Monta (Eyeshield 21)

Infobox animanga character
name = Taro Raimon
series = Eyeshield 21


caption =
first = episode 9, chapter 21
last =
creator = Riichiro Inagaki, Yusuke Murata
voiced by = Kappei Yamaguchi
Yūji Ueda (jump fiesta)
nickname = Monta
alias = Catch Master 80
age = 15
gender = Male
species =
born = August 31
death =
occupation = High School Student, football player
title =
relatives = Mother
divider = yes
aux1 = Wide Receiver, Cornerback
aux1 name = Position
aux2 = Deimon Devil Bats (football team)
aux2 name = Current team
aux3 = Deimon Devil Bats (baseball, third team)
aux3 name = Previous team
aux4 = 5.0 s
aux4 name = 40 yard dash
aux5 = 50 kg
aux5 name = Bench press

nihongo|Taro Raimon|雷門 太郎|"Raimon Tarō", commonly known as nihongo|Monta|モンタ, 門太 is a fictional character in the manga and anime series Eyeshield 21. He is the wide receiver of the Deimon Devil Bats American football team.

Characteristic

He resembles an ape, particularly a chimpanzee, in many ways; indeed, his simian similarity is the character's running joke throughout the manga. Although he is as short as Sena Kobayakawa, his large hands, acrobatic moves, and leaping ability make him a very effective receiver; he can even catch Yoichi Hiruma's bullet passes with one hand. He has a habit of posing every time he makes a spectacular catch for a touchdown, rolling after the jump, and breaking out of the roll by kneeling and pointing upwards with his index finger. He also has the habit of attaching 'Max' to nearly everything he does (suffixing his phrases with MAX! in the Japanese, and prefixing them with MAXI-! in the English), since he believes that one should give 100% effort in all endeavours. He was named Monta after Sena mistook his name as Montarō Rai (Sena originally thought his name was "Kaminari Montarō", since the character 雷 can be pronounced as either "rai" or "kaminari"). He begins to like being called 'Monta' after Hiruma tells him the nickname 'Monta' was supposedly derived from Joe Montana. Monta does not know that Joe Montana is a quarterback, not a wide receiver. Monta has a crush on Mamori. He's always trying to win her heart, often failing miserably, because she always gives more attention to Sena. Monta's throwing is incredibly horrible: he moves his arm in the right direction, but somehow, the ball goes in a completely different direction! Not only that, but his kicking is similar. His throws/kicks usually hit someone on the head, or break a window. Monta is also known for his bad grammar, as he once said that he will "restore his disgrace" (because he lost the ball in front of Mamori), but was corrected by Hiruma, and Hiruma even requested that someone "teach that monkey how to communicate with humans ", which embarrassed him even further.

At the same time, although he is considered an idiot, he gives wonderful motivational speeches, especially to Sena. Everytime Sena felt like all was lost, Monta would give him a pep talk, leading Sena to start moving again.

History

Monta makes his first appearance after the first match against the Oujou White Knights. He tried out for Deimon's baseball club, inspired by the Shuei Bears player, Masaru Honjō, an outfielder known for his spectacular catching. However, due to his abominable throwing skills, Monta was only able to make it to the third string, the reserves of the reserves who never really get to play. He was devastated over the sheer hopelessness of it all, for he knew and realized that the only thing he was remotely good at was catching. At first, he rejected Sena's offer of joining the club. However, Hiruma later conned him into joining the team by putting up an act whereby the whole American Football club is under the jurisdiction and control of Eyeshield 21 (whereby Eyeshield 21 is the big, bad boss), and lied to Monta that Mamori joined the club because she fell for his skills. He also told Monta that Eyeshield 21 was only playing with Mamori, and that he was planning to dump her as soon as possible. Monta later decides for himself that he would become a catching hero in football instead of in baseball like Masaru Honjo (a pro baseball player who gives Monta his glove and becomes his idol). After finding out Eyeshield 21's real identity, Monta enters a friendly rivalry with Sena who is arguably his best friend.

During the game with Shinryuugi, Raimon convinced Hiruma to try for a "Hail Mary" pass. Hiruma and the team disagrees, as Ikkyu of Shinryuuji's been on him all day. In the end Hiruma agrees, but actually fires off a low bullet pass instead. Ikkyu intercepts it, but the ball gets stripped out of his hands by Monta for a touchdown. Following the extra point kick, Ikkyu tries to reaffirm his superiority over Monta by facing him down. However, as the ball is thrown back from the crowd, Monta catches it, from behind, one-handed, "without even looking" (this is the precursor to the Devil Backfire).

During Deimon's final plays against Shinryuuji, Monta saves the Devil Bats from a premature defeat by getting a 1st down and resetting the clock back to 4 seconds, despite being tackled by Agon. As he had done with Sena, the arrogant dreadhead had underestimated Monta's determination.

An interesting thing to note is that in the anime, Hiruma does not trick Monta into joining; he joins on his own accord. Also, Monta seems to have a younger appearance in the anime, with a more rounded, youthful face.

Chapter 207 reveals that he was voted one of the top four high school receivers in Japan.The others were: Ikkyu the backpedaling genius, Tetsuma the unstoppable and punctual train, and Sakuraba, the receiver of the highest pass in Japan. Monta, in anticipation of the Everest Pass, knowing that his jumping ability would not match Sakuraba's height and jump combined, undergoes special training from Doburoku in the three days before the game. But it was not enough in the first half of the game, with the height difference between Sakuraba and Monta in height used to the opposition's advantage for an early interception, forcing Deimon into a running game and preventing the receiver from getting any more catches in the first half. After the second half starts, 15 yards from the goal line, Takami feels the same shiver he felt in the first half, but passes the ball to Sakuraba anyway, and Monta does the unthinkable: he goes for a behind-the-head catch, putting all the energy he would have used for turning around into his jump. Using a variation of a new technique, Monta blocks the pass and sends it down for Hiruma to intercept, stopping Oujou's drive at the goal line. With the ball back in their possession, Hiruma and he unleash a new technique in order to catch the ball without any more confrontation with Sakuraba: the Devil Backfire. Further inspired by the words of Masaru Honjō (revealed to be a commissioner of the Kansai football league), Monta continues his catching spree, assisting in Deimon touchdown and the score is tied. However, by the next Deimon drive, Oujou's defense becomes more tenacious towards Monta, preventing Hiruma from using the Devil Backfire. The score becomes 20-13 with Oujou's Sagittarius play and a failed Deimon drive, but Monta reduces the lead with a safety by tackling the White Knights' quarterback in their own end zone.

In a furious fourth quarter, Deimon and Ojo trade blows in scoring, with Monta using his Devil Backfire to keep them in the game. However, the White Knights' tough defensive stands slowly wore him down, to the point where he nearly gives in and collapses at his limit. However, his collapse is caught by Honjo, who remembered him as the boy who caught his glove ten years ago, inspiring him for one final attempt for victory: a double Devil Bat Dive with Sena to secure final victory. After Sena took off with the Devil Bat Dive, Sena passes the ball to Monta, who beats Sakuraba's version of the Devilbat Backfire with a near-impossible one-handed catch for a touchdown.

As the game reaches its climax, Deimon gets the ball back with one second to play. After an unpredictable bouncing kick by Ootawara, Monta finds himself with the ball. With the game time expiring and Ojo holding a lead that could allow them to win, the Deimon receiver was at a loss of what to do, until Hiruma suddenly called him into a desperation play called the Killer Hornet. This allowed Monta to secretly hand the ball to Sena, while he faked still having it. The gamble works with the Devil Bats winning the game by two points. In the end, he turns down Sakaruba's request to carry his wristband into the Christmas Bowl, stating that it should be carried by Sakaruba's most loyal follower, Torakichi.

As Deimon's attention turned towards the Kanto finalist Hakushuu Dinosaurs, Monta's receiving abilities immediately became invaluable, catching an early pass from Hiruma after Kurita's defense blocks the bestial Rikiya Gaō, allowing him to draw first blood with an immediate touchdown. After a Hakushuu touchdown, Monta appeared like he would be the main offensive weapon again, using the Devil Backfire for what would appear to be another Deimon touchdown...before Kisaragi knocked the ball out of his hand in the end-zone, stopping his maneuvers.

In latest chapters, thanks to his catching abilities, he can catch Sena's erratic pass, which complement his skill as quarterback. He manages to score a touchdown this way, and continues the offense... until Kisaragi return to the field, and intercepts all Sena's slow passes thanks to his height. However, with the return of Hiruma, the Devil Bats receive a much-needed boost in morale and are able to score another touchdown. Then with a last ditch long pass, Monta finally defeats Kisaragi's Ptero-Claw technique with the sheer brute strength of his gripping ability.

Though he didn't win the MVP award of the Kanto Tournament, Monta is still named the top backfield player. Now he and the Devil Bats must prepare for the Christmas Bowl, and his personal battle with Taka Honjo of Teikoku - the son of his hero. However, the discovery that his lifelong idol has a son who plays for the Teikoku Alexanders has shaken his confidence, to such a degree that when the Kantou All-Stars turn up to help Deimon train, Monta is unable to focus on the job at hand. His trainer, Ikkyu, tears a strip off of him, and questions his motivation. Monta, deflated and resigned to his situation, bails out of the training and runs away.

Sena eventually tracks him down to the Tokyo Dome, where the Christmas Bowl will be held. The Bats' ace is holding his baseball glove, and looking back on his time as an athlete; he never really let go of his dream to be the Second Coming of Masaru Honjo, but now that he knows that someone else has a stronger claim to that title, he feels broken, and is left wondering what the point of continuing is - especially now that he's seen what Honjo Jr can do, a skill level he couldn't even hope to reach. He tells Sena that he's emailed Hiruma to inform of his withdrawal from the Bats' Christmas Bowl squad (although later he still follows the training, though still dispirited....).

Sena tries to reason with his friend, saying that if he's not there, then the Bats "definitely" don't stand a chance against the Alexanders. Reaching out for Monta, Sena accidentally knocks the glove from his hand, and into the path of a truck, crushing it flat. Monta is mortified by this loss, and races down to the road to retrieve it. Sena tries to stop him from getting injured, but gets a punch in the chops for his concern. That glove was the most important thing in his life, but Sena counters by actually fighting back against Monta, both verbally "and physically" - this is a "very" different Sena Kobayakawa to the one we met 278 Downs ago. He actually fights back, saying that winning the Christmas Bowl with his team-mates is even more important than that: "More than Honjo-san! More than the Glove! "The most important thing is winning the Championship, right!! Am I wrong!? MONTA!!!"

But Monta doesn't seem to hear...

The next day, they are practically still at odds, and even attempt to evade each other. Monta himself is trying hard to repair the gloves with duct tapes, with no avail, while wondering why he had become like that and hitting his best friend only to protect his dreams that had already been shattered like that glove....

Meanwhile, desperately trying to find a solution to apologize and repair his relationship with Monta, Sena stumbled into one idea: to find replacement gloves. He does that by asking every receiver and cornerback Monta had already faced so far, including Aliens WR Jeremy Watts, Dinosaurs CB Hiromi Kisaragi, Sphinx CB Ken Kamaguruma, Wild Gunmen WR Jo Tetsuma, Nagas WR/CB Ikkyu Hosokawa, and White Knights WR Haruto Sakuraba, to give the gloves they had used when Monta defeated them. When seeing this, Monta realizes his own true potential, that he shouldn't aim to be the second Honjou, and decides to move on, by defeating Honjou and surpass the God of Receiving he admired so far....

During Deimon first consecutive offense, Monta is given chance to catch Hiruma's pass during offense. But it seems that Hiruma's control is slightly off, resulted in the ball getting slightly thrown off, and out of reach for Monta... until he shows his training result, able to jump high and far to catch the ball. However, with Taka coming from behind, with his graceful "airwalk", he's able to intercept the ball... and giving it to Yamato, resulted in a counter touchdown.

After the touchdown, Teikoku aiming for consecutive offense, by using a daring tactics: an onside kick. Again, Monta trying to catch the wild ball using his Devil Backfire... and failed again, as Taka manages to catch the ball again in aerial battle. And now Monta, for the first time in his matches (and his life), feel despaired that his 10 years of constant training is for nothing in front of Taka's abilities....

In chapter 288, Monta and Sena cooperates in a run play that used their speed to confuse Teikoku's defense, Christ Cross. However, thanks to their inexperience, the play resulted in a fumble that almost resulted in the ball being stolen by Reisuke Aki, if not for Ha Ha Bros who quickly ganged up Reisuke and batted the ball out of his hand. The ball secured by Hiruma in the last moment, and for the first time, Monta manages to steal chance for successful pass by changing his route in real time, discarding the route that had been read by Taka. Taka, already use his jump to get into supposed route, is taken by surprise, and the pass will be completed... but because the ball already in Teikoku possession, the pass can't be done, and Hiruma is forced to surrendering 2 yards. However, Taka has realized the imminent threat Monta had presents.

Within 10 minutes, Hiruma recklessly throws last-ditch long passes, seemingly ignoring the lanky Teikoku's players display of domination. While it was seen as a flurry of desperate attempts to score, it is revealed that Hiruma actually decided to burn it out in order to put Monta and Taka into staring contest, piling the pressure on Taka and throwing Monta into a rhythm. Taka saw through this, and shows his superiority by defeating him in staring contest on the first time. Monta was unfazed, and continued his seemingly-fruitless attempts to one-up the deadly skills of the Honjyo's heir. Later on, Taka becomes ruffled with Deimon's pressure, and losing his cool... and turns first, giving Monta the chance he needed to catch Hiruma's pass... until Taka, in a last-ditch attempt and frenzied moment, manages to force a turnover stripping the ball away from using one finger, and recovers the fumbled ball.

Realizing that Taka had outstanding catching abilities that surpassed his own, the young Receiver gives himself an ultimatum: beat the Wide Receiver/Cornerback... or die trying. Later on, deep in the 4th Quarter with just over 9 minutes left on the clock, Deimon have resorted to using a No-Huddle Offense, using code to distinguish one play from the other (Much like Peyton Manning's offensive style for the Indianapolis Colts).

The drive bears fruit, and ultimately, Monta, in a single moment of determination and with the assistance of a half-complete and last-ditch block by Sena, neutralize Taka's catching skills, if only for an instant... and charges all the way to the end zone for a Deimon Touchdown, setting the stage for possibly "another" Deimon comeback.

When Yamoto scores a touchdown, Teikoku goes for the try-for-point to make the score 42-16. Monta tells the Deimon team of his secret plan to stop them, making even Sena think that he was an idiot. Hiruma, after laughing that Monta's idiocy level had matured as well, says to go with the plan. Unbelievably, Monta had planned to catch the football when it was being kicked for try-for-point. Even more unbelievably, it actually worked, and the football missed the goalposts (though Monta was furious with himself for not being able to actually catch it), keeping the score gap at 25 points.

Techniques and strategies

*One-handed Catch - First seen in Volume 3 when Hiruma was scouting for a new receiver by randomly throwing footballs at unsuspecting candidates. Due to Monta's large hands and gripping strength, he's able to catch a football with just one hand, even if it happens to be thrown extremely fast, or in an erratic manner. This is in the same manner as a baseball player as he extends his arm with his baseball glove to make an extreme catch. With this move, Monta defeats Sakuraba's attempt to copy the Devil Backfire. This also useful in defend against power-interceptor cornerback like Kisaragi, since his another arm can be used to repel the interceptor.
* Vertical Jumps - Though Monta is no match for Sena's speed, he wins in the ability of aerial battles. His jumping abilities occasionally make fun of his resemblance to a monkey, but still it is impressive. Though not confirmed, he can jump to a height that is taller than Kurita after his training with Ikkyuu.
* Acrobatic Catches - No matter what position he's in, Monta has the ability to catch any type of pass, and can also catch multiple passes in rapid succession. He's been seen to catch the ball while inverted, rolling, jumping, or even leaning backward. He's been known to catch extremely fast, brutal balls, even from speed passers such as Hiruma, Unsui, Agon, and the Kid. His large hands have phenomenal gripping strength, allowing him to hold onto the ball, even if it is soaking wet or being pulled at by an opposing player. As years of building his catching ability, now he can deduces ball movement and position in an instant he see it, almost like when Sena find appropriates running route by instinct. Monta has stolen the ball from each of the other top three receivers in the manga as a result of his incredible hand strength and ball movement observation ability.
* Shinzo Bump(Heart Bump in the English version): This is what Monta calls this technique when he uses the bump against the Wild Gunmen. It is nothing more than a palm thrust to the area above the heart.
* Devil Backfire - First seen in the Devil Bats/Naga game, (where Monta catches a ball from behind without looking), and realized during the Deimon/Oujou game. This is a means for Monta to counter taller opposing receivers. Due to his training both from baseball and from playing alongside Hiruma, Monta is able to pick out the wind movements of a ball without having to see it. For this technique, Monta puts his arms behind his head while running and determines the wind movement of the ball after Hiruma releases it, thus being able to grab it without having to look as well as preventing him from any more battles with taller players like Sakuraba. This has the added bonus of no reduction in speed, as most players have to turn around in order to see the incoming pass. The move also plays against Sakuraba as it can block his field of view as Monta comes barreling into him.
*Sagittarius: - First seen in the Hakushuu game, This combines the Devil Stungun and the Devil Backfire, Sena becomes Monta's guard and guards him with the Devil Stungun. Monta called this the "Explosion MAX." Precursor of this move can be seen during Deimon Devilbats vs Shinryuji Nagas play, in which Monta carried the ball alone after receiving pass from Hiruma during fake spike play, and Sena rammed himself against one of the Shinryuji Nagas' lineman trying to tackle Monta, effectively stopping him from the tackle, before it failed due to Agon's quick response to what Monta attempted to do, and manages to tackle him. However, thanks to Monta's determination, they were saved from defeat, after Monta was forced Out of Bounds using his superior catching skills.
*Chris Cross - Another variation of running play, where Monta and Sena cross paths with Quarterback (Hiruma) as their center. This will hide the true ball carrier, however due to Sena and Monta's initial inexperience with the play as well as never having used it before, their first use of the Christ Cross results in a fumble with the ball almost being stolen by Teikoku.
*Staring Contest - Basically, the game of interception is a staring contest. In this game, the defender (who is running backwards) and the designated receiver (who is moving forward) will stare at each other, trying to determine their opponent's movement. It is a game of endurance, depending on whether the defender (because he can't run at his full speed while running backwards, and to cover long passes against a fast receiver, he must turn around to catch up with the receiver) or the designated receiver (because he can start to get pressured, especially if his pass routes already got covered, forcing him to take readable routes) will chicken out first. The loser will lose time and momentum he needs to response the pass.

Trivia

* Monta is always greatly offended when someone calls him a monkey. Ironically, he occasionally performs stereotypical monkey traits such as running on all fours, climbing trees to high heights, using his feet to handle objects, and snacking on bananas. In Japanese, he even cries, "Mukyaa~!", which is a recognized monkey cry, when he's upset. In a poll that pitted characters against one another, he won over a monkey for being "most monkey-like". This makes his character a fitting one for his seiyū, Kappei Yamaguchi, who often plays such characters.
* He lives at home with his single mother who jests with her son while often stationing herself in front of a TV. She gave birth to him when she was nineteen.
* Monta shares his jersey number with legendary NFL receiver Jerry Rice, mentioned in the story as Rice-kun, Deimon's practice-squad "receiver" (actually a wooden board with a hole cut in it, a bag on the rear side of the hole, and a stick-figure representation of a receiver). Once Monta joined the team, Rice-kun was put to the sword - well, put to Hiruma's machinegun, Kurita's tackle, rocket launcher (thanks to Sena and Monta) and flamethrower (thanks to Mamori, of all people!). His work ethics also somehow similar ("If it's catching I won't lose to anyone!", "I'll be a No.1 world catching master even if I die!", "My job is to catch the ball, NOT to win the aerial battle.")
* Monta has abominable throwing skills; all his throws always ended unexpectedly. In Las vegas, he's ended Sena's winning streak when he get the chance to throw in the roulette. When Sakuraba gives him Torakichi's wristband, he tossed it back to Sakuraba, but somehow it ended in Onihei's head, near Torakichi instead. However, in chapter 279, somehow he can throw something right to the direction he wanted, when he throws Honjou's glove through the sky and in to the sea....