What's this? Inoshi is writing useless things again and no art? Well, sort of...ahem, today I saw RAW scans of the final chapter to the great sports manga known as Eyeshield 21. For those of you unfamiliar with the anime/manga, it's basically about a young boy named Sena who gets dragged into joining the (American) football club at his new high school. It's like a coming of age story, but sports oriented. So what makes this so intriguing then? To put it simply, excellent characters and character development (especially a certain blond demon Quarterback from HELL), interesting game matches, and just an overall great vibe. So if you haven't read ES21 give it a try and skip to Fairy-Tail because this point on it's SPOILERS, SPOILERS, SPOILERS for the last chapter!

.........(SPOILERS for ES21 CH 333)...................

Okay, the end of ES21...I'll probably be able to comment more once I actually read the translated version of the RAW scans, but for now I'm gonna assume you know who and what I'm talking about. If not...why are you reading this again?
First I'd like to comment that I pretty much got into ES21 about a month ago...so the ending comes as sort of bitter-sweet since the whole reason I wanted to get into it was because it was an "ongoing" series and I usually dig sports manga. Imagine my reaction after just having becoming a new fan and then BAM series ends! O______________O
Noooooooooooooes! D8 So yeah, no surprise that it's more bitter than sweet for me, but nevertheless I really enjoyed it. Quick series re-cap!

I've read a lot of rumors on forums that ES21 suddenly had to end because ratings dropped and what not. Holy crap, doesn't this scenario sound like Shaman King to you or what? Looking back at the past few arcs it's no wonder these rumors may be plausible. Since I hopped on to the series at the very tail end I didn't have to deal much with pains of weekly updates and pretty much was able to judge the series as a whole rather then in parts. But, from what I gather, most fans were disappointed ever since the match between Oujo and Deimon (others claim Shinryuji vs. Deimon)ended since apparently after that game "everything was downhill from there."

In some ways I agree, in others ways not. I think one of the main conflict with the ending arcs is the fact that these last opponents seemed to appear out of nowhere. It reminds me of the final boss in video games. You fight the Boss which has like 3-5 final forms and you can't help but go...!@#$%^&* DIE ALREADY...and usually the final form is just stupid and pointless. I mean seriously, the beginning of the series focused on the Oujo White Knights and Shinryuji Naga so much that when Hakushu Dinosaurs was the final opponent you could help but feel...wait, who are you?! The fact the match against Hakushu was so short almost cheapened the Hype that they were facing Deimon for top contender in the Kantou region.

Then when Deimon finally reached the Christmas Bowl, the whole point of the manga...well to be honest it seemed too short and not as passionate as previous matches. In the Shinryuji game, Agon vs. Sena made me scream "KICK HIS ARSS SENA!" and the match against Oujo, Shin vs. Sena had me on the edge of my seat going "RUUUUN Sena RUUUUUUN!" But Yamato vs. Sena...well I thought it was good, but there was just something lacking. It was more of Taka vs, Monta that was a driving force for the match...but the confrontation was too short.

So yeah, looking at that record, no wonder your ratings wobbled. However, in my opinion, all in all those arcs weren't bad. Not poetic genius mind you, but certainly not suicide killers like some other mangas have committed. No...what really must have pulled the plug on the series was the freaking World Youth Cup. What a complete waste of potential! I think if the series ended at the Christmas Bowl it would have almost been for the better. Don't get me wrong, I love ES21, but this last arc was SAD! The matched between other countries were pathetic and incredibly short and underdeveloped. I actually went back and re-read them to make sure I hadn't mysteriously missed a few chapters. At the time, I was expecting a set-up like the previous Fall tournament for the Christmas Bowl...hell no...before I knew it...Japan vs. America! Final match! O_o' WTF?! Wait what happened?

The main "theme" of the World Cup centered around the fact that some people have natural genetic abilities that make you physically better at running or what not. I had to admit, this theme made sense to me, but....didn't we go through this already? Oh wait...that was only an anime filler arc (The Cream Puff Tournament)...wait, WHAT?! Are you telling me the manga ripped off the anime?! Yes, in all honesty, I fully believe this World Cup ripped off the anime fillers...no lie! The Cream Puff focuses on the VERY SAME THEME. I'm randomly supposed to believe this World Cup is original? Even Morgan made an appearance! What's truly sad is that fact the fillers seemed to have handled the idea a lot better.

But putting that and EVERYTHING else aside...let me go over the actual ending chapter.

WHAT A FREAKING RIP OFF! Where is the end of my match?! I want to SEE how overtime ends not a stupid timeskip! Yeah...what a way to end a manga, tell someone the results and just accept it...holy crap, what a disappointment. It literally was like Shounen Jump told the manga-kas you have like two weeks to wrap up the series...good luck! And then both manga-kas went....WTF?! I know I talked to Raen about how Shounen Jump seems to be committing suicide because whoever is their editor is clearly on crack...I mean geezes the direction of ES21, Naruto and Bleach needed some serious TLC...what happened, sick of making a good series?

Anyways, the whole shebang ends with a few mentions of what happened during the match. Panther won MVP...and apparently Sena was offered the chance to study abroad in America thus becoming the real Eyeshield 21 and making all lies become reality. Fast forward 2 years later and Deimon as well as all the other schools (save Oujo) have mixed up and become different teams. Okay, this is where I have mixed feelings. Deimon breaking up and moving on was something I saw...but the arrangement of it surprises the hell out of me.

For one, Hiruma is now teamed with Yamato, Taka, Akaba and Agon. HOLY TEAM FROM HELL! O______O I think what surprised me most of all was that Mamori went with them. Meanwhile, Kurita is at another university with Unsui (kay..), Katarou, Monta, Riku, Mizumachi, Suzuna and Sena on the way. Until I actually read the scanlation, I can't tell if others are just there as spectators or with another school...but who knows what happend with Kakei...you'd think he'd be somewhere no? Poor guy.

Anyways, yeah...Sena comes back from America and basically you get the vibe of oooh Hiruma vs. Sena! Heck even the crowd said that...so yeah. Actually, I wanna point out that yeah...it seems the manga ripped off the anime again. The epilogue for the anime shows Hiruma vs. Sena in the pro-leauge....maybe the manga is trying to make it possible? In any case...the manga ends with observing Sena run with the ball to see how much he improved.

I love the open end because now fans can imagine what they will. However...I find it strange that Hiruma would actually let both Sena and Monta go to another team. In fact, I'm a little saddened that Mamori was the only one to make it over. But considering who else is on the team, I guess the authors had to figure out some way for the other teams to be balanced. I was talking to Raen about how Hiruma is the type of character you ADORE if he's on your side, but if he's your opponent you can't help but think CRAP, evil B@stard from HELL! I see that there is some resolution of Hiruma, Musashi and Kurita parting ways and now aiming for the Rice Bowl....[stares] seriously...I guess after that is the Super Bowl...so many bowls XD

But yeah this ending definitely makes you wanna see what would happen! If the fanservice match up that was done back X#amount of issues is any indication (it was upper classmen vs. lower ie - Sena vs. Hiruma)....Hiruma pretty much won. So yeah...mixed feelings about the ending for sure! Though apparently some believe there will be a sequel since Prince of Tennis has one that gets updated on a monthly version. In a way I wan one at the same time I don't since...to be honest sure Kurita is a good guy, but I honestly don't know Unsui's potential as a QB. He pretty much was just bullied by Agon beforehand so...besides the team needs a manager. No offense Suzuna fans but against Mamori based on what we've seen....XD let's borrow Shikimaru from Naruto! Try reading and beating that Hiruma! =0 would be interesting indeed <3 But...yeah....and thus ends ES21 and my rant on that....Hello replacement Fairy Tail!

EDIT:
Okay, I just read the true translation of the chapter and I wasn't too far off. I have a better understanding of why Deimon went their separate ways, and apparently I was wrong about Hiruma going solo...Juumonji seems to be on Hiruma's team...Musashi got Kurouki and Tagona...Kurita got Sena and Monta...Yukimitsu went off to Medical school...Kami only knows what happened to Taki and Komosubi (they disappeared along with Kakei).

Did I mention how scary Hiruma is as you opponent? Yeah, I stand by that...but from what I read, Sena wanted to specifically challenge and win against him. Gambatte Sena! If you ever get a sequel you'll be the main star I think...so you have a better chance of winning due to main character power! XD Actually, I really want to see a match....I mean it's no lie, based on skill that we've seen Team Kurita is an under dog...even with Mizumachi, Riku and Unsui...add fanbase (since they are nowhere to be seen ) Kakei, Taki and Komosubi..then I like those odds better <3 But yeah...only time will tell if Eyeshield gets a sequel...if not...heh I'm sure someone's gonna right a fanfic about it.

---------HELLO Fairy Tail------------

With the ending of ES21 I found myself needing a new manga...luckily it happens to be one called Fiary Tail. I can't tell you how much the character intrigue me. The story isn't too shabby and is entertaining and the characters...get this...female characters I actually ADORE! Holy crap D8 is that even possible Inoshi? Yes...yes it is!
It's hard to tell who the main character is, but it'll probably be Natsu bordering on Lucy since the story is often told from her POV or inner perspective.

Fairy Tail is about this magical guild called Fairy Tail. Here you have a plethora of characters with different magic types and abilities. Natsu happens to be one of the members and controls fire magic...but not just any fire...dragon fire. He meets a girl named Lucy who is a spirit mage and opens doorways for her spirit contracts in order to fight. She ends up following Natsu and joins Fairy Tail and begin their adventures of taking jobs from using magic to entertain at a theater to blowing random crap up to taking down dark guilds.

The story line is always full of twist and turns so expected the unexpected and well you'll see what I mean if you read it. All in all...a very GOOD manga...made by the creators who also produced Rave Master. The art will somehow remind you of One Piece so it might take a bit of getting used to. However...it's a total must read!