Christmas Bowl (Eyeshield 21)
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This article is about the fictional sports competition in the manga series Eyeshield 21, which is based on the real Christmas Bowl. It is the final championship football tournament, and is thus the equivalent in the manga of the Super Bowl for Japanese high schoolers; the top two teams from throughout Japan come together in Tokyo Stadium to play against each other for the championship. As with most American Football leagues, the league setup in Eyeshield 21 is split into two regions - Kantō and Kansai - and the champions of each region (or conference, to keep the gridiron feel going) play in the Christmas Bowl. The story of Eyeshield 21 takes place in the Kantō half of the league.
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[edit] History
The first Christmas Bowl occurred in 1980. From the very beginning, one team defined the existence of the game: the football team of the Osaka-based Teikoku Academy, also known as the Alexanders. Known as the ultimate school for football, the school recruited the best from Japan and beyond to play for them, with the best making the team that dominated the Kansai region. And after their domination of the Kansai region came the yearly ritual against Kanto, which the Alexanders won easily each and every time. With Kansai only sending one team year after year to the Christmas Bowl, Kanto became a battlefield for teams to fight every year, where one would always rise to get squashed by Teikoku every Christmas.
Ever since 10 years before the start of the series one of the teams in the Kanto area would become a mainstay in this final game: the Shinryuji Naga from Kanagawa Prefecture. Throughout the first five years, Shinryuji would win tournament after tournament, soon solidifying their status as the "Gods of Kantō".
However, in the midst of their sixth tournament run, one team from the Tokyo area began to approach Shinryuji's level of dominance in reaching the tournament: the Ojo White Knights. A superior class, soon to be known as the "Golden Generation", had been recruited into Ojo's ranks, solidifying their defensive strategies and allowing them to run all over their competition in Tokyo with ease. Unfortunately, even with the power of this Golden Generation, they consistently hit a brick wall against Shinryuji. Although the White Knights tried to win, even they were unable to stop the Naga from winning their sixth and seventh straight tournament.
By the eighth tournament cycle, both Ojo and Shinryuji continued to recruit strong and surprising new players that would reaffirm their dominance in the football world. Although the White Knights had the Golden Generation, now in their final year, several new players were recruited from the freshmen team. But one player from the junior high in particular had become old enough to join the high school, and subsequently, the football team: Seijuro Shin. With his strength and defensive potential, Shin became the standout new player on Ojo's side, allowing them to crush their way through the Spring Tokyo tournament to another date with Shinryuji. And for once, the White Knights were the dominant team: with both Shin and the Golden Generation, the Naga found themselves losing, 16-3, with five minutes left. But it was at this point that the coach let two twin freshman into the game: quarterback Unsui Kongō and running back Agon Kongō. In the final five minutes, the genius Agon and the hard working Unsui scored two touchdowns, shocking Ojo and securing the eighth straight tournament for the Naga.
As the seasons cycle and another football tournament began, the winds of change began to appear around Kantō. With the Kongō twins, Shinryuji was easily predicted to win yet another Kanto championship. On the other hand, the Golden Generation had graduated from Ojo, which left the team a fraction of its former self even with the power of Shin and several other players left behind. However, even with those two still strong in contention, several new teams began to emerge to threaten their dominance in high school football. Teams such as the fast-shooting Seibu Wild Gunmen, the strong defense of the Taiyō Sphinx and a tiny little no-nothing team from Deimon High School, which had been more well known for a 42-12 annihilation by Ojo the previous season.
[edit] Kantō Finalist
- Deimon Devil Bats: A team established two years ago from nothing by three players with remarkable talent: quarterback Yoichi Hiruma, center Ryokan Kurita and kicker Gen "Musashi" Takekura. In their first year, the team was forced to build themselves with fill-in players from other sports clubs, leading to disastrous games such as a 42-12 outing against Ojo. However, the team has slowly rebuilt itself as a powerful force over the last year with the recruitment of talented players such as running back Sena Kobayakawa (known by his nickname "Eyeshield 21") and receiver Taro Raimon ("Monta"). Although shaped primarily as an offensive team, they also have a confident line and defense as well as the ability to consistently change tactics to fight against their opponents. These factors helped Deimon make third place in the Tokyo tournament, as well as causing a shocking defeat for the Shinryuji Naga in the quarterfinal. They have defeated the Ojo White Knights, who mutually consider themselves to be each others' greatest rivals, as well as the powerful Hakushuu Dinosaurs to finally secure their place against Teikoku in the Christmas Bowl.
[edit] Kansai Finalist
- Teikoku Alexanders: The first and only team to ever represent the Kansai region, this team has won every single Christmas Bowl since the very first one in 1980, defeating even the best of Kanto like Shinryuji. Although little is known of this team, they are presumed to be considered an all-star team and indeed every player in the first string has a 40-yard dash time under 5 seconds (even the linemen!), recruiting the best players from around Japan and using them to win in the tournament year after year. Prior to this current season, the recruiters are known to have taken a good chunk of the entire lineup of the Bando Spiders and almost even picked up star player Akaba Hayato, before he decided to remain in his old school to help his kicking team. Outside the Bando recruits (which included 4th String quarterback Kirio Ibarada), Teikoku is known for its massive football club, with two hundred members and six different squads. However, only the best of the best achieve the "regular" status of the first squad, with such talent as Yamato (also known as "the real Eyeshield 21" from Notre Dame) and female quarterback Karin Koizumi. In addition, Honjō Masaru, the former baseball player and commissioner of the Kansai high school football conference, made an observation in a recent chapter after talking with idolizing fan Monta after their victory against Ojo:
- Anyway, he may face that guy at the Christmas Bowl.
- This was recently revealed to be the Teikoku player Taka, who seems to have enough skill to catch a high speed ball while putting on his equipment at the same time.
[edit] Game Overview
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