Doujirou Tenma

Tenma is laid-back, confident and comfortable drawing attention. He plays with headphones and music, giving his appearances a casual quality even while competing for Japan's strongest high-school program.

He is also notably popular with girls. His background information describes him as having had girlfriends from an unusually young age, and his dislike of Shinryuuji's all-boys environment contributes to his very brief stay there.

Tenma's signature skill is his Sideline Run. He can sprint extremely close to the boundary without losing his balance or sacrificing momentum, forcing defenders to approach from a restricted angle while he preserves as much running space as possible.

His 4.6-second 40-yard dash gives the technique the speed necessary to make it dangerous. Rather than depending on power—his 40 kg bench press is modest by football standards—Tenma wins through balance, positioning and acceleration.

The technique requires precise awareness of the boundary. Even a small positional error can turn an otherwise successful run into an out-of-bounds play.

Tenma originally earns admission to Shinryuuji through its sports recommendation system alongside Gondayuu Yamabushi, making him one of the rare students admitted through athletic ability rather than the school's notoriously difficult academic route.

He transfers almost immediately and eventually becomes a first-string player at Teikoku, where his specialized running earns him a place among the enormous collection of talent assembled by the Alexanders.

During the Christmas Bowl, Tenma demonstrates the Sideline Run against Deimon. Snow obscuring the boundary eventually works against the technique, causing him to step out because he cannot judge the sideline as precisely as usual.

Gondayuu Yamabushi shares Tenma's distinction of having entered Shinryuuji through its sports recommendation system, although Tenma's stay at the school is extremely brief.

Takeru Yamato is one of the elite first-string players alongside Tenma at Teikoku and occupies the more prominent role in the Alexanders' rushing attack.