Dear Internet,
AHA-HA! With this latest batch of "Eyeshield
21" episodes I am now into the second half of the series. Also this latest batch is significantly
better than the last but the pacing is getting slower.
The
match between the Devil Bats and the Spiders took eight episodes, which is a
new record for the show . Non Devil Bats
games still only take less than one episode to get through but in the case of
the White Knights verses the Gunmen the outcome is not all that important
because both teams are going to the Kantou Tournament. With the match against the Spiders, the
emphasis of the story seemed to ease off of Sena, which is what I said I did
not care much for in my last letter.
Instead the narrative placed more emphasis on Musashi and his reasons
for leaving and reentering the sport.
Even Taki gets an episode for himself showing some humility, but that is
most likely not going to last long. The
facet of the story that I enjoyed and wished they played up more was Sena's confrontation
with the real Eyeshield.
Eyeshield
has been not only a mask and character onto himself for the length of this
series, but he has also existed as a figurehead and an ideological symbol. As a mask he has hidden Sena away from prying
eyes and the interloping Mamori, who would rather keep him safe than allow him growth. Eyeshield has been a character separate from
Sena up to this point. Not all of
Eyeshield's accomplishments were Sena's, and neither were Sena's achievements
Eyeshield's. They were different
entities that had the same root but different roles and duties. Also, since Eyeshield was often considered
the Ace of the team, he acted as the emotional lead of sorts. It was not until the Death March, when all
his teammates learned that Sena and Eyeshield were the same that he was able to
better rely on them, and they him.
Eyeshield was a goal sometimes for his teammates, when they did not know
who he was, but always a hurdle for his opponents. The story thus far was not Sean hiding behind
the guise of Eyeshield but two distinct characters who slowly merged together
at the unmasking. The only thing I
wished to see more of was the confrontation of Sena against the abstract
concept of Eyeshield, but that might have bogged down the plot.
All of
this is very refreshing considering how long this guise could have
continued. Sure it was 79 episodes in
that the reveal occurred, but some shows can pull it out even longer. Take "Case Closed" AKA
"Detective Conan" for example.
The show is over 600 episodes in and the majority of the cast still do
not know the real identity of the main character. The only reason that they do not is because
that show is made to provide weekly non connecting stories rather than a central
plot driven narrative where each episode is required to be seen before the next
is shown. South Korean daily dramas are
notorious for things like this where some secret between characters can be
divided into three or four reveals. Here
the big reveal gets a shining moment of grandeur and a positive emotional response
that does not attempt to stall the progression of the plot.
After
this, Internet, the Cream Puff Cup is going to look like filler. I can feel it already.
Yours in digital,
BeepBoop
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