Entry 005: "Eyeshield 21" Ep. 15-30

Dear Internet,

            I am still in Japan watching high schoolers playing American football, as I was before and will be for some time.  Today, I was able to get through "Eyeshield 21" episodes 15-30.  For the most part, the elements that I have already told you about continue through this batch of episodes.  "Eyeshield 21" continues through the normal shonen sports show characteristics.  There are moments of male bonding, the continued explanation of the rules and techniques of the sport, and continued character growth of nearly everyone on the team.  There are a few things that I must mention that bothered me a little.

            For starters, there is the opening and ending credits.  With many show, the title sequences are used to display the various characters that partake in the central or secondary plot.  "Eyeshield 21" does this, too, but in the first opening are characters that do not appear for quite some time as the series begins.  Three of the characters that appear in both credits do not even appear until the second season's batch of episodes, which is past the 13th episode mark.  One of these characters, Suzuna Taki, does not even appear until episode 20, yet she appears numerous times in the credit sequences.  Until she and the others appeared, it make me wonder constantly who in the world they were and sometimes why I should care.  I can understand that those title sequences can take a big chunk out of a production budget so they have to make one that lasts for a while, but showcasing characters that have yet to make their debut does little to hide these production limitations.  

            The only reason that absolves this is the fact that the show came about three years after the manga it had been based off of had started, so many were already familiar with the characters and story.  However, whenever a story crosses medium it needs to in the very least pretend that it is trying to reach a target audience that is new to it.  If a story is not trying to reach a new or broader audience then the only reason for it changing medium is to blatantly sell itself over and over to the same group.  Take the Star Wars Expanded Universe for example.  Almost every fan of something in the Expanded Universe is a fan of the movies or in the very least has watched them.  The same cannot be said the other way around.  Many people watch the movies and stay plenty away from the various novels and TV shows.  "Eyeshield 21" is different since one can only watch the TV show if they want and completely ignore the source material.

            Another thing that is more laughable than bothersome is the entirety of episode 28.  In this episode the group flies across the ocean to the United State, specifically Houston, Texas, because if you are going to the US you need to go to the most 'Merican city and state in the union.  So of course in the course of this episode and the ones around it, the show goes to such comical extremes to portray the country and its inhabitants.  Let me showcase the ways, Internet.  There are the tiny burgers show in the ending of episode 27.  For one thing, there are no tiny burgers in Texas.  Making them such would be an insult to state pride.  It even has regional specialty burgers in the big fast food chains.  Next, police officers are ready to fire off rounds into the air when a purse snatcher runs by, but then again there are a number of individuals on the show who already do this at the drop of a pin.  Phone booths require two Japanese children to work since they are so tall.  Skyscrapers have walkways that connect to one another for blocks on end.  And the topper of the cake is that hospitals are horribly understaffed and under qualified.  How does "Eyeshield 21" pull off that last one?  A pregnant woman is rushed to the hospital and the apparently the only obstetrician went fishing that day and no one else can deliver the baby.  So, the titular character must run to the beach and carry him back to help deliver the baby.  I do not think I need to even touch that one.

            Internet, there are some things that defy sense for the sake of forcing plot progression.  The mentioned above has got to be take the cake, but it still does not deter my interest in the show.  Any plot clichés that the show goes through are done so wholeheartedly that I have too much fun as the ride continues.  This is a good thing since there are more than 100 episodes to go.

Yours in digital,

BeepBoop