21 reasons for Eyeshield 21
Oct. 7th, 2006 12:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xparrotThis is not a pimping post. This is a post of general squee. Many (if mostly incoherent) spoilers past this point.
Most of these moments concern the Devil Bats, and Hiruma especially. I make no apologies. The Devil Bats are murderously cute, and Hiruma...he's Hiruma. Favorite character syndrome something fierce, and I can't even say why, exactly. He's not the most insane or the most cunning or even the funniest of his kind. But then that's part of it, because he doesn't have a kind. Yes, he's a demonic bastard (asshole is putting it too mildly. This is a guy who regular opens fire on his best friends with semi-automatics and keeps a black book with blackmail material for every person in the city) who rules by terror and abuse and amoral manipulation, who plays and lives only to win.
He's also a brilliant team captain, who comprehends the strengths and weaknesses of each and every person under him, and will bring out the best in his people by any means possible. Hiruma's not the villain of the piece--he's never even the rival; he's on the side you're rooting for from the start. This despite the firearms, extortion, and unusual dentistry. --Which is a point of interest in itself. A demonic nature is one thing, but...the fangs? The ears? The occasionally-glimpsed black barbed tail that I'm not convinced is just artistic license? His teammates are understandably surprised to find his blood is red. (Me, I'm still trying to figure out how he chews the sugarless with such teeth. Not to mention a bubble-blowing demon does sort of break the image.)
Given all this, it takes a while to notice any human vulnerability in him, and even longer to realize the truth. How slowly it becomes apparent that for all the amazing talents of the team he recruits, Hiruma has no superhuman skills to match--no super speed, no great strength, no perfect aim. His endurance is incredible (as befits a fangboy) but that's not physical power but sheer will. All Hiruma has is ruthless quick wits and relentless determination. If he pushes his teammates past all reasonable limits, it's nothing he's not already done to himself. And while he has nothing but contempt for those who don't try, those who do--even if they fail, even if they don't win--get his respect.
Well, if "respect" involves getting an insulting nickname, probably starting with "fucking."* This is Hiruma. His preferred method of telling his team "Job well done!" is a hard kick to the rear. But he trusts them--absolutely trusts them, when everything's on the line. And while winning is the most important thing - the only thing that matters - the rare times you see Hiruma's control truly break is over his friends. (And if you're thinking those few moments are the ones that shattered my heart - you know me too well.)
*Yes, in English. The kanji's 糞 "kuso" and that's what he says in the anime, but in the manga the furigana reading is ファッキン. Haw.
But it's not just Hiruma. It's everybody. Every one of the Devil Bats stole my heart at one point or another. Way too hard to narrow the cute down to one char, or one moment - so...
21 reasons to love Eyeshield:
1. Sena with the photographs, crying alone, which was the first page that wrung an "aww" out of me. And then his practicing here is such a gorgeous shot. (Much of Eyeshield's art is. The style's classic shounen, nothing unique, but very nicely done.)
2. Getting a receiver, or The Seduction of Monta. Sheer hysteria. From Sena's timid questions about does football need specialists, to Hiruma's unique receiver-hunting methods of throwing his most violent pass at every possible candidate in the school, to the web he spins of the evils of Eyeshield 21.
(and really, how hot is the demon with a cigarette? Not that I don't love his bubblegum. But still.)
3. The death of Rice-kun. Aw. Bonding through violence on innocent wooden stand-ins.
4. The 2004 Jump Festa special is the best thing in the world, just for the last punchline. And, though it's sadly lacking most of the 'Bats, being set in the fourth volume, the dreamteam indeed - Paku Romi as Sena? Miki Shinichirou as Hiruma? If only...!
5. Kurita and the creampuffs. This chapter just about made me cry and I knew it was stupid and I knew how it was going to turn out and I couldn't help it. He's so hopeful in the flashback, joyfully getting everything ready and then no one comes at all, and it's blatantly manipulative but it hurts, because that disappointment is something everyone's felt at one time...and he wakes up and no one's there, and then he goes outside and...Yeah. I think the danger of sports shounen is that the emotions, while they might not run as deep as the life-or-death scenarios of fight/adventure stories, are more accessible; these are feelings everyone's had, experiences everyone's been through, to some degree. You can't help but empathize.
6. Yukimitsu's icecube. "You will survive as long as you have determination." The first time Hiruma shows he has...if not a nice side, at least a not-evil side, because he has his own agenda, always, but it's bound up in using the strengths of others. And no one knows, no one sees him do it, and that's just the way it should be.
7. The Hah brothers, who ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
immicolia warned me about, but yeah, they really are that cute, they're such guys, and such friends. Juumonji throwing the magazine away and lying that it called them all worthless, because if his friends are trash then he's going to be thrown away with them; and then the sweeper tactic in the NASA game and Juumonji is so happy to hear the crowd cheering for Kuroki and Toga--too too much aww.
And their "Huh?" routine cracks me up every time, because I'm dumb like that.
8. The NASA Aliens. For all their whacked whacked Japanese take on Americans, and racism, and Americans' view of Japan, Panther and Homer and their teammates bring on the cute in such a guy way. ...And when I say "guy," I mean "slash." Oh yeah.
9. Pretz! Hiruma is such a wicked, brilliant bastard. He plays Coach Apollo with such gleeful cunning, always one step ahead of anyone. (Except Mamori, and while I haven't decided if I actually like that pairing, they do have major egghead chemistry going on.)
10. The entire Death March. Oh man. Too much love here. From crossing the line and Sena coming out to his team, to their noticing Hiruma's incredible endurance and Mamori being the only one who sees past it, to the Hah brothers not deserting after all, to Sena not leaving nakama behind, to this last shot, which, just...no one ever sees, and no one but Mamori (and later Musashi) guesses, but he's only human after all... d'awww!
11. Hiruma plays blackjack, which deserves its own mention, because super high IQs turn me on in the worst way. And he's doing it to keep his team together, because the Devil Bats aren't going to the Christmas Bowl without their trainer. (They took this out of the anime! geeze!)
12. I gotta mention the Oujou Knights somewhere, because while I get antsy if it goes too long without Devil Bats action (like, more than three pages ^^;) Sakuraba's evolution is interesting enough to deserve mention, especially when Takami comes into the picture. And Shin was distractingly hot from the very beginning.
13. Before the tournament begins, Kurita hiding in the vault, and Hiruma knows exactly where to find him (Hiruma knows his friends so well! *squee*) and then the television (oh, lord, I never thought a television would make me squee like this, at least not one that's turned off) and "we're not alone" and BREAK MY HEART WHY DON'T YOU.
14. Kakei & Mizumachi, and Mizumachi's propensity for losing his clothing at any possible opportunity. Mizumachi is such a sweetie, so excited about cheerfully going as far as he can go, with his teammates. Also? So doing each other. They might be the most inarguably slashy pair of the whole cast.
15. "Just what's the difference between us?" Hiruma talking with Zokuto's captain Habashira after their loss to the Poseidons. It's only a brief moment, but the contrast between the captains, between their situations, and Hiruma's calm as he contemplates that difference...eee.
16. Deimon High School Field Day.
Goes without saying.
There are no words.
So scary!
17. "This way, unlike shooting, I can play with you, Tetsuma." The Kid and Tetsuma. From the Kid's "Tetsuma is the best receiver!" to the too-too-cute-for-words chibi flashback. Aww. And then when Tetsuma slams Monta, and Kid is so proud, because no one had to tell him to do it, and, really now, oh the love.
18. "Sorry to keep you waiting" - Musashi's return. Everything to do with Musashi, from the first time Hiruma got strange about the kick tee, to the impossibly sweet (in a Hiruma, football-obsessed boys will be football-obsessed boys way) flashbacks (Hiruma kicking over the bench killed me dead, because he never loses it like that, not for no reason, but the situation is out of his control and he hates that so much); to the way Hiruma and Kurita change when he comes back (and Musashi is so, so beautifully blase about his idiot friend's habits with extortion and shotguns and the like. "It's like twirling a pen, right?")
But most especially that one second Hiruma is in totally blown-away shock, and, "You're thirteen thousand, two hundred and ninety-seven hours and forty-nine minutes late."
Not many scans after this, not because I don't love the last quarter of manga tremendously but because the scanlations dropped in quality and I don't have the manga yet to scan myself. Rest assured, it's worth seeing. Oh so worth it.
19. The Interview. "Why do you play American football, Hiruma-san?"
20. The flashback of the trio of terror's first run-in with Agon. Proving again that Hiruma's psychosis also runs to pathological loyalty to his friends, whether it's going to America to fetch back Doburoku, or going to a school that doesn't even have a football team. And I love the contrast between Agon and Hiruma, from the first moment that Sena met Agon, and recognized true evil when he saw it.
21. Deimon Devilbats vs Shinryuuji Naga. Well, I had to include an actual game somewhere here. And oh good grief. This whole match is too, too intense. It goes on for 27 chapters and I was dying for it to end, not because I was bored but because I was hyperventilating from the tension - and this is reading a football game. Reading football game full well knowing who's going to win, because this is Shounen Jump and there are rules. But it still got me (and I'm not just saying that because this is Hiruma's game more than any of the others; everyone's talents are called upon, but Hiruma's the one whose wicked cunning ultimately prevail). And in classic shounen fashion, of course a game is not only a game; it's also a test of principles, nature vs nurture and can the power of one's dreams overcome natural talent - and if you don't know the answer to that, you've never read a shounen manga. But it still killed me. I could probably pull 21 favorite bits from this game alone. The highlights:
Really, I'm dying to see where this is going next, because they've got at least two major games to go, and to top this match - it's gonna be something. Can't wait for it...
Most of these moments concern the Devil Bats, and Hiruma especially. I make no apologies. The Devil Bats are murderously cute, and Hiruma...he's Hiruma. Favorite character syndrome something fierce, and I can't even say why, exactly. He's not the most insane or the most cunning or even the funniest of his kind. But then that's part of it, because he doesn't have a kind. Yes, he's a demonic bastard (asshole is putting it too mildly. This is a guy who regular opens fire on his best friends with semi-automatics and keeps a black book with blackmail material for every person in the city) who rules by terror and abuse and amoral manipulation, who plays and lives only to win.
He's also a brilliant team captain, who comprehends the strengths and weaknesses of each and every person under him, and will bring out the best in his people by any means possible. Hiruma's not the villain of the piece--he's never even the rival; he's on the side you're rooting for from the start. This despite the firearms, extortion, and unusual dentistry. --Which is a point of interest in itself. A demonic nature is one thing, but...the fangs? The ears? The occasionally-glimpsed black barbed tail that I'm not convinced is just artistic license? His teammates are understandably surprised to find his blood is red. (Me, I'm still trying to figure out how he chews the sugarless with such teeth. Not to mention a bubble-blowing demon does sort of break the image.)
Given all this, it takes a while to notice any human vulnerability in him, and even longer to realize the truth. How slowly it becomes apparent that for all the amazing talents of the team he recruits, Hiruma has no superhuman skills to match--no super speed, no great strength, no perfect aim. His endurance is incredible (as befits a fangboy) but that's not physical power but sheer will. All Hiruma has is ruthless quick wits and relentless determination. If he pushes his teammates past all reasonable limits, it's nothing he's not already done to himself. And while he has nothing but contempt for those who don't try, those who do--even if they fail, even if they don't win--get his respect.
Well, if "respect" involves getting an insulting nickname, probably starting with "fucking."* This is Hiruma. His preferred method of telling his team "Job well done!" is a hard kick to the rear. But he trusts them--absolutely trusts them, when everything's on the line. And while winning is the most important thing - the only thing that matters - the rare times you see Hiruma's control truly break is over his friends. (And if you're thinking those few moments are the ones that shattered my heart - you know me too well.)
*Yes, in English. The kanji's 糞 "kuso" and that's what he says in the anime, but in the manga the furigana reading is ファッキン. Haw.
But it's not just Hiruma. It's everybody. Every one of the Devil Bats stole my heart at one point or another. Way too hard to narrow the cute down to one char, or one moment - so...
21 reasons to love Eyeshield:
1. Sena with the photographs, crying alone, which was the first page that wrung an "aww" out of me. And then his practicing here is such a gorgeous shot. (Much of Eyeshield's art is. The style's classic shounen, nothing unique, but very nicely done.)
2. Getting a receiver, or The Seduction of Monta. Sheer hysteria. From Sena's timid questions about does football need specialists, to Hiruma's unique receiver-hunting methods of throwing his most violent pass at every possible candidate in the school, to the web he spins of the evils of Eyeshield 21.
(and really, how hot is the demon with a cigarette? Not that I don't love his bubblegum. But still.)
3. The death of Rice-kun. Aw. Bonding through violence on innocent wooden stand-ins.
4. The 2004 Jump Festa special is the best thing in the world, just for the last punchline. And, though it's sadly lacking most of the 'Bats, being set in the fourth volume, the dreamteam indeed - Paku Romi as Sena? Miki Shinichirou as Hiruma? If only...!
5. Kurita and the creampuffs. This chapter just about made me cry and I knew it was stupid and I knew how it was going to turn out and I couldn't help it. He's so hopeful in the flashback, joyfully getting everything ready and then no one comes at all, and it's blatantly manipulative but it hurts, because that disappointment is something everyone's felt at one time...and he wakes up and no one's there, and then he goes outside and...Yeah. I think the danger of sports shounen is that the emotions, while they might not run as deep as the life-or-death scenarios of fight/adventure stories, are more accessible; these are feelings everyone's had, experiences everyone's been through, to some degree. You can't help but empathize.
6. Yukimitsu's icecube. "You will survive as long as you have determination." The first time Hiruma shows he has...if not a nice side, at least a not-evil side, because he has his own agenda, always, but it's bound up in using the strengths of others. And no one knows, no one sees him do it, and that's just the way it should be.
7. The Hah brothers, who immicolia warned me about, but yeah, they really are that cute, they're such guys, and such friends. Juumonji throwing the magazine away and lying that it called them all worthless, because if his friends are trash then he's going to be thrown away with them; and then the sweeper tactic in the NASA game and Juumonji is so happy to hear the crowd cheering for Kuroki and Toga--too too much aww.And their "Huh?" routine cracks me up every time, because I'm dumb like that.
8. The NASA Aliens. For all their whacked whacked Japanese take on Americans, and racism, and Americans' view of Japan, Panther and Homer and their teammates bring on the cute in such a guy way. ...And when I say "guy," I mean "slash." Oh yeah.9. Pretz! Hiruma is such a wicked, brilliant bastard. He plays Coach Apollo with such gleeful cunning, always one step ahead of anyone. (Except Mamori, and while I haven't decided if I actually like that pairing, they do have major egghead chemistry going on.)10. The entire Death March. Oh man. Too much love here. From crossing the line and Sena coming out to his team, to their noticing Hiruma's incredible endurance and Mamori being the only one who sees past it, to the Hah brothers not deserting after all, to Sena not leaving nakama behind, to this last shot, which, just...no one ever sees, and no one but Mamori (and later Musashi) guesses, but he's only human after all... d'awww!11. Hiruma plays blackjack, which deserves its own mention, because super high IQs turn me on in the worst way. And he's doing it to keep his team together, because the Devil Bats aren't going to the Christmas Bowl without their trainer. (They took this out of the anime! geeze!)
12. I gotta mention the Oujou Knights somewhere, because while I get antsy if it goes too long without Devil Bats action (like, more than three pages ^^;) Sakuraba's evolution is interesting enough to deserve mention, especially when Takami comes into the picture. And Shin was distractingly hot from the very beginning.13. Before the tournament begins, Kurita hiding in the vault, and Hiruma knows exactly where to find him (Hiruma knows his friends so well! *squee*) and then the television (oh, lord, I never thought a television would make me squee like this, at least not one that's turned off) and "we're not alone" and BREAK MY HEART WHY DON'T YOU.
14. Kakei & Mizumachi, and Mizumachi's propensity for losing his clothing at any possible opportunity. Mizumachi is such a sweetie, so excited about cheerfully going as far as he can go, with his teammates. Also? So doing each other. They might be the most inarguably slashy pair of the whole cast.15. "Just what's the difference between us?" Hiruma talking with Zokuto's captain Habashira after their loss to the Poseidons. It's only a brief moment, but the contrast between the captains, between their situations, and Hiruma's calm as he contemplates that difference...eee.
16. Deimon High School Field Day.Goes without saying.
There are no words.
So scary!
17. "This way, unlike shooting, I can play with you, Tetsuma." The Kid and Tetsuma. From the Kid's "Tetsuma is the best receiver!" to the too-too-cute-for-words chibi flashback. Aww. And then when Tetsuma slams Monta, and Kid is so proud, because no one had to tell him to do it, and, really now, oh the love.
18. "Sorry to keep you waiting" - Musashi's return. Everything to do with Musashi, from the first time Hiruma got strange about the kick tee, to the impossibly sweet (in a Hiruma, football-obsessed boys will be football-obsessed boys way) flashbacks (Hiruma kicking over the bench killed me dead, because he never loses it like that, not for no reason, but the situation is out of his control and he hates that so much); to the way Hiruma and Kurita change when he comes back (and Musashi is so, so beautifully blase about his idiot friend's habits with extortion and shotguns and the like. "It's like twirling a pen, right?")But most especially that one second Hiruma is in totally blown-away shock, and, "You're thirteen thousand, two hundred and ninety-seven hours and forty-nine minutes late."
Not many scans after this, not because I don't love the last quarter of manga tremendously but because the scanlations dropped in quality and I don't have the manga yet to scan myself. Rest assured, it's worth seeing. Oh so worth it.
19. The Interview. "Why do you play American football, Hiruma-san?"
20. The flashback of the trio of terror's first run-in with Agon. Proving again that Hiruma's psychosis also runs to pathological loyalty to his friends, whether it's going to America to fetch back Doburoku, or going to a school that doesn't even have a football team. And I love the contrast between Agon and Hiruma, from the first moment that Sena met Agon, and recognized true evil when he saw it.
21. Deimon Devilbats vs Shinryuuji Naga. Well, I had to include an actual game somewhere here. And oh good grief. This whole match is too, too intense. It goes on for 27 chapters and I was dying for it to end, not because I was bored but because I was hyperventilating from the tension - and this is reading a football game. Reading football game full well knowing who's going to win, because this is Shounen Jump and there are rules. But it still got me (and I'm not just saying that because this is Hiruma's game more than any of the others; everyone's talents are called upon, but Hiruma's the one whose wicked cunning ultimately prevail). And in classic shounen fashion, of course a game is not only a game; it's also a test of principles, nature vs nurture and can the power of one's dreams overcome natural talent - and if you don't know the answer to that, you've never read a shounen manga. But it still killed me. I could probably pull 21 favorite bits from this game alone. The highlights:
Where to start? There was Hiruma's gambit, because I almost, almost fell for it myself, until he said 0.X%. And the trust there, that every single one of them needs to understand at once, and that Hiruma knows they can, enough to risk it...man. Breaks me into little teeny pieces.
And then - YUKIMITSU! <333333 Because only he (and Mamori) can keep up with Hiruma. And that is beautiful. (and I am the only person in the world who sees it, but - Hiruma/Yukimitsu. No srsly. Because Hiruma knows what it is to push yourself to do what you're not cut out for, because it's what you want to do. ...Well, Hiruma can be slashed with every member of his team, really, but...) And seeing Yukimitsu finally, finally get his chance - kills me oh so ded.
Speaking of killing me. Monta. Oh, Monta. And this is why Hiruma is fundamentally different from Kaiba and the like, because when his teammate says, Trust me, I'll do this or die trying; Hiruma doesn't hesitate, just says, Okay, then if you don't you better be dead; and throws the ball.
Also, Ikkyuu is the cutest little football-playing Vegeta-clone ever *squeeshes him*
And "I won't lose in catching to anybody!" Eeeee!
And the end, Hiruma's touchdown, and the trio making the final score, is just so perfect.
Really, I'm dying to see where this is going next, because they've got at least two major games to go, and to top this match - it's gonna be something. Can't wait for it...
