Gen Takekura

Position: Kicker/Linebacker Jersey: 11 40 yard dash: 5.6 seconds Bench Press: 90 kgs Height: 177 cm (5' 9") The place kicker for the Devil Bats and one of the original three members of the team (along with Hiruma and Kurita). He is often mistaken for an older person (even though he is only 17), since he initially has a bit of stubble and has a buzz-cut. He leaves the team during the spring season of his freshman year, due to the fact that his father had become seriously ill. As a result, he was forced to drop out of school and take over as the construction foreman of Deimon High. Though he desperately wants to get back into playing, he refused to rejoin the Devil Bats. However, after meeting with Sena and Monta and seeing how determined they are to get him back on the team, he agrees, but only if they become a strong team. In the manga, Musashi makes his comeback during the game against Seibu, when his father hit him for abandoning his team. In the anime, however, he does not rejoin the team until the game with the Bando Spiders. He has a running rivalry with the kicker of the Spiders Sasaki Koutaro who, according to Hiruma, has never missed. Musashi has an incredibly strong right leg which helps the Devil Bats on kickoffs, often pinning their opponents deep or forcing them to down the ball deep in their own territory, or in their end zone for a touchback. The title of the 60-yard Magnum was actually a lie fabricated by Hiruma, in order to make Musashi seem invincible, and Musashi keeps telling people that it is a lie. The kanji in Musashi's last name, Takekura, can also be read as Musashi, thus his nickname. The name is derived from Miyamoto Musashi, a famous samurai, who was famous for his skills with two swords, which relates to the fact that Musashi must put up two kicks for every successful possession (extra point kick or field goal and the kick off). Gen's rivalry with the Bando Spiders kicker Sasaki Koutaro is also a play on Miyamoto's rivalry with the legendary swordsman Sasaki Kojiro.