evil (yet nice), clever and calculating person, who's got matter to blackmail almost anybody on the country in order to get what he needs, he is motivated by victory and will do whatever is needed, he is very difficult to surprise and just like for a chess game always got 3 plays of advance on the enemy.
A brilliant aspect of that serie is the rivalry between Sena and Shin, Sena is small and fast but Shin is a warmachine, he is almost as fast as Sena, almost as strong as the strongest of their team, a kind of mister perfect, so it's very early on the manga that Sena realise that he won't be able to beat Shin on everything and be a better player, he can only be quicker than him and that's his goal... for the rest, he will have to rely on his team and that team spirit, the way they work, the way they learn to know each other is really one of the strongest point of the manga.
Doesn't matter if you don't like sport mangas, or American football, give it a try, you won't regret it and I am weighting my words wisely when I say that it is the ONE F****G PIECE of the sport mangas.
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