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 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 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.
In Tokyo,[note 1] a weak, unassertive boy named Sena Kobayakawa enters the Deimon Private Senior High School.
Sena's only remarkable physical abilities are his running speed and agility, which are noted by the school's American football team captain and quarterback, the ambitious and intimidating Yoichi Hiruma.
The makeshift team initially takes part in the spring football tournament hoping to win through the strength of their new "secret weapon".
Due to a rule at several high schools, including Deimon, that prohibits students from participating in club activities in their third and final school year, the fall tournament is last chance for second year students Hiruma and Kurita to participate in the Christmas Bowl, raising the stakes for the Devil Bats.
The Devil Bats partake in several exhibition games that boost their popularity, including a match against the visiting NASA Aliens from the United States, whose ball boy turned running back Patrick "Panther" Spencer befriends Sena.
After losing to NASA, the Devil Bats spend their summer vacation in Houston, where they meet Hiruma's and Kurita's former mentor Doburoku Sakaki, who reluctantly allows Hiruma's request to put the team through a dangerous training regimen known as the "Death March"—which involves traveling on foot from Houston to Las Vegas through the Mojave Desert.
During the Death March, the team works to improve their strength and stamina and strengthen their bonds with each other; Sena reveals his identity to the rest of his teammates.
The Devil Bats face off against the Teikoku Alexanders, the undefeated and reigning Christmas Bowl champions from Osaka, who are led by Takeru Yamato, the real Japanese Eyeshield 21 from Notre Dame.
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".
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.
[22][23][24] 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.
[34] The second OVA, titled Eyeshield 21: Christmas Bowl e no Michi – Minami no Shima de Tokkun da!
[35] The Eyeshield 21 anime adaptation was co-produced by TV Tokyo, NAS, and Gallop,[37][38] and was directed by Masayoshi Nishida until episode 103, and by Shin Katagai from 104 to 145.
[40][41] In Japan, Bandai Visual distributed the anime in DVD format; thirty-six volumes were released between July 26, 2006, and June 26, 2007.
[79][80] In Japan, jigsaw puzzles,[81] action figures,[82] plush dolls,[83] calendars,[84] key chains,[85] and a medal game machine were sold as merchandise for the series.
Individual volumes have appeared in Diamond Comic Distributors's lists of 300 best-selling graphic novels in North America several times.
[133][134] However, commenting on its genre's lack of popularity in the United States, Jason Thompson wrote in Anime News Network that "Even Eyeshield 21, a sports manga which is practically made for Americans, wasn't a big hit here".
Deb Aoki from About.com wrote that tying with Bleach, Eyeshield 21 was the best continuing shōnen manga of 2007, because it "has well-written characters, dynamic artwork, nail-biting cliffhangers, plus a winning mix of comedy, action and drama".
[138] Chris Zimmerman of Comic Book Bin was positive on his review of the volumes 30–33; he affirmed it is "one of the best shonen titles out there" and described it as "a superb series, with well developed characters, intense action, and touching humor".
[139] Scott Campbell of Active Anime commented it is an "action-filled" series with great artwork and humor, and that it "has managed to continually get more and more dynamic with each volume".
[141][142] June Shimonishi, reviewing for School Library Journal, wrote that it "delivers a fresh and entertaining take on all the standard sports clichés".
[143] Zac Bertschy from Anime News Network (ANN) declared Eyeshield 21 "defies convention" by turning what most might consider "a really ridiculously bad idea" into "something most everyone would be able to enjoy".
[144] Carlo Santos from ANN called it a "typical sports story", writing that what make it an above average series are its characters and artwork.
"[145] Later, Santos said, "[a] lot of familiar clichés show themselves" in Eyeshield 21, and that "[t]he storyline also does a sloppy job of keeping track of the game ... making it even less believable than it already is".
Bobby Cooper from DVD Talk praised how the rules of American football are "explained to a foreign audience that has no clue what it's all about", adding that instructions at the commercial breaks "were informative and similar to the Go lessons of Hikaru No Go."