Eyeshield 21 vol 1-6
My history with this title- I bought the first 10 volumes as they were being released and loved them, while having very little understanding of actual football. Even though I stopped reading it, i kept buying until around volume 25 as a matter of habit when I would go monthly manga shopping. I've been meaning to go back and re-read the series, and as we are in a gaming lull for the next month, I figured now would be a good time.
In the time since I started reading, I became a pretty hardcore and knowledgeable football fan- my 100 dollar bankroll I started the season with has an extra zero at the end of it at this point, I crush in fantasy, ect.
The first thing that sticks out is the incredible art and style the series has. All of the characters are well designed and have not just distinct looks, but distinct styles, varying from cute and cuddly to hardened and stoic. There a lot of fun to root for- they all have problems that make them more relatable, and a whimsical sense that makes you watch their interactions with a smile on your face. The actual football scenes have an incredible sense of speed and impact to them, making it feel like real football. And none of it is sloppy- football uniforms are incredibly complex, with multiple lines for face masks, padding, ect- and its all always there.
I'm also amazed at how well football strategy is used. There isn't a more dense, rule-heavy sport out there, and they managed to do a great job explaining it. I loved Hikaru no Go, but I don't think I could play watch and understand a game of Go afterwards. Here, though, they give a great explanation of the basics, and use shounen tropes of power ups to get into more detailed ideas like Play Action, route skeletons, bump and run coverage, a Shotgun spread, and more. My only issue with the football comes from my knowledge of football- i have so many burning questions that only someone who really likes football would ask
1. Why does Ojo run a 4-3 when they have a player like Shin? As best I can tell, they are using him as a WILL linebacker (there aren't many times you see them fully lined up), which is a waste of his talent. They should be running a 3-4 and using him in the rush LB role to utilize his speed and tackling ability.
2. Why is Kurita the Center? Its the one position on the line that you can get away with a more undersized player. Considering how big he is, he could be a mauler of a guard- I don't think he has the foot movement to be an OT, but his skills could be better utilized as a guard.
3. With Sena being Sena and Himura having strong scrambling abilities, why are they running a base I-formation instead of something like a Flexbone (or even a Wishbone)? It would allow both of them to better utilize their running skills, and provide extra protection. It would probably also help Monta- Calvin Johnson, the best WR in the NFL, was in a Flexbone-based offense his entire college career.
4. Without a placekicker, they have almost no success on XP attempts. Why not just go for 2 each time? Himura says that his accuracy is "around 35%" on kicks, yet the league average for 2 pt conversions is much higher than that. The Expected Value of a 2 pt attempt for the team is probably significantly higher than the EV of a kick.
But all of those are problems I am only seeing now as a football fan- when I first read this, I was just entranced by everything. I hope to get to stuff I haven't read yet soon, and considering you can get most volumes for something like 5-7 dollars shipped used on Amazon, i'm going to try to finish the series. People, if you are looking for reccomendations, and you haven't read Eyeshield yet, get to it!
