Eyeshield 21 is a very simplistic sports manga about American Football in Japan. The main character is a very weak, thin but very fast Japanese boy who for some random reason or another decides to whole heartedly take up American football. He meets a lot of weak and strong people along his way and his goal is to become stronger than this one person, Shin.
Most of the comedy in here is kind of eccentric. It relies heavily on the fact that Sena's closest friend doesn't know he's this Eyeshield 21. It also relies on the Hiruma's kind of slave masterish role as a leader who does anything to win - as a result everyone else he meets along the way somehow get caught up into his own plans and ways of doing things.
The characters in Eyeshield are very very 1 dimensional. Each character is given this basic unmutable personality. There is no such thing as character growth... and all the more so for the side characters. The childhood friend girl just HAD to be in there and she doesn't do anything except prevent this manga from being a "hot dog" fest (all guys online). The main character doesn't have any ambition except to get stronger (and for no good reason). Indeed, the only improving is the "powering up" of physical strength in this manga. Still, that said - the silly and weird nature of every football player kind of gives this manga a certain weird character making this a "Quarter joke - threequarters sports manga".
At first Eyeshield 21 was very entertaining - watching Sena get stronger, meeting new (weird) people, playing in tournaments, traveling the country, but the shallowness of this manga fails to keep me engrossed for very long. By volume 10 I felt everything just went too smoothly for everybody. Sure they hiked 2000 km, but that felt so contrived and forced. In the end, at least by volume 13, Eyeshield 21 is a mediocre sports manga whose only strength lies in this ordinary boy who has the legs of a legend.
