this is probably the best volume in this series up to now. in terms of story, it captivated my heart and makes you feel sorry for what happened to ryo hayakawa. very heartfelt story in my opinion. also you get to see the legendary lightning ball(like i wasn't expecting that). LoL pretty predictable story line. still a definite must see for baseball fans and anybody with a heart will have tears in their eyes. got to admit ryo's my favorite character in this cause she overcomes all these tragedies and i hope she continues to do so in the next volume. this dvd was a little shorter than i expected, but its filled with a lot of action and important story line.