Ryokan Kurita

Ryokan Kurita

• Position: Center / Defensive Tackle / Offensive Tackle
• Jersey: 77
• 40 yard dash: 6.5 seconds
• Bench Press: 160 kg(352 lb)
• Height: 195 cm (6' 5")
• Weight: 145 kg (319 lb)
• Birthday: July 7
• Graduated From: Mao 13th Middle School
• 2nd Year Student (Grade 11)

The largest and strongest player in the Deimon Devil Bats, Ryokan Kurita is a kind-hearted individual, and the only thing bigger than his body is his heart. He becomes Sena's second friend after entering Deimon High School. He is somewhat dim-witted, nearly giving away Sena's identity as Eyeshield 21, but is immediately silenced by Hiruma. When playing, Kurita shouts his kiai "Funnuraba!"(Here I come!) when exerting extra effort. His biggest dream is to compete in the Christmas Bowl.

Yusuke Murata, artist of the series, said that Kurita is his favorite character; Murata likes how Kurita's "zeal" for American football matches Murata's passion for manga.^[1]

He lives in a temple with his father, who is the director of a Buddhist sect. His father believed that to grow up big and strong, a young boy had to eat a lot, thus overfeeding his son. Kurita, as his name would suggest, has a head shaped like a chestnut.

Before coming to Deimon, he applied to Shinryuji High School, but failed to get in because Kongo Agon was chosen over him for the special athletic scholarship, so he came to Deimon High along with Hiruma and Musashi. It is Kurita who was interested in football from the beginning, reading magazines and practicing in order to reach the Christmas Bowl. Before meeting Hiruma, Kurita tried to encourage everyone to join the American football club, but failed to convince anyone. A fateful falling piece of paper, detailing football strategies, from the roof of Maoh Middle School, led him to first meet Hiruma, who claimed to have only been interested in betting on the game rather than actually playing. Soon, Kurita's goals met with more obstacles as the school denied him the formation of a football club, and ordered him to destroy all training equipment. Kurita's desire for playing football soon struck Hiruma, resulting in the latter to bet one of his suit cases filed with money which he has multiple of on one match in the army base in order to gain enough money to start a football club at his school. Injuries on the team Hiruma bet on to win resulted in him and Kurita to play in the injured players' stead. Though they lost tragically, the game inspired both to create a football club at their school, in the hopes of one day making it to the Christmas Bowl.

He gains an "apprentice", Komusubi, who practices with him whenever he can. He is insanely strong, and has accidentally destroyed a small truck by hugging it; encouraging other characters to run away from his hugs. Also, whenever fights ensue between the Deimon members, he always stops them by flattening all of them. Though he normally looks rather comical, he is dangerous when he is actually fired up. He was nominated among the top eleven defensive players of the Fall Tournament. When Musashi rejoins the team, Kurita's "alternate personality" is revealed during the games; his face changes as his eyes inflame and become bigger, his eyebrows thicken, and his face tightens up. He gains even more strength than usual in this "form"; though he can quickly change back when he gets happy, he can also change back again as the game resumes.

Kurita's drive and determination finally pays off as he pushes down Agon, the one who had ridiculed him and had him ousted from Shinryuji's team, and three other members of the Nagas at the same time, which allowed Deimon the win over the Nagas. In the game against Ojo, he is given quite a bit of trouble from Otawara and his new charging tactic, but is later seen hugging and crying with his rival when the Devil Bats win the game.

Kurita then faces off against the monster Gaō as the Devil Bats and Hakushu Dinosaurs prepare to play in the Kantō finals. In order to prepare him for the upcoming match, Banba agrees to train him with a week of boxing at the Taiyo gym. By the time the Hakushu game arrives, Kurita appears as scarred as Banba from the training regimen. Though Kurita is initially unable to stop his opponent completely, he is still able to keep the Dinosaur's lineman away from Hiruma. However, during a play, when he is distracted by Kisaragi, he loses his balance, thus making him unable to stop Gaō, and without anything between him and Hiruma, Gaō manages to crush his best friend. Kurita becomes so weakened by this, he was not able to understand the "Powerful Go- Language" which Komusubi spoke. Hiruma, before he was escorted off the field, motioned to Mamori to take him over where Kurita sat, slumped on the ground. Hiruma put all his energy in to giving Kurita a good kick, to show that he was still alive and, well, kicking, although he fainted right after.

It was only until Sena and Komusubi displayed their determination to win despite their small statures, that Kurita's spirit is reawakened, and for the first time, he faces Gaō with all his might, along with a killing drive, for the sake of protecting his teammates. Banba commented that his strength was born from his kindness, unlike Gaō's absolute strength and Hiruma's intelligence and manipulation. This motivates his whole team, to the point that members of his team begin chanting "FUNNURABA!!!" while defending.

After Kurita successfully tackles Marco, however, Gaō becomes even stronger, which excites Kurita more. In the last play of the game, Kurita decides to go all out against Gaō, though Gaō has superior upper-body strength, Kurita is able to take down Gaō using his lower-body strength and experience as a football player, finally settling who the number one power player is.

Techniques and strategies

• Kuri-Hammer - When he dives for a fumble, he crushes other players under him, which sometimes include fellow teammates.

• Blitz Zone - Taking advantage of Kid's quick but predictable pass, when one lineman tries to sack him, he will silently move to the place of the designated receiver, effectively interfering with the pass thanks to his build.

• Kurita-Push/ Blast - After snapping the ball, Kurita serves as a blocking wall for Sena by charging five yards ahead and pushing any opposing blocker out of Sena's path.

• Belly-Bounce (anime only) - During the game against the Blizzards before the Kantō Tournament, Kurita and Komusubi utilized their mass and fat to create a variation of the Hip-explosion, breaking down the Blizzard's line by thrusting their bellies forward, sending the Blizzard linemen flying.

• The Lonely Center - A trick play which has only Kurita defending in front of Hiruma while the other members of the Devil Bats are positioned to the left. This tricks the Dinosaurs into using just Gaō to break through the line, instead of the normal 4 to 5 linemen. With Gaō preoccupied, Hiruma is given the time needed to throw any pass he wants. Furthermore, if the opposing linemen do try to rush Hiruma from the empty side, that leaves the rest of the field open for a lateral to Sena. However, this is also a risky tactic since the only one standing between the quarterback and the sacker is just one man, therefore, if the center failed, the quarterback will be totally defenseless.

• Lineman Switch/ Stunt - By switching positions with Komusubi during the start of the opponents' drive, Kurita is able to guard Hiruma when Marco tries to break through him.

• Four-Point Stance - By standing on all fours, including his arms, Kurita can focus all his strength to tackle his enemy, in this case, Gaō. However, he cannot be the one to hike the ball because of this stance.

• Boxing Guard - Learned when training with Banba. Also known as a cover up in boxing terms, Kurita holds up his arms in front of his chest like a boxer. This allows him to take on the full-strength push from Gaō while getting inside his reach. Once inside, Kurita is able to use his weight and lower-body strength to push upward and force Gaō down. 
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