Devils vs. Gods (Eyeshield 21 #20) (Manga Monday)

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Title: Devils vs. Gods
Series: Eyeshield 21 #20
Author: Riichiro Inagaki
Artist: Yusuke Murata
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 150
Format: Digital Scan

Synopsis:

The Devil Bats begin their impossible battle against the reigning champions, the Naga. Hiruma taunts Agon, the star player but realizes that his tricks will only go so far against the Naga's huge pool of natural talent.
Every trick, every play that the Devil Bats can come up, the Naga simply surpass them.

Agon is a brute, a believer in Power and Ability above all else. He plays to hurt and he plays by himself. His own team is simply there so he doesn't have to do everything himself. And as much as Hiruma and the Devil Bats may hate him and his arrogance, he has the ability to back up everything he claims.

The books end at the half time mark with a score of 32-0 in the Naga's favor.

My Thoughts:

 After Superbowl 51 last night where the New England Patriots [whoooo!] came back from a huge deficit to win against the Atlanta Falcons, it was very fitting to read an Eyeshield 21 manga today. And to have the book end just like where I gave up watching the game last night, with an impossible gap, well, that is just great drama.

And just like how the Pats came back, with 17 more volumes in this series I KNOW that the Devil Bats will come back. And it will be glorious to see Agon eat the dust of defeat.

Now, for this volume. It was solid. Watching the Naga steamroll the Bats was disheartening but it also drove home the point that football is a brutal sport.

The overall dourness was lightened by little things here and there. For example, in one scene a reporter is interviewing one of the players and in the background you see two little chibi versions of some other players being chased by the team mascot, a mad dog who is carrying a knife and fork. Just silly little things like that keep the tone from getting too dark or serious.