Could’ve. Should’ve. Would’ve.

Did the title trick you? It did, didn’t it? Ya-Ha! That was our plan all along. Now that we’ve catered to all the ladies out there, I thought we would balance it out by having a post for the guys! Well, I say that but this is just an excuse for me to vent out some of my frustrations at some of the pairings that never happened. Being a shounen manga about sports, there really was no space for romance but there were still some hints here and there that provoked the OTP fans in all of us. But this is not a job for just one man, so I acquired the help of yet another recent Eyeshieldism convert, the mysterious third Sekijitsu writer who never was, Fuu!

Ah, you’re too kind. My procrastination rate is dangerously high, meaning I tend to fail deadlines! : P Anyway, yea, like he said, Bass approached me about it and we decided to brainstorm about a somewhat overshadowed aspect of ES21, resulting in a string of ideas, some likely, others not so. We hope the readers enjoy, or even better, agree with our article!

The Deimon Cheerleaders are "homely"

It’s pretty sad that the cheerleaders didnt get as much panel time as they should have, seeing that cheerleading is such a huge part of the whole football experience (at least from a male fan’s perspective). At least we got some nice designs so I cant really complain much. For the first pairing, we put Sena together with the whole bulk of the them. A guy can dream right?

F: Not forgetting the Seibu WIld Gunmans’ bevy of beauties of course. It’s hard to imagine him having the concentration to play, let alone do 4.2 second runs with slender hot girls in minimal clothing prancing about before the kickoffs.

B: I actually quite liked the ones from Amino Acid.

F: Amino acid who?

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The Seibu Wild Gunmen's bevy of beauties

B: Lol the nurses. The dude who shines like a lightbulb and takes supplements to bulk up the body. It was during the qualification round of the Kantou tournament. The blonde nurse with the twintails was extremely cute, I’m definitely adding them to this post.

F: Ahhhh. Yea i remember them. Yep yep. My memory stinks like crazy, so i’ll bbe trusting you there : p What’s the name of the team where everyone had girlfriends? I forgot. They kinda suck. Cupids or something.

Amino Cyborg vs Deimon

B: Koigahama Cupids or something. Most of them were of the “bitchy” variety so they didn’t really mean much to me. Seibu definitely had the most flamboyant ones, but Deimon takes the cake since they had so many “American” imports hehe. They were definitely on a different level, plus Sena has the homecourt advantage with them.

F: But it was so weird when the american cheerleaders were cheering for Deimon against the americans hahahaha. Was i the only one to notice that?

The Kyoshin Poseidon are not bad either

B: Nah I noticed that too, although it was probably during my 7th read through…..I was too distracted to really notice the first time around. Suzuna as head cheerleader didnt do them enough justice. But I guess she had to fit into the manga somewhere.

F: Yes. So flat. Sena needs a real woman, not a loli.

B: Yea, but sadly the mangakas didn’t think so hence her introduction during the death march. Oh well, that’s why we have this post.

Never

Hiruma’s arguably the most flamboyant character in Eyeshield 21. And naturally fans are gonna try to pair up his fiery personality with someone else. But with which girl? Nope. WHAT? Which guy? Not that either. Rather, he has quite a special relationship with his firearms so that would make the most sense, wouldn’t you say so Bass?

B: Definitely, thats like the perfect match right there. Mamo x Hiruma is such a popular pairing in ES, and it seems like the mangakas were hinting as this possibility as well multiple times during the series’ run. I didn’t like it though, since I always thought that Hiruma was one of those mythical untouchable characters that had no need for pairings. Firearms were more his thing, and it seems like the love was mutual. God knows he handles it how a man should.

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Be late

F: Agreed. Him having a girl would completely detract from the very essence that made him so awesome. That’s why, firearms (and winning obscene amounts at poker) will always have a special place in his black little heart. : B It’s amazing though how no one actually gets hurt from the guns. Makes us wonder, are they actually loaded? :B

B: He probably has one of those soft air guns. But yea, giving him a pairing would just bring him down. I could actually make a pretty badass gallery just with him and his guns. Other pairings can’t really say they can match up to that, not even close.

To his meetings

F: But for the girls,  I think you’d have to be a really special type of fangirl to appreciate that!

B: A female Hiruma, imagine that. It would be pretty funny if the college arc continued and Sena’s team has a female manager with Hiruma’s qualities. That would have been perfect.

This pairing probably should have made it below Hiruma’s, given the lack of material we were given, but then again, this is where imagination is king. Karin x Sena would have been the perfect pairing. They are totally identical to each other, in terms of their soft spoken nature, as well as the fact that both were forced into joining American Football due to their natural talent. That single panel right before the Teikoku match, where they both stared intently at each other before ultimately bowing down politely asking for mercy was epically romantic. I thought that was the start of something beautiful…..

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She's actually a very bad girl

F: My sentiments exactly. Who said opposites attract? A relationship with no fights? That’s pure bliss. It’s a shame Karin got all of 12 panels worth of screentime, leaving that great pairing in the gutters of our fanboy imaginations. : B

B: Karin is like the perfect girlfriend. Polite. Plays piano (classical I’m guessing). Dreams of becoming a mangaka. An artist. The list goes on. The fact that she looks like a Swedish bombshell didnt hurt things either.

Well...not really

F: Not to mention her perpetually “sheen”-ed lips

B: Dat shine (insert Chris Brown face). I was so disappointed when she didn’t join the All-star team at the world cup. I was really trying to look for her among the B-team, so hard in fact that that bastard Kisaragi from Hakushu got me excited since I thought he was Karin. Douche.

The first encounter

F: I can’t believe I’m mirroring your thoughts here! I was thinking, a mummy costume is sure to fire up the cosplay fans. Well, despite their lack of interaction, the end chapter did imply that they’d have more time to
stammer communicate, thanks to Karin’s editor.

B: Yea. I really wish Sena did manage to “sack” her in the Teikoku game (where you tackle the quarterback before the throw). Seeing him bearhug her on the ground would have made me squeal like a fangirl.

Ahh, Sena x Suzuna, probably the most (or only?) canon Sena pairing. From the onset when they met during the Death March chapters, sparks were visible. Not to mention their similar built. It was almost as if the authors themselves wanted Sena and Suzuna to be. But to be honest, I’m not that big a fan. :B

B: Neither am I. Like how Sena and Karin were a perfect match in the personality department, Sena and Suzuna were equals in terms of their appearances. They both had jet black hair, around the same height but honestly to me they looked a lot more like siblings. Yea, sure people thought they’re cute together but they never really were my taste. Guess it must be the loli factor.

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Another one of their moments

F: But there’s no denying the scene on the boat or the final chapter where they inevitably ended up in the same college. So I guess, from an objective point of view, they could’ve been a pretty sweet item.

B: Yea, they had a lot of scenes together. The mangaka were really pushing for this pair so this is pretty much the official one to go by. Doesn’t mean I have to like it though. There was that one scene after the Bando game that was pretty nice though, where Sena collapsed onto Suzuna’s shoulder.

F: Oh yea, it looked set to be a bona fide moment but thanks (or no thanks?) to exhaustion, it left the scene up to interpretation. And for the better really, otherwise we wouldn’t have this post.

B: There was also that scene where Sena reassured Suzuna that they would win against Shin in the Oujou game. Suzuna was in tears but Sena kept his cool face on. I guess I can still be swayed after all?

F: Hmm, maybe? We’ll leave that up to you. ; )

That first chapter was a lie. I hated how the mangakas steered away from what should have been the most obvious pairing. I mean, clearly they were aiming for this at the beginning. The whole sisterly act? That would eventually evolve into something more. I wish it evolved into something more. Sena and Mamori would’ve have been the perfect love story. Childhood friends. That’s the perfect anime cliche. The evolution of motherly care to a full-blown romance. Should’ve. Could’ve. Would’ve.

F: Yea, it may be a bit cliched but who’s to say a little cliche is bad? Not to mention it being the perfect evolution of character. Mamori initially smothers and overprotects Sena only to discover he’s not the weak-spirited young lad he used to be? And in the final chapter, what better way to conclude the series with Sena saying “Now it’s my turn to protect you Nee-chan.” Smells like frickin’ perfection to me. If there has to be one single flaw with the series, it’d be this.

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F: All in all, romances may have played a fairly minute role in a manga dominated by epic battles, sweaty men and slapstick feelgood humour but undeniably, they left a great impact on the readers. Or maybe just me and bass? :B

B: There are others, but I’m guessing it’s pretty rare. We are a very rare breed of men who think about these things >_< Hopefully there are others out there who share our thoughts. What say you?

/ 10 Commentsleave a comment /

• Noblesse says:

  February 23, 2011

  Just from this post it seems i would prefer Karin but the short hair fetish within me can't ignore Suzuna. Still a little disappointing to know there isn't much romance but you can never get your hopes with sport series. (Except Major <3)

  Reply
  • Bass says:

    February 24, 2011

    I seem to have a preference for girls with short hair too, but more like Mamori rather than Suzuna haha.

    I've been meaning to read Major but I think the art doesn't appeal to me. I'll probably give it a go eventually though, since I've been meaning to learn baseball for years now

    Reply
• Overcooled says:

  February 23, 2011

  I'm actually not a big romance fan (…aside from yaoi. I'm a terrible person, I know.) so I didn't care very much who ended up with who. I definitely agree that Hiruma is one of those untouchable characters who would probably never end up in a relationship. It's just inherently against his character.

  I think Sena would be trampled to death if he had a harem LOL or suffocated by all the massive chests he'd have in his face.

  Reply
  • Bass says:

    February 24, 2011

    Glad you agree on the Hiruma bit.

    I don't want the romance to be obvious, I quite liked how it was just hinted at in the manga. Subtle is always good. I'm just sad that it wasn't to my preference haha

    Reply
• baka_girl says:

  February 23, 2011

  I'm one of HiruMamo fans out there xD

  The scene where Mamori cried after Hiruma got hurt by Gaou was the best! ^^

  Reply
  • Bass says:

    February 24, 2011

    Lolol I think I'm one of those people who always wants the main character to get the girl.

    They should name this disease

    Reply
• Flags says:

  February 24, 2011

  Damn, kid! You gotta learn to let things go. SimonXYoko is fucking ridiculous. It was Suzuna from the moment she was introduced and MamoriXHiruma is a more awesome pairing anyway. Lest we forget MarcoXMaruko.

  Reply
  • Bass says:

    February 24, 2011

    Haha I knew this would get a rise from you.

    Sadly, I'm not into those >_< Cept for MarcoxMaruko, which was awesome

    Reply
• Fuu says:

  February 24, 2011

  W-W-What? Simonx Yoko was meant to be! Kamina and Hiruma are both characters who would only be bogged down by romance. On the contrary, both main characters in TTGL and ES21 start off weak but their progressive rise in courage would be perfectly complemented by their getting the lady.

  No? : (

  Reply
• May says:

  March 4, 2012

  ShinxTechnology

  Reply