Yōichi Hiruma (蛭魔 妖一, Hiruma Yōichi) is one of the main characters in the series, Eyeshield 21. He is one of the three founding members of the Deimon Devil Bats along with Kurita and Musashi. He is a high school student of Deimon Private Senior High School, holding the position of quarterback and official tactician for Deimon Devil Bats.
Conception and development
Inagaki said that he developed Hiruma as a character that does not follow the Japanese concept of emphasis on sportsmanship and effort in the game; instead Hiruma is "only concerned with winning." Inagaki intended to make an "anti-hero" or, as he refers to the concept, a "devil-hero." Yusuke Murata, the artist, said that every character design has to have a distinct quality as many characters are in groups and each one has to stand out; Murata chose to portray Hiruma as looking "close to being a demon" since he heard from Inagaki that Hiruma had "the personality of a demon."
About his name: (蛭魔 妖一 ヒルマ ヨイチ Hiruma Yōichi) Hiruma's last name (Hiruma) is spelled with a kanji literally meaning "leech demon", while his first name (Yōichi) is spelled with a kanji meaning "bewitching one". If the two kanji are put together to form his last name plus first name, it can also be read as "demon in broad daylight".
Appearance
Hiruma's general appearance can be summarized with a the word flashy and very far from reassuring. He has spiky blonde, sharp-shaped eyes and eyebrows, accompanied with sharp pointy teeth - more similar to animal fangs than human teeth - and long pointed ears that makes him look like a disguised devil. He is tall (from a Japanese point of view) and has a slim build. He also has thin and long fingers, with similarly long nails.
To further underline his demonic look, Murata tends to draw him with a pointed devil-tail and small horns when he's planning (or has already done) something particularly devious (not to mention the "black evil aura of evilness" that seems to form around him whenever his evil genius gets in motion).
The Outfits
Hiruma's usually seen either in his school uniform or in his football uniform, but, as sometimes the manga is setted outside the school or the field, he's also seen in normal clothes occasionally.
Attending the Deimon High School, his school uniform is composed by black pants, white shirt and a turquoise jacket (according to the anime coloring). During the series he shows two version of the football uniform. The first one is red in top and white in pants, the second one is red and white in top (being red the shoulders and chest sides, and white the front and back) and white pants.
When not in his school or football uniform, Hiruma's most frequent clothing is a pair of black tight pants and an equally black and tight T-shirt. He seems to prefer dark colors over lighter ones, though he once wore a pure white furred-collar jacket (with matching white pants) and a maid outfit to spy on USA team during the World League.
Personality
Hiruma usually acts in a vulgar, bizarre, threatening manner or so as to intimidate or disturb those around him into getting what he wants. He has a cunning, goal-oriented mind and does not seem to care what means he uses to accomplish those goals. His sense of morals is lax at best, but he is quick to find the moral flaws of others, which he keeps recorded in his "Book of Threats" or "Devil's Handbook", and uses this information to blackmail everyone from students to figures of authority into placing him in a position of power. He has little respect for authority and has in fact usurped authority over Deimon High School well before the series begins and has the authority of a vice principal, using his power in the school to give himself beyond-perfect scores in all his classes and divert funds to the American football club as he desires. Besides blackmail, Hiruma can often intimidate others into taking the action he wants by waving around his vast arsenal of firearms. Even without having to take direct action, Hiruma's mere reputation is enough in some instances to make the majority of the student body fear him and bow to his authority.
Despite his penchant for blackmail and breaking seemingly every school rule without consequence, Hiruma adheres to the rules of American football without exception while playing. Inagaki says that Hiruma "does everything else to win" and is "only concerned with winning." Instead, Hiruma attempts to throw opposing teams offguard through taunts and insults. Even when Hiruma expresses excitement or happiness, he does so in a violent manner, by firing his large guns into the air or kicking a teammate in the rear when they have executed well on a play. He addresses all members of the Deimon Devil Bats with a vulgar manner, beginning with "Fucking" (changed to "Damned" in the anime) and ending with a descriptive noun, such as "Shorty" for Sena or "Monkey" for Monta. Some characters, such as Kid, have observed that Hiruma's attitude and even aspects of his demonic appearance are an act to intimidate his opponents both on and off the field.
Over time, the series has alluded to Hiruma's 'true' personality, which Sena and Mamori Anezaki have at times been shown to understand to some degree, as when one or the other correctly observes Hiruma to be worried, happy, or tired. In addition to these instances, Hiruma has shown compassion to others, though he continues to hide it with his demonic behavior - allowing Takami some privacy after a loss is one such instance. In addition, some of Hiruma's actions imply that he cares for the other members of the team more than he lets on. In the case of his two oldest teammates, Hiruma abandoned Shinryuuji High to join Kurita at Deimon High when Kurita failed to gain entrance into the school, and he forbid Musashi's kicking tee from being touched after Musashi had to leave the team, making it an almost sacred object in the Devil Bats' locker room. As the series progresses, Hiruma's feelings for his teammates become more apparent, especially the faith he places in Sena and Monta.
History
Seven years prior to the start of the series, Yōichi Hiruma, 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. Hiruma 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 Hiruma entered junior high, Ryoukan Kurita accidentally came across a series of scribbled plays that he had drawn up, and encouraged Hiruma to actively participate in the game. Although Hiruma 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 Hiruma and Kurita's team lost, along with a small amount of Hiruma's winnings which he had gambled on the team, Hiruma 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, Hiruma 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, Hiruma 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 Hiruma 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.
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, Hiruma 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, Hiruma and Musashi applied for Deimon High School, and together with Kurita established another new American football team, the Deimon Devil Bats, with Hiruma as the quarterback, Kurita a lineman, and Musashi the kicker. Despite their lack of any other members, Hiruma 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
At the beginning of the series, Hiruma 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 Hiruma witnessed his incredible running speed and agility and forces him to be the team's running back. Hiruma additionally hid Sena's identity by making him wear an eyeshield and adopt the moniker 'Eyeshield 21'. Hiruma 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 Hiruma and Kurita to reach the Christmas Bowl (because of Deimon policy of not allowing club activities to the third-year students).
Hiruma, 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 Hiruma'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 North America, and winning 20,000,000 yen (approximately $200,000) at Las Vegas to pay off Doburoku's debts.
Unlike many of the members of the Deimon Devil Bats, Hiruma does not explicitly experience a great improvement in ability over the course of series, instead acting as a reliable "control tower" for the team. Hiruma's insight and strategic mind, especially his knack for devising trick plays, are critical in the Devil Bats' various matches. As the Devil Bats advance into the Kanto Tournament, Hiruma'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. Additionally, contrary to Hiruma'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, Hiruma 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.
In chapter 333, the plot has skipped ahead two years. Hiruma, 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.