Since the Naga game is done on the book version and the White Knights game is almost done on the serialized version, I thought this is a good time to reflect on the series-that-could-have-been-great. Eyeshield 21 does not make the mistakes most typical sports manga do. However it makes a brand new one. It basically treats the sport it's covering (football) like a video game, and it's played by someone who is absolutely crazy.
Whenever I play NFL Blitz I run suicide blitz on defense everytime, and fake field goal or hail mary on first and 10. That right there is how the Devil Bats approach football. It's completely illogical. It has been said many times that if Sena wants to run up the middle he can net 10 yards per 3 carries even if the other team knew that the Devil Bats are going to run up the middle every time. It is downright absurdity in the White Knights game when the Devil Bats are *forced* to go to their unstoppable running game because their hail mary passes are no longer working. It's funnier still that as soon as they switched to the unstoppable running plays, they are basically able to score at will against the allgedly impenetrable defense of the White Knights, but they stopped doing it because it's slow and not flashy. The Devil Bats continue to run all kinds of crazy plays while the White Knights showed no sign of able to stop the 'run through the middle' play. The reverse also applies to the White Knights, as Shin's running game is similarly unstoppable (at least until Sena powers up yet again) and yet they keep on run passing plays which usually results in interception.
I once saw an article evaluating Saint Seiya saying that everything in Saint Seiya worked out fine because nothing ever made sense, so you stop wondering why people come back to the dead with no explanation after literally getting blown to smithereens ala Dragonball self-destruct style. Eyeshield 21 is really the exact opposite. Everything except the absurd strategy employed by the Devil Bats makes a whole lot of sense. Hiruma, the quarterback of the Devil Bats, actually have no superhuman abilities whatsoever. But that's what messes the whole series up, as the strategic problems are magnified in light of the fact everything else seems to have solid background.
I guess Eyeshield 21 is self defeating. It's constant brilliance only serves as a joke when Devil Bats continue to run the equivalent of suicide blitzes on every down and wonder why it's not working. It is also rather sad, because aside from the strategic aspect, it covers every other aspect you'd expect in a sports manga well, and usually in a believeable manner. It could have been something that came close to Slam Dunk, generally regarded as the best sports manga ever, if there is any depth to its strategy. And it's not like the Devil Bats actually need these crazy strategy to win when they can always run for a first down regardless of how the opponent defends. In fact after the Naga game I was expecting the Devil Bats to bulldoze the White Knights by running up the middle repeatedly, but of course Devil Bats stopped doing that except when they're behind by more than one touchdown and have to resort to mundane methods of scoring.
Whenever I play NFL Blitz I run suicide blitz on defense everytime, and fake field goal or hail mary on first and 10. That right there is how the Devil Bats approach football. It's completely illogical. It has been said many times that if Sena wants to run up the middle he can net 10 yards per 3 carries even if the other team knew that the Devil Bats are going to run up the middle every time. It is downright absurdity in the White Knights game when the Devil Bats are *forced* to go to their unstoppable running game because their hail mary passes are no longer working. It's funnier still that as soon as they switched to the unstoppable running plays, they are basically able to score at will against the allgedly impenetrable defense of the White Knights, but they stopped doing it because it's slow and not flashy. The Devil Bats continue to run all kinds of crazy plays while the White Knights showed no sign of able to stop the 'run through the middle' play. The reverse also applies to the White Knights, as Shin's running game is similarly unstoppable (at least until Sena powers up yet again) and yet they keep on run passing plays which usually results in interception.
I once saw an article evaluating Saint Seiya saying that everything in Saint Seiya worked out fine because nothing ever made sense, so you stop wondering why people come back to the dead with no explanation after literally getting blown to smithereens ala Dragonball self-destruct style. Eyeshield 21 is really the exact opposite. Everything except the absurd strategy employed by the Devil Bats makes a whole lot of sense. Hiruma, the quarterback of the Devil Bats, actually have no superhuman abilities whatsoever. But that's what messes the whole series up, as the strategic problems are magnified in light of the fact everything else seems to have solid background.
I guess Eyeshield 21 is self defeating. It's constant brilliance only serves as a joke when Devil Bats continue to run the equivalent of suicide blitzes on every down and wonder why it's not working. It is also rather sad, because aside from the strategic aspect, it covers every other aspect you'd expect in a sports manga well, and usually in a believeable manner. It could have been something that came close to Slam Dunk, generally regarded as the best sports manga ever, if there is any depth to its strategy. And it's not like the Devil Bats actually need these crazy strategy to win when they can always run for a first down regardless of how the opponent defends. In fact after the Naga game I was expecting the Devil Bats to bulldoze the White Knights by running up the middle repeatedly, but of course Devil Bats stopped doing that except when they're behind by more than one touchdown and have to resort to mundane methods of scoring.
