In a comics landscape where combat is the central focus of most mainstream series, it’s surprising so few American comic book series centered around sports have been produced. Sports— especially football – provide all of the action of battle with none of the violence. Yet one of the most well-known football comic books to ever be produced on American soil, “NFL Superpro,” is a painful mishmash of product placement and bad football puns.
Leave it to Japanese writer Riichiro Inagaki and artist Yusuke Murata to pick up our slack. They’re the creative team behind ”Eyeshield 21,” a shounen, or young boys, sports manga centered around the world of Japanese high school football. After quarterback Yoichi Hiruma watches him flee from a gang of thugs, picked-upon loser and Deimon High freshman Sena Kobayakawa is recruited to play for the Deimon Devil Bats.
Sena’s not strong, but his speed and ability to sneak around obstacles make him an ideal running back. When Sena’s best friend Mamori Anezaki, fearing for his safety, threatens to pull Sena off the team, Hiruma creates the persona of Eyeshield 21, a mysterious Notre Dame football prodigy who must wear a tinted eye shield to hide his face.
If you’ve ever seen an inspirational sports movie, you’ve got the basic gist of how a shounen sports series works. Through the power of teamwork and dedication, the three build a team and overcome their obstacles to play in the fictional Christmas Bowl.
True to sports story form, the team’s success rides on the back of the individual players. And what a team it is. While each character appears on the surface to be a collection of exaggerated tropes, Inagaki builds strong backstories for every one. At the center sit brilliant-but-insane Hiruma and kind linebacker Ryokan Kurita, both upperclassmen bound together by their middle school promise to go to the Christmas Bowl.
I should say now that I am not a football fan. I’ve attended one Alabama game in my entire four years at UA, and I attended a national championship party because my friends paid for the beer. My knowledge of football’s technical aspects is near nonexistent.
But I found myself reading “Eyeshield 21” obsessively, sneaking in a chapter or two between classes. Murata’s kinetic art style is perfectly suited to football’s in-game dynamism, giving readers an on-the-field view of the game. Critical plays are caught in slow motion and freeze-frame to savor the moment. When running, Sena zips across the field, accompanied by a flurry of tight speed lines.
Murata does draw his characters in what’s come to be known as the “manga” style, which may not be to everyone’s taste. As the manga’s target audience is middle and high school students, the humor and tone are suitably age-appropriate. Character designs verge on caricature — Hiruma is drawn as sharp and demonic, while banana-addicted receiver Taro Raimon resembles a monkey. And normal athletic maneuvers in the average football game become special secret named moves, learnable only with the utmost dedication.
Those familiar with football might find the occasional loose-and-fast interpretation of the game’s rules and athletic training off-putting, but I was too engrossed in the team’s personal journey to notice.
However, that shouldn’t stop anyone from picking it up. At its heart, “Eyeshield 21” is an ideal underdog sports fable, filled with characters readers are now well familiar with. But it’s a familiarity that’s comforting instead of boring, a safe, warm pigskin blanket. If you’re looking for a post-season football fix that captures the fist-pumping spirit of a last-minute come-from-behind game, “Eyeshield 21” is the series to read.
