Eyeshield 21 is a football manga filled with exciting games, crazy plays and crazier characters. Sena Kobayakawa was an average, weak Japanese high school student until he joined the Deimon Devil Bats, but now he’s using his speed to win games and not running errands for school bullies. He’s come a long way with good teammates like Kurita, Monta and Hiruma, defeating powerful teams and earning the right to really call himself Eyeshield 21, but the Kanto final still lies ahead. Their team spirit and interesting personalities will make a reader really root for the Devil Bats.
Highlights
In Eyeshield 21 Vol 28: Showdown at Tokyo Dome the meeting Maruko Himuro, manager of the Hakushu Dinosaurs, held with Sena and Riku of the Seibu Gunmen comes to an explosive end when Rikiya Gao arrives. Her warnings about his strength are clearly no understatement; he smashes a table as if it was a house of cards. She implores them to forfeit the game; Gao is a quarterback crusher! Both the Devil Bats and their friendly rivals the Seibu Wild Gunmen have a difficult decision to make; is winning so important that they would risk their lives? The Wild Gunmen are the ones who have to face the Hakushu Dinosaurs, and the winner of that game will face the Devil Bats in the finals. The Kid, quarterback of the Seibu Cowboys will have to come up with one heck of a strategy; and whatever it is, it makes Hiruma laugh. It won’t be easy. It’s a match with one of the supporting cast teams, but it’s one of the most intense and dramatic matches in the series yet; a shocking twist in this match changes everything. In the second part of the volume is another flashback to the early days of the Devil Bats; this time all the way to the beginning as we learn the true story of how Kurita and Hiruma first formed the team. I especially recommend this part for fellow Hiruma fans; we finally get to learn more about the manga’s craziest, most entertaining character. What would make two such different individuals start a football team in Japan? This flashback reveals all sorts of things you may have wondered, such as how Hiruma got his book full of blackmail about everyone. The flashbacks are always a lot of fun, and this one in particular has some hilarious moments as Hiruma tries to coerce Musashi to join their football team in a variety of humorous ways; and some poignant ones as you see how close their dreams come to being crushed before they started. Also witness the Devil Bats break into the Tokyo Dome to play a practice match of….baseball?!
Overall
Even though the Devil Bats don’t play a match themselves this round, the action doesn’t let up for a moment. One of the strongest parts of Eyeshield 21, aside from the games themselves, is the way you’re drawn into the distinctive characters; they all have interesting and entertaining personalities and you find yourself rooting for their rivals the Seibu Gunmen as much as you would the Devil Bats themselves. The Kid and the other members of the Gunmen have their own pasts that we learn more about in this volume, to great effect. The anticipation for the final round of the tournament has really heated up. I’d also like to point out how great the artwork is; it’s very lively and really shows its manga roots. Kurita is huge and blobby, Monta has a bandage on his nose, and The Kid looks like he stepped out of a spaghetti western. Even when in uniform, everyone has a distinct posture and features that make it more than just a series of faceless players. When two people or teams square off a panel with VS and a close up of the people involved shows; it’s exciting and cool to see. When a game ends and they show the final score, they show one of the mascots beating up the other one. The plays themselves are often marked by giant images of trains, pistols firing and ghostly mirages that make their special moves and wild tactics exciting in a very shonen manga way; it’s a game and a battle for the teams in the Kanto tournament. There are also lots of interesting extras between chapters, such as comedic investigations by the “Devil Bat” on characters and things in the series and statistics on the new players. This was a great volume, setting up a new and more dangerous level of rivalry for the final round of the tournament and I particularly enjoyed the flashback with the young Hiruma… what an adorable little demon he was.
ComicsOnline gives Eyeshield 21 Vol 28: Showdown at the Tokyo Dome 5 out of 5 dreams worth fighting for.
