Eyeshield 21: Volume 34: The Last of the Deimon Devil Bats

by Riichiro Inagaki (story) and Yususke Murata (art), 211 pages

Time is running out for the Christmas Bowl dream the boys have been chasing for the last year. The tense, all-out push-and-pull up and down the field has reached a fever pitch. With mere seconds on the clock, can the Devil Bats prove to themselves, as well as to every other witness on this snowy day, that they've earned their place on the turf?

With Eyeshield 21, it's not just about the win. (Although, as Hiruma and his arsenal will tell you, the win is very, very important.) It's about constantly re-evaluating yourself and the situation and striving to be the best you can possibly (or impossibly) be. Complacency will get you nowhere. And that's why, even in the face of imminent failure, the Devil Bats refuse to let their fire go out, choosing instead to learn from every play, redrawing their limits, and surprising the pants off the competition. Their faith in themselves, and in one another, is far too great to let a little thing like statistical probability get in their way.

While it's satisfying to finally arrive at the outcome of the Christmas Bowl, I'm also sad to see the Devil Bats family have to adapt to graduations and absences. Where will they all go now? With only three volumes remaining in the series, we'll hopefully get a little off-the-field time to wrap things up and say a proper farewell as they all fly off into their futures. But they'd better stay in touch!