Eyeshield (Chapter 1) - Review

Eyeshield 21 is a Japanese manga series written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. The series tells the story of Sena Kobayakawa, an introverted boy who joins an American football club as a secretary, but after being coerced by Yoichi Hiruma, turns out to play wearing an eyeshield and the number 21, under the pseudonym of "Eyeshield 21".

After Eyeshield 21, Riichiro Inagaki started a new serial titled Dr. Stone in Weekly Shōnen Jump in 2017 in collaboration with Boichi. And Murata's other major work is his illustration of One's One-Punch Man, serialized in the Weekly Young Jump online version. So both of them are still famous mangakas today.

I am not American, so I have learned more about this sport thanks to this manga. I am really looking forward to seeing again this manga as I love it so much.

Welcome to Deimon, Sena! Notice that his test number was 21. That’s a nice foreshadowing.

This is Mamori. She is Sena’s childhood friend, but she is not his love interest. To be honest, I am tired of the “childhood friend romance” trope, so it is nice to see a guy and a girl as just friends.

And this guy is my favorite character. You will see why.

Is it because he is a nice guy? He tossed into the air a new student and lent his phone!

Wait a minute…

And that’s how these two guys try to recruit new members. Pretty sure that’s the wrong way to do it, but at least they have a good sense of humor! I feel bad for the planet though. Please don’t waste paper!

Don’t let Mamori pick your outfit! That’s a bad idea…

Hiruma the devil scared out the crap of everyone! Is Sena going to be friend with Hiruma? (Spoiler: Of course he is)

Oh shit, it’s only the first day at school and he is already bullied! I don’t want to be Sena.

Wow, Sena is ridiculously fast. But why is he running in zigzag? Sena failed to bring what his bullies wanted. So they decided to a storage room to punish Sena. The room is used by the American Football club.

Kurita is strong! He beats three bullies in only one move!

Kurita is also a nice guy and he deeply loves American football. I like him.

That was exactly my first reaction to American football.

The Christmal Bowl is our goal! It is a real championship game in Japan by the way. Japan is actually one of the best countries in American football. The highest level of American Football in Japan is the X-League, an amateur league consisting of true company teams and club teams sponsored by companies. The winners of the Japan X Bowl and Koshien Bowl (the championship game in college-level) play each other in the Rice Bowl. Of course, Japan totally sucks when you compare them with the United States. But it is still nice to know that.

And Sena became the manager of the team! He is supposed to scout and analyze the opponents’ play, set games up with other schools, etc.

Oh no! The bullies are back. Sena is screwed.

And those bullies are fucking evil.

Sena decided to flee. And as you can see, he is very fast! There are too many good panels, so it was very hard to choose between all of them.

Ladies and gentlemen. The legend is born. Hiruma decided to coerce Sena into becoming the best running back in Japan.