Eyeshield 21 25
Posted: September 23, 2009 Filed under: Eyeshield 21 Leave a comment »Riichiro Inagaki / Yusuke Murata – Viz – 2009 – 37 volumes
I haven’t picked up this series in a long time, which is a shame because it is quite good. But reading several volumes together isn’t a bad thing, especially since all three will probably cover the big game between Deimon and Ojo. I’m sure it will even continue past volume 27. After all, aside from getting to the Christmas Bowl, the only long-term goal the series has had has been the face-off between Sena and Shin.
There weren’t very many surprises here. Deimon is, of course, the underdog, so of course they have to be pulverized before they can come from behind. Or maybe they won’t come from behind and win, I don’t remember if a loss excludes them from the tournament or not. Shin is unstoppable, and pretty much everyone admits he is a perfect player. Even Agon is in shock in the stands. Both teams are portrayed very sympathetically, which isn’t unusual for the series, but lots and lots of backstory about the players and training for Ojo are shown in this volume.
Most of what happens here is football, but there are still little snatches of humor, helped out by the fact that the Ojo players were introduced at the beginning of the series and have had running gags since then. Hiruma is sadly not in top form in this volume, and not even his famous strategies and trickery come through at any point.
Speaking of the running gags, in the very back of the book, on the very last page before the next volume preview, down in the bottom corner, was the first fart joke I’ve laughed at in 20 years. I don’t know how that happened, but that’s the power of Eyeshield 21.
Yeah. Basically this was kind of a depressing read, but it was the type of necessary evil that just had to happen before the triumphant stuff in the second half of the game. Let’s see what comes during the next two volumes.
