The anime series Eyeshield 21 is based on the manga series of the same name written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. The series is directed by Masayoshi Nishida and produced by TV Tokyo, NAS and Gallop. The plot of the episodes follows Sena Kobayakawa, a student who becomes an American football player against his desire but eventually becomes the star of the team, wearing an eyeshield to protect his identity.

Before the anime series was aired, Production I.G announced in August 2003 the production of an original video animation (OVA) that was released on Jump Festa Anime Tour 2003. The production of anime Eyeshield 21 was announced by Weekly Shōnen Jump at the end of 2004. Eyeshield 21 aired between April 6, 2005, and March 19, 2008, on TV Tokyo. The episodes were later released in thirty-six DVD compilations between July 22, 2005, and June 25, 2008, by Bandai Visual.

Viz Media and Cartoon Network released a dubbed version of Eyeshield 21 on the internet video streaming service Toonami Jetstream; the video was available on December 17, 2007. However, it was not completed due to Toonami Jetstream's defunct. The video streaming service Crunchyroll streamed Eyeshield 21 subtitled on its site beginning on January 2, 2009; the last episode was available on November 1, 2009, for premium users, and on March 7, 2010, for free users. Section23 Films through Sentai Filmworks released the first fifty-two episodes on four subtitled-only DVDs between May 18, 2010, and February 8, 2011.

The series use twelve pieces of theme music: five opening and seven ending themes. The opening themes are "Breakthrough" by Coming Century, "Innocence" by 20th Century, "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. Singles have been released of the individual songs, an original soundtrack and other four CDs were also released by Avex.

Episode list Episodes 1–72

Episodes 73–145

OVAs

Media release Japanese release Bandai Visual released thirty-six DVD compilations between July 22, 2005, and June 25, 2008. Volume Release date Episodes Ref. Volume 1 July 22, 2005 1–4 Volume 2 August 26, 2005 5–8 Volume 3 September 23, 2005 9–12 Volume 4 October 28, 2005 13–16 Volume 5 November 25, 2005 17–20 Volume 6 December 23, 2005 21–24 + OVA Volume 7 January 27, 2006 25–28 Volume 8 February 24, 2006 29–32 Volume 9 March 24, 2006 33–36 Volume 10 April 26, 2006 37–40 Volume 11 May 26, 2006 41–44 Volume 12 June 23, 2006 45–48 Volume 13 July 28, 2006 49–52 Volume 14 August 25, 2006 53–56 Volume 15 September 22, 2006 57–60 Volume 16 October 27, 2006 61–64 Volume 17 November 24, 2006 65–68 Volume 18 December 22, 2006 69–72 Volume 19 January 26, 2007 73–76 Volume 20 February 23, 2007 77–80 Volume 21 March 23, 2007 81–84 Volume 22 April 25, 2007 85–88 Volume 23 May 25, 2007 89–92 Volume 24 June 22, 2007 93–96 Volume 25 July 27, 2007 97–100 Volume 26 August 24, 2007 101–104 Volume 27 September 25, 2007 105–108 Volume 28 October 26, 2007 109–112 Volume 29 November 23, 2007 113–116 Volume 30 December 21, 2007 117–120 Volume 31 January 25, 2008 121–124 Volume 32 February 22, 2008 125–128 Volume 33 March 25, 2008 129–132 Volume 34 April 25, 2008 133–136 Volume 35 May 23, 2008 137–140 Volume 36 June 25, 2008 140–145

English release Sentai Filmworks released four DVD compilations between May 18, 2010, and February 8, 2011.

+ Sentai Filmworks (North America, Region 1 DVD) Volume EpisodesRelease date Ref.Volume 11–13May 18, 2010Volume 214–26July 6, 2010Volume 327–39December 21, 2010Volume 440–52February 8, 2011

References