| Yōichi Hiruma | |
|---|---|
| Character information | |
| Rōmaji | Hiruma Yōichi |
| Kanji | 蛭魔 妖一 |
| Alias | King Of Hell King Of The Darkness Commander from Hell Control Tower of Hell Yō-nii (used only by Suzuna) |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 17
20 (end of series) |
| Birthday | February 7 |
| Height | 176 cm (5'9") |
| Weight | 67 kg |
| Bench press | 75 kg |
| Relatives | Yuya Hiruma (father) |
| Status | |
| Affiliation | Deimon Devil Bats Saikyoudai Wizards |
| Year | 3rd Year |
| Jersey | 1 |
| 40 Yard Dash | 5.2 seconds (Formerly) 5.1 seconds |
| Pass Response Time | 2.3 sec |
| Position | Quarterback Strong Safety Punter Placekicker Holder |
| Team | Deimon Devil Bats (high school) Team Japan (Youth World Cup) Saikyoudai Wizards (university) San Antonio Armadillos (NFL) |
| Former Affiliation | Mao Devil Bats (middle school) |
| Debut | |
| Chapter | 1st Down |
| Episode | Episode 1 |
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Atsushi Tamura Shinichiro Miki (Jump Festa) |
| English | Derek Stephan Prince |
| Image gallery | |
History[]
Seven years prior to the start of the series, Yoichi, then ten years old, snuck into an American military base, where he witnessed a group of soldiers playing American football. Intrigued by the game, he soon caught on to its rules and later began studying its tactics. Yoichi became a regular spectator of the soldiers' games by sneaking through a hole in the wire fence surrounding the base. With his deep understanding of the game, he managed to successfully gamble on the winning teams, accumulating a large amount of money by the time he entered Mao Junior High, during which he dyed his hair to its current blonde color. Soon after Yoichi entered junior high, Ryokan Kurita accidentally came across a series of scribbled plays that he had drawn up and encouraged Yoichi to actively participate in the game. Although Yoichi at first had no interest in playing the game himself, he participated in one of the soldiers' games along with Kurita to replace two players who collapsed from heatstroke. While Yoichi and Kurita's team lost, along with a few Yoichi's winnings which he had gambled on the team, Yoichi became interested in starting his own American football team, with the ultimate goal of reaching the Christmas Bowl.
In order to establish an American football club, Yoichi created an expansive information network to acquire blackmail on virtually everyone in the Tokyo area, which allowed him to threaten the vice principal of Mao into allowing the creation of the club. During this time, Yoichi briefly acquired muscle in the form of Agon Kongo, set up a surveillance system with a large supply of hacked cellphone cameras, and recorded the information he acquired in a 'threat notebook' which remains on his person to the present day. After the reestablishment of the American football club with Doburoku Sakaki as club adviser, Gen "Musashi" Takekura decided to join the club because he thought Yoichi and Kurita were "fun," perhaps due to their unusual and persistent methods of attempting to persuade him to join. Together, the three new friends made a pact to reach the Christmas Bowl.
Agon Kongo and Yoichi
Kurita looked up to the Shinryuuji Naga, a team that had won every single Kanto Fall Tournament since its creation, so the three decided to join the team. Because Kurita couldn't hope to pass the Shinryuuji High entrance exam, Yoichi signed him up for the school's sports merit program, which would have permitted him to join the team. However, Agon applied for the program as well, because he believed the three to be "failures," and so Kurita was not permitted into Shinryuuji. Rather than leaving their friend behind, Yoichi and Musashi applied for Deimon High School, and together with Kurita established another new American football team, the Deimon Devil Bats, with Yoichi as the quarterback, Kurita a lineman, and Musashi the kicker. Despite their lack of any other members, Yoichi remained enthusiastic about reaching the Christmas Bowl, simply recruiting members of other sports clubs to fill up the roster. Despite this measure, Deimon failed to win a single game, even losing 99-0 against the Oujou White Knights. Additionally, Musashi's father fell ill, requiring Musashi to take a greater role in his family's carpentry business and leave the team for an extended period of time.
Synopsis[]
Spring Tournament Arc[]
At the beginning of the series, Yoichi and Kurita, now in their second year of high school, aggressively attempted to recruit new members to the Deimon Devil Bats from the newer students. At first their only successful recruit is the reluctant Sena Kobayakawa, as Yoichi witnessed his incredible running speed and agility and forces him to be the team's running back. Yoichi additionally hid Sena's identity by making him wear an eyeshield and adopt the moniker 'Eyeshield 21'. Yoichi then entered the Devil Bats into the Spring Tournament, where the team is eliminated early by the Oujou White Knights in a one-sided match, though Sena's potential as an ace runner appeared briefly. Following their defeat, the Devil Bats searched for members and prepare for the grander Autumn Tournament, which is the last chance left for the sophomores Yoichi and Kurita to reach the Christmas Bowl (because of Deimon policy of not allowing club activities to the third-year students).
Zokugaku Arc[]
Nasa Alien Arc[]
Yoichi, through intimidation, blackmail, cyber terrorism, and other similar methods, played a crucial role in the development of the young Devil Bats team. He single-handedly devised the team's recruitment drives and game plans, as well as all of the training routines until Doburoku returned to the team and instructs the team on some occasions. Among Yoichi's many accomplishments in the series include circumventing the selection process to face the NASA Aliens, using the Aliens' return trip tickets to the United States for the Devil Bats' training in America,
Death March Arc[]
Yoichi get the Member of Devil Bat to do the Death March and all of do it willingly and complete it and arrived at their Destination Las Vegas and Later Yoichi sold Doburoku's Truck much to his complain and use it make money to pay off pay off Doburoku's debts Yoichi won 20,000,000 yen (approximately $200,000) at casino and had Doburoku return to Japan as the Devil Bat Trainer.
Autumn Tournament Arc[]
Unlike many of the members of the Deimon Devil Bats, Yoichi does not explicitly experience a great improvement in ability over the course of series, instead acting as a reliable "control tower" for the team. Yoichi's insight and strategic mind, especially his knack for devising trick plays, are critical in the Devil Bats' various matches.
Kanto Tournament Arc[]
As the Devil Bats advance into the Kanto Tournament, Yoichi's relation to his teammates visibly changes, as he seems to place more faith in their abilities. Over time, this faith becomes critical in many of Deimon's victories, as several critical plays, such as an unexpected onside kick against Shinryuuji and a silent midplay huddle on the last play against Oujou, are based around the team members' ability to understand and believe in each other.
Christmas Bowl Arc[]
Additionally, contrary to Yoichi's typically tactical mindset, he accomplishes several feats seemingly through sheer willpower, including remain intact mentally to retrieve the ball after fumbling when Shin used the Trident tackle on him and recovering from a broken arm in just a few weeks prior to the Christmas Bowl against the Teikoku Alexanders. Eventually, in his final game against the Alexanders, Yoichi discards his objective outlook, putting faith in his teammates even when victory against Teikoku appears statistically impossible. It is this change in mindset that allows the Devil Bats to score on several consecutive drives against the otherwise perfect Alexanders.
Youth World Cup Arc[]
In chapter 333, the plot has skipped ahead two years. Yoichi, now in college, is part of (and, as Jumonji put it, 'controlling from the shadows') the college's American football team, Saikyoudai. A few years after that he got drafted by Panther's NFL team the San Antonio Armadillos and became their starting quarterback. He went on to have a long hall of fame NFL career like teammate Panther and fellow Japanese players Yamato, Sena, Taka and Shin.