Profil Raimon Taro

Taro Raimon
First Appearance	Chapter 21/ Episode 1
Voiced By	Kappei Yamaguchi Yūji Ueda (Jump Fiesta)
Alias	Monta, Catch Master 80
Sex	Male
Age	15-16, 18 (Final Chapter)
Birthday	August 31
Affiliations	Deimon Devil Bats
Former Affiliations	Deimon Baseball Te

Taro Raimon (雷門 太郎 Raimon Tarō), also known as Monta (モンタ, 門太, Monta), is the Wide Receiver of the Deimon Devil Bats. He and Sena quickly become good friends. He is recruited into the team by Sena, after being told that his catching skills, the only skills he had, would be useful in American football.

History

Originally a baseball player for Deimon's high school team, Monta trained his catches day and night, in hopes of being a high school star. His role model is Masaru Honjō, a Shuei Bears player and star catcher.

However, due to his horrendous throwing and batting abilities, Monta only makes it to the third string of his baseball team. After becoming aware that baseball requires well-rounded people, whereas football needs specialists, Monta decides to join the American Football Team.

His first game was against the Zokugaku Chameleons, where Monta has moments of fame and of embarassment. Later in the game, however, he scores at least two touchdowns, and is cheered on by both the crowd and his baseball team, coming to spectate.

In various games against the Taiyo Sphinx, Shinryuuji Naga, Seibu Wild Gunmans, Ojo White Knights, and Teikoku Alexanders, Monta grows and refines his techniques, learning to deal with tackles, height differences, speed differences, and technique handicaps.

Techniques

• Superb Catching Skills: A result of years and training, Monta can catch almost anything thrown to him. This not only includes footballs, but also baseballs, money, and even drinks in a wine glass.

• Catching Experience: Because Monta has trained so much, he has learned to take in other factors like the strength and direction of the wind, and will know where Hiruma's pass will end up.

• One-Handed Catch: Because of Monta's large hands, he is able to catch passes with one hand. First seen against Sakuraba.

• Acrobatics: Although it may be for show, Monta's obvious baseball experience has led to him catching footballs while performing dives, rolls, spins, flips, and high jumps.

• Bump: Like the other members of Deimon, Monta trained in the "Bump" technique, to play against Seibu. This technique failed against Tetsuma Jo of Seibu.

• Devil Backfire: Jumping high in the air, Monta catches a pass thrown to him facing backwards, with both arms stretched overhead and hands open. It was devised to channel as much power as possible into jumping, and less into turning around. First seen against the Shinryuuji Naga.

• • Devil Backfire Neo: A variation of the Devil Backfire, where Monta immediately tucks the ball into his body, protecting it with his arms and legs. First seen against the American All-Star team. This technique earned Monta 3 MVP nominations.

Monta's new technique, the Devil Backfire Neo

• • Sagittarius: A technique where Sena guards Monta, the former using the Devil Stungun and the latter preparing for a Devil Backfire. First seen against Agon in the Deimon-Shinryuuji game. (Modled after Shin and Sakuraba's Sagittarius)

• Chris Cross: A technique where Sena and Monta both fake a handoff, or actually are handed the ball, by Hiruma. These two both run across the field, concealing the possible location of the ball. Note that it is purposely spelled "Chris Cross", not "Christ Cross", as Hiruma stated that devils would never rely on gods. (Failed on the first attempt)
  • Evil Cross: A variation of the Chris Cross, where Sena purposly reveals that he has the ball, before passing to Hiruma. There is then a double feint, where Hiruma, instead of running or passing to Monta, passes to Sena, who has slipped back. First used against Teikoku.

• Staring Contest: A receiver must have a "staring contest" with the opposing receiver sent to cover him. Monta knows this, and had this duel on a few occasions, namely against Ikkyu of Shinryuuji and Honjo Taka of Teikoku. Whoever breaks eye contact first will lose the catching duel.

• Ball Movement Reading: After years of experience, Monta instinctively knows where a ball will go before it actually gets there. Even with the irregular bounces of a football, Monta can predict its most likely path. First seen against Teikoku.

• Screw Bite: A technique learned from Reiji "Marco" Maruko of the Hakushū Dinosaurs, Monta grabs and twists the football out of the current holder's hands.

Noticible Showdowns

• Monta vs. Ikkyu (Deimon/Shinryuuji): After being beaten by Ikkyu numerous times in the beginning of the match, Monta performs a one-handed Devil Backfire later on. This is before the Devil Backfire was fully developed, and may have been its predecessor.

• Monta vs. Agon (Deimon/Shinryuuji): After a near-clear path to the endzone, Agon suddenly appears from behind and tackles Monta. Monta, yelling "Catch MAX!" reveals that he "caught" a patch of dirt before he was tackled, ma.king him out-of-bounds and ending the down at that point, leaving the game with 4 seconds instead of ending then and there

• Monta vs. Sakuraba (Deimon/Ojo): Sakuraba's height, combined with the Everest Pass, makes short Monta completely outmatched. Later on, Monta drives all his power into jumping and invents the Devil Backfire.

• Monta vs. Tetsuma (Deimon/Seibu): After failing to stop Tetsuma with the Bump technique, Monta realizes that he has to beat him in a catching match. During the last down, Monta takes the ball from Tetsuma's hands. However, Tetsuma's shoulder touched the ground before the ball left his hands, ending the down, making it Seibu's ball. Monta then began to argue with the referee almost causing them to be disqualified until Tetsuma stops him (Tetsuma was not allowed to play in the next game because of this).

• Monta vs. Hotei (Deimon/Teikoku): A minor duel, but in this one, Monta deflects Hotei's extra-point conversion kick with his hand.

• Monta vs. Taka (Deimon/Teikoku): Taka's height, speed, strength, and jumping power are all superior to Monta's. After being beaten brutally in the first half, Monta becomes more determined in the second half, learning to read the football's movements and ultimately beating Taka in obtaining the onside kick, with 1 second left on the clock.

• Monta vs. Bud Walker (Japan/USA): An ongoing battle; Monta has been beated already by Bud's original Bump technique.

Trivia

• Monta's real name, Taro Raimon, is actually Raimon Taro in Japanese. Sena, while introducing him to Hiruma, pronounces his name as "Rai... Montaro", leading Hiruma to call him Monta.

• Monta has a tendency to place the word "Max" after many of his remarks, the most common being "Catch MAX!"

• 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" with the most votes out of all polls, being the only one to get more than 10000 votes
• Monta's first appearance differs from manga to anime. In the manga, he is first seen when Sena was walking home practicing his hold on the American Football. In the Anime, Monta is seen in the background when Sena enters Deimon High in the first episode.