Welcome to Gaia! ::

So, has anyone read this wonderful manga about football? (American football)

If you haven't, you should definitely go check it out. It is one of the primes of JUMP! The only thing I have to complain about it is that sometimes the dire situations/surprising events are mostly just solved with football techniques...=.=;



Summary:

Kobayakawa Sena, a wimpy first-year student at Deimon High, has been running errands for bullies ever since he was young. This has helped him gain high speed running, breaking the high-school record with 4.2 seconds for a 40-yard dash. Anezaki Mamori, a second-year student at Deimon, has been protecting Sena from bullies since they were childhood friends. She is very mother-like in every way. Sena is recruited by Hiruma Youichi, the quarterback for the Deimon Devilbats football team and a hellish, firearm-carrying commander, as the running back for the team(against his will). Since Mamori thinks football is too dangerous for Sena, he poses as the secretary of the team and wears a colored eyeshield during gameplay. The team's goal is to get to the Christams Bowl, a huge football event held every year.

Devilbats Members:

- Kobayakawa Sena - (Running back) An "easy-to-pick-on", obedient kid who grows to be strong, determined, and willing to take risks. Hiruma gives him the nickname "Eyeshield21" and makes him pose as an outstanding graduate of Notre Dame University who will save the team. The public and Mamori believe Sena and Eyeshield to be 2 different people until the Bando Spiders match...

- Anezaki Mamori - (Manager) An extremely mother-like girl who joins the football club to protect Sena from Hiruma. She is half Japanese, half American. She is the opposite of Hiruma, angelic, kind, but smart and strong-willed.

- Hiruma Youichi - (Quarterback) The crafty, intelligent commander and leader of the Devilbats. He can memorize anything and often comes up with plays that save the game. He keeps an Extortion Book that contains the secrets that people don't want others to know, so he can easily blackmail others into being his slaves. He carries a large gun with him at all times, and chews sugarless gum all the time, too. He often expresses his approval by kicking or saying, "Ya-Ha!". He also has a knack for calling people "F***ing ________" (insert word describing the person - ie. Eyebrows, Shiny, Fatty)

- Ryokan Kurita - (Center) Literally, a gentle giant. He and Hiruma were the only two members on the Devilbats team before Sena joined. The other players in earlier games were all other people in sports clubs whom Hiruma had blackmailed into playing for them with his Extortion Book. His father is the head monk of the Ryokan Temple.

- Takekura Gen (Musashi) - (Kicker) The third member of the Devilbats Golden Trio (Hiruma and Kurita). He does not attend any games or practice, but Hiruma keeps his name on the member list, waiting for the day when he can play again. I won't reveal his identity to you! razz

- Raimon Tarou (Monta - monkey) - (Wide Receiver) With his large hands and his flamboyant style, Monta is the fame-seeking receiver of the Devilbats. He has a huge crush on Mamori after she mends his pants that were torn by Cerberus, Hiruma's dog. He is also Sena's best friend.
"Catch MAX!!!"

- The Huh-huh Bros (Jyuumonji Kazuki, Kuroki Kouji, Toganou Shouzo) - (Line) This trio of unlikely linemen were forced into joining the team. They were previously gangsters who treated Sena badly and made him run errands, but they have changed, treating him as a friend. Their trio name (they're not brothers) comes from their habit of each saying, "Huh!?" subsequently, each increasing with volume.

- Natsuhiko Suzuna - (Cheerleader Captain) Suzuna is introduced when the team is in America, along with her even more flamboyant (than Monta) brother, Natsuhiko Taki. She is shown to have an implied liking of Sena, even though she is a bit taller than him. She is always rollerblading.

- Yukimitsu Manabu - (Wide Receiver/Benchwarmer) Yukimitsu is your average balding nerd, although his determination is not to be beaten. His mother forbids him from joining any extracurricular activities, so he attends cram schools and such. He joins the team because he respects Eyeshield21 (Sena, but he doesn't know), and does not play until the match against Shinryuuji Naga.

- Komusubi Daikichi - (Line) A little red-nosed lineman who speaks in "Powerful-Go", or the language that only strong men can understand. He speaks one word/grunt (ie "Hot!" or "Training") and the result can be paragraphs of sophisticated speech in the ears of the strong. He respects Kurita very much and considers himself to be an "A-apprentice!" to Kurita. He also has a running rivalry with the Huh-huh Bros, but later they develop a much deeper relationship (not gay, but brotherhood). His father is a trucker.

- Sakaki Doburoku - (Trainer) A former great player (along with Ojou's coach), the second of the Twin Swords, who loves sake, money, and women. The team meets him in America (The Golden Trio was trained by him earlier) and they help him pay off his debts in Las Vegas after the Death March. His knee was permanently damaged when he was young during his team's attempt to complete the Death March (2000 km run).

- Tetsuo Ishimaru - (Second Running Back) He is always considered "plain" and is well-known for that. He is a member of the track team who volunteered to play when Sena helped him with his magazine deliveries in Volume 1. He is generally good-natured and obedient, and very, very plain.

- Yohei Satake and Kenta Yamoaka - (Receivers) Two basketball club members blackmailed by Hiruma into playing for the Devilbats in Volume 1.

- Cerberus (dog) and Butoberos (pig) - Cerberus is a fiercesome, toothy mutt who only follows Hiruma around for food. In Volume 1, Sena shows his 'light speed' only when being chased by Cerberus (but can later bring it out any time).
Butaberos is a little pig whose hair shape bears a striking resemblance to Kurita's chestnut pointed head. He is found by Doburoku on his search for Komusubi, who ran away before the Poseidon match thinking his short height was useless for the team. He makes a compromise with Cerberus not to eat him, saying that he will grow fat in time. Both dog and pig are often used in Suzuna's cheers, either tossed in the air with her or holding cheer signs.

Other Significant Characters:

- Shin Seijuro - (Linebacker) (Ojou White Knights) He is Sena's main rival throughout the whole story. Strong and silent, he previously held the record for the 40-yard-dash at 4.37 seconds. He is always training and is respected by Sena who has troubling visions of a 'Super-muscular Shin' telling him to train more. He also respects Sena. Despite Sena's faster speed, Shin has more strength and can use his very effective 'Spear Tackle' to knock opponents away. Shin also has a knack at handling electronics very badly. He is not the most tech-savvy person - he usually cracks them apart, confused. (GPS system - *crack* "What a weird map...") Shin tells Sena that it will the White Knights against Deimon at the Finals.

- Sakuraba Haruto - (Wide Receiver) (Ojou White Knights) Sakuraba was never good at sports and was only recruited to the team for his great height. He was a pop idol and a model for Jari Productions (managed by Miracle Ito) with a vast amount of fangirls trailing behind him, much to his embarassment. Monta also thinks of Sakuraba as a role model because of the numerous fangirls he has. However, after he injures his neck in a match against Deimon, he meets a little boy (darn, I forget his name) in the same hospital room who actually idolizes him not for his idol fame but for his catch made during the match. He then cuts his hair (therefore forfeiting his fangirls - although there still are some - and his idol job) and trains using his tall height with Takami the quarterback's tall height, to form an ultimate catching duo - "Everest Pass". Miracle Ito does come back and decides to make Sakuraba into a 'handsome athlete', so now they both share the same goal - the Christmas Bowl (basically the goal of all the teams).

Agh, too many characters to talk about at once!!! I'll get some more down later, okay? wink

****SPOILERS END****

Here are all the color pages from the manga:
http://devilbats.net/pages/manga/galerie.php
(Careful, image-packed. Not friendly for dial-up users)

Here are some of my favorite color spreads/pages:

http://devilbats.net/picture/manga/galerie/070th 2.jpg

http://devilbats.net/picture/manga/galerie/112th 2.jpg

http://devilbats.net/picture/manga/galerie/131st 1.jpg
(Amazing photographic coloring with markers!)

http://devilbats.net/picture/manga/galerie/155th 2.jpg

http://devilbats.net/picture/manga/galerie/149th 2.jpg

http://devilbats.net/picture/manga/galerie/168th 03.jpg

http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/7026/es2118000amn2.png
(This is a funny comic featured in the cover of Volume 18. Enjoy!)

Anyways, hehe, discuss?

Wow! Thanks for posting! *lalala*
Oh... Hiruma would sound really cheesy without his coined word. confused

There are more at mangahelpers.com or stoptazmo.com, but it is only 168-200 (most current). And some are quickly done with bad raws, but it is only for readability. ^^

I've been watching the fansub and reading the manga from viz. Can't say Viz screwed up Eyeshield 21 they pretty much left it the same with the exception of the few edits they do for no reason with anything Shonen Jump. But hey atleast 4 Kids didn't pick up its licesoning so lets be thankful. XD