List of Eyeshield 21 episodes

The cover depicts three young men. One of them is looking ahead and the other two behind him are with stern faces. The young man ahead has brown hair, a uniform that consists in a red T-shirt with the number twenty-one, a pair of white gloves, white pants, and football boots. He is holding an American football ball support on the floor and in front of him there is a helmet.
The cover of the first DVD compilation released by Bandai Visual on 22 July 2005 in Japan

The anime series Eyeshield 21 is based on the manga series of the same name written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. The series is directed by Masayoshi Nishida and produced by TV Tokyo, NAS and Gallop.[1][2] The plot of the episodes follows Sena Kobayakawa, a student who becomes an American football player against his desire but eventually becomes the star of the team, wearing an eyeshield to protect his identity.

Before the anime series was aired, Production I.G announced in August 2003 the production of an original video animation (OVA)[3] that was released on Jump Festa Anime Tour 2003.[4] The production of anime Eyeshield 21 was announced by Weekly Shōnen Jump at the end of 2004.[5] Eyeshield 21 aired between April 6, 2005, and March 19, 2008, on TV Tokyo.[6][7] The episodes were later released in thirty-six DVD compilations between July 22, 2005, and June 25, 2008, by Bandai Visual.[8][9]

Viz Media and Cartoon Network released a dubbed version of Eyeshield 21 on the internet video streaming service Toonami Jetstream;[10] the video was available on December 17, 2007.[11] However, it was not completed due to Toonami Jetstream's defunct.[12] The video streaming service Crunchyroll streamed Eyeshield 21 subtitled on its site beginning on January 2, 2009;[10] the last episode was available on November 1, 2009, for premium users, and on March 7, 2010, for free users.[13] Section23 Films through Sentai Filmworks released the first fifty-two episodes on four subtitled-only DVDs between May 18, 2010, and February 8, 2011.[14][15]

The series use twelve pieces of theme music: five opening and seven ending themes. The opening themes are "Breakthrough" by Coming Century, "Innocence" by 20th Century, "Dang Dang" by ZZ, "Blaze Line" by Back-On, and "Honoo no Running back" (炎のランニングバック, lit. Flaming Running back) by Short Leg Summer. The ending themes are "Be Free" by Ricken's, "Blaze Away" by The Trax, "Goal" by Beni Arashiro, "Run to Win" by Aya Hirano, Miyu Irino, Koichi Nagano and Kappei Yamaguchi, "A day dreaming..." by Back-On, "Flower" by Back-On, and "Song of Power" by Short Leg Summer. Singles have been released of the individual songs, an original soundtrack and other four CDs were also released by Avex.[16]

  1. ^ "Cast & Staff" (in Japanese). Avex Movie. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  2. ^ "Staff & Cast" (in Japanese). TV Tokyo. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  3. ^ "Eyeshield 21 anime to be produced". Anime News Network. August 20, 2003. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  4. ^ "Eyeshield 21: The Phantom Golden Bowl". Production I.G. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  5. ^ "Eyeshield 21 Anime". Anime News Network. December 14, 2004. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference ep1-13 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference ep134-145 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "Eyeshield Vol. 1" (in Japanese). Bandai Visual. Archived from the original on July 1, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  9. ^ "Eyeshield Vol. 36 (final volume)" (in Japanese). Bandai Visual. Archived from the original on July 1, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  10. ^ a b "Crunchyroll Adds Eyeshield 21 Football Anime". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on April 2, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  11. ^ Aoki, Deb. "Eyeshield 21 Anime Debuts on Toonami Jetstream". About.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2008. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  12. ^ "Eyeshield 21 Football Manga Ends in Japan After 7 Years". Anime News Network. June 17, 2009. Archived from the original on April 2, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  13. ^ "Eyeshield 21 Episode 145 – Everyone, Let's Play Football! Ya-Ha!". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on June 1, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  14. ^ "Sentai Adds Asu no Yoichi, Eyeshield 21, Hell Girl 2 (Update 2)". Anime News Network. February 26, 2010. Archived from the original on March 31, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  15. ^ "North American Anime, Manga Releases: February 6–12". Anime News Network. February 9, 2011. Archived from the original on March 29, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  16. ^ "Eyeshield 21 CDs" (in Japanese). Avex. Retrieved October 5, 2012.