The third and final(?) volume of this beautifully illustrated new graphic novel by the phenomenal Michaël Sanlaville (San-Antonio, Le Fléau Vert, Rocher Rouge).

An energetic, fast moving, sport series. In the same manga format as Lastman.

From the publisher:

In the big leagues, anything goes!

From the countryside to the huge stadiums, Héléna has come a long way. Gifted in the ultra-brutal discipline of sioule, she nevertheless left her sports school to join fellow student Soni Daktari's team. For the first time, non-graduate players will play a match against professionals! From the first minutes, Héléna and Soni ignite the crowd! One game follows another, the victories too, and sponsors begin to take a close interest in Héléna. Refusing the lure of advertising and the star system, the young woman, faithful to herself, risks making enemies who will not hesitate to use their power to destabilize her. She will be put to the test, not to mention that a decisive match is on the horizon...It will take everything Héléna has to stand up to her opponents who are only waiting for one thing: to see her fall. As D-Day approaches, she will call on her most loyal friends remaining in the countryside to support her and will discover a well-kept family secret...

Michaël Sanlaville (Lastman) declares his love for shônen through this explosive sports series and invites us to follow the journey of a radiant heroine. A third volume full of action and adrenaline which concludes Héléna's arc by addressing the issue of sexism in sports, celebrity and friendship.

Here's a review from la-ribambulle.com:

A season has passed since Héléna Silver and Soni Daktari, the young prodigies of the ESS, suddenly left the establishment. Since then, they have formed their own team, Les Dents d'Ogou, and are making their debut against the Falcons in a packed arena. However, the presenter Léon Carmone specifies that, according to article 13B of the FIS, no player who is not a graduate of the ESS can join the professional world. In short, Les Dents d'Ogou should not exist! The situation is unusual and unusual measures are put in place. At the end of the match and depending on their performance, the committee, chaired by Léon Carmone himself, will decide if the team has a place in the league. The result is final and ensuing games only confirm the decision to integrate them. Indeed, the team of young dissidents is raking up games and especially victories. They set stadiums on fire and sponsors are seriously interested in them. This worries Léon who is looking for a solution to slow down their rise. Steven, one of his colleagues, suggests playing with Héléna's mind. Oddly enough, there is still no sign of the X that Soni wants to face at all costs...

As incredible as it seems, this third volume of Banana Sioule is not just the last in the Héléna arc, but above all the final album in the series, due to not having found its audience. However, Michaël Sanlaville (San-Antonio) delights us once again by developing the rise of his heroine in the "testosterone" world of sioule. It's hard-hitting, it goes a hundred miles an hour and addresses several themes: doping, genetic manipulation, moral and physical harassment, social networks. The whole thing is perfectly arranged to give an engaging and immersive story where the characters are always more endearing. Moreover, we really appreciated the human side that remained present in Héléna despite her dazzling success. We think of the moments shared with her friends for life and the sequence with her dog Faustie. The scriptwriter also gives us an XXL revelation concerning one of the characters, which explains a lot of things. The ending is open and makes you dream of reading the sequel which could be even more explosive than what we have read so far. If we like the story, a tribute to seinen, we are also seduced by its graphic interpretation which is a notch above. Its animation-style approach is of great narrative efficiency and seems denser. If the artist has nailed Helena since the beginning, some other protagonists have a very interesting, slightly evolving character design.

After an album like this, a sequel would be very welcome! In any case, we are already settled in the arena for the next match!

Stephane Girardot

Resume:

Dans la cour des grands, tous les coups sont permis!

De la campagne aux stades en folie, Héléna a fait du chemin. Douée pour la sioule, cette discipline ultra-brutale, elle a pourtant quitté son école de sport pour rejoindre l'équipe de Soni Daktari. Pour la première fois, des joueurs non diplômés vont disputer un match en tant que professionnels ! Dès les premières minutes, Héléna et Soni enflamment les téléspectateurs ! Les compétitions s'enchaînent, les victoires aussi, et les sponsors commencent à s'intéresser de près à Héléna. Refusant l'appât de la publicité et le système de starification, la jeune femme fidèle à elle-même risque de se faire des ennemis qui n'hésiteront pas à user de leur pouvoir pour la déstabiliser. Elle sera mise à rude épreuve sans compter qu'un match décisif se prépare bientôt… Héléna aura besoin de toutes ses forces pour se dresser face à ses adversaires qui n'attendent qu'une chose : la voir tomber. À l'approche du jour J, elle va faire appel à ses plus fidèles amis restés à la campagne pour la soutenir et découvrir un secret de famille bien gardé… Michaël Sanlaville (Lastman) déclare sa flamme au shônen à travers cette série sportive qui détone et nous invite à suivre le parcours d'une héroïne rayonnante. Un troisième tome plein d'action et d'adrénaline qui vient conclure l'arc d'Héléna en abordant la question du sexisme en milieu sportif, la célébrité et l'amitié.