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Sena's so fast, even the snow doesn't have a chance!
YA-HA! Hi again, fucking readers!
Ok, change of strategy, here.
Before you say anything about the change of the title and review format, let me just say that it's more than likely not the end of my Ten Comments for ES21 chapters. But often there are some incredibly action-packed or simple and straight-forward chapters (as we had this week) where it's just a little bit overkill to try to find and squeeze in TEN topics to talk about... so, I talked with Xophien about it.
I decided in the end that I'd change up my review formatting to better suit these chapters. So, for this week I'd do three comments instead - and just to give it a little bit of a football feel, I'll do it like 1st down, 2nd down, 3rd down... and whether the chapter is a touchdown, field goal, or a fumbled ball, I'll say so at the end. How's that for creativity?
ES21 likely will always score every time, though.
Hopefully nobody is too disappointed by this and there may still be times, as I said, I might revert back to 10 comments for a given chapter. You'll just have to guess which chapters I might do that with.
Oh and if you have any better ideas for the title of my these reviews, lemme know. >_> And of course if you have anything else to say, please do! Hope you enjoy this week's review of ES21 296th Down either way. ^^
EDIT: Oops, forgot my usual thanks! Much gratitude to ryColaa and Xophien for doing this chapter, of course!
Here's the updated "scoring summary" of the game so far (not much happened besides a missed PAT though):
*The scoreboard is my best guess at which Teikoku points transpired in what quarters... since the manga didn't clearly reveal that in the first half. OT means "Overtime Points" - but we're not into OT yet. T means "Total Points."
* * * Gold Knight's Ten Comments on ES21 296th Down: The Path of a New Dimension! * * *
What're Friends For...!?
What're Friends For...!?
1st Down: All Or Nothing!
Okay, so Sena's simple low-center-of-gravity, shoulders-down, bracing run didn't exactly work for the best.
Who knew Yamato, who must have been laughing on the inside, would just fall on the little guy again? That's just like Inagaki Riichiro and Murata Yusuke, though. Giving us an impression of what might happen at the end of the chapter, and then showing us something entirely different at the start of the next. They're tricky, just like that Hiruma!
So does Sena merely slump his shoulders, lay on the ground with his hands wrapped over his head, and admit the unthinkable - defeat? Does he finally acknowledge that he is but a lowly ant compared to the greatness that is the "real Eyeshield 21," the emperor of the Teikoku Alexanders, the one and the only Yamato Takeru?
Hell no - you bet your jock straps he doesn't!
That kid's got too much fighting spirit for any of that kind of nonsense!
We quickly see the grim determination on Sena's face right away, as he shakes off his momentary hopelessness and starts pondering his options, searching for a way that he can get around that seemingly "invincible" three-dimensional sphere of defense who's so boldly standing in his way to victory. Thinking seriously about how he can finally defeat the boastful man that taunts him at every turn. As if he was sure there was some way he hadn't thought of that he could accomplish that difficult task.
Guess what? His friend, Monta, immediately noticed it.
Just by the way Sena stood up and readied himself for the next play, Monta could tell by his friend's stance that he still had confidence.
There's times on the field, even in times of despair, where football players show in their posture and attitude that they haven't given up - sometimes so obviously that even the average fan can tell it from the stands. At times, though, it takes somebody who knows that player personally that they understand what's going through their head.
Monta and Sena have both been through a lot together, as evidenced by how before the match, Sena understood exactly what would inspire Monta to be more confident in himself, and collected a box of opposing players' gloves for just that. By the same token, Monta understood his teammate here - that inside that unassuming shell of his, Sena still fully believed he could still win, and wanted another opportunity to prove it for once and all.
And because Monta knew it, in Sena's place, he asked Hiruma to do something extraordinary - to throw away all other possibilities of a comeback for just one chance. To give Sena that one more run that could save their game, or else lose it. All-or-nothing.
Of course Hiruma would be for it. It's the ultimate gamble... and it was his running back who he had such faith in since the beginning of the game. Besides, wasn't it what he had planned for in that match all along, anyway?
Always thinking of the team...!!!
2nd Down: Waiting For That Time!!!
Yeah, so there's that question answered once again - why would Hiruma so boldly name Kobayakawa Sena the prestigious nickname of "Eyeshield 21," even before seeing him play a single snap?
No, it wasn't simply because Hiruma wanted to intimidate every team they played, though that was of course a bonus.
And yes, he did want Sena to start to consciously try to become the best running back of Japan. But we didn't know where Hiruma was inspired to try that psychological strategy.
As we see in the flashbacks, even dating back to the origins of Deimon's team, Hiruma was intelligent enough to know that the fate of the Devil-Bats would rest on their running back's shoulders - that next to the quarterback, it was the most important position on a football team.
And even before they seemed to play a single game, Hiruma knew that they'd have to find a running back to even have a chance at the Teikoku Alexanders, as they would of course have the "real" Eyeshield 21.
He was planning that far ahead all along.
It all comes full circle back to when Hiruma was so excited that he'd finally discovered somebody who was as mind-bogglingly fast as little Sena!
But even back then, I don't think he had any idea of how capable Sena would be of actually realizing the legend of the Devil-Bats that Hiruma had dreamed about... to the extent that he'd plan his entire Christmas Bowl game strategy around his speed...!
Just do your job, fucking shrimp!
I'd never thought about it either until Sena mentioned it - Hiruma had never gone out of his way to actually have a personal conversation with his running back. Or nearly with anybody else, for that matter, except of course Kurita and Mamoru.
Pretty neat writing, then, to have arranged for this one scene to be the only - and potentially final - one-on-one, mano-a-mano conversation between Hiruma and Sena, right before what may be their most important game ever.
Of course, we understand here now that Hiruma had planned to put his faith in Sena all along for this game, and had even gone out of his way to make that known to the diminutive running back.
But back then, Sena wasn't aware of just how much of a honor that was, and he certainly didn't expect it to seem a mistake to the other team.
No wonder, then, he was so fired up...!
No waaaaaay we'll lose! Nyah nyah!
3rd Down: All Talk, No Action...!?
Of course, Teikoku saw no reason to keep their confidence a secret. Why would they? They certainly had things in hand for most of the game - and Yamato did seem virtually non-stoppable.
But especially with one's sense of urgency growing, sometimes a player can take "trash-talking" - which is a bit of what the Alexanders are doing here - as motivation to try even harder.
We've seen that over and over with Sena, and I think it was most evident when the always-despicable Kongo Agon of the Shinryuuji Nagas so cruelly announced to the Devil-Bats that it was "game over" for them all. You all saw how Sena reacted to that statement. Agon's probably still finding bits of mud in his teeth while brushing, even now!
It isn't just Sena - it's the whole team. When Reiji "Marco" Maruko of the Hakushuu Dinosaurs asked Takekura "Musashi" Gen whether the Devil-Bats were ready to give up or not - how did they answer? Of course, with their characteristic "let's fucking kill them!" war cry!
So to sum it up, Hercules and Yamato had no idea what they were doing here. They were further inspiring Sena to try even harder, with every single taunt.
But I'll admit... I had no idea just good Sena's run would be because of it...!??
I think Yamato just peed himself.
Whoa, whoa!
Did Sena's run just manipulate time and space!??
No, seriously, has Eyeshield 21 gone right from being a sports manga to a superhero comic? Will Sena soon don some bright tights and hitherto become known as "Captain Speed?" Will he fight for truth, and justice, and the Japanese way...?
So that must be the next project Inagaki had planned to do all along right after ES21 ended, right. Instead of creating new characters, he'd just keep the same ones and do something different with them all? Will we soon see Monta become "Monkey Man" and Hiruma become the Devil... nah, he'd still be just Hiruma, that's enough. XD
These were all thoughts running through my head when I saw the final stunning double-spread in this chapter. Along with recalling Salvador Dali's 1931 Persistence of Memory what with the "melting clocks" in the background, which was a fun touch.
Xophien reminded me of when Sena had once suggested such a ludicrous idea as breaking the barrier of time with his "light-speed" run in the Bando match. Looks like he might have finally done it!
I'm with everybody else when they say they have no clue as to what Sena just did there and I'm dying to see just what happened. As I'm sure Yamato and Taka and everybody else is right now. Their expressions were totally appropriate here!
Anyway, that's it for this week.
RATING: 5 of 5 - TOUCHDOWN! Again a 5. Just a fun chapter, with a memorable ending that probably made everybody go WTF. And as usual, there were great bits of writing that had seemed planned from Day One. So yeah, this chapter rocked.
PREDICTIONS: Sena scores a touchdown.
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...
Like hell it is here, though. XD
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