Shinryūji Naga

The Shinryūji Naga 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.

hinryūji Naga

(神龍寺ナーガ)
* Logo: Dragon
* Team colours (manga): charcoal-grey or black, with two-tone gold/orange detail.
* Team colours (anime): dark purple, red and gold.
* Helmet (manga): black flames on a gold background. Coupled with the uniform, this makes for a strong resemblance to the New Orleans Saints.
* Helmet (anime): dark purple flames on a red background
* Team uniform bears flames down the side of both the jerseys and pants, and across the top of the helmet. Team dress outside of games kind of resembles a Buddhist monk's robes (it's referred to in the manga as a dougi).
* Before the start of each game, the linemen 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 when they are like this... that is, until Ikkyu commented on some cute girls. The fact that Shinryuuji is an all-boys school makes all the players but Unsui susceptible to female distraction.
* 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 Kantou 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 Kantou Championship when they lose to the Devil Bats in the opening round in quite possibly the most unbelievable upset in their entire history.

Players

Unsui Kongo

*

(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 Shinryuji 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 40-3, 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 workrate 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 Kanto tournament game. However, with the Devil Bats counterattacking, 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 Christmal Bowl, he appears as one of the Deimon's personal coach team.

* 40-Yard Dash: 4.9 seconds
* Bench Press: 95 kg
* Position: Quarterback
* Jersey Number: 12
* Blood Type: B
* Birthday: May 31
* 2nd Year Student (Grade 11)

"TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES"
* Dragon Fly - Using both Kongo brothers as quarterbacks, the ball is passed through multiple laterals among the team members. It is a very adaptable strategy, but its drawback is that an opponent can intercept the laterals in flight, causing a fumble (such as Eyeshield did with Agon).
* Golden Dragon Fly - This involves three quarterbacks, normally with the Kongo brothers and Ikkyu. This is extremely difficult to stop, but it is possible with run-stuffing tactics.

Agon Kongo

*

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 skilled (ie non-lineman) positions, but his primary position of running back also makes him a rival towards Deimon's Sena Kobayakawa. His jersey is number 2.

Ikkyu Hosakawa

*

(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 Zone. 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 Oujouu White Knights christens it a Hail Devil 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 wideout 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;because he originates from an all-boys school, in his less serious moments, 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 Oujo 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 he's rattled because Monta can't do his best....

Later, after Monta gained his confidence again, he told him that aerial battle with Taka will be a "staring contest"....

During the Chrismas Bowl match between Deimon and Teikoku, he watches and becomes amazed at Taka's abilites and wonders what the heck Taka is, because his abilities as said by Hiruma are beyond human. Right now, he is extrememly excited (to the point of beating Onihei's head like a drum), because now a catch battle between Monta and Taka is taking place.

Character Statistics:
* 40-yard-dash: 4.9 seconds (Backwards)
* Bench-press: 65 kg
* Position: Split End/ Wide Receiver/ Cornerback
* Jersey Number: 33
** 2nd Year Student (Grade 11)

"TECHNIQUES/STRATEGIES"
* Golden Dragon Fly - See Unsui's entry

Gondayū Yamabushi

(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 lineman, 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 embarrased 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-Devilbats game by Kurita's game-ending powerdrive. 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.

Character Statistics:
* Position: Center/ Nose Guard
* 3rd Year Student.

STRATEGY/ TECHNIQUES:
* Elbow Tackle(Shiver Hit): Focusing his strength on the elbow, he strike opposition using his speed. It works against Kurita, who stronger than him but has subtantially less speed.

Other Players

Coach

umito Sendōda

*

(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.

References