178-494: Eyeshield 21 ( Japanese : アイシールド21 , Hepburn : Aishīrudo Nijūichi ) 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 quarterback Yoichi Hiruma , becomes the team's running back , wearing jersey number 21 and an eyeshield to conceal his identity. Inagaki chose American football as
356-534: A field goal of 60 meters against Teikoku Alexanders at the Christmas Bowl. Tetsuo Ishimaru ( 石丸 哲生 , Ishimaru Tetsuo ) is the Devil Bats' second running back. Ishimaru is recruited from the track team by Sena who takes over half of his paper route for him. Ishimaru is considered an extremely ordinary person, and thus, many times, his adversaries and even teammates do not note his presence on
534-465: A gofer for others instead of getting rid of bullies. In his first day at Deimon High School, he is chased by three bullies known as the Ha-Ha Brothers and his speed is discovered by Hiruma. Under the alias "Eyeshield 21" because of the green eyeshield he wears to conceal his identity, Sena joins Deimon's football team as a running back . Yoichi Hiruma ( 蛭魔 妖一 , Hiruma Yōichi ) is
712-459: A "typical sports story", writing that what make it an above average series are its characters and artwork. He also wrote that people who think American football is boring "may change their minds after seeing the action sequences in Eyeshield 21 ." Later, Santos said, "[a] lot of familiar clichés show themselves" in Eyeshield 21 , and that "[t]he storyline also does a sloppy job of keeping track of
890-494: A ball that she threw back to him. She is reluctant at first but agrees after Yamato talks to her. As she had a natural ability for passes, Karin only trains hard to improve her dodging ability. The Taiyo Sphinx ( 太陽スフィンクス , Taiyō Sufinkusu ) are a team based in the Kanagawa prefecture. They are renowned for their "Pyramid Line" composed of strong and heavy offensive and defensive linemen. Its members include Banba Mamoru ,
1068-637: A benefit from the in-group to the out-group) means "[I/we] explained [it] to [him/her/them]". Such beneficiary auxiliary verbs thus serve a function comparable to that of pronouns and prepositions in Indo-European languages to indicate the actor and the recipient of an action. Japanese "pronouns" also function differently from most modern Indo-European pronouns (and more like nouns) in that they can take modifiers as any other noun may. For instance, one does not say in English: The amazed he ran down
1246-726: A central subject of Eyeshield 21 after realizing that it fit perfectly with his idea for the series. The manga was originally serialized in Shueisha 's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from July 2002 to June 2009. The series consists of 333 chapters collected in 37 tankōbon volumes. An anime adaptation consisting of 145 television episodes was co-produced by TV Tokyo , NAS , and Gallop . The television series first aired on Japan's TV Tokyo network from April 2005 to March 2008. The Eyeshield 21 franchise has spawned two original video animations (OVAs), audio albums, video games, and other merchandise. In North America,
1424-556: A charge, called the " Caesar Charge". However, after he was outran by Panther , then a ball boy , during a game between Notre Dame and NASA when the two teens chased after a runaway ball, former Notre Dame student Donald Oberman witnessed this and had Yamato removed from the team, believing that Yamato was undeserving of the Eyeshield 21 title. Yamato returned to Japan in order to reach the top and find an opponent capable of facing him; he then enrolled at Teikoku High School, reaching
1602-538: A comic relief in the series, Otawara can be very insightful, which genuinely shocks just about everyone. Later, he serves as a personal coach for Daikichi Komusubi during the Devil Bats' preparation for the Christmas Bowl. The Seibu Wild Gunmen ( 西部ワイルドガンマンズ , Seibu Wairudo Ganmanzu ) are a team from the Kantō region of Japan. They are considered to be the strongest offensive team in Tokyo. Its members include Kid ,
1780-600: A crawl and the storyline gets a little boring". In her review, Erin Finnegan from Anime News Network stated, "[t]he pace of Eyeshield 21 is its saving grace. It's way less boring than all the time outs and commercial breaks in a regular NFL game. Football is hard to understand, but Eyeshield 21 explains the Byzantine rules ... in an entertaining way. We're never left waiting for the ref's decision for long minutes like in real life. A lot of dramatic tension carries
1958-414: A distinct language of its own that has absorbed various aspects from neighboring languages. Japanese has five vowels, and vowel length is phonemic, with each having both a short and a long version. Elongated vowels are usually denoted with a line over the vowel (a macron ) in rōmaji , a repeated vowel character in hiragana , or a chōonpu succeeding the vowel in katakana . /u/ ( listen )
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#17327940209102136-419: A glide /j/ and either the first part of a geminate consonant ( っ / ッ , represented as Q) or a moraic nasal in the coda ( ん / ン , represented as N). The nasal is sensitive to its phonetic environment and assimilates to the following phoneme, with pronunciations including [ɴ, m, n, ɲ, ŋ, ɰ̃] . Onset-glide clusters only occur at the start of syllables but clusters across syllables are allowed as long as
2314-537: A lineman and the captain, and Reisuke Aki ( 安芸礼介 , Aki Reisuke ) , most known as Achilles, a lineman who joins the team due to its cheerleaders. Takeru Yamato ( 大和猛 , Yamato Takeru ) is the "real" Eyeshield 21 . He obtained the title while attending Notre Dame High School in the United States, becoming the first player of Japanese descent to do so. There, he felt he lacked speed and strength, so he focused everything on balance to become unstoppable in
2492-484: A listener depending on the listener's relative social position and the degree of familiarity between the speaker and the listener. When used in different social relationships, the same word may have positive (intimate or respectful) or negative (distant or disrespectful) connotations. Japanese often use titles of the person referred to where pronouns would be used in English. For example, when speaking to one's teacher, it
2670-505: A model of Jari Productions. Because of his popularity, people mistake him for the ace of the Ojo team; however, he is initially seen by the other players only as a pitchman and an average player. After getting injured and being hospitalized he meets Torakichi , a boy who admires him only due to his skills, and Sakuraba becomes excited again to play American football. Sakuraba starts to try harder, shaves his hair and let his beard grow, and before
2848-483: A monkey, and it is used as a recurring gag throughout the series. At the end of the series, he is shown to be attending Enma University. Mamori Anezaki ( 姉崎 まもり , Anezaki Mamori ) is a childhood friend of Sena that has been protecting him from bullies since primary school. At high school, and after Sena joins the American football club, Mamori also joins it as the club manager to protect him. Despite joining
3026-408: A sentence need not be stated and pronouns may be omitted if they can be inferred from context. In the example above, hana ga nagai would mean "[their] noses are long", while nagai by itself would mean "[they] are long." A single verb can be a complete sentence: Yatta! ( やった! ) "[I / we / they / etc] did [it]!". In addition, since adjectives can form the predicate in a Japanese sentence (below),
3204-423: A serial, the editorial department asked if Inagaki wanted to both write and draw the series, but Inagaki felt he was "so rookie", so he asked Murata to be the illustrator. Before being asked to work on Eyeshield 21 , Murata had read some of Inagaki's manga and noted that they "had many cool design concepts of uniforms and equipment". He said, "it could be turned into a great manga story" and he would "be happy to take
3382-466: A shooter like him and imposed on his son a lot of pressure. After he could not win a championship and thought he disappointed his father, Shien left his home and abandoned his name, adopting the pseudonym "Kid". He is known for having one of the quickest passing arms as he never took a sack . In the "Quick-Draw Pass" he throws the ball in 0.2 seconds by using both of his hands to generate a fast spiral, and due to this and his background in shooting he earned
3560-428: A single adjective can be a complete sentence: Urayamashii! ( 羨ましい! ) "[I'm] jealous [about it]!". While the language has some words that are typically translated as pronouns, these are not used as frequently as pronouns in some Indo-European languages, and function differently. In some cases, Japanese relies on special verb forms and auxiliary verbs to indicate the direction of benefit of an action: "down" to indicate
3738-496: A sports game", and with this premise in mind he decided that American football would be "a very suitable material". When originally creating Eyeshield 21 , Inagaki said he was wary because he did not want his manga becoming "a simulator of football". The fact that football is not a popular sport in Japan also worried Inagaki. As last resort, he thought to turn the series into a " Kamen Rider -style masked hero story" if it could not met
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#17327940209103916-565: A team based in Houston, Texas . The team was known as the NASA Aliens ( NASAエイリアンズ , Nasa Eirianzu ) before they changed their name after their loss to the Devil Bats in a match they have bet with Hiruma that if the NASA Aliens could not win with a lead of ten points or more, they would not return to the United States. Then its coach, Leonardo Apollo , changed the team name to return to their home country. Its members include Panther ,
4094-718: A vow to win the Rice Bowl —Japan's national league football championship between the best college team and the best X-League team. In a bonus chapter set some time later, the Armadillos offer a spot on their roster for one Japanese player through the NFL's International Player Pathway Program , with Sena and Hiruma being chosen as the two candidates. To determine who receives the spot, Sena and Hiruma face off against each other with their respective college teams—the Enma Fires and
4272-602: A weak, unassertive boy named Sena Kobayakawa enters the Deimon Private Senior High School. Sena's only remarkable physical abilities are his running speed and agility, which are noted by the school's American football team captain and quarterback , the ambitious and intimidating Yoichi Hiruma . Hiruma forces Sena to join the Deimon Devil Bats as its running back . To protect his identity from other teams who want to recruit him, Sena
4450-408: A winning mix of comedy, action and drama". On the 2008 list, Aoki listed Eyeshield 21 as the best continuing shōnen , as it was able to "[come] into its own" from other shōnen series. In that same year, Pop Culture Shock ' s Sam Kusek elected it the best continuing manga series. Chris Zimmerman of Comic Book Bin was positive on his review of the volumes 30–33; he affirmed it is "one of
4628-680: Is compressed rather than protruded , or simply unrounded. Some Japanese consonants have several allophones , which may give the impression of a larger inventory of sounds. However, some of these allophones have since become phonemic. For example, in the Japanese language up to and including the first half of the 20th century, the phonemic sequence /ti/ was palatalized and realized phonetically as [tɕi] , approximately chi ( listen ) ; however, now [ti] and [tɕi] are distinct, as evidenced by words like tī [tiː] "Western-style tea" and chii [tɕii] "social status". The "r" of
4806-421: Is topic–comment . Sentence-final particles are used to add emotional or emphatic impact, or form questions. Nouns have no grammatical number or gender , and there are no articles . Verbs are conjugated , primarily for tense and voice , but not person . Japanese adjectives are also conjugated. Japanese has a complex system of honorifics , with verb forms and vocabulary to indicate the relative status of
4984-438: Is a second-year student who has always been dedicated to only the studies. His mother wants him to be a studious person and makes him study from day till night in addition to going to cram school . Contradicting his mother, Yukimitsu decides he wants to have sweet memories of his high school not related to studying, and so he applies for Hiruma's qualification test and enters the Deimon Devil Bats. Yukimitsu does not participate in
5162-476: Is a womanizer and irresponsible, having to be monitored by his brother, Unsui. Inagaki described him as "a real ladies' man, a very strong character" and noted he could not depict Agon "laying with the ladies" in a shōnen manga . Unsui Kongo ( 金剛雲水 , Kongō Unsui ) is the Naga's quarterback. He is known for his dedication to training and for his passion for football but is considered merely "a good player",
5340-448: Is also seen in o-medetō "congratulations", from medetaku ). Late Middle Japanese has the first loanwords from European languages – now-common words borrowed into Japanese in this period include pan ("bread") and tabako ("tobacco", now "cigarette"), both from Portuguese . Modern Japanese is considered to begin with the Edo period (which spanned from 1603 to 1867). Since Old Japanese,
5518-527: Is also used in a limited fashion (such as for imported acronyms) in Japanese writing. The numeral system uses mostly Arabic numerals , but also traditional Chinese numerals . Proto-Japonic , the common ancestor of the Japanese and Ryukyuan languages , is thought to have been brought to Japan by settlers coming from the Korean peninsula sometime in the early- to mid-4th century BC (the Yayoi period ), replacing
Eyeshield 21 - Misplaced Pages Continue
5696-449: Is an incredibly vain and narcissistic person usually dismissed as an idiot by several people, including his sister Suzuna and Hiruma, due to his odd and rather foolish attitude; it is exemplified by his habit of opening his jacket to bare his pecs and making weird poses and pirouettes. However, Taki takes football seriously and uses his flexibility to block his opponents. After he is rejected by Japan's high school teams, Taki travels to
5874-440: Is appropriate to use sensei ( 先生 , "teacher"), but inappropriate to use anata . This is because anata is used to refer to people of equal or lower status, and one's teacher has higher status. Japanese nouns have no grammatical number, gender or article aspect. The noun hon ( 本 ) may refer to a single book or several books; hito ( 人 ) can mean "person" or "people", and ki ( 木 ) can be "tree" or "trees". Where number
6052-701: Is associated with comedy (see Kansai dialect ). Dialects of Tōhoku and North Kantō are associated with typical farmers. The Ryūkyūan languages, spoken in Okinawa and the Amami Islands (administratively part of Kagoshima ), are distinct enough to be considered a separate branch of the Japonic family; not only is each language unintelligible to Japanese speakers, but most are unintelligible to those who speak other Ryūkyūan languages. However, in contrast to linguists, many ordinary Japanese people tend to consider
6230-404: Is banned from playing for six months due to the school's policy, and during this time he is devoted to studying new tactics to teach his teammates. He introduces himself for the match against the Devil Bats as "the real Eyeshield 21". After his team is defeated, he officially hands Sena the Eyeshield 21 title and serves as a personal coach for Natsuhiko Taki during the Devil Bats' preparation for
6408-466: Is better documentation of Late Middle Japanese phonology than for previous forms (for instance, the Arte da Lingoa de Iapam ). Among other sound changes, the sequence /au/ merges to /ɔː/ , in contrast with /oː/ ; /p/ is reintroduced from Chinese; and /we/ merges with /je/ . Some forms rather more familiar to Modern Japanese speakers begin to appear – the continuative ending - te begins to reduce onto
6586-509: Is correlated with the sex of the speaker and the social situation in which they are spoken: men and women alike in a formal situation generally refer to themselves as watashi ( 私 , literally "private") or watakushi (also 私 , hyper-polite form), while men in rougher or intimate conversation are much more likely to use the word ore ( 俺 "oneself", "myself") or boku . Similarly, different words such as anata , kimi , and omae ( お前 , more formally 御前 "the one before me") may refer to
6764-536: Is forced to publicly assume the role of the team secretary and enter the field under the pseudonym of " Eyeshield 21 " wearing a helmet with an eyeshield as a disguise. The makeshift team initially takes part in the spring football tournament hoping to win through the strength of their new "secret weapon". However, the extremely weak team is eliminated early by the Ojo White Knights , one of the best high school football teams in Tokyo. After Deimon's defeat,
6942-417: Is important, it can be indicated by providing a quantity (often with a counter word ) or (rarely) by adding a suffix, or sometimes by duplication (e.g. 人人 , hitobito , usually written with an iteration mark as 人々 ). Words for people are usually understood as singular. Thus Tanaka-san usually means Mx Tanaka . Words that refer to people and animals can be made to indicate a group of individuals through
7120-755: Is less common. In terms of mutual intelligibility , a survey in 1967 found that the four most unintelligible dialects (excluding Ryūkyūan languages and Tōhoku dialects ) to students from Greater Tokyo were the Kiso dialect (in the deep mountains of Nagano Prefecture ), the Himi dialect (in Toyama Prefecture ), the Kagoshima dialect and the Maniwa dialect (in Okayama Prefecture ). The survey
7298-549: Is no other wide receiver as good as he. Taka eventually finds a suitable rival in Monta, who initially fears to go against Taka due to Masaru being his idol, but who defeat him in the end. Karin Koizumi ( 小泉香燐 , Koizumi Karin ) is the quarterback of the team and the only female player in the series. She would have joined the manga club when she started high school. Her skills as a player are discovered by Taka after he catches
Eyeshield 21 - Misplaced Pages Continue
7476-428: Is not from Deimon High School. Doburoku Sakaki ( 酒奇 溝六 , Sakaki Doburoku ) is the physical trainer and equipment manager of the Deimon Devil Bats and a former American footballer. He trained Hiruma , Musashi , and Kurita , and taught them how to play American football before they entered high school. However, after his loan shark 's debts became too high because of his gambling habits, he left them and fled to
7654-420: Is often called a topic-prominent language , which means it has a strong tendency to indicate the topic separately from the subject, and that the two do not always coincide. The sentence Zō wa hana ga nagai ( 象は鼻が長い ) literally means, "As for elephant(s), (the) nose(s) (is/are) long". The topic is zō "elephant", and the subject is hana "nose". Japanese grammar tends toward brevity; the subject or object of
7832-498: Is preserved in words such as matsuge ("eyelash", lit. "hair of the eye"); modern mieru ("to be visible") and kikoeru ("to be audible") retain a mediopassive suffix - yu(ru) ( kikoyu → kikoyuru (the attributive form, which slowly replaced the plain form starting in the late Heian period) → kikoeru (all verbs with the shimo-nidan conjugation pattern underwent this same shift in Early Modern Japanese )); and
8010-628: Is the "Eyeshield 21", starting their rivalry. Despite this, he serves as a personal coach for Sena during the Devil Bats' preparation for the Christmas Bowl. Shin was modeled after Bruce Lee , and Murata noted he becomes like a real person as the story progresses. Haruto Sakuraba ( 桜庭 春人 , Sakuraba Haruto ) is the Ojo White Knights' wide receiver. While in high school he entered the team due to his unpaired height; however, Shin surpasses him. Sakuraba feels envious of Shin's success and achievements, and disappointed with himself he becomes
8188-404: Is the ace linebacker of the Ojo White Knights. Shin only joins an American football club because he is accompanying Haruto Sakuraba on the admission exam when the coach Gunpei Shoji sees his potential. Over time, he is regarded as the best linebacker in Japan, and is known for his obsessive training habits. Shin is also a good observer; at the first time Shin meets Sena, he realizes that Sena
8366-562: Is the largest and strongest lineman and player in the Deimon Devil Bats. Kurita met Hiruma and Musashi before entering high school, and with them founded the Mao Devil Bats, promising that one day they would contest the Christmas Bowl. Before completing high school, Kurita wanted to join the Shinryuji Naga through a scholarship , but Agon Kongo , who is considered a prodigy, entered his vacancy, and since he could not pass
8544-444: Is the only black member of the NASA Aliens. He is also known as "The Man who Possesses Weightless Legs" because he has innate and extraordinary running talents. However, by the start of the series, he is just used as a ball boy by the team coach, Leonard Apollo . Panther struggles because he has the dream of becoming a professional NFL player to sustain his grandmother, and also because he admires Apollo. Apollo allows him to play for
8722-481: Is the primary wide receiver of the Deimon Devil Bats. He is most known as Monta ( モン太 ) , a nickname given to him by Hiruma, who said that this name alluded to Joe Montana . Initially, he wants to become a baseball player, and sees Masaru Honjo , a Shuei the Bears' outfielder , as an idol. However, due to his lack of ability in other areas than reception he is not cast for the main team. Then, Sena invites him to join
8900-665: Is the principal language of the Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people . It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan , the only country where it is the national language , and within the Japanese diaspora worldwide. The Japonic family also includes the Ryukyuan languages and the variously classified Hachijō language . There have been many attempts to group the Japonic languages with other families such as
9078-402: Is the version of Japanese discussed in this article. Formerly, standard Japanese in writing ( 文語 , bungo , "literary language") was different from colloquial language ( 口語 , kōgo ) . The two systems have different rules of grammar and some variance in vocabulary. Bungo was the main method of writing Japanese until about 1900; since then kōgo gradually extended its influence and
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#17327940209109256-473: Is the younger of twin brothers on the Shinryuji Naga team. Agon joined the school through a scholarship for students with athletic skills above average, and he is considered a genius player who appears only once in a century, and he treats everyone with indifference, arrogance, and as worthless trash. He can play in most of the skill positions , and has a reaction time of 0.11 seconds. However, Agon
9434-471: Is used for the present and the future. For verbs that represent an ongoing process, the -te iru form indicates a continuous (or progressive) aspect , similar to the suffix ing in English. For others that represent a change of state, the -te iru form indicates a perfect aspect. For example, kite iru means "They have come (and are still here)", but tabete iru means "They are eating". Questions (both with an interrogative pronoun and yes/no questions) have
9612-419: Is usually translated as "completely". Gondayu Yamabushi ( 山伏権太夫 , Yamabushi Gondayū ) is one of the senior members and linemen of the Naga team and its captain. He joins the team through a scholarship for sportsmen, and is an elite player, according to his coach. During his freshman year, Yamabushi was noted alongside fellow receiver Doujirou Tenma as the future of the team. However, as skilled as he was,
9790-405: Is why some linguists do not classify Japanese "pronouns" as pronouns, but rather as referential nouns, much like Spanish usted (contracted from vuestra merced , "your ( majestic plural ) grace") or Portuguese você (from vossa mercê ). Japanese personal pronouns are generally used only in situations requiring special emphasis as to who is doing what to whom. The choice of words used as pronouns
9968-427: The de jure captain of the team, and the two tallest high school football players in Japan, Hiroshi Ohira and Hiroshi Onishi, who greatly admire Kakei. Shun Kakei ( 筧 駿 , Kakei Shun ) is a linebacker and the de facto captain of the team due to Osamu's shyness. During middle school, he was considered an exceptional player because he was taller than the other Japanese students. Because of this, he moved to
10146-563: The Ainu , Austronesian , Koreanic , and the now-discredited Altaic , but none of these proposals have gained any widespread acceptance. Little is known of the language's prehistory, or when it first appeared in Japan. Chinese documents from the 3rd century AD recorded a few Japanese words, but substantial Old Japanese texts did not appear until the 8th century. From the Heian period (794–1185), extensive waves of Sino-Japanese vocabulary entered
10324-522: The Eyeshield 21 manga has sold over 20 million volumes. The manga and anime have been featured at various times in weekly top ten lists of best-selling in their respective media. The anime has been watched by a large number of television viewers in Japan, helping to raise American football's popularity in the country. Publications for manga, anime, and others have commented on Eyeshield 21 , which received praise for its artwork and characters, and criticism towards its non-football related plotlines. In Tokyo,
10502-589: The Eyeshield 21 manga series were developed. The first one, named The Phantom Golden Bowl , was developed by Production I.G and shown as part of the Jump Festa Anime Tour in September 2003 and in Jump Festa 2004. The second OVA, titled Eyeshield 21: Christmas Bowl e no Michi – Minami no Shima de Tokkun da! YA-HA!! – , was shown at Jump Festa 2005. The two OVAs were later released on DVD;
10680-420: The Eyeshield 21 series, Murata was concerned that each character had a stand-out quality because many of them are in groups. Murata said that "due to their heavy protective gear, it would be very difficult to identify personal characteristics in games" and because of this he decided to become more engaged in detailing their clothes, "so the most work on character designs are on their uniforms". Inagaki conceived
10858-462: The Japonic language family, which also includes the Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands . As these closely related languages are commonly treated as dialects of the same language, Japanese is sometimes called a language isolate . According to Martine Irma Robbeets , Japanese has been subject to more attempts to show its relation to other languages than any other language in
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#173279402091011036-514: The Philippines , and various Pacific islands, locals in those countries learned Japanese as the language of the empire. As a result, many elderly people in these countries can still speak Japanese. Japanese emigrant communities (the largest of which are to be found in Brazil , with 1.4 million to 1.5 million Japanese immigrants and descendants, according to Brazilian IBGE data, more than
11214-757: The PlayStation Portable on March 2, 2006. Nintendo secured the rights to the Eyeshield 21 video game license for its systems in December 2004, releasing Eyeshield 21: Max Devil Power for the Nintendo DS on February 2, 2006, and Eyeshield 21: Devilbats Devildays for the Game Boy Advance on April 6, 2006. Another game was scheduled for release on the GameCube , but it was later canceled. Nintendo published an Eyeshield 21 game for
11392-567: The San Antonio Armadillos and $ 3 million. Team Japan reaches the finals against Team America, whose roster includes Panther; the game ends in a tie, and both teams are declared winners. However, Japan and America are unsatisfied with the outcome and return to the field for their own, improvised overtime . It is unclear which team wins the unofficial extra period, but Panther is named the MVP. The series concludes with Sena being named
11570-535: The Teikoku Alexanders after the team achieved the second place in the Tokyo Tournament. The team's main player is Kotaro Sasaki , the one responsible for scoring, who has the help of Hayato Akaba , the one in charge for blocking the adversaries. The team is managed by Juri Sawai, a childhood friend of Kotaro. Hayato Akaba ( 赤羽 隼人 , Akaba Hayato ) is the tight end and the captain of
11748-400: The Teikoku Alexanders , the undefeated and reigning Christmas Bowl champions from Osaka , who are led by Takeru Yamato , the real Japanese Eyeshield 21 from Notre Dame. In the game's final moments, Deimon narrowly defeats Teikoku with a record 65-yard game-winning field goal from kicker Gen "Musashi" Takekura , ending Teikoku's winning streak and becoming the first team from Kantō to win
11926-738: The United States (notably in Hawaii , where 16.7% of the population has Japanese ancestry, and California ), and the Philippines (particularly in Davao Region and the Province of Laguna ). Japanese has no official status in Japan, but is the de facto national language of the country. There is a form of the language considered standard : hyōjungo ( 標準語 ) , meaning "standard Japanese", or kyōtsūgo ( 共通語 ) , "common language", or even "Tokyo dialect" at times. The meanings of
12104-639: The Wii , entitled Eyeshield 21: The Field's Greatest Warriors , which was released in Japan on March 8, 2007. Two non-football games, Jump Super Stars and Jump Ultimate Stars , released for the Nintendo DS, have featured characters from the series. Various Devil Bats, Shin and Sakuraba from the White Knights appear in support cameos. Two art books based on Eyeshield 21 were released. The first, Eyeshield 21 Illustration Collection: Field of Colors ,
12282-806: The de facto standard Japanese had been the Kansai dialect , especially that of Kyoto . However, during the Edo period, Edo (now Tokyo) developed into the largest city in Japan, and the Edo-area dialect became standard Japanese. Since the end of Japan's self-imposed isolation in 1853, the flow of loanwords from European languages has increased significantly. The period since 1945 has seen many words borrowed from other languages—such as German, Portuguese and English. Many English loan words especially relate to technology—for example, pasokon (short for "personal computer"), intānetto ("internet"), and kamera ("camera"). Due to
12460-527: The 1.2 million of the United States ) sometimes employ Japanese as their primary language. Approximately 12% of Hawaii residents speak Japanese, with an estimated 12.6% of the population of Japanese ancestry in 2008. Japanese emigrants can also be found in Peru , Argentina , Australia (especially in the eastern states), Canada (especially in Vancouver , where 1.4% of the population has Japanese ancestry),
12638-421: The American football team. Later, he serves as a personal coach for Koji Kuroki during the Devil Bats' preparation for the Christmas Bowl. At the end of the series, he is shown to be attending Enma University. The Bando Spiders ( 盤戸スパイダーズ , Bando Supaidāzu ) are a team of specialists that focus on scoring through field goals. One year prior the series' events, most of its members were recruited away by
12816-554: The Autumn Tokyo Tournament. Later, he serves as a personal coach for Tetsuo Ishimaru during the Devil Bats' preparation for the Christmas Bowl. At the end of the series, he is shown to be attending Enma University. Shinryuji Naga ( 神龍寺ナーガ , Shinryūji Naga ) is considered the strongest high school American football team in Kantō. It is based on Kanagawa in a boys-only school which follows Buddhism . Prior to
12994-578: The Christmas Bowl. Akaba is also recruited for Team Japan during the World Tournament. At the end of the series, he is shown to be attending Saikyodai University. Kotaro Sasaki ( 佐々木 コータロー , Sasaki Kōtarō ) is the kicker of the Bando Spiders. A skilled kicker, he has an average of 100% success of converting extra points . However, he aims to hold the title of the best kicker in Japan and then he wants to face Musashi as he heard
13172-657: The Christmas Bowl. Teikoku graciously accepts their defeat and Yamato acknowledges Sena as the true Eyeshield 21. Shortly after the Christmas Bowl, Japan's high school football commission begins to gather the nation's best high school football players to form a team to represent the country for the American Football Youth World Championship hosted in New York City , where the MVP will be awarded an NFL contract with
13350-610: The Devil Bats spend their summer vacation in Houston , where they meet Hiruma's and Kurita's former mentor Doburoku Sakaki , who reluctantly allows Hiruma's request to put the team through a dangerous training regimen known as the "Death March"—which involves traveling on foot from Houston to Las Vegas through the Mojave Desert . During the Death March, the team works to improve their strength and stamina and strengthen their bonds with each other; Sena reveals his identity to
13528-471: The Devil Bats, but he refuses the offer. Monta only enters the team after being scammed by Hiruma, who says the team needed someone to protect Mamori Anezaki from the egoistic and harmful Eyeshield 21 . From there on, he decides he will become a hero through American football. He has a habit to go into a pose after a catch while yelling "Catch Max", also adding "Max" to nearly anything he describes while excited or determined. In many aspects, Monta resembles
13706-486: The Japanese language is of particular interest, ranging between an apical central tap and a lateral approximant . The "g" is also notable; unless it starts a sentence, it may be pronounced [ ŋ ] , in the Kanto prestige dialect and in other eastern dialects. The phonotactics of Japanese are relatively simple. The syllable structure is (C)(G)V(C), that is, a core vowel surrounded by an optional onset consonant,
13884-407: The Kantō tournament and Akaba officially names Sena as Eyeshield 21, revealing that Eyeshield 21 is in fact a title traditionally passed down to Notre Dame's best runner. In the Kantō tournament, the Devil Bats overcome several obstacles—including facing against the Shinryuji Naga in their opening game, who are led by the sociopathic prodigy Agon Kongo ; a rematch against the Ojo White Knights in
14062-736: The Old Japanese sections are written in Man'yōgana , which uses kanji for their phonetic as well as semantic values. Based on the Man'yōgana system, Old Japanese can be reconstructed as having 88 distinct morae . Texts written with Man'yōgana use two different sets of kanji for each of the morae now pronounced き (ki), ひ (hi), み (mi), け (ke), へ (he), め (me), こ (ko), そ (so), と (to), の (no), も (mo), よ (yo) and ろ (ro). (The Kojiki has 88, but all later texts have 87. The distinction between mo 1 and mo 2 apparently
14240-552: The Real Eyeshield 21. Taka Honjo ( 本庄鷹 , Honjō Taka ) is the wide receiver of the Teikoku Alexanders and the son of Masaru Honjo . He is known for his high jumps, having the Japanese high school record in long jump, which allows him to seem like he is walking on air when catching the ball. Masaru constantly trained Taka during his youth aiming Taka to be the best, and so he has no goal, as he thinks there
14418-488: The Ryūkyūan languages as dialects of Japanese. The imperial court also seems to have spoken an unusual variant of the Japanese of the time, most likely the spoken form of Classical Japanese , a writing style that was prevalent during the Heian period , but began to decline during the late Meiji period . The Ryūkyūan languages are classified by UNESCO as 'endangered', as young people mostly use Japanese and cannot understand
14596-696: The Saikyodai Wizards—in the Koshien Bowl , the college football national championship game. Although Enma is implied to win the championship, the chosen candidate for the Program is never revealed. Before the series was published regularly, Riichiro Inagaki and Yusuke Murata published two one-shots called Eyeshield Part 1 ( 前編 , Zenpen ) and Part 2 ( 後編 , Kōhen ) on March 5 and 12, 2002, in Weekly Shōnen Jump . When it would become
14774-454: The Shinryuji Naga. However, they are defeated after Agon and Unsui Kongo enter the match. Its members include Seijuro Shin , the linebacker, Haruto Sakuraba , the wide receiver, Ichiro Takami , the quarterback, Makoto Otawara , the captain, and Gunpei Shoji ( 庄司軍平 , Shōji Gunpei ) , nicknamed Shogun ( ショーグン ) , the head coach and trainer. Seijuro Shin ( 進 清十郎 , Shin Seijūro )
14952-590: The Spiders. He is obsessed with music, often plays his electric guitar, and uses musical metaphors to state his opinions. A year before the start of the series, Akaba was named MVP in the fall Tokyo Tournament, which attracted the attention of Teikoku Alexanders. He joined the Alexanders and was given the title of Eyeshield 21 by {{#Takeru Yamato|Takeru Yamato}} who had retired the name, but soon he decided to return to Bando. Because of this last minute change, Akaba
15130-465: The United States to play football there, but realized he was not as good as he thought he was. Kakei almost abandoned football after his team lost to Notre Dame but after meeting Nore Dame;s Eyeshield 21, who was also Japanese, he decided to train more to face him again. Kakei achieved his goal, but Eyeshield 21 disappeared, which caused him to return to Japan to find him. There, Kakei enrolled at Kyoshin. Before Kyoshin and Deimon play against each other in
15308-530: The United States, Jason Thompson wrote in Anime News Network that "Even Eyeshield 21 , a sports manga which is practically made for Americans, wasn't a big hit here". Critics have generally given the Eyeshield 21 manga positive reviews. Deb Aoki from About.com wrote that tying with Bleach , Eyeshield 21 was the best continuing shōnen manga of 2007, because it "has well-written characters, dynamic artwork, nail-biting cliffhangers, plus
15486-504: The United States, abandoning his family, to attend open tryouts in San Antonio by taking all the savings in his house to afford his flight and traveling expenses. Taki fails, but Sena asks him to join the Devil Bats back in Japan as a tight end. However, Hiruma only allows him to join the team if he follows them in the Death March, a journey of two thousand kilometers along the Mojave Desert . After arriving in Japan, he has yet to make
15664-498: The United States. There, he became a beach football coach, returning to Japan only after Hiruma paid all his debts. He and Ojo's trainer and coach, Gunpei Shoji, were teammates at Sengoku University's American football team, and were known as "The Twin Japanese Blades", where he played as a tight end . Natsuhiko Taki ( 瀧 夏彦 , Taki Natsuhiko ) is a high school student who has the dream of becoming an NFL player. He
15842-571: The action between plays". Finnegan also criticized the artwork, saying, "any episode [of the show] without a game is clearly farmed out to an inferior animation studio". Chris Beveridge from Mania Entertainment wrote that Eyeshield 21 "has a good solid story idea, showing a young man finding his way through sports by finding friends and realizing he has potential, but it is so sidelined so often that it's frustrating to see it deal with situations as it does". Zimmerman, Chris (April 29, 2010). "Eyeshield 21 volume 31" . Comic Book Bin . Archived from
16020-543: The addition of a collective suffix (a noun suffix that indicates a group), such as -tachi , but this is not a true plural: the meaning is closer to the English phrase "and company". A group described as Tanaka-san-tachi may include people not named Tanaka. Some Japanese nouns are effectively plural, such as hitobito "people" and wareware "we/us", while the word tomodachi "friend" is considered singular, although plural in form. Verbs are conjugated to show tenses, of which there are two: past and present (or non-past) which
16198-510: The anime in DVD format; thirty-six volumes were released between July 26, 2006, and June 26, 2007. Some changes were done in comparison to the manga; for example, swearings and guns or gambling references were reduced. Initially, Viz Media and Cartoon Network planned to air a dubbed version of Eyeshield 21 on the internet video streaming service Toonami Jetstream , and on NFL Rush site as a joint effort with National Football League (NFL). The anime
16376-689: The anime series have been released in Japan. The original soundtrack was released on two discs by Avex Mode on March 5, 2008, under the title Eyeshield 21 Complete Best Album . Three compilation albums, Eyeshield 21 Original Soundtrack Sound Field 1 , Eyeshield 21 Sound Field Especial , and Eyeshield 21 Song Best , featuring opening and ending themes, insertion songs, and character and team songs were released on August 31, 2005, December 21, 2005, and March 23, 2006, respectively. Six maxi singles containing character songs have also been published. The first three, for Sena Kobayakawa, Mamori Anezaki, and Monta, were released on October 26, 2005. The other three, with
16554-461: The best linemen in Japan, he is a third-year student who holds the school record for squats . He is distinguished by his massive physique, complete baldness, and, during the Kantō Tournament, multiple scars from training. Later, he serves as a personal coach for Shozo Togano during the Devil Bats' preparation for the Christmas Bowl. The NASA Shuttles ( NASAシャトルズ , Nasa Shatoruzu ) are
16732-457: The best players from all the country and stick them into a six-tiered ranking system. Players who want to move up in the ranks must memorize over one thousand different plays and all of the first string members must be able to run forty yards in under five seconds. Its members include Takeru Yamato , the running back, Taka Honjo , the wide receiver, Karin Koizumi , the quarterback, Kureji Hera ( 平良呉二 , Hera Kureji ) , most known as Heracles,
16910-409: The best shonen titles out there" and described it as "a superb series, with well developed characters, intense action, and touching humor". Scott Campbell of Active Anime commented it is an "action-filled" series with great artwork and humor, and that it "has managed to continually get more and more dynamic with each volume". Jarred Pine from Mania.com praised the humor and how the creators "bring out
17088-552: The best team possible with only white players, and due to this attitude, he initially forbids Panther for playing. However, he changes his mind after all members of the Aliens do a dogeza to ask him to let Panther play. Kyoshin Poseidon ( 巨深ポセイドン ) are a team known for its members' height. Its members include Shun Kakei , the main linebacker, Kengo Mizumachi , the main lineman, Osamu Kobanzame, ( 小判鮫オサム , Kobanzame Osamu )
17266-508: The captain and the quarterback of the Deimon Devil Bats. When he was a child, Hiruma learned about American football after crawling through a hole in a fence of an American military base. He befriended Ryokan Kurita and Musashi , and with them, founded the Mao Devil Bats. After completing middle school he intended to join the Shinryuji Naga , but as Kurita failed the entrance exam, he entered Deimon. Along with Kurita and Musashi, he re-established their former club, Mao Devil Bats, but renamed
17444-533: The captain of the Deimon Devil Bats, the school's American football team. After this, Hiruma coerces Sena to join the club under the alias "Eyeshield 21" to keep him from being recruited by other teams. Sena and Hiruma along with the other member of the club, Ryokan Kurita , try to recruit new players to compete at the Christmas Bowl . While developing the characters, Murata intended to create characters who have unique qualities and that could stand out amidst
17622-637: The captain of the Devil Bats in his second year after Hiruma, Kurita and Musashi retire in their third year. In his final year of high school, Sena is invited to attend Notre Dame High School in America for the Fall semester. In the final chapter, Sena returns to Japan to enroll at Enma University and joins their football team, reuniting him with his friends, former teammates and rivals, many of whom have either joined Sena at Enma, other rival universities or Musashi's construction company team; all participating teams make
17800-527: The captain, Kiminari Harao, an eccentric quarterback who has his own harem and is considered a below average player, Niinobu Kasamatsu, the second-largest player of the Pyramid Line who is easily irritated and tricked, Ken Kamaguruma, a tall first-year cornerback whose speciality is the bump technique. Mamoru Banba ( 番場衛 , Banba Mamoru ) is the Taiyo Sphinx's captain. Considered one of
17978-405: The challenge"; eventually he was chosen. During Eyeshield 21 ' s original run in the magazine, Inagaki went to the United States to see college football matches, and National Football League games. Despite having never played American football, Inagaki chose this theme after deciding that he wanted to create "a protagonist that was wimpy at the beginning, yet could perform outstandingly in
18156-462: The club just to protect Sena, she eventually becomes an excellent manager who knows the rules, analyzes the adversaries strategies and creates strategies to combat them. Mamori's drawing abilities are terrible if compared to her other academic abilities—actually she is one of the school's top three students—and it is a recurring gag throughout the series. The Ha-Ha Brothers ( ハァハァ3兄弟 , Ha Ha San Kyōdai ) are three juvenile delinquents who join
18334-451: The commercial breaks "were informative and similar to the Go lessons of Hikaru No Go ." He also said the explanations were "hilarious", but that " Eyeshield 21 is an excellent introduction to football". The on-field action was also praised, with he saying the sports action is "where Eyeshield 21 truly shines", although he criticized the scenes away from the football field, "the pacing slows to
18512-421: The construction foreman at his family company after his father had suffered an accident at work. Despite this, Musashi has his company help build updated accommodations for the Devil Bats and maintains a cordial relationship with Hiruma. Sena and Monta discover Musashi's identity and he promises to return to Deimon if they can prove themselves to him. Musashi repeatedly refuses to rejoin his former teammates until
18690-578: The effect of changing Japanese into a mora-timed language. Late Middle Japanese covers the years from 1185 to 1600, and is normally divided into two sections, roughly equivalent to the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period , respectively. The later forms of Late Middle Japanese are the first to be described by non-native sources, in this case the Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries; and thus there
18868-563: The energy and excitement of the game for the readers". June Shimonishi, reviewing for School Library Journal , wrote that it "delivers a fresh and entertaining take on all the standard sports clichés". She also said that its art is "superb ... with every inch filled with details and no gag left unseen". Zac Bertschy from Anime News Network (ANN) declared Eyeshield 21 "defies convention" by turning what most might consider "a really ridiculously bad idea" into "something most everyone would be able to enjoy". Carlo Santos from ANN called it
19046-419: The fall tournament is last chance for second year students Hiruma and Kurita to participate in the Christmas Bowl, raising the stakes for the Devil Bats. The Devil Bats partake in several exhibition games that boost their popularity, including a match against the visiting NASA Aliens from the United States, whose ball boy turned running back Patrick "Panther" Spencer befriends Sena. After losing to NASA,
19224-491: The fall tournament, Kakei dismisses Sena as a fraud due to him not resembling the Eyeshield 21 he faced in America but changes his mind after Sena and Deimon win against Kyoshin. Both Kakei and Sena discover from Hayto Akaba that Eyeshield 21 is in fact a title passed onto the best runner at Notre Dame and that the "real" Eyeshield 21 Kakei played against was Takeru Yamato . Kakei helps to train Jumonji Kazuki before
19402-438: The field. Nevertheless, Ishimaru's obscurity works to his advantage when playing since no one notices when he is handing the ball. The Ojo White Knights ( 王城ホワイトナイツ , Ōjō Howaito Naitsu ) are considered the second best team in Kantō behind Shinryuji Naga at the start of Eyeshield 21 . Three years prior to the series' start, a group of defense-focused Ojo players known as "Golden Generation" manages to get close to defeat
19580-570: The first game and knowing his limitations he begins to devote more on training to dispute the Autumn Tokyo Tournament. However, he is not cast to that competition, making his debut only in the match against the Shinryuji Naga at the Kantō Tournament. Daikichi Komusubi ( 小結 大吉 , Komusubi Daikichi ) is one of the linemen of the Deimon Devil Bats. Daikichi is highly impressed by Kurita's amazing strength when first sees him and decides that he wants to become Kurita's "apprentice". He joined
19758-535: The first time in the match against the Devil Bats. Later, he is recruited by the Team USA . Leonard Apollo ( レオナルド・アポロ , Reonarudo Aporo ) is the coach of the NASA Aliens team. He is a former professional, NFL player, known for his dedication to training. When he is removed from the team in favor of Morgan, a black man with innate talents, he becomes a racist , not only against African-American but to Japanese as well. After this event, he decided he would form
19936-600: The first was released with the second OVA of Naruto in a compilation called Jump Festa 2004 Super DVD . The other was released by Bandai Visual as an extra track on the sixth DVD of the Eyeshield 21 anime series. The Eyeshield 21 anime adaptation was co-produced by TV Tokyo, NAS, and Gallop, and was directed by Masayoshi Nishida until episode 103, and by Shin Katagai from 104 to 145. The series of 145 television episodes aired in Japan from April 6, 2005, to March 19, 2008, on TV Tokyo. In Japan, Bandai Visual distributed
20114-455: The flow of loanwords from European languages increased significantly, and words from English roots have proliferated. Japanese is an agglutinative , mora -timed language with relatively simple phonotactics , a pure vowel system, phonemic vowel and consonant length, and a lexically significant pitch-accent . Word order is normally subject–object–verb with particles marking the grammatical function of words, and sentence structure
20292-424: The football team's first tier after one day. Shortly after enrolling, Yamato gave up the Eyeshield 21 moniker, which he then passed onto Hayato Akaba when he was recruited by Teikoku. When the Deimon Devil Bats qualify for the Christmas Bowl, Yamato meets the current Eyeshield 21, Sena, and changes back to his old Eyeshield 21 title. Yamato and Sena face each other at the Christmas Bowl as deciding on who becomes
20470-457: The game ... making it even less believable than it already is". However, overall, he considered the story has good art, action and pace, featuring "pure sports storytelling at its finest". The anime adaptation of Eyeshield 21 received positive and mixed responses. Bobby Cooper from DVD Talk praised how the rules of American football are "explained to a foreign audience that has no clue what it's all about", adding that instructions at
20648-609: The genitive particle ga remains in intentionally archaic speech. Early Middle Japanese is the Japanese of the Heian period , from 794 to 1185. It formed the basis for the literary standard of Classical Japanese , which remained in common use until the early 20th century. During this time, Japanese underwent numerous phonological developments, in many cases instigated by an influx of Chinese loanwords . These included phonemic length distinction for both consonants and vowels , palatal consonants (e.g. kya ) and labial consonant clusters (e.g. kwa ), and closed syllables . This had
20826-471: The high school entrance exam, and he debuts only in the second match of the Autumn Tokyo Tournament. Gen Takekura ( 武蔵 厳 , Takekura Gen ) , most known as Musashi ( ムサシ ) , is the kicker of the Deimon Devil Bats. Along with Hiruma and Kurita, he established the team originally under the name of Mao Devil Bats during their middle school years. However, Musashi is forced to leave the team and drop out of high school during his first year at Deimon to work as
21004-430: The language, affecting the phonology of Early Middle Japanese . Late Middle Japanese (1185–1600) saw extensive grammatical changes and the first appearance of European loanwords . The basis of the standard dialect moved from the Kansai region to the Edo region (modern Tokyo ) in the Early Modern Japanese period (early 17th century–mid 19th century). Following the end of Japan's self-imposed isolation in 1853,
21182-458: The languages of the original Jōmon inhabitants, including the ancestor of the modern Ainu language . Because writing had yet to be introduced from China, there is no direct evidence, and anything that can be discerned about this period must be based on internal reconstruction from Old Japanese , or comparison with the Ryukyuan languages and Japanese dialects . The Chinese writing system
21360-449: The languages. Okinawan Japanese is a variant of Standard Japanese influenced by the Ryūkyūan languages, and is the primary dialect spoken among young people in the Ryukyu Islands . Modern Japanese has become prevalent nationwide (including the Ryūkyū islands) due to education , mass media , and an increase in mobility within Japan, as well as economic integration. Japanese is a member of
21538-427: The large quantity of English loanwords, modern Japanese has developed a distinction between [tɕi] and [ti] , and [dʑi] and [di] , with the latter in each pair only found in loanwords. Although Japanese is spoken almost exclusively in Japan, it has also been spoken outside of the country. Before and during World War II , through Japanese annexation of Taiwan and Korea , as well as partial occupation of China ,
21716-546: The later phase of the fall tournament, after his father and workers convince him to return. In the manga, it occurs against the Seibu Wild Gunmen , and in the anime he returns later against the Bando Spiders . Despite the title of "The 60-yard Magnum" being actually a lie that Hiruma fabricated to scare the opponents, this arouses the rivalry of Kotaro Sasaki , and it becomes truth when Mushashi converts
21894-446: The lineman is embarrassed when Tenma is recruited for the all-stars of Teikoku Alexanders instead of himself. . Teikoku Alexanders ( 帝黒アレキサンダーズ , Teikoku Arekisandāzu ) are a team based out of Osaka . They are known as the ultimate all-star team and, prior to the match against the Devil Bats, no team had scored against them, they have never called a timeout, and they have won the Christmas Bowl since its inception. They recruit
22072-471: The logo". Sena Kobayakawa ( 小早川 瀬那 , Kobayakawa Sena ) is one of the main characters in the Eyeshield 21 series. During his childhood, he was a shy boy who was bullied and needed to be protected by Mamori Anezaki . Seeing this, Riku Kaitani , a young friend of Sena, taught him a running technique he referred to as the "explosive run" so Sena could defend himself. However, Sena used this to become
22250-512: The manga was released by Viz Media from April 2005 to October 2011. The anime series was later licensed in North America by Toonami Jetstream as a joint effort with Viz Media and aired in December 2007, on its site, but before its completion, the streaming service was shut down. The whole series was streamed in English by Crunchyroll , while Sentai Filmworks licensed the series, with distribution from Section23 Films on DVDs. In Japan,
22428-402: The manga, Suzuna first appears in a scene in the United States where she is looking for her brother, Natsuhiko , and meets with Sena; in the anime, she appears before it, yet in Japan, where she is working as a reporter hired to discover the secret identity of Eyeshield 21 . Later, Suzuna follows the team back to Japan and then proclaims herself a cheerleader for the Devil Bats even though she
22606-475: The match between Devil Bats and Alexanders. Kengo Mizumachi ( 水町 健吾 , Mizumachi Kengo ) is the main lineman of the Kyoshin Poseidon. During middle school, he was known as a genius with a natural gift for sports, being requested by several teams. He joins and becomes a champion at the swimming club, but he quits due to his teammates lacking the drive to win; he is eventually recruited by Kakei to
22784-424: The members of Deimon Devil Bats have the ambition to compete at the Christmas Bowl , the most important high school American football championship of the country. The main character of the series is Sena Kobayakawa , a wimpy boy who was a gofer to avoid being bullied during his childhood; he enters Deimon High School. While he runs away from the Ha-Ha Brothers his running ability is witnessed by Yoichi Hiruma ,
22962-573: The moniker "Quick-Draw Kid". Jo Tetsuma ( 鉄馬丈 , Tetsuma Jō ) is the wide receiver of the Seibu Wild Gunmen. He is a childhood friend of Kid and his father was the driver of Kid's father's. He is very quiet and follows all orders given to him in an extreme way; he memorizes a number of different passing routes, and once Kid calls one out, he will almost automatically not falter from the course unless overpowered. However, he does act upon his own impulses to help keep Monta from attacking
23140-425: The only strict rule of word order is that the verb must be placed at the end of a sentence (possibly followed by sentence-end particles). This is because Japanese sentence elements are marked with particles that identify their grammatical functions. The basic sentence structure is topic–comment . For example, Kochira wa Tanaka-san desu ( こちらは田中さんです ). kochira ("this") is the topic of the sentence, indicated by
23318-427: The opposite of his brother, Agon. Unsui never overcome his brother, and, aware of such situation, he decided to make his brother the best player as possible, even taking responsibility for Agon's actions. However, at the end of the series, Unsui joins a different university from Agon, wishing to grow on his own and to overcome his brother. Ikkyu Hosokawa ( 細川一休 , Hosokawa Ikkyū ) is the Naga's cornerback. He has
23496-495: The original on May 5, 2010 . Retrieved April 26, 2017 . Zimmerman, Chris (November 1, 2010). "Eyeshield 21 volume 32" . Comic Book Bin . Archived from the original on April 27, 2017 . Retrieved April 26, 2017 . Zimmerman, Chris (November 8, 2010). "Eyeshield 21 volume 33" . Comic Book Bin . Archived from the original on April 27, 2017 . Retrieved April 26, 2017 . Japanese language Japanese ( 日本語 , Nihongo , [ɲihoŋɡo] )
23674-470: The out-group gives a benefit to the in-group, and "up" to indicate the in-group gives a benefit to the out-group. Here, the in-group includes the speaker and the out-group does not, and their boundary depends on context. For example, oshiete moratta ( 教えてもらった ) (literally, "explaining got" with a benefit from the out-group to the in-group) means "[he/she/they] explained [it] to [me/us]". Similarly, oshiete ageta ( 教えてあげた ) (literally, "explaining gave" with
23852-415: The particle wa . The verb desu is a copula , commonly translated as "to be" or "it is" (though there are other verbs that can be translated as "to be"), though technically it holds no meaning and is used to give a sentence 'politeness'. As a phrase, Tanaka-san desu is the comment. This sentence literally translates to "As for this person, (it) is Mx Tanaka." Thus Japanese, like many other Asian languages,
24030-399: The popularity required for the magazine. However, it was such a popular series that online commentators said that, considering the series' final length, the editors may have insisted that Eyeshield 21 be kept going due to business reasons. However, Inagaki declared that the manga was "exactly how [he] wanted to tell the story" and that Murata also seconded it. The Eyeshield 21 manga series
24208-481: The proposed larger Altaic family, or to various Southeast Asian languages , especially Austronesian . None of these proposals have gained wide acceptance (and the Altaic family itself is now considered controversial). As it stands, only the link to Ryukyuan has wide support. Other theories view the Japanese language as an early creole language formed through inputs from at least two distinct language groups, or as
24386-445: The quarterback, Jo Tetsuma , the wide receiver, Riku Kaitani , the running back, Buffalo Ushijima, a lineman and the team's captain, and "Doc" Holiday, the coach. Kid ( キッド , Kiddo ) , whose real name is Shien Mushanokoji ( 武者小路紫苑 , Mushanokōji Shien ) , is the Seibu Wild Gunmen's quarterback. He is the son of Hajime Mushanokoji, a three-time Olympic gold medalist in shooting sport . His father always wanted Shien to be
24564-427: The record of 4.9 seconds in the 40-yard-dash while running backward, making him the best cornerback in the Kantō region. He is the only player on the Naga that Agon has any respect for since he is also considered a genius. Later, he serves as a personal coach for Monta during the Devil Bats' preparation for the Christmas Bowl. Ikkyu peppers his speech with the inflection "oni", which is used as an emphatic phrase, and
24742-480: The referee to keep the Devil Bats from being disqualified. Later, he serves as a personal coach for Manabu Yukimitsu during the Devil Bats' preparation for the Christmas Bowl. Riku Kaitani ( 甲斐谷陸 , Kaitani Riku ) is the running back of the Seibu Wild Gunmen. He is a childhood friend of Sena, whom he considers a little brother, and who taught Sena how to run extremely fast in order to stand up to bullies. Riku eventually moves away and only meets Sena again during
24920-527: The rest of his teammates. The Devil Bats complete the Death March and return to Japan, stronger than ever. The Devil Bats enter the Tokyo fall tournament and make a strong impression by winning their first three games. While facing the Kyoshin Poseidon in the quarterfinals, Sena learns that his Eyeshield 21 identity belonged to another footballer of Japanese descent from Notre Dame High School's football team in America. The Devil Bats advance to
25098-546: The running back, Homer Fitzgerald, the quarterback whose specialty is a long pass known as the "Shuttle Pass", , Jeremy Watt, the Japanophile wide receiver, and two brothers, Nisan and Otto Gonzalez; the former is tall and strong and the latter smaller, but faster. Inagaki visited a space center to collect reference materials to use as a basis for creating the team. Patrick Spencer ( パトリック・スペンサー , Patorikku Supensā ) , most known as Panther ( パンサー , Pansā ) ,
25276-459: The same structure as affirmative sentences, but with intonation rising at the end. In the formal register, the question particle -ka is added. For example, ii desu ( いいです ) "It is OK" becomes ii desu-ka ( いいですか。 ) "Is it OK?". In a more informal tone sometimes the particle -no ( の ) is added instead to show a personal interest of the speaker: Dōshite konai-no? "Why aren't (you) coming?". Some simple queries are formed simply by mentioning
25454-445: The school's exam he joined Deimon. Kurita is a kind-hearted individual who tries to do not hurt other people, but while on the field he does not hesitate to use all his strength. When playing, Kurita shouts his kiai "Funnuraba!" when exerting extra effort. At the end of the series, he is shown to be attending Enma University alongside Sena, Monta , Riku , Mizumachi , Unsui and Kotaro . Taro Raimon ( 雷門 太郎 , Raimon Tarō )
25632-513: The semifinals where they lose a close match to the Seibu Wild Gunmen ; however the Devil Bats can still qualify for the post-season Kantō tournament if they can win a consolation game against the Bando Spiders . After learning that Bando's team captain Hayato Akaba is supposedly the real Eyeshield 21, Sena publicly reveals his identity before the game between Deimon and Bando. The Devil Bats emerge victorious, allowing them to qualify for
25810-490: The semifinals, who have gotten stronger since the spring tournament and are more determined than ever to defeat the Devil Bats; and are forced to play against the Hakushu Dinosaurs in the final without Hiruma after the latter is taken out of the game when his throwing arm is temporarily broken—to win the Kantō tournament, achieving their dream of participating in the Christmas Bowl. The Devil Bats face off against
25988-1022: The series' 21st anniversary, was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump on January 29, 2024. An English translation of the manga was published in North America by Viz Media under the Shonen Jump Advanced label between April 5, 2005, and October 4, 2011. The manga has also been licensed in some countries such as in France by Glénat , in Hong Kong by Culturecom , in Indonesia by Elex Media Komputindo , in Italy by Panini Comics , in South Korea by Daewon Media , and in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing . Two original video animations (OVA) based on
26166-458: The series' start, they have never been defeated at the Kantō Tournament. However, in the first game of the tournament, the Devil Bats overcomes them. Its members include the Kongo brothers— Agon and Unsui —, Ikkyu Hosokawa , the cornerback, Gondayu Yamabushi , the senior lineman, Sanzo, an androgynous-looking running back, and Sumito Sendoda, the coach. Agon Kongo ( 金剛阿含 , Kongō Agon )
26344-506: The songs of Haruto Sakuraba, Seijurou Shin, and Suzuna Taki, were released on January 25, 2006. In addition to the musical CDs, Eyeshield 21 Drama Field 1 , an audio drama CD, was released by Avex on September 21, 2005. Konami produced Eyeshield 21 games for Sony video game systems; it released Eyeshield 21: Let's Play American Football! Ya! Ha!! for the PlayStation 2 on December 22, 2005, and Eyeshield 21: Portable Edition for
26522-439: The speaker, the listener, and persons mentioned. The Japanese writing system combines Chinese characters , known as kanji ( 漢字 , ' Han characters') , with two unique syllabaries (or moraic scripts) derived by the Japanese from the more complex Chinese characters: hiragana ( ひらがな or 平仮名 , 'simple characters') and katakana ( カタカナ or 片仮名 , 'partial characters'). Latin script ( rōmaji ローマ字 )
26700-550: The spring tournament is revealed as secondary in importance to the fall tournament, a single-elimination tournament where the Tokyo area teams compete for the chance to play in the Christmas Bowl —the high school football league championship between the best teams from the Kantō and Kansai regions, respectively. Hiruma, Sena, and head lineman Ryokan Kurita regroup and slowly build a real team from misfits and students looking to define themselves, such as Tarō "Monta" Raimon —a former baseball player who can only catch— who becomes
26878-442: The start of the Autumn Tokyo Tournament he resigns with Jari Pro. Ichiro Takami ( 高見 伊知郎 , Takami Ichirō ) is the Ojo White Knights' quarterback. At first, a childhood leg injury left him unable to run as quickly as quarterbacks need to run. After the coach told him he could not play due to this drawback, he decided to train more running and to study calculations to make his passes more precise. Finally, after his fourth year on
27056-817: The state as at the time the constitution was written, many of the elders participating in the process had been educated in Japanese during the South Seas Mandate over the island shown by the 1958 census of the Trust Territory of the Pacific that found that 89% of Palauans born between 1914 and 1933 could speak and read Japanese, but as of the 2005 Palau census there were no residents of Angaur that spoke Japanese at home. Japanese dialects typically differ in terms of pitch accent , inflectional morphology , vocabulary , and particle usage. Some even differ in vowel and consonant inventories, although this
27234-481: The street. (grammatically incorrect insertion of a pronoun) But one can grammatically say essentially the same thing in Japanese: 驚いた彼は道を走っていった。 Transliteration: Odoroita kare wa michi o hashitte itta. (grammatically correct) This is partly because these words evolved from regular nouns, such as kimi "you" ( 君 "lord"), anata "you" ( あなた "that side, yonder"), and boku "I" ( 僕 "servant"). This
27412-414: The team after Hiruma blackmails them with a negative of a picture where they appear nude. Despite not being brothers, Hiruma calls them this way due to their habit of expression, with each one of the trio saying "Ha!?", in rapid succession with a crescendo . The gang is formed by Kazuki Jumonji, considered the group's leader, Koji Kuroki, and Shozo Togano. They join the club permanently after passing
27590-474: The team after surviving the Tokyo Tower qualifying test, beating out the Ha-Ha Brothers . He does not talk much, and speaks only in the so-called "language of strong men", that only "truly strong men" (his father and Kurita) can understand, which consists mostly of strange grunts and one-word sentences. Suzuna Taki ( 瀧 鈴音 , Taki Suzuna ) is a blue-haired girl who is always wearing rollerblades . In
27768-522: The team in Deimon. However, its membership was further reduced with the departure of Musashi. This remains the case until Hiruma discovers Sena Kobayakawa and his amazing running ability. For the creation of Deimon Devil Bats' uniform, Murata was inspired by the Philadelphia Eagles ' gear and helmets, and for its logo he created six prototypes, saying he "spent a lot of work on designing
27946-522: The team the Deimon Devil Bats. As Musashi leaves the club and few people have an interest in American football, he starts to blackmail students, forcing them to join the club. Hiruma is greatly feared both by students and administrative members of the school. Besides blackmailing people, he also intimidates them with the multiple firearms he carries with him. He is also a genius in maverick trick plays and mind games that he uses to try to frighten his adversaries. Ryokan Kurita ( 栗田 良寛 , Kurita Ryōkan )
28124-514: The team's star wide receiver and three delinquents collectively known as Ha-Ha Brothers , who make up the team's remaining linemen. Other characters slowly join the team, and the series follows the building and growth of the Deimon Devil Bats and its members, and rival teams as they all strive to achieve their goal of playing in the Christmas Bowl. Due to a rule at several high schools, including Deimon, that prohibits students from participating in club activities in their third and final school year,
28302-541: The team, he became the team's starting quarterback for the Kantō Tournament. Makoto Otawara ( 大田原誠 , Ōtawara Makoto ) is the captain and the largest lineman for the White Knights. Otawara is a very loud and brash person, who always says what he thinks. He also has a flatulence problem and makes no effort to hide it. In contrast to his strength, Otawara is plain stupid, as Shoji, the White Knight's coach, puts it, and even he admits it. Although most featured as
28480-439: The teams knowing that "each team has its own style", and designed the characters prior to assigning them a team. The main characters of the Eyeshield 21 series are part of Deimon Devil Bats, an American football team based on Deimon Private Senior High School. The Deimon Devil Bats were founded by Yoichi Hiruma , Ryokan Kurita , and Musashi under the name of Mao Devil Bats. After its inaugural year, they need to refound
28658-443: The teams they are included. He focused his work on the characters' outfits since he thought it was the thing that would be most noted during the matches. Inagaki also used real-world influence for the teams. Most reviewers have praised the characters of the series, declaring that the characters are one of the best elements of the Eyeshield 21 series as they are distinguishable. When Riichiro Inagaki and Yusuke Murata were creating
28836-433: The test that consists in climbing Tokyo Tower without letting an ice bag melt. They are notably poor and inexperienced at the game when they start out, and so they are called "trash" by other players, journalists and even the father of Jumonji. This disbelief, however, make them strive to prove to those who do not believe in their skills that they are very capable linemen. Manabu Yukimitsu ( 雪光 学 , Yukimitsu Manabu )
29014-783: The topic with an interrogative intonation to call for the hearer's attention: Kore wa? "(What about) this?"; O-namae wa? ( お名前は？ ) "(What's your) name?". Negatives are formed by inflecting the verb. For example, Pan o taberu ( パンを食べる。 ) "I will eat bread" or "I eat bread" becomes Pan o tabenai ( パンを食べない。 ) "I will not eat bread" or "I do not eat bread". Plain negative forms are i -adjectives (see below) and inflect as such, e.g. Pan o tabenakatta ( パンを食べなかった。 ) "I did not eat bread". Monta (Eyeshield 21) The Eyeshield 21 anime and manga series features an extensive cast of characters created by Riichiro Inagaki and Yusuke Murata . The series takes place in Tokyo , Japan , where
29192-419: The two consonants are the moraic nasal followed by a homorganic consonant. Japanese also includes a pitch accent , which is not represented in moraic writing; for example [haꜜ.ɕi] ("chopsticks") and [ha.ɕiꜜ] ("bridge") are both spelled はし ( hashi ) , and are only differentiated by the tone contour. Japanese word order is classified as subject–object–verb . Unlike many Indo-European languages ,
29370-577: The two methods were both used in writing until the 1940s. Bungo still has some relevance for historians, literary scholars, and lawyers (many Japanese laws that survived World War II are still written in bungo , although there are ongoing efforts to modernize their language). Kōgo is the dominant method of both speaking and writing Japanese today, although bungo grammar and vocabulary are occasionally used in modern Japanese for effect. The 1982 state constitution of Angaur , Palau , names Japanese along with Palauan and English as an official language of
29548-480: The two terms (''hyōjungo'' and ''kyōtsūgo'') are almost the same. Hyōjungo or kyōtsūgo is a conception that forms the counterpart of dialect. This normative language was born after the Meiji Restoration ( 明治維新 , meiji ishin , 1868) from the language spoken in the higher-class areas of Tokyo (see Yamanote ). Hyōjungo is taught in schools and used on television and in official communications. It
29726-448: The urban legend of Musashi's sixty-yard field goal. Due to his abilities, Sasaki is invited to join the Teikoku Alexanders, but rejected the offer to stay with Hayato Akaba . At the end of the series, he is shown to be attending Enma University. The Hakushu Dinosaurs ( 白秋ダイナソーズ , Hakushū Dainosōzu ) are a team from the SIC region ( Saitama , Ibaraki , and Chiba ), participating for
29904-407: The verb (e.g. yonde for earlier yomite ), the -k- in the final mora of adjectives drops out ( shiroi for earlier shiroki ); and some forms exist where modern standard Japanese has retained the earlier form (e.g. hayaku > hayau > hayɔɔ , where modern Japanese just has hayaku , though the alternative form is preserved in the standard greeting o-hayō gozaimasu "good morning"; this ending
30082-548: The world. Since Japanese first gained the consideration of linguists in the late 19th century, attempts have been made to show its genealogical relation to languages or language families such as Ainu , Korean , Chinese , Tibeto-Burman , Uralic , Altaic (or Ural-Altaic ), Austroasiatic , Austronesian and Dravidian . At the fringe, some linguists have even suggested a link to Indo-European languages , including Greek , or to Sumerian . Main modern theories try to link Japanese either to northern Asian languages, like Korean or
30260-451: Was also featured several times in Japanese television rankings, with the first episode having a 7.5 percent television viewership rating. In 2006, Japanese television network TV Asahi conducted a poll for the top hundred anime, and Eyeshield 21 was placed 47th. Moreover, Eyeshield 21 ' s series is credited with increasing the number of Japanese teenagers playing American football. However, commenting on its genre's lack of popularity in
30438-943: Was available on November 1, 2009, for premium users, and on March 7, 2010, for free users. On February 26, 2010, Section23 Films announced that Sentai Filmworks received the license to the anime. The first fifty-two episodes were released on four subtitled-only DVDs between May 18, 2010, and February 8, 2011. The music for the Eyeshield 21 anime adaptation was composed by Kō Ōtani . The series use twelve pieces of theme music, five opening and seven ending themes. The opening themes are "Breakthrough" and "Innocence" by V6 , "Dang Dang" by ZZ , "Blaze Line" by Back-On , and "Honō no Running Back" by Short Leg Summer. The ending themes are "Be Free" by Ricken's, "Blaze Away" by The Trax , "Goal" by Beni Arashiro , "Run to Win" by Aya Hirano , Miyu Irino , Koichi Nagano and Kappei Yamaguchi , "A day dreaming..." by Back-On, "Flower" by Back-On, and "Song of Power" by Short Leg Summer. A number of audio CDs linked to
30616-539: Was based on 12- to 20-second-long recordings of 135 to 244 phonemes , which 42 students listened to and translated word-for-word. The listeners were all Keio University students who grew up in the Kanto region . There are some language islands in mountain villages or isolated islands such as Hachijō-jima island , whose dialects are descended from Eastern Old Japanese . Dialects of the Kansai region are spoken or known by many Japanese, and Osaka dialect in particular
30794-400: Was eventually posted only on Toonami Jetstream, with the first episode, which condensed three episodes, being available on December 17, 2007. However, it was not completed due to Toonami Jetstream's cancellation and shutdown. In December 2008, the video streaming service Crunchyroll announced that it would begin to stream Eyeshield 21 subtitled on its site on January 2, 2009. The last episode
30972-735: Was imported to Japan from Baekje around the start of the fifth century, alongside Buddhism. The earliest texts were written in Classical Chinese , although some of these were likely intended to be read as Japanese using the kanbun method, and show influences of Japanese grammar such as Japanese word order. The earliest text, the Kojiki , dates to the early eighth century, and was written entirely in Chinese characters, which are used to represent, at different times, Chinese, kanbun , and Old Japanese. As in other texts from this period,
31150-474: Was lost immediately following its composition.) This set of morae shrank to 67 in Early Middle Japanese , though some were added through Chinese influence. Man'yōgana also has a symbol for /je/ , which merges with /e/ before the end of the period. Several fossilizations of Old Japanese grammatical elements remain in the modern language – the genitive particle tsu (superseded by modern no )
31328-742: Was published on May 26, 2006. The only original creator of the series who worked on these light novels was Murata, who illustrated them. In Japan, jigsaw puzzles, action figures, plush dolls, calendars, key chains, and a medal game machine were sold as merchandise for the series. Konami also released a collectible card game series. The manga has sold more than 20 million copies in Japan; individual volumes frequently appeared on top ten lists of best-selling manga there ( see table ). Individual volumes have appeared in Diamond Comic Distributors 's lists of 300 best-selling graphic novels in North America several times. The anime adaptation
31506-468: Was published on November 2, 2006. The second, entitled Paint Jump: Art of Eyeshield 21 , was released on December 19, 2008. Eyeshield 21 Official Databook: Chou Senshu Retsuden Ballers High , a databook, was published on October 4, 2005. A pair of light novels were launched; the first, written by Katsumi Hasegawa, based on and named for the first OVA, was published on March 24, 2004. The second, Eyeshield 21: Netto no Hundred Game! , written by Eijima Jun,
31684-640: Was written by Riichiro Inagaki, illustrated by Yusuke Murata, and originally serialized by Shueisha in the shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from July 23, 2002, to June 15, 2009. The manga consists of 333 chapters spanning 37 tankōbon (collected volumes), released from December 20, 2002, to October 2, 2010. Eyeshield 21 has also been published as part of the Shueisha Jump Remix series of magazine-style books. Fourteen volumes were released between June 28, 2010, and February 14, 2011. A special 55-page one-shot chapter, to celebrate
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