Kyoshin Poseidon

The Kyoshin Poseidon are an American football team from Kyoshin High School that the Deimon Devil Bats face in the Autumn Tokyo Tournament. As their team name suggests, the Poseidon's theme is based on water. Their strategy depends on the great height of their ace players, including Shun Kakei and Kengo Mizumachi.

Contents

Team Appearance and Rituals

The Poseidon uniform is predominantly a light blue. The sides of the jersey and pants feature sea-green fish-scale patterns, while the front of the helmet features a fin of the same color on either side. The team's cheerleaders wear uniforms with a similar color scheme with white seashell designs on the chest, giving the appearance of mermaids. The team in general has traditional practice sessions, but the cheerleaders often lead the team's fans in performing the wave at games. Additionally, after practice the Poseidon routinely visit a sauna to relax their bodies.

Story

Not much is known of the Kyoshin Poseidon before the arrival of the school's ace freshmen, only that, according to captain Osamu Kobanzame, Kyoshin was a mediocre team. However, Shun Kakei joined the team, and also attempted to recruit tall players, completely restructuring the team. Kengo Mizumachi joined the club because he admired Kakei's drive to win the national championship.

The team's tall freshmen stay on the bench for all of the team's official games through the start of the Autumn Tokyo Tournament. However, after the team falls behind 0-14 to Hashiratani, Mizumachi and Kakei enter the game, and lead the Poseidon to a 31-14 victory. A 42-0 rout of Zokugaku follows, and in the tournament quarterfinals the Poseidon face the Deimon Devil Bats. After a hard-fought match the Poseidon lose on the final play of the game by a score of 17-18, 23-24 in the anime.

Players

Shun Kakei

Although a first-year student, Kakei is the Poseidon's ace player and unofficial leader, and the team's actual captain Kobanzame often turns to him for instruction. He is a linebacker whose skill is exceptional, as he is able to defeat Sena's Devil Bat Ghost easily. He is among the tallest high school American football players in Japan, over two meters in height, and he has experience from playing the sport in the United States in middle school. His goal is to find and compete against the 'real' Eyeshield 21, a running back he played in the United States who inspired to take up the sport again when he had been prepared to quit. When he returned to Japan, Kakei immediately signed up for the American football club at Kyoshin, and revitalized the team by recruiting a number of tall players.haha

Kengo Mizumachi

Mizumachi is the Poseidon's other ace player along with Kakei. He is a lineman who, though not very bulky, is formidable because of his speed and great height, which he uses to his advantage. Mizumachi is considered a natural athletic prodigy, and he was highly sought out by his middle school's athletic clubs, and he chose the swimming club. He joined the American football club because of Kakei's aspiration to win the national championship, which matches his own drive, and he quickly became a talented lineman. Unlike Kakei, Mizumachi is rarely serious, instead being energetic, cheerful, and sometimes rude.

Osamu Kobanzame

Although the captain of the team and a third-year student, Kobanzame is an incredibly meek person with little capacity for leadership. Additionally, he is not very talented, though he trains hard along with the rest of the team and his play as a quarterback is generally mistake-free.

Hiroshi Ohira and Hiroshi Onishi

Ohira and Onishi are a pair of first-year linebackers for the Poseidon and are the two tallest high school American football players in Japan, at 205 and 204 cm respectively. They have shared an intense rivalry since childhood, and each claims to be Kakei's first disciple. They address Kakei as "sensei" despite his being in the same year as them, and their actions are generally foolish. However, despite not being as good as Kakei, they are skilled in the use of the techniques he has taught them, and together all three form the Poseidon's "High Wave" defense strategy.

Strategy

Kyoshin's offensive and defensive strategies largely depend on the strength of their tall freshman players. On offense, Mizumachi serves as a blocker for Kobanzame and the team's less-talented running backs. Additionally, on passing plays Mizumachi buys time for Kobanzame to complete passes. The team's true strength is on defense, where all four of their tall players play. Aside from Mizumachi's ability to break through blockers, the linebackers Kakei, Ohira, and Onishi form a powerful barrier behind the line, termed the High Wave. Using hand techniques, which Kakei has taught to the other linebackers, the team is able to break through lead blockers and Kakei is able to stop most running backs; on the other hand, their great height enables them to stop forward passes. The High Wave can be made stronger if Mizumachi lines up as a fourth linebacker, creating a 3-4 defense formation called Poseidon. Although Mizumachi's absence from the line theoretically makes running through the middle easier for opposing offenses, the four are generally able to stop most running backs with little physical strength from advancing due to their physique.