Entry 006: "Eyesheld 21" EP. 31-45

Dear Internet,

                How was your weekend?  Productive?  Mine was not.  In fact, I've taken a step backwards if I think about it.  I found a box of vinyl records that I had forgotten to catalog for this project.  I went through the box and now I have another 75 items to add to the backlog.  I also had a console short out on me that I will have to send in for repairs.  The mountain just grew a little bigger, but let us not dwell on such things.  On to American football with more "Eyeshield 21."

                Fifteen more episodes down and the plot is progressing nicely.  Our motley group of characters have now gone through the Death March training by walking from Houston, Texas, to Las Vegas.  That's a trip of over 1400 miles and through two to three deserts.  It would be best that we just ignore the concept of heatstroke or severe dehydration and things like that, or else we might be here a while.  If a show is going to go all the way with a training arc, it might as well get as crazy as it can.  What I find refreshing about the training arc of "Eyeshield 21" in comparison to other shows Like it is that training arcs are short.  The group gets to Las Vegas in six episodes which is short in comparison to other shows where it can last a season and a half or more.  But "Eyeshield 21" takes a rather cliche aspect of the sports genre it falls into by making it more than just a training arc.  On top of finally giving an episode to Manabu Yukimitsu, who had yet been given much character development or exposition, "Eyeshield 21" is able to introduce a new key character to the team.  Unlike other shows, like "Bleach" who creates new characters by the dozen for each arc and then becomes a juggling fiasco, when a character is brought forth here, it actually has meaning.

                Also, Internet, it is time for the Christmas Bowl Tournament.  This is what the entire series has been building up to.  It is within that last statement that "Eyeshield 21" has got something which other shows lack.  From the very first episode, there is a clear understanding of what the ultimate goal is.  Te Christmas Bowl is what everything eventually centers upon.  There are no ambiguous title with no set qualifications, no goal that will take years and years to master, no surprise twist where the plot minimizes previously set target.  Winning the Christmas Bowl is what everyone of the characters is striving for, and the audience can take comfort in knowing where this ride is going and that it is not being sidetracked.  But I might be speaking too quickly with exactly 100 episodes to go.

                So, let us continue down the field of dreams as our armored warriors battle it out on the gridiron with the masked bolt carries the hide of victory.  Or something like that.

Yours in digital,

BeepBoop