Title: Eyeshield 21 Volume(s): 12+ Author(s): Riichiro Inagaki/Yusuke Murata Format: Unflipped; Right-to-Left Publisher: Viz Media MSRP: $7.99 Genre(s): Sports/Comedy Rated: Older Teen (16+)

For those of you who have no idea what "Eyeshield 21" is, it is basically a new sports manga being released in America. This one is about football. We've gotten manga for basketball, tennis, soccer, and baseball. I guess this means either golf or hockey is next to be released. "Eyeshield 21" is actually a very different sports manga then those that have already been released. "Slam Dunk" focused on characters and how much of an impact basketball had on their lives, while "The Prince of Tennis" was basically an action series that had lots of sexy men playing tennis (making the series a surprise hit with women). "Eyeshield 21" is about slapstick, high jinks, and out-of-this-world characters who really should lay off the Coca Cola.

The protagonist of "Eyeshield 21" is Sena Kobayakawa. Sena is a short kid who has been bullied by bigger kids his entire life. Sena has been the teachers pet, the gopher boy, and all that jazz. Now that Sena is in high school he's hoping to leave that part of his life in his past. No such luck. Upon entering his new high school, Sena is immediately grabbed by a bunch of bullies to be their gopher boy. Sena decides that he may as well do what the bullies say, so when they ask him to go get something from the school store Sena dashes off...and then is back again in less then a couple of minutes, telling them that the store doesn't have what they're looking for. The bullies think that Sena is lying to them about going to the school store, but the truth of the matter is Sena DID go to the store! Apparently after so many years of being a gopher boy, Sena has learned to run extremely fast. This speed does not go unnoticed though. The captain of the high school football team, Himura, gets a glimpse of Sena's speed, and before Sena knows it he's been bullied into joining the football team.

Himura considers Sena to be the teams secret weapon, so he covers his face with a motorcycle helmet and nicknames him Eyeshield 21 (because he wears an eyeshield and his number is 21). Once all this has been set into motion all hell breaks loose, and "Eyeshield 21" becomes about as crazy as Ken Akamatsu's "Negima." On that note I guess I should point out that "Eyeshield 21" is one surprising series. Technically I should write this series off as being cliche, trite, and unoriginal, as this series is certainly all of these things. Yet here I am, reading a book that logically should be boring me to death, and I find myself being charmed by the series. Sena is nothing more then a typical shounen hero who aspires for greatness that he's never had before. He spends a good portion of the book moping around, lacking any self respect, all the while he's got this talent that he sort of lucked into getting without knowing it. Much like Takumi of "Initial D," Sena isn't exactly all that interesting or original. In fact if almost all the focus went on Sena alone, this series would be dead in the water. Luckily for the readers though, the author surrounds Sena with tons of supporting characters that gives this series the "oomph" it needs to be very enjoyable. For example, Sena has a (female) childhood friend named Mamori. This is a character who is in the perfect position to be utterly useless and serve no purpose other then to be the obligatory love interest for Sena.

While the series does point at this being a very likely case, what does set Mamori apart from most the girls in other shounen series is that you get a real sense that Mamori is a real friend of Sena's. In most shounen series the lifelong female friend of the main character has little more to do than have a crush on her friend while he ignores her and is oblivious to her feelings. Sena on the other hand loves hanging out with Mamori, and you usually will see the two hanging out together in this book. Mamori is also very protective of Sena, and when she becomes concerned about Sena overworking himself on the football team as the teams (so called) "manager," she joins the team as their co-manager in order to keep an eye on him. Despite the fact that Mamori doesn't know much about football, she researches the game, does her homework, and eventually understands the game to the point where she begins to become a fan of football herself. Then there's the fat defense player Kurita. In other manga this kid would be played for laughs, but he is instead a genuine character who truly cares about the game of football, and he does everything he can to be nice to his team mates. He's not clumsy, stupid, or an idiot, and he's a real person who just happens to be a little overweight (and really, there is nothing wrong that). Then you have the true star of "Eyeshield 21" in the form of demon boy Himura.

Himura looks like the devil and has the personality of Robin Williams on a sugar high. Himura has zany facial expressions, pulls extreme (puzzling really) things out of nowhere, and is a genuine pain-in-the-butt. He tortures Sena, he blows things up with bazookas, he curses out teammates who are slacking off, and is a screamer at heart. If it weren't for the fact that Himura is play almost completely for laughs (and is the most memorable character in this series) you could really, REALLY, get to hate him! All the other characters are completely overshadowed by this zany character, much in the same way all the characters in Disney's "Aladdin" were overshadowed by the Genie (sorry, I guess two Robin Williams references are too much for one review). I guess the only character who doesn't really add much to the series is Sena himself. Much like Tenchi Muyo and Yoh Asakura, Sena's only real purpose seems to be to exist for the sole purpose of moving the story forward. He's not complicated, you don't get to know him real well, and he makes all the choices you would expect him to make. Sena would not have been able to make this series work alone. His personality is just like the personality of Sho from "Whistle!," and we all know how great THAT series was thanks it's lack of good supporting cast and main character! One area that "Eyeshield 21" really shines in is it's art. Drawn with the zaniness of a Tex Avery cartoon but with enough sophistication of a Spielberg film, "Eyeshield 21's" art finds a perfect balance that just works.

It's crazy, but it's not too crazy. It's not too sophisticated, but it's sophisticated enough. The character designs (sans Himura) are all pretty standard, but they work so I'm not going to complain too much, especially when everything else looks excellent. So far Viz's translation has been somewhat good and somewhat bad. While most of the dialog is translated just fine, many "Eyeshield 21's" foul language (particularly Himura's constant use of the 'f' word) has been toned down quite a bit. I've heard some fans claim that the use of the 'f' word is actually the funniest thing about the series, and that removing it is a great sin. Well folks, if the 'f' word is really the only thing about "Eyeshield 21" that you find funny, then I might I recommend you watch this one show on Comedy Central called "South Park." That show should provide you with all the 'f' words you need. Despite the fact that I have utter disgust for the use of the 'f' word, I am a little weary that this toning down of the language, as it steps a little too close to being an "adaptation" over a literal translation. Overall though the dialog does read smoothly, with no spelling error's or anything like that to be found, so I guess it's not all bad. Out of all the "Shonen Jump Advance" titles I'm most impressed with, surprisingly, the one and only..."Ultimate Muscle." However since that series is censored and not really counted as a "Shonen Jump Advance" title, I have to say that "Eyeshield 21" is the best series out of the three new titles Viz used to truly launch the "Shonen Jump Advance" lineup.

Yeah some of the foul language has been toned down, but the series is still very funny and charming despite all this. While the main character may be a bit of a drag at time, the supporting cast more then makes up for this, as most of the zaniest moments come from supporting characters. Strangely enough, the only thing I find myself not talking about that much is the actual football itself, which is so exaggerated and fake, that it feels kind of pointless to bring it up since Newton's Law doesn't really end up playing that big of a role in the games presented in this book. I think it's best to group the games with the rest of the zany humor found within the rest of the series. Which actually makes the target audience for "Eyeshield 21" a bit funny, as "Eyeshield 21" is a football manga for people who don't like football. Marketing sound kind of silly? Well, so's this manga.

- -Review By Kevin T. Rodriguez- -