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rainsometimesA couple of days ago I posted did some mostly wordless montage picspam posts on Tumblr celebrating the friendship of Sena and Monta in the Eyeshield 21 manga. I decided to repost them here mainly for easier reference, with some words added.
All behind the cut. Spoilers galore, though it's probably hard to see what's happening if haven't read the manga. It's mostly if not completely in chronological order.
Just the intro pic!
As I mentioned on Tumblr, finding panels and other art really wasn't much of a problem for this theme. It was more a matter of knowing which ones to pick, and which to leave out. An embarrassment of riches, really - pretty sure now that in terms of sheer numbers, no other pair of characters are shown as a set of two as often. (In terms of percentage, it's likely a different matter, given that Sena is the main character and thus naturally is often matched with/contrasted with other characters as well.)
Monta enters the story in the significantly numbered chapter 21, right after the chapter titled "End of Prologue". Murata's art had a bit to go yet, though as with other characters it's got verve and expression right from the start.
I think it's pretty adorable that there seems to be an element of mutual recognition between them, or at least very fast bonding. Sena doesn't just want Monta on the team because they need a receiver, he also thinks they could become really good friends.
As for Monta, he's the second person (after Shin, who only recognises people by their body build) to see through the "Eyeshield 21" deception. I've already tumblred before about that, so I didn't include that page this time, only Kurita referring to it here. I do believe Monta's actually the only one in the series to do it this way - looking at Eyeshield 21 and seeing Sena rather than looking at Sena (esp. Sena when he runs) and seeing Eyeshield 21's technique. (Or putting two and two together through observation over a longer time, as at least one character will do later.)
Bottom we see Musashi's reaction to the start of Sena's & Monta's meddling on this "Bring Back The Prodigal Kicker" issue.
Devil Bats vs NASA, American days - and then a skip quite a bit into the Fall Tournament. (Arguably I cheated a bit with the "spinners" panels, since I left out Komusubi's panel even though he's pretty important to the scene.)
Then an even bigger skip to the Ojo game, which had quite a bit of good stuff to choose from (idle speculation: could it have anything to do with Shin and Sakuraba also being best friends? Or was it just because it was such a close, intense and long-anticipated game?). I utterly love that touchdown image.
(The pic on the lower left of the page is from the Teikoku game, though - it fit in the best here.)
This is the only page of the picspam where I stuck to just one sequence, though it was originally on two pages. I just thought this moment was so sweet. It just so happens that Sena going in after the ball is precisely what Hiruma has realised must happen but doesn't have the time to express, but unlike Hiruma, Sena hasn't really analysed the whole picture to see this. He just sees that "Monta's in trouble, Monta needs help" and so he instinctively moves to do what he can.How can people not ship this ::AHEM:: I mean, it's just such a lovely moment.♥
Angsty conflict between two close friends that tests their bond but gets resolved in a happy way that leads to character development is one of my favourite types of fictional angst. Monta's Honjo issues coming to the forefront before the game against Teikoku is a great example.
Sena comes through for him like the great guy he is. So heartwarming. ♥♥♥ (The character development was all on Monta's side here, I guess, since he was the one with the issues; but I'm quite fine with that. There's plenty of other instances where Monta's the one to support and encourage Sena: smaller ones, but they add up. ^_^)
Final page, all panels from the Teikoku game. Not much to say here. Top sequence shows Monta understanding and supporting Sena, speaking up for him at a crucial moment.
Bottom sequence is more of a mutual thing and felt like the best place to end this. The two of them think of the same thing: how they want this final move to be one they do together, whether it will work or not.
All behind the cut. Spoilers galore, though it's probably hard to see what's happening if haven't read the manga. It's mostly if not completely in chronological order.
Just the intro pic!
As I mentioned on Tumblr, finding panels and other art really wasn't much of a problem for this theme. It was more a matter of knowing which ones to pick, and which to leave out. An embarrassment of riches, really - pretty sure now that in terms of sheer numbers, no other pair of characters are shown as a set of two as often. (In terms of percentage, it's likely a different matter, given that Sena is the main character and thus naturally is often matched with/contrasted with other characters as well.)
Monta enters the story in the significantly numbered chapter 21, right after the chapter titled "End of Prologue". Murata's art had a bit to go yet, though as with other characters it's got verve and expression right from the start.
I think it's pretty adorable that there seems to be an element of mutual recognition between them, or at least very fast bonding. Sena doesn't just want Monta on the team because they need a receiver, he also thinks they could become really good friends.
As for Monta, he's the second person (after Shin, who only recognises people by their body build) to see through the "Eyeshield 21" deception. I've already tumblred before about that, so I didn't include that page this time, only Kurita referring to it here. I do believe Monta's actually the only one in the series to do it this way - looking at Eyeshield 21 and seeing Sena rather than looking at Sena (esp. Sena when he runs) and seeing Eyeshield 21's technique. (Or putting two and two together through observation over a longer time, as at least one character will do later.)
Bottom we see Musashi's reaction to the start of Sena's & Monta's meddling on this "Bring Back The Prodigal Kicker" issue.
Devil Bats vs NASA, American days - and then a skip quite a bit into the Fall Tournament. (Arguably I cheated a bit with the "spinners" panels, since I left out Komusubi's panel even though he's pretty important to the scene.)
Then an even bigger skip to the Ojo game, which had quite a bit of good stuff to choose from (idle speculation: could it have anything to do with Shin and Sakuraba also being best friends? Or was it just because it was such a close, intense and long-anticipated game?). I utterly love that touchdown image.
(The pic on the lower left of the page is from the Teikoku game, though - it fit in the best here.)
This is the only page of the picspam where I stuck to just one sequence, though it was originally on two pages. I just thought this moment was so sweet. It just so happens that Sena going in after the ball is precisely what Hiruma has realised must happen but doesn't have the time to express, but unlike Hiruma, Sena hasn't really analysed the whole picture to see this. He just sees that "Monta's in trouble, Monta needs help" and so he instinctively moves to do what he can.
Angsty conflict between two close friends that tests their bond but gets resolved in a happy way that leads to character development is one of my favourite types of fictional angst. Monta's Honjo issues coming to the forefront before the game against Teikoku is a great example.
Sena comes through for him like the great guy he is. So heartwarming. ♥♥♥ (The character development was all on Monta's side here, I guess, since he was the one with the issues; but I'm quite fine with that. There's plenty of other instances where Monta's the one to support and encourage Sena: smaller ones, but they add up. ^_^)
Final page, all panels from the Teikoku game. Not much to say here. Top sequence shows Monta understanding and supporting Sena, speaking up for him at a crucial moment.
Bottom sequence is more of a mutual thing and felt like the best place to end this. The two of them think of the same thing: how they want this final move to be one they do together, whether it will work or not.