Eyeshield 21 276-End
....Yeah, this series probably should have ended after the Ojo game. Before that Ojo game, I thought there was a chance they would loose to them again. After the win, I never felt any emotion in the games- I knew they were winning regardless of the odds. Once Sena beat Shin, there was just something missing. We did get some nice fanservice with all of the stars coming together to help train Deimon before the christmas bowl (It was kinda crazy when Ishimaru of all people broke out the Rodeo Drive in the game), and then the all star team playing in the world cup. Even though it was not that many chapters, and a ton of characters, they managed to build new character elements for some of them- Agon became one of the most interesting characters in the series IMO in this final arc. Unfortunately, with the world cup, we got back to the strange obsession the author has with black people. In a series where they payed such respect to the game of football, the ignorance they throw at race in general really comes across as ignorant at best. I did like the ending though- not showing the overtime (based on the final page, i'm guessing USA won and Panther got MVP?), and that all the players are now on different teams- Its nice to see Kurita and Hiruma on different teams going against each other, Sena and Mamori opposing, ect.
In the end, I really enjoyed the series. The art is top notch throughout, the comedy mostly works, there is a great reverence for the game, and the characters/relationships are well done. In many cases, like with Riku (who I dismissed from the beginning as existing purely for Fujoshi-bait), there is long term character development that changes your views on them by the end of the series. They do a great job of taking Shonen tropes like power ups and working them into the context of Football- when I started off, I was pretty unhappy with the football but by the end of the series, when they are breaking out Wishbone formations, Flea Flickers, Zone Blitzes and Triple Options, its a ton of fun.