is a Japanese manga series written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. The series tells the story of Sena Kobayakawa, an introverted boy who joins an American football club as a secretary, but after being coerced by quarterback Yoichi Hiruma, becomes the team's running back, wearing jersey number 21 and an eyeshield to conceal his identity. Inagaki chose American football as a central subject of Eyeshield 21 after realizing that it fit perfectly with his idea for the series.
The manga was originally serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from July 2002 to June 2009. The series consists of 333 chapters collected in 37 volumes. An anime adaptation consisting of 145 television episodes was co-produced by TV Tokyo, NAS, and Gallop. The television series first aired on Japan's TV Tokyo network from April 2005 to March 2008. The Eyeshield 21 franchise has spawned two original video animations (OVAs), audio albums, video games, and other merchandise.
In North America, the manga was released by Viz Media from April 2005 to October 2011. The anime series was later licensed in North America by Toonami Jetstream as a joint effort with Viz Media and aired in December 2007, on its site, but before its completion, the streaming service was shut down. The whole series was streamed in English by Crunchyroll, while Sentai Filmworks licensed the series, with distribution from Section23 Films on DVDs.
By July 2025, the manga had over 27 million copies in circulation. The manga and anime have been featured at various times in weekly top ten lists of best-selling in their respective media. The anime has been watched by a large number of television viewers in Japan, helping to raise American football's popularity in the country. Publications for manga, anime, and others have commented on Eyeshield 21, which received praise for its artwork and characters, and criticism towards its non-football related plotlines.
Plot
Sena Kobayakawa is a timid and physically unremarkable student at Deimon Private Senior High School in Tokyo. Despite his frail appearance, he possesses exceptional speed and agility. These unique talents are recognized by the school's American football team captain, Yoichi Hiruma, who forcibly recruits him as the Deimon Devil Bats' running back. To protect Sena from rival teams seeking to recruit him, he is concealed under the alias "Eyeshield 21", playing while wearing a helmet with an eyeshield and publicly serving as the team's manager.
The team's initial foray into the spring tournament ends in a decisive defeat against the dominant Ojo White Knights, highlighting their inexperience. The team's true focus becomes the fall tournament, a single-elimination tournament where Tokyo's top teams vie for a chance to advance to the Christmas Bowl, the championship game between the best high school teams from the Kantō and Kansai regions. Determined to build a competitive team, Hiruma, Sena, and head lineman Ryokan Kurita assemble a ragtag group of players. This includes former baseball player Tarō "Monta" Raimon, who becomes the team's star wide receiver, and several delinquents who fill out the offensive line. Their shared ambition is to reach the Christmas Bowl, a particularly urgent goal for the second-year students as a school rule prohibits third-year students from participating in club activities.
The team engages in rigorous training and exhibition matches, including a notable game against the visiting NASA Aliens from the United States. During this match, Sena befriends their running back, Patrick "Panther" Spencer, a former ball boy. The team then travels to the United States for intensive training under their former mentor, Doburoku Sakaki, enduring a grueling trek through the desert that forges stronger bonds and culminates in Sena revealing his true identity to his teammates.
Upon returning to Japan, the revitalized Devil Bats enter the fall tournament. As they advance, Sena learns the "Eyeshield 21" moniker originally belonged to a Japanese-American player from Notre Dame High School. After securing a place in the Kantō tournament, the team overcomes formidable opponents, including the Shinryuji Naga, led by the ruthless prodigy Agon Kongo, and a rematch against the Ojo White Knights. They ultimately win the Kantō championship, earning their place in the Christmas Bowl. There, they face the undefeated Teikoku Alexanders from Osaka, led by Takeru Yamato, the original Eyeshield 21. In a dramatic finish, the Devil Bats win the championship, and Yamato acknowledges Sena as the rightful successor to the Eyeshield 21 legacy.
Subsequently, Sena is invited to study at Notre Dame High School in America. Upon returning to Japan, he enrolls at Enma University, reuniting with former teammates and rivals who now play for various university and company teams. Together, they vow to compete for the Rice Bowl, Japan's national football championship.
In a later bonus chapter, the NFL's International Player Pathway Program offers a single spot with the San Antonio Armadillos to a Japanese player. Sena, now playing for the Enma Fires, and Hiruma, of the Saikyodai Wizards, compete against one another in the Koshien Bowl to determine the candidate. Although the Enma team is implied to be victorious, the final selection is not revealed.
Production Before the series was published regularly, Riichiro Inagaki and Yusuke Murata published two one-shots called and on March 5 and 12, 2002, in Weekly Shōnen Jump. When it would become a serial, the editorial department asked if Inagaki wanted to both write and draw the series, but Inagaki felt he was "so rookie", so he asked Murata to be the illustrator. Before being asked to work on Eyeshield 21, Murata had read some of Inagaki's manga and noted that they "had many cool design concepts of uniforms and equipment". He said, "it could be turned into a great manga story" and he would "be happy to take the challenge"; eventually he was chosen.
During Eyeshield 21s original run in the magazine, Inagaki went to the United States to see college football matches, and National Football League games. Despite having never played American football, Inagaki chose this theme after deciding that he wanted to create "a protagonist that was wimpy at the beginning, yet could perform outstandingly in a sports game", and with this premise in mind he decided that American football would be "a very suitable material". When originally creating Eyeshield 21, Inagaki said he was wary because he did not want his manga becoming "a simulator of football". The fact that football is not a popular sport in Japan also worried Inagaki. As last resort, he thought to turn the series into a "Kamen Rider-style masked hero story" if it could not met the popularity required for the magazine. However, it was such a popular series that online commentators said that, considering the series' final length, the editors may have insisted that Eyeshield 21 be kept going due to business reasons. However, Inagaki declared that the manga was "exactly how [he] wanted to tell the story" and that Murata also seconded it.
Media Manga
Written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata, Eyeshield 21 was serialized by Shueisha in the manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from July 23, 2002, to June 15, 2009. The manga consists of 333 chapters spanning 37 (collected volumes), released from December 20, 2002, to October 2, 2010. Eyeshield 21 has also been published as part of the Shueisha Jump Remix series of magazine-style books. Fourteen volumes were released between June 28, 2010, and February 14, 2011. A special 55-page one-shot chapter, to celebrate the series' 21st anniversary, was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump on January 29, 2024.
An English translation of the manga was published in North America by Viz Media under the Shonen Jump Advanced label between April 5, 2005, and October 4, 2011.
The manga has also been licensed in some countries such as in France by Glénat, in Hong Kong by Culturecom, in Indonesia by Elex Media Komputindo, in Italy by Panini Comics, in South Korea by Daewon Media, and in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing.
Original video animations
Two original video animations (OVA) based on the Eyeshield 21 manga series were developed. The first one, named , was developed by Production I.G and shown as part of the Jump Festa Anime Tour in September 2003 and in Jump Festa 2004. The second OVA, titled , was shown at Jump Festa 2005. The two OVAs were later released on DVD; the first was released with the second OVA of Naruto in a compilation called Jump Festa 2004 Super DVD. The other was released by Bandai Visual as an extra track on the sixth DVD of the Eyeshield 21 anime series.
Television series
The Eyeshield 21 anime adaptation was co-produced by TV Tokyo, NAS, and Gallop, and was directed by Masayoshi Nishida until episode 103, and by Shin Katagai from 104 to 145.Opening credits from the episodes:
The series of 145 television episodes aired in Japan from April 6, 2005, to March 19, 2008, on TV Tokyo. In Japan, Bandai Visual distributed the anime in DVD format; thirty-six volumes were released between July 26, 2006, and June 26, 2007. Some changes were done in comparison to the manga; for example, swearings and guns or gambling references were reduced. Initially, Viz Media and Cartoon Network planned to air a dubbed version of Eyeshield 21 on the internet video streaming service Toonami Jetstream, and on NFL Rush site as a joint effort with National Football League (NFL). The anime was eventually posted only on Toonami Jetstream, with the first episode, which condensed three episodes, being available on December 17, 2007. However, it was not completed due to Toonami Jetstream's cancellation and shutdown. In December 2008, the video streaming service Crunchyroll announced that it would begin to stream Eyeshield 21 subtitled on its site on January 2, 2009. The last episode was available on November 1, 2009, for premium users, and on March 7, 2010, for free users. On February 26, 2010, Section23 Films announced that Sentai Filmworks received the license to the anime. The first fifty-two episodes were released on four subtitled-only DVDs between May 18, 2010, and February 8, 2011.
Audio The music for the Eyeshield 21 anime adaptation was composed by Kō Ōtani. The series use twelve pieces of theme music, five opening and seven ending themes. The opening themes are "Breakthrough" and "Innocence" by V6, "Dang Dang" by ZZ, "Blaze Line" by Back-On, and by Short Leg Summer. The ending themes are "Be Free" by Ricken's, "Blaze Away" by The Trax, "Goal" by Beni Arashiro, "Run to Win" by Aya Hirano, Miyu Irino, Koichi Nagano and Kappei Yamaguchi, "A day dreaming..." by Back-On, "Flower" by Back-On, and "Song of Power" by Short Leg Summer.
A number of audio CDs linked to the anime series have been released in Japan. The original soundtrack was released on two discs by Avex Mode on March 5, 2008, under the title Eyeshield 21 Complete Best Album. Three compilation albums, Eyeshield 21 Original Soundtrack Sound Field 1, Eyeshield 21 Sound Field Especial, and Eyeshield 21 Song Best, featuring opening and ending themes, insertion songs, and character and team songs were released on August 31, 2005, December 21, 2005, and March 23, 2006, respectively. Six maxi singles containing character songs have also been published. The first three, for Sena Kobayakawa, Mamori Anezaki, and Monta, were released on October 26, 2005. The other three, with the songs of Haruto Sakuraba, Seijurou Shin, and Suzuna Taki, were released on January 25, 2006. In addition to the musical CDs, Eyeshield 21 Drama Field 1, an audio drama CD, was released by Avex on September 21, 2005.
Video games