The Shinryūji Nagas is a fictional American football team from the Kantō region of Japan in the manga/anime series Eyeshield 21 by Riichiro Inagaki and Yusuke Murata. Based out of Kanagawa, this team based on Eastern myths and legends are considered one of the best teams in Japan, primarily due to recruiting and holding some of the most unnatural talents in the sport.
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(神龍寺ナーガ)
The strongest team in the Kanagawa area by far. Known as the "Gods of Kantō", since the founding of their school, they've won the Kantō tournament for 9 years straight, though have always lost to the Teikoku Alexanders of Kansai in the Christmas Bowl. Though many of the team follow the theme of Eastern legends, four of the players in particular resemble the main characters from Journey to the West (or as they call it, Saiyuki). The name Shinryūji can translate to "Temple of the Dragon God". The team is made up of members who are good all-rounders, with two aces, (Agon and Ikkyu). As a result, they are well-balanced in both offense and defense, which is directly opposite to Deimon's team of specialists. Another fact about the team is that they had never allowed any opponent a two-point conversion against them. This record is destroyed along with their bid for a 10th Kanto Championship when they lose to the Devil Bats in the opening round in quite possibly the most unbelievable upset in their entire history. Interestingly in the anime Shinryūji scored 41 in the matches against Ojo and Kyoshin. Also in the game against Deimon they scored 35 and Hiruma said if they scored 1 more touchdown which would have made the score 41 then its game over.
Before the start of each game, the linesmen go into a kind of meditation exercise to achieve a Zen state of mind. Supposedly, this is to get them mentally prepared for the game and nothing can disturb them; Ikkyu comments on some cute girls break through the trance and they become distracted. The fact that Shinryūji is an all-boys school makes all the players but Unsui susceptible to female distraction.
Each year, Shinryūji grants athletic scholarships to two students, who are accepted into the school whilst forgoing the entrance exam. Kurita applied for this scholarship so that he, Hiruma, and Musashi could go to the Christmas Bowl together as part of the Shinryūji team, but Agon applied for the scholarship as well despite not needing it, because he did not want the powerful but slow Kurita on his team. Agon was chosen over Kurita, and Ikkyu Hosakawa had already been chosen to receive the other scholarship, so Kurita was not permitted entrance into the school. Hiruma and Musashi applied to Deimon rather than join the team without Kurita, and together the three started the Devil Bats team at that school.
(金剛雲水 Kongō Unsui) A very strong player. Not much is known about him, but in the previous year's match between the Ojo White Knights and Shinryūji Naga, both he and his brother (as first-year players) were sent out with 5 minutes to play and Ojo holding a 16-3 lead. Their entrance resulted in a 17-16 victory for Shinryūji. During their second-year Spring Tournament, the Nagas trounce the White Knights by a score of 41-3, without Agon playing at all. Unsui is passionately devoted to football, but is considered merely a "good" player. In contrast, Agon takes a casual, cynical, almost scornful approach to the sport, but is far better. Far more serious and intense than Agon, Unsui is much better liked, as opposed to feared like his brother is. He is a good player because of his wide range of vision, allowing him to know where all his players are.
Rather than Agon's talent being innate, Unsui has worked all his life to become as good as he is. His work-rate seemed to have been recognized when he received a sports scholarship at Shinryūji, but it turns out it was meant for Agon - the school got the twins' names mixed up. He feels his purpose is to back Agon up as much as he can, to make his god-given talents shine even more brightly.
Unsui does recognize Deimon's offensive potential and has taken a more conservative approach to defeat them during the second half of the Kantō tournament game. However, with the Devil Bats counter-attacking, he is becoming unsure of the outcome. His greatest shock comes when Eyeshield 21 ignores his brother completely and forces Unsui to fumble, followed by the unbelievable event in which Unsui's seemingly invincible sibling was toppled by Sena.
In the end, when Agon warns the Nagas not to slack off in their training for the next Spring Tournament, and showing his intent to defeat the Devil Bats, Unsui feels that his brother is finally beginning to see the value of working with others, rather than just depending on his own God-given talents.
Before the Christmas Bowl, he appears as one of the Deimon's personal coach team.
In vol.37,[1] it's shown that Unsui joins Kurita at a different university from Agon, revealing he'd wished to grow on his own, and be able to overcome his brother. Unsui's desire to become a player in his own right and overcome his brother seems to stem from regret over not trying out for the Japan National Team.
TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES
Kongō Agon (金剛阿含)
The younger of twin brothers on the Shinryuji Naga American football team, Agon is considered a genius player for whom the sport comes naturally and treats everyone other than himself as worthless trash. However, he is forced to come to grips with his own arrogant ways and feelings when he faces the Deimon Devil Bats in the Kanto tournament playoff, particularly the trio of Yoichi Hiruma, Ryokan Kurita and Gen "Musashi" Takekura, of whom his actions allowed them to form a rival football team in the first place. He is a utility player, having been shown playing most of the skill (i.e. non-lineman) positions, but his primary position during the Deimon match was Wide Receiver. His jersey is number 2.
(細川一休 Hosakawa Ikkyū) The only person who has an attitude like Monta (but doesn't eat bananas like Monta does). His hair resembles Vegeta from the manga/anime series Dragon Ball Z, and he has a red mole in the middle of his forehead. By the look of him, no one should be intimidated, but his true skill lies in his running technique. He has the record of 4.9 seconds in the 40-yard-dash while running backwards, making him the best cornerback in the Kanto Region. He is the only player on the Nagas that Agon has any respect for, since he is considered a genius. He has great respect for Agon and is probably the only one on the team who doesn't fear him and actually looks forward to playing with him. Ikkyu is proud of his jumping and catching ability. He tells Unsui that no one can beat him on air. However, Kanto's best cornerback is nothing compared to Japan's best linebacker- Shin proves this to him in his first match against him.
Ikkyu peppers his speech with the inflection oni, which is used as an emphatic phrase. It is usually translated as "completely".
He is always bullied by his teammates because he gets more remarks than they do. Ikkyu is one of the nicer, friendlier players on the team, but that doesn't make him any less serious when game time comes. He's considered a genius with high-jump catches, but he is caught off-guard when Hiruma fakes a Hail Mary Pass and uses an incredibly fast and low bullet pass instead - Ichiro Takami of the Ojo White Knights christens it a Hail Satan pass. He still intercepts it, but he gets the shock of his life when Monta strips the ball out of his hands, resulting in a Deimon touchdown. Like Agon is acting with Sena and Hiruma, Ikkyu is starting to lose his cool with Monta. He tried to face down the Deimon wide out after the touchdown, but Monta was unimpressed with Ikkyu's posturing.
Near the end of the game, Ikkyu begs for Unsui to let him have the ball, in order to make up for the upset that the Deimon receiver had caused. However, his request is turned down in favor of just running out the clock. He does manage to deflect a pass that was meant for Monta and had a chance to catch a loose ball during Deimon's two-point conversion. However, in the end, he and the Nagas lose out to Deimon.
He seems to have a crush on Mamori or blush around girls- as do some of the other teammates- because he originates from an all-boys school. He sometimes tries to praise his upperclassmen, but his attempts are thwarted by his teammates, who practice a faux ventriloquist act on him, pretending to make him say such things as "in fact, you can't match the great Ikkyu"--to which he's told "unforgivable. ..indeed unforgivable".
With the game between Deimon and Ojo heating up, Ikkyu becomes even more determined to beat Monta as the Devil Bat receiver displays his new technique, the Devil Back Fire. Even he admits that catching a ball from behind the head is the most difficult method of receiving.
During Deimon's preparation for Christmas Bowl, he became Monta's personal trainer. But was rattled because Monta couldn't do his best. Though, after Monta gained his confidence again, he told him that aerial battle with Taka will be a "staring contest".
During the Christmas Bowl match between Deimon and Teikoku, he watches and becomes amazed at Taka's abilities and wonders what the heck Taka is, because his abilities as said by Hiruma are beyond human. He was extremely excited (to the point of beating Onihei's head like a drum), when watching the catch battle between Monta and Taka take place.
He was recruited onto Team Japan as their first-string cornerback.
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TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES
(山伏権太夫 Yamabushi Gondayū) One of the senior members of the Naga team, as he is referred to as Yabushi-sempai by Unsui and others. A very skilled linesman, he is the center (literally and by position) of the line for offense and defense. According to his coach, he is more skilled than Kurita, almost a match for Kurita in power, and faster than Kurita. During his freshman year, Yamabushi was noted alongside fellow receiver Doujirou Tenma as the future of the team. However, as skilled as he was, the lineman was embarrassed when Tenma was recruited for the all-stars of Teikoku instead of himself. He is one of the three Shinryuji players crushed at the end of the Naga-Devil Bats game by Kurita's game-ending power-drive. In spite of his team's legendary success, Yamabushi is generally unfazed by the aura of the Shinryuji team and treats even his opponents with respect, especially Kurita. With the end of his final season, Yamabushi defers the future of the team to Ikkyu and Unsui, and was disappointed due to being unable to play alongside Agon any longer. However, his football career is not over, as he is the starting Right Tackle on Team Japan's Offensive Line.
Character Statistics:
STRATEGY/ TECHNIQUES:
Sanzo- A rather feminine running back for the Nagas who often shows interest in men like Sakuraba and Jumonji which leads people to believe he is a homosexual. In one play against The Devil Bats, he tosses the ball to Agon which is then stolen by Sena resulting in a touchdown. He is seen throughout the rest of the series as a background character. His nickname is 'The Queen of Shinryuji' partly due to his womanly appearance and his fondness to wear his schools female uniform (despite the fact it is an all boy school). He is also the least popular running back in the series gaining 512 total votes.
(仙洞田 寿人) Although he appears like a wise old sage, he is in reality the coach of Shinryuji's team. Normally, he's strict on discipline, but he turns a blind eye to Agon's behavior, since he considers him as a player that appears only once a century. However, like Agon's brother Unsui, he does recognize Deimon's offensive potential and changes the team's strategies in order to defeat them, but it wasn't enough to stop the Devil Bats from claiming victory.
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