Eyeshield 21 is a football manga filled with exciting games, crazy plays and crazier characters.  Sena Kobayakawa was an average, weak Japanese high school student until he joined the Deimon Devil Bats, but now he’s using his speed to win games and not run errands for school bullies.  He’s come a long way with good teammates like Kurita, Monta and Hiruma, defeating powerful teams and earning the right to really call himself Eyeshield 21. Now that they're in the finals of the Kanto tournament, their last obstacle before they reach the Christmas Bowl is the Hakushu Dinosaurs. Their team spirit and interesting personalities will make a reader really root for the Devil Bats; the art is funny and the book is hilarious and exciting enough to make even people who don't know much about Football a fan of Eyeshield 21.

Highlights

In Eyeshield 21 Vol 29: Second Quarterback, Kurita the gentle giant is undergoing intesne training for the upcoming match against Hakushu. Banba of the Sphinx is determined to bring out his fighting spirit; using boxing to help make him a match for the destructive, rampaging Gao of the Dinosaurs. Rikiya Gao is a quarterback crusher, and his goal is to smash Hiruma. It's up to Kurita and the line to defend him in the upcoming game, with the Christmas Bowl right around the corner if they succeed.. but the Dinosaurs are one massive hurdle before their dream can come true.

The Dinosaurs really had me going when the match started; they didn't seem like as much of a unit as teams the Devilbats had faced in the past. In a fit of rage, Gao injured one of his own teammates, Tengu, before the match, and Kisaragi is always talking about how frail he is. Marco seemed ever cool in conversation, but he also tended to looked panicked in the middle of the match; his personality shifts so abruptly for a short time I thought there was another guy out there panicking. It's hard to tell if he has a cool exterior over a neverous self, or if he's just playing it up some. The Hakushu Dinosaurs get more depth in this volume of Eyeshield 21; their secret plays begin to make the Devilbats worry… and the problem of stopping Gao is ever present.  The game starts out exciting, with a newly battle-hardened Kurita taking on Gao..head to head!

However, if Gao ever gets through, Hiruma had written up some secret plans as to what they should do in case he is injured. Who will the Devilbats pick as a second quarterback in this instance? The tension is high and the comedy and depth is still there; the Dinosaurs may be the most unusual team the Devilbats have ever faced, and except for the first chapter, this volume is jam packed full of this exciting confrontation.

Overall

This is where Eyeshield 21 really shines.  The previous volume and a half of character development of the Dinosaurs and Devilbats was all building up to this moment; when the two teams clash. Now that we know their motivations and desires, now that we've come to know these new characters it makes the tension when they collide all the more palpable.  The art is full of huge Dinosaurs looming behind the players, special moves and counter plays.  As I stated above, the Dinosaurs are actually more than just Gao; in some ways it almost feels like watchng them evolve as they play as much as the Devilbats.  The matches get more intense, but I'm glad to see they still have the comedy; at one point there's a gag shot where Kurita tackles some of his roughhousing teammates and they're as flat as Wile E. Coyote after being hit by a steam roller. Marco also gives the Devilbats a bunch of cola before the game; prompting Sena to only know "he likes cola" when he's trying to remember what he knows about him later in the game.

On another note, the extras are as fun as ever. This volume has the Devilbat and mini Devilbat mascots observing and making wry comments on the background images on everyone's cell phones (Gao's is always off so it's a black screen, the Hah Hah brothers gagged Sena and made his image Cerberus taking a dump, etc.) I also liked the images in an earlier chapter comparing how much a lot of the major characters could bench press. Inagaki and Murata have always been great with fun extras in the volumes of Eyeshield 21.

This volume also has a big shocker later on, (although perhaps a bit less shocking since they've been building up to it, but still) and it's one that will likely leave you chomping at the bit for the next volume.

ComicsOnline gives Eyeshield 21 Vol 29: Second Quarterback, 5 out of 5 bottles of free cola.