Eyeshield 21 facts for kids
| Eyeshield 21 | |
North American cover of the first manga volume, featuring Sena Kobayakawa (front) and the students of the Deimon Private High School
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Quick facts for kids アイシールド21(Aishīrudo Nijūichi) |
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| Genre | |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Riichiro Inagaki |
| Illustrated by | Yusuke Murata |
| Published by | Shueisha |
| English publisher | |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Imprint | Jump Comics |
| Magazine | Weekly Shōnen Jump |
| Original run | July 23, 2002 – June 15, 2009 |
| Volumes | 37 |
| Original video animation | |
| Eyeshield 21: The Phantom Golden Bowl | |
| Directed by | Tamaki Nakatsu |
| Studio | Production I.G |
| Released |
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| Runtime | 30 minutes |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by |
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| Music by | Kō Ōtani |
| Studio | Gallop |
| Licensed by | |
| Network | TV Tokyo |
| English network | |
| Original run | April 6, 2005 – March 19, 2008 |
| Episodes | 145 |
| Original video animation | |
| Eyeshield 21: Christmas Bowl e no Michi | |
| Studio | Gallop |
| Released | 2005 |
| Runtime | 11 minutes |
Eyeshield 21 (pronounced "Eye-shield twenty-one") is a popular Japanese manga series. It was written by Riichiro Inagaki and drawn by Yusuke Murata. The story is about a shy boy named Sena Kobayakawa. He joins an American football club as a secretary. But the team's quarterback, Yoichi Hiruma, soon finds out Sena is an amazing runner.
Hiruma makes Sena join the team as their main runner, called a running back. To keep his special running skills a secret, Sena wears a helmet with an eyeshield and the number 21. He uses the secret name "Eyeshield 21." The creators chose American football because it fit their idea of a weak character becoming strong.
The Eyeshield 21 manga was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from 2002 to 2009. It has 333 chapters collected into 37 books. An anime TV show was also made, with 145 episodes. It aired in Japan from 2005 to 2008. The Eyeshield 21 series also has two short animated movies (OVAs), music albums, video games, and other cool stuff.
In North America, the manga books were released by Viz Media. The anime show was available for streaming online. Eyeshield 21 has sold over 20 million manga books in Japan. Both the manga and anime have been very popular. The anime even helped more people in Japan get interested in American football.
Contents
What is the Story of Eyeshield 21?
The story of Eyeshield 21 starts in Tokyo, Japan. A shy and not-so-confident boy named Sena Kobayakawa starts high school at Deimon Private Senior High. Sena's only special talent is how fast and agile he can run. The captain of the school's American football team, Yoichi Hiruma, notices this right away.
Joining the Deimon Devil Bats Team
Hiruma forces Sena to join the Deimon Devil Bats football team as their running back. To hide Sena's amazing running skills from other teams, he has to pretend to be the team's secretary. When he plays, he wears a special helmet with an eyeshield and the number 21. This is how he becomes the secret player "Eyeshield 21."
The team is very new and not very strong at first. They play in a spring football tournament. They hope to win using their "secret weapon," Sena. But they are quickly defeated by the Ojo White Knights, one of the best football teams in Japan.
Aiming for the Christmas Bowl Championship
After their loss, the team learns that the spring tournament isn't as important as the fall tournament. In the fall, teams compete to play in the Christmas Bowl. This is the big high school football championship game.
Hiruma, along with Ryokan Kurita and Sena, decides to rebuild the team. They slowly gather other students who don't quite fit in or want to prove themselves. These include Tarō "Monta" Raimon, a baseball player who is amazing at catching, and the Ha-Ha Brothers. More characters join the team over time. The series shows how the Deimon Devil Bats team and its members grow stronger. It also shows their rival teams, as everyone tries to reach their goal of playing in the Christmas Bowl.
After the Big Win
Eventually, the Deimon Devil Bats win the Christmas Bowl. They become the best team in the country. Japan then creates a special team with the best football players to play in the American Football Youth World Championship. The best player (MVP) in this championship would win a contract with an NFL team.
Team Japan makes it to the final game against Team America. The game ends in a tie! Both teams are declared winners. But neither team is happy with a tie. They go back onto the field for their own unofficial "overtime" game. It's not clear which team wins this extra period. However, Panther from Team America is shown holding the MVP trophy. This means he won the professional contract.
The series ends with Sena becoming the captain of the Devil Bats. Hiruma and Kurita leave school to go to college. In his last year of high school, Sena gets invited to a special high school in America. The final chapter shows the main characters in college or playing amateur football while working.
How Eyeshield 21 Was Made
Before Eyeshield 21 became a regular series, the writer Riichiro Inagaki and artist Yusuke Murata made two short preview comics. These were published in Weekly Shōnen Jump in March 2002. When the magazine wanted to make it a full series, Inagaki felt he was "too new" to draw it himself. So, he asked Murata to be the artist. Murata had read Inagaki's work and liked his cool uniform designs. He was happy to take on the challenge.
Inspiration for the Story
While Eyeshield 21 was being made, Inagaki traveled to the United States. He watched college football and National Football League games. Even though he had never played American football, he chose it for his story. He wanted to create a main character who started out weak but could become amazing in a sport. American football fit this idea perfectly.
Inagaki was careful not to make the manga feel like a football textbook. He also worried that football wasn't very popular in Japan. He even thought about turning the series into a "masked hero story" if it didn't become popular enough. But Eyeshield 21 became a huge hit! Inagaki said the manga ended exactly how he wanted it to.
Eyeshield 21 in Different Media
Eyeshield 21 has been released in many forms, including manga, anime, and video games.
Manga Books
The Eyeshield 21 manga series was written by Riichiro Inagaki and drawn by Yusuke Murata. It was first published in Japan in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from July 2002 to June 2009. The manga has 333 chapters collected into 37 tankōbon (comic books). The first book came out in December 2002, and the last in October 2010.
In North America, an English version of the manga was published by Viz Media from April 2005 to October 2011. The manga has also been released in other countries like France, Hong Kong, and Italy.
Animated Videos (OVAs)
Two short animated videos (OVAs) were made based on the Eyeshield 21 manga.
- The first OVA was called The Phantom Golden Bowl. It was shown at a special event called Jump Festa in 2003 and 2004.
- The second OVA was titled Eyeshield 21: Christmas Bowl e no Michi. It was shown at Jump Festa in 2005.
These OVAs were later released on DVD.
TV Show (Anime)
The Eyeshield 21 anime TV show was made by TV Tokyo, NAS, and Gallop studios. It aired in Japan from April 6, 2005, to March 19, 2008, on TV Tokyo. There are 145 episodes. Some small changes were made from the manga for the TV show. For example, some strong language or references to gambling were removed.
In North America, the anime was planned to be shown online by Toonami Jetstream and NFL Rush. It was streamed on Toonami Jetstream starting in December 2007. However, the service shut down before the whole series could be shown. Later, the entire series was streamed with English subtitles by Crunchyroll. Sentai Filmworks also got the rights to release the anime on DVDs.
Music from the Show
The music for the Eyeshield 21 anime was created by Kō Ōtani. The show uses many different theme songs. There are five opening songs and seven ending songs. Some of the bands and singers who performed these songs include V6, ZZ, Back-On, and Beni Arashiro.
Many music CDs related to the anime have been released in Japan. These include:
- A full soundtrack album called Eyeshield 21 Complete Best Album.
- Three compilation albums with opening and ending themes, and character songs.
- Six mini-albums (maxi singles) with songs sung by the voice actors for characters like Sena and Monta.
There was also an audio drama CD released, which is like a play you listen to.
Video Games
Several Eyeshield 21 video games have been made for different game systems:
- Konami made games for Sony systems, like Eyeshield 21: Let's Play American Football! Ya! Ha!! for PlayStation 2 and Eyeshield 21: Portable Edition for PlayStation Portable.
- Nintendo made games for its systems, including Eyeshield 21: Max Devil Power for the Nintendo DS and Eyeshield 21: Devilbats Devildays for the Game Boy Advance.
- A game for the Wii console, called Eyeshield 21: The Field's Greatest Warriors, was released in Japan in 2007.
Characters from Eyeshield 21 also appear in other Nintendo DS games like Jump Super Stars and Jump Ultimate Stars.
Other Printed Materials
Two art books showing the artwork from Eyeshield 21 have been released. There was also a special data book with information about the characters and teams. Two light novels (story books with illustrations) were also published. The first one was based on the first OVA. The second was called Eyeshield 21: Netto no Hundred Game!. The original artist, Murata, drew pictures for these books.
Other Merchandise
In Japan, fans could buy many different Eyeshield 21 items. These included jigsaw puzzles, action figures, plush dolls, calendars, and key chains. There was even a collectible card game series released by Konami.
Images for kids
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North American cover of the first manga volume, featuring Sena Kobayakawa (front) and the students of the Deimon Private High School
See also
In Spanish: Eyeshield 21 para niños
