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world trigger

Manga Giveaway: World Trigger Giveaway Winner

March 2, 2016 by Ash Brown

World Trigger, Volume 1World Trigger, Volume 2And the winner of the World Trigger manga giveaway is… Serene!

As the winner, Serene will be receiving the first two volumes of Daisuke Ashihara’s World Trigger as published in English by Viz Media. One of the most notable aspects of World Trigger is it’s setting in which gates between parallel worlds appear. I asked participants of the giveaway to tell me a little about some of their favorite manga that feature parallel dimensions, worlds, or universes. Be sure to check out the giveaway comments to read all of the detailed responses.

Some manga available in English featuring parallel worlds:
Alice 19th by Yuu Watase
Arata: The Legend by Yuu Watase
Blue Exorcist by Kazue Kato
Drifters by Kohta Hirano
From Far Away by Kyoko Hikawa
Gate written by Takumi Yanai, illustrated by Satoru Sao
Higurashi: When They Cry written by Ryukishi07
Into Illusion written by Rieko Yoshihara, illustrated by Ryo Tateishi
Kyo Kara Maoh! by Temari Matsumoto
Magic Knight Rayearth by CLAMP
MeruPuri by Matsuri Hino
Orange by Ichigo Takano
Pandora Hearts by Jun Mochizuki
Persona 4 by Shuji Sogabe
Reborn! by Akira Amano
Steins;Gate by Yomi Sarachi
Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle by CLAMP
World Trigger by Daisuke Ashihara
xxxHolic by CLAMP

The above list is certainly not exhaustive, and I’ve deliberately left off a few titles in order not to be too spoilerific, but it’s a decent place to start for anyone interested in reading manga with parallel worlds or dimensions. Thank you to everyone who shared your favorites with me; I hope to see you all again for the next giveaway!

Filed Under: Giveaways, UNSHELVED Tagged With: Daisuke Ashihara, manga, world trigger

Manga Giveaway: World Trigger Giveaway

February 24, 2016 by Ash Brown

February’s a short month, so it’s already time for another manga giveaway at Experiments in Manga! For this giveaway, participants will have the chance to win not one, but two volumes of Daisuke Ashihara’s World Trigger as published in English by Viz Media. Why? Because it’s the second month of the year, or something. (Really, it’s mostly because I just felt like it.) Anyway, as always, the giveaway is open worldwide!

World Trigger, Volume 1World Trigger, Volume 2

Parallel worlds, dimensions, and universes provide interesting narrative opportunities for creators to explore. In some instances the worlds remain parallel and separate, allowing for multiple realities to exist simultaneously. But in some stories, like World Trigger, those separate realities end up crashing together. Either approach can be equally fascinating, though invasion scenarios like those found in World Trigger do perhaps lend themselves to more action-oriented tales.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win the first two volumes of World Trigger?

1) In the comments below, tell me a little about your favorite manga that makes use of parallel worlds. (If you don’t have one, or haven’t read one, simply mention that.)
2) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting, or retweeting, about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).

It’s as easy as that! Each participant has one week to submit comments and can earn up to two entries for this giveaway. Comments can also be emailed directly to me at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com if preferred or if you have difficulty with the form. The comments will then be posted here in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on March 2, 2016. Good luck!

VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address in the comment form, a link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can’t figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I’ll just draw another name.

Contest winner announced–Manga Giveaway: World Trigger Giveaway Winner

Filed Under: FEATURES, Giveaways Tagged With: Daisuke Ashihara, manga, world trigger

My Week in Manga: October 13-October 19, 2014

October 20, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Only somewhat unintentionally, last week ended up being a yuri-filled week here at Experiments in Manga. My friend Jocilyn was inspired to write a guest review of Takako Shimura’s Sweet Blue Flowers, Volume 1 by Takako Shimura, which is currently only available digitally. (I’m hoping that one day the series will be available in print, but as Jocilyn points out, a few fixes may be needed for that to happen.) As for the manga review that I posted last week, I took a look at Chiho Saito’s Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Adolescence of Utena for my Year of Yuri monthly review project. Revolutionary Girl Utena is one of my absolute favorite anime series and I was quite pleased with Saito’s The Adolescence of Utena, finding it to be an incredibly compelling work in its own right. And speaking of my Year of Yuri project, I only have one more review to go! I haven’t quite decided which manga (or comic) my final review will tackle, so if you have any requests or would like to see something in particular, let me know! I also posted one other (non-yuri) review last week: Monkey Business: New Writing from Japan, Volume 4. Monkey Business is a literary journal featuring a mix of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and even a bit of manga. The stories tend to be a little strange, but that also tends to be something that I enjoy.

Elsewhere online, New York Comic Con articles are still being posted. At Publishers Weekly, Deb Aoki has a general roundup of the manga industry’s presence at NYCC. Justin of Organization Anti-Social Geniuses has a few interesting things from his time at NYCC, including why publishers and fans think it’s worth it to buy manga and an interview with Gen Manga’s Robert McGuire. Vertical also posted a bit more information about the Vertical Comics imprint. Unrelated to NYCC but still interesting reading, at Contemporary Japanese Literature Kathryn Hemmann has an excellent critique of Helen McCarthy’s A Brief History of Manga, specifically addressing the male-centric focus of the work. (I’ve had the volume on my “to be read” pile since its release; I should really get around to actually reading it one of these days) Also, Frederick L. Schodt wrote a bit about the history of his groundbreaking work Manga! Manga!. (Exceptionally good timing, as I am just about to start reading it.) And last but not least, Digital Manga has licensed ninth and final volume of Hinako Takanaga’s The Tyrant Falls in Love! (I mistakenly thought the eighth volume was the series’ end, so I’m doubly happy for this license.)

Quick Takes

Attack on Titan, Volume 13Attack on Titan, Volume 13 by Hajime Isayama. Although I have largely been enjoying Attack on Titan since the beginning of the series, the thirteenth volume is a particularly good installment of the manga. As the series has progressed, mystery on top of mystery and twist on top of twist has been added, which is something that can only be sustained for so long. But with the thirteenth volume it feels as though some progress has actually been made with the plot and some answers are finally being given–or at least some convincing and appropriately disconcerting theories are being offered. The thirteenth volume begins with the aftermath of the Survey Corps’ rescue of Eren. The number of deaths and casualties incurred by the group is severe. Eren must come to terms with just how much ensuring his safety costs and just how much depends on him in the battles to come. The focus of Attack on Titan has shifted from confronting the Titans themselves to confronting the corruption within the government while trying to discover who or what is even behind the existence of the Titans. It’s a particularly effective development–the prospect of fighting Titans has a significantly different psychological impact than that of fighting, and even killing, humans.

A Love Song for the MiserableA Love Song for the Miserable by Yukimura. Many of the boys’ love manga released in English are about high school or middle school students, so it’s always a refreshing to encounter a story about adults. A Love Song for the Miserable is one of those stories. Asada is hoping to work in events planning while Nao is studying to become a patissier. After a chance meeting, the two of them become friends and Asada ends up acting as Nao’s taste tester, developing feelings for the other man in the process. Sadly, Asada would much rather completely ruin any chance of a relationship with Nao than risk the possibility of being rejected after opening up. Their friendship ends badly which puts them both in an awkward position three years later when Asada meets Nao again while on the job. A Love Song for the Miserable captures Asada’s personality and insecurities extremely well and the complexities of his feelings are very realistic. It’s understandable that Asada’s lack of confidence in himself and his jealousy over Nao’s success when his own career is going nowhere would interfere with him developing a stable relationship. Asada has very good reasons for being miserable, and Nao has very good reasons for being upset with him, but they might just be able to make something work.

World Trigger, Volume 1World Trigger, Volumes 1-2 by Daisuke Ashihara. In an interesting move, Viz decided to simultaneously release two volumes of World Trigger. It certainly caught my attention, so I guess the gambit was a successful one. There were several things that I liked about World Trigger. For example, I particularly appreciate that strategy and tactics come into play in the fights and that the battles aren’t all about who happens to have the greatest brute strength or power. I also liked Yuma–since he is a Neighbor his perspective is very different from that of the other characters and it shows–although I can easily see how he might get on some readers’ nerves. Other aspects of the manga didn’t work quite as well for me. Right off the bat Border is described as a mysterious organization; the general population seems oddly accepting of its presence and seems to require no further explanation as long as Border continues to fight against the Neighbors, which I found a little difficult to believe. I assume this is probably something the series will explore in the future, but as it is the lack of information is frustrating, especially when other things are over-explained. For the most part I did enjoy the first volume, but the second didn’t do much to retain my attention. Though it has its good points, World Trigger hasn’t quite managed to set itself apart from other series yet and seems a little generic so far.

Filed Under: FEATURES, My Week in Manga Tagged With: attack on titan, Daisuke Ashihara, Hajime Isayama, manga, world trigger, Yukimura

World Trigger, Vols 1 and 2

October 7, 2014 by Anna N

World Trigger Volumes 1 and 2 by Daisuke Ashihara

World Trigger starts out with a very Attack on Titanesque set-up, expressed simply in one page. Monsters from another dimension are invading the earth. A paramilitary force shows up to fight the monsters. Daily life for the rest of humanity is often interrupted by these “Neighbors” who look a bit like giant eels and the humans who fight back against the invasion.

Osamu is a bit of an unassuming student, but he finds his life complicated when a mysterious new transfer student named Yuma shows up. Yuma seems to not know very much about basic human behavior. When a Neighbor attacks outside of the usual boundaries, Osamu reveals that he’s actually a trainee for the Border Defense Agency, with a small amount of power that he’s determined to use to protect everyone in his city. Yuma turns out to have some extraordinary powers himself. He claims to also be a Neighbor, from the dimension where the monsters come from. He also has the ability to use a trigger, the weapon/body exchange protocol that allows users to fight off the monsters.

In the ensuing battle, Yuma fends off a powerful monster after Osamu proves not to have the level that he needs in order to destroy his enemy. Osamu turns to helping out however he can, by evacuating residents and helping everyone stay safe. Members of the Border Protection Agency turn up, suspicious of the recent events and determined to follow correct bureaucratic procedure. The cast of the book gradually expands beyond Osamu and Yuma to include many of the typical foils for a shonen protagonist. There’s a cool older male mentor, a type A overachiever warrior girl, and a host of bureaucrats in the Border Protection Agency that will surely make life difficult for Osamu.

The Border Protection Agency seems more chaotic than a force for either good or evil, as a squad starts to hunt down Yuma. Osamu tries to intercede, but Yuma’s level of power is such that he’s able to evade attack from multiple agents at once with only some slight injuries. One interesting aspect of the story is that Osamu keeps getting promoted within the Border Protection Agency simply because he is often in the right place at the right time and occasionally forced to take credit for some of Yuma’s actions in order to maintain his new friend’s cover. Osamu’s leveling up though being an unassuming nice guy who is incredibly lucky is a bit unexpected for a reader expecting a more typical brash shonen hero, and this was one aspect of the book that I found intriguing.

There’s a fair amount of world building as the characters go into details about the alien tech infused battle system, but I didn’t find this very interesting. The art is workmanlike and easy to follow, but it doesn’t have that extra bit of style or distinct quality that would make me want to pick up the manga just to see some fabulously paneled battle scenes. The story is solid, but there isn’t much that’s surprising about it so far. The anime for this series is starting to air, so I imagine that will fuel interest for this title. I didn’t find myself inspired to keep reading the series, simply because there are other titles out there that are much more entertaining. I can read One Punch Man if I want something funny, Attack on Titan if I want to read about a dystopian future where humanity is fighting off giant invaders, or Seraph of the End for more attractive art and interesting world building. Overall, this is a solid if not super compelling shonen title, and I imagine that someone less picky about shonen manga than me will enjoy it.

Filed Under: REVIEWS Tagged With: Shonen, Shonen Jump, viz media, world trigger

Weekly Shonen Jump Recap: June 23, 2014

July 6, 2014 by Derek Bown 4 Comments

June 24 2014 CoverSomething that I never considered when I started reviewing manga as a hobby was how much it would change how I enjoy manga. When reading manga I suddenly realized that I was not just allowed to have an opinion, but in order to have a proper review I was expected to have an opinion. Just saying “It left no impression on me whatsoever” could only work once before I had to elaborate. It was then that I realized forming an opinion out of necessity is a lot harder than a naturally grown opinion. One is pure and from the heart, the other can become a cynical exercise of no value to anyone if I allowed laziness to trick me into reaching for the low hanging opinions.

What I’m trying to say is that writing reviews is hard and you should all feel sorry for me. Whereby I hope you will forget that I’m several weeks behind in writing these reviews. Has it worked?

One Piece Ch. 750
If nothing else the return of One Piece to Weekly Shonen Jump is as good a reason as any to start writing again. While I was expecting a flashback after the cliffhanger two weeks ago, I have to say a little bit of setting the scene before the flashback never hurt anyone. The chapter jumps around, giving us just a couple pages each for the characters in the arc, making it hard to really focus on any one element.

Though I will say that Rebecca’s reunion with her aunt was just perfectly adorable. Now would someone please get that poor girl some clothes?

King Riku’s distrust of the Strawhats somewhat comes out of nowhere, he was okay with a former street punk marrying his daughter, but doesn’t trust the people that helped him remember who said former street punk son-in-law of his is? Seems a bit disingenuous and out of place all things considered. It does allow Oda to fit in a monologue about the evils of injust social elites but as a favorite writer of mine says, “Story first, then message” and it seems beneath Oda to insert a character trait on a character that has not shown any signs of said trait before just to bring across a message.

If nothing else, Oda continues to show that he knows just how long to string us along before we get the big payoff. He’s clearly not rushing this story, and the Dressrossa arc is all the better for it.

One Piece

Naruto Ch. 681
It’s probably good that I haven’t been reviewing Naruto for the past several weeks. Because I know for a fact that I would have made the promise to quit reading this series several times, and then would have to go back on said promise. Let’s keep things simple by saying that this climax is quite possibly the worst thing Kishimoto could have ever done. How anyone that knows even the slightest thing about writing could possibly defend making the final boss a character we only just learned about within the last couple months of a decade long series is beyond me. Madara being the big bad instead of someone like Orochimaru or Pein is a big enough stretch, but to suddenly have Kaguya, a character who I’m convinced was only created in Kishimoto’s mind this year, be the big bad is quite possibly the worst thing this series has ever done. And here I thought Naruto and Sasuke being the reincarnations of two characters we only just found out about a couple months ago was the worst thing that could happen. And Kaguya doesn’t even do us the courtesy of being an interesting character.

This series has gotten so convoluted that ever “twist” added on top of this burning, sinking wreckage just elicits another annoyed “Whatever” from me.

I used to just hate the characters, but now the writing is just as bad for Naruto. I am at my last wit’s end here. Someone, if any of you still exist, that likes this manga, please tell me why. I can’t get beyond how awful this plot is to even consider what good could possibly exist here.

Hunter X Hunter Ch. 344
I would review Hunter X Hunter, but let’s be fair besides the past couple chapters I’ve only reaad the first volume of this series. Until I catch up there is absolutely nothing important I could have to say about this series. Get back to me in a couple weeks when I’m hopefully caught up.

Though for the two page spread, I have to say it kind of reminds me of what the Toriko world would look like if it was drawn by Kentaro Miura.

Hunter x Hunter

Nisekoi Ch. 127
Funniest chapter in months. I really don’t feel like I need to say anything else. Just go read this one if you’re not reading the series. It stands alone well enough that you’ll get how the characters relate to each other, and the jokes will convince you to read it from the beginning.

Stealth Symphony Ch. 017
I really hate how modern manga publishing has ruined the stories. What we’ve got here is an interesting story that would actually work if the author had bothered to actually develop any of his characters. As it is we’re getting a plot that should not have been written until several years of publication. I see things happening, but I don’t care because none of these characters matter. I see focus given to quite possibly the most shameless example of fanservice that still apparently is supposed to be a serious character. For those of you that enjoyed Fullmetal Alchemist, imagine how Olivier Armstrong would have come across if she had walked around in a miniskirt with her top undone and her character design drawn by someone that seems to think that interesting characters must come with breasts that would make Kubo, Oda, and Mashima hold an intervention for him.

It’s the same problem you see with all new manga that just can’t get the rankings early on. They skip developing the characters and instead try to fit as much of the story that must have sounded amazing in their heads into their manga before getting cancelled. There really should be some kind of grace period that allows manga artists to actually develop their characters. Then they can start their plot and hope it attracts enough interest to not get cancelled.

Stealth Symphony

Bleach Ch. 585
Ichigo didn’t even get a chance to look cool before he’s shown to have helped the big bad with his plan yet again. Either way, I enjoy having Ichigo back in the story so it annoys me that we’re going to get a bunch of the Soul Reapers facing off against the Stern Ritter. That’s totally what I was hoping for, more boring fights to distract from the fact that the main character doesn’t have an interesting character arc anymore.

Bleach

One-Punch Man Ch. 035.2
I can’t really build up any enthusiasm for this series anymore. The art is gorgeous, but the story is laking and just not funny anymore. I came here for comedy, not another action series. Sure it’s a very well rendered action series. But we’re running into the problem of the invincible superman here. If you have an invincible hero you really need to find a better way to show tension rather than just have them beat their enemy easily. Like maybe make it a comedy series. That might work.

One-Punch Man

Filed Under: FEATURES & REVIEWS, WSJA Recaps Tagged With: bleach, blue exorcist, Dragon Ball Z, naruto, nisekoi, One Piece, one punch man, Seraph of the End, toriko, world trigger

Weekly Shonen Jump Recap: May 12, 2014

May 23, 2014 by Derek Bown 1 Comment

Sometimes the difference between mediocrity and perfection manga is just a single page. One perfect page can tip the scale from “good” to “brilliant”. Don’t know what I mean? Well let me show you.

NisekoiNisekoi Ch. 121
The hardest part of any harem series is legitimizing another romantic interest later on in the game. I’ve found that most other series either don’t bother, or half-heartedly do so. Nisekoi manages to show once again that it is at the top of the pack of harem series. Yui not only works as a legitimate romantic interest, she is characterized enough to the point where her addition to the cast improves the series rather than denigrating it. For an example of a new character later in the the game that does not improve the series look no further than the introduction of Haru.

Slowly we’re getting to the truth of what happened ten years ago, but as curious as I am to finally learn what actually happened, Nisekoi has been enjoyable enough that I would rather we don’t reveal the big mystery just yet, especially if it means the series continues for a couple more years.

All You Need Is Kill Ch. 014
I’m sure fans of coffee appreciated the opening of this chapter, but all I could really think about while Rita was going on about how good the coffee she has is, was how terrible the stuff smells to me. There are things other people enjoy that I don’t particularly care for, but I can understand why someone would like it. Coffee is not one of those things. It smells so bad that I can’t believe anyone actually likes it. Imagine if people went around grinding up rabbit pellets and making a drink out of them. That’s how I feel whenever someone goes on about how good coffee is. You’re all crazy.

It’s always fun to read characters of one’s own nationality when written by someone that does not share said nationality. For example, Americans in old british shows tend to be just a few steps away from an insulting stereotype. Conversely, seeing Americans written by manga authors is always good for a laugh. In this case Rita is probably one of the most realistic Americans in manga, but I have to chuckle at how often she expresses genuine interest or admiration for Japanese products and culture. I’m going to just come out and say it, most Americans would not go around complimenting Japanese glass. In fact we would be more likely to begrudgingly admit that the glass is adequate, and then extol the virtues of Made in the USA glass. We would then put on an American flag like a cape and ride a giant bald eagle into battle. Since we’re dealing in stereotypes here.

Needless to say, whenever an American character compliments Japanese craftsmanship I can’t help but feel like it’s a bit of wish fulfillment on the part of the author. “Look how great Japanese workmanship is, even Americans admit it.” Normally I wouldn’t point that out, but it’s so oddly out of place and not something that anyone I know would ever say so it pulls me out of the story just a little bit. And once I’m distracted no amount of alien monsters can bring me back.

All You Need Is Kill

Toriko Ch. 276
I hope eating creatures with human faces doesn’t become too common here. I know a lot of vegans refuse to eat anything with a face, while I don’t ascribe to that I do draw the line at anything that has a human face and can talk. Nonetheless, Toriko has managed to be about as bizarre as it has ever been with this first step into the gourmet world. So I think we can all look forward to an extended “Whaaaa…?” as my review every week.

Toriko

Seraph of the End Ch 018
I like chapters where I learn something new. Seraph has the issue of having to fight against my initial impression, and while I still don’t care for the series I have found as of these most recent chapters that the characters are much more tolerable than before, and I’m slowly becoming interested in the series. Maybe it’s just me? I tend to hate the first several chapters of any new series in Jump, so maybe they’re actually just fine and I’m just a bitter, jaded jerk of a manga reviewer.

While that may possibly be true for other series, I stand by my conviction that Seraph of the End was not a good series. It’s interesting now, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s a good series. The backstory intrigues me, but the characters only just manage to escape me hating them completely.

Seraph of the End

One Piece Ch. 746
This was the chapter I was talking about earlier when I said a single page can be the difference between a good chapter and a great chapter. In this case it’s actually two pages. The entirety of the chapter is awesome. But it’s those two pages where Doflamingo assigns the bounties that make this one of my favorite chapters in a long time. Which is fortunate, since this is still a bit of a setup chapter for the finale of the arc. It looks like we will be spending longer in Dressrossa than we thought, which works just fine for me, it’s been a good arc and I like a good long arc.

One Piece

Naruto Ch. 675
Sometimes I feel silly for how much I can rant about manga that I hate. Then I remind myself that storytelling in any form matters to me, and played a big part of growing up for me. So to see something that is flagrantly doing a terrible job at telling a story kind of rubs me the wrong way. For example, it is bad writing if you have a character who has one sole purpose in the story, and to then give that character’s ability to someone else. I used to hate when people would hate on Sakura, but now I can’t help but agree. She has become completely useless, and it kinda pisses me off that Kishimoto has taken her one ability and made Naruto better at it. I’ve read a lot of manga that does a terrible job with its female cast, but Naruto somehow manages to be the worst at it while not being so flagrantly awful. Sure the women aren’t constantly damsels in distress, but they also contribute nothing useful to the story. Cut Sakura out and the story doesn’t change one bit. Except that I wouldn’t spend so much time getting angry at what is apparently meant to be a touching love story between her and Sasuke but in reality is a terrifying example of how abusive relationships start.

I’ve never understood how Kishimoto could ever seriously want to pair Sasuke and Sakura up. From the very beginning he has been portrayed as the kind of character that would grow up to be abusive at best. And yet even the fact that he tried to murder her is just used as a sign of how “devoted” she is. Sakura has been universally reviled for her selfish crush throughout a good chunk of the readership. It doesn’t help her one bit to suddenly say “she is so devoted” without actually showing how she is any different now than she was ten years ago.

And to make matters worse, the entire climax is relying on a powerup that is based on a concept we only just knew existed in the Naruto world. Up until the past few months we never knew reincarnation was even a thing here, and suddenly the big bad is going to be defeated thanks to the sudden existence of reincarnation? That’s just bad writing! And I don’t see how anyone could possibly think it’s anything but. I’m not even being rhetorical here. I’m sincerely confused. Someone please tell me why this series is still so popular!

One-Punch Man Bonus Chapter
What can I say about this extra chapter? It really was to short for me to have any indepth opinion of it.

Bleach Ch. 579
Well, it was fun while it lasted. But I think we all knew that a fight with a character who could create anything he could imagine would not end well. And yet somehow I feel disappointed that his undoing was that he imagined Kenpachi’s power too well, but couldn’t imagine a stronger body for himself. There literally was no way the end of this fight wouldn’t be cheap, so I chose to remember it as a one of a kind fight, and then just forget the ending ever happened.

World Trigger Ch. 059
World Trigger has been quite good at portraying strategic combat. This chapter was as good as any of the past ones, but when too many chapters are good I find myself without anything that stands out enough to be commented on. So it was good, but not amazing. I enjoyed it, but don’t necessarily have anything to talk about. Though I will mention that we’re getting into the C List cast here and I can’t remember who any of these people are. Which goes to show that the manga can get me invested even in characters I can’t quite remember. And that’s just fine by me.

World Trigger

Stealth Symphony Ch. 011
I have to admit I’m intrigued. The ending of this chapter gave me that little extra something I needed for a mediocre series like Stealth Symphony to attract my attention. I’m certainly curious to see where the story will go from here, and am hoping that we go the unconventional route with this one. Though I have been noticing a worrisome trend where new characters are designed with maximum fanservice in mind. It’s rarely a good sign when a manga starts relying on that.

Blue Exorcist Ch. 057
I’m not the kind of person to cry “Sexism” at every little opportunity. I think that some people are a bit sensitive where that topic is concerned. But when a mangaka just comes out and says that a character needs saving because she is a girl, then I can’t help but nervously glance at the big red “Sexism Alert” button I’ve installed on my computer. The only thing stopping me from pressing it is because I’m too confused by the fact that the author of Blue Exorcist happens to be a woman. Does that still count as sexist? Is it even my place to say anything if a woman wants to say girls need saving? Or is this a case where I need to separate the author and the character more? Is Yukio just a sexist? Because if that’s the case I didn’t exactly need another reason to dislike him.

That aside, the fights are quite entertaining. Miwa managing to escape thanks to his brains is a lot more interesting than the “Hulk Smash!” style of shonen battles. And even Yukio incapacitating his foe thanks to the zombie’s regeneration being too aggressive was a lot of fun. So overall a good chapter, but the beginning distracts me with some very worrisome implications. Oh well, at least next month I get to look forward to a bazooka battle.

Blue Exorcist


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Filed Under: FEATURES & REVIEWS, WSJA Recaps Tagged With: bleach, blue exorcist, Dragon Ball Z, naruto, nisekoi, One Piece, one punch man, Seraph of the End, toriko, world trigger

Weekly Shonen Jump Recap: April 7, 2014

April 21, 2014 by Derek Bown 3 Comments

WSJ Cover April 7, 2014If you like western themed fantasy then you really need to pick up The Seven Deadly Sins. The storytelling is very much in the style of other manga, but the aesthetic of the design is one hundred percent medieval european. Even the swords are styled properly, which for a manga artist must take an insane amount of self control not to insert any curved or katana styled swords in there.

That’s about it for my reading this week, I haven’t had much free time to read during so I haven’t had a chance to read anything new. Besides the latest chapters that is.

Naruto Ch. 671
I warned you Kishimoto. I warned you what would happen if you went the clichéd and tired route. That’s it. I’m done. Call me when the manga ends so I can see how much that is screwed up too.

Okay so not really, I’d really like to use this as an excuse to stop reading this manga forever, but the truth is that this is hardly the worst thing Naruto has ever done. Oh it’s terribly written, and a complete bore to boot. The truth is that Naruto long ago lost any chance it ever had for me to be invested. So to see a plot development like the one in this chapter doesn’t really make me angry as much as it just makes me shake my head and move on.

Basically my review comes down to this: Copy and paste my opinion from last week only this time double it.

Naruto

Stealth Symphony Ch. 007
Again, I feel like I’m supposed to care about what’s happening, but the fact that I haven’t had any time to develop a connection to any of these characters before we start moving into a fight is pushing Stealth Symphony onto my naughty list. the few chapters that were meant to serve as our introduction to the characters just didn’t hack it because the characterization does not ever extend beyond basic tropes that manga authors keep repeating. So to see the manga try and focus on battles and spectacle gives me a bad vibe, suggesting that this manga will not last much longer.

One Piece Ch. 743
I imagine there are two things people are growing tired of in my writing, how often I dump on Naruto and how often I do the exact opposite for One Piece. The difference is that one tries to pass something the author thought of last week as an overarching thread, while One Piece manages to not only make a great spectacle, but also drop subtle hints suggesting how the story will progress. I dare not spoil anything, but in regards to the climax of this chapter, let us remember that not all is necessarily as it seems. This arc isn’t over yet.

One Piece

World Trigger Ch. 055
I’d normally hate a series that has to stop and explain what is going on, rather than focusing on the action. But with World Trigger those short breaks in the action really help me appreciate the action a lot more. Would I appreciate what I’m seeing if I didn’t know that Tamakoma use a special kind of trigger? Probably not. And the flow of who has the advantage over whom really is handled quite expertly. While Border does seem to be at a disadvantage, there is still enough room to let the flow of battle ebb towards the side of our protagonists.

Bleach Ch. 575
Kenpachi is badass, do I really need to say anything else about this chapter? There really isn’t a plot worth speaking of, so I’ll just let the chapter speak for itself.

One-Punch Man Ch. 034.3
While I do have my reservations with One-Punch Man being a straight up action series, I do have to say that Saitama does make a good serious action lead. In that he’s completely not serious even when the battle seems to be going against him. There’s just a certain refreshing nonchalance to him that makes me wish more time was focused on him rather than the ancillary characters.

One-Punch Man

Nisekoi Ch. 117
Besides making me incredibly nervous about my recent stomach aches, this week’s Nisekoi is a perfectly told joke. One does not normally think of manga being structured in terms of a joke, but from the setup to the punchline this chapter just might have been perfect. Add in Marika being the best character ever and you have my favorite Nisekoi chapter since the short Ruri story we had a couple weeks ago.

All You Need Is Kill Ch. 011
Oh yeah, Keiji, he’s the main character isn’t he? I wouldn’t have thought we’d get any kind of emotional resonance with this series, but this chapter’s end was pretty well done, and worked well because the setup had been done properly through the last several chapters. I do ask myself how Rita can be uncertain of Keiji being trapped in a timeloop, but I suppose it makes sense if she herself is not caught in the same timeloop. She may have realized it during the battle, but in the morning she would have forgotten, which is why Keiji answering the question she was going to ask tomorrow is relevant.

Toriko Ch. 272
It was a nice little break to see all the characters from the manga’s past before we set off on the long arc that the gourmet world will be. I hope it won’t be too long before we see some of these characters again, because I would be really disappointed if we do not.

Toriko

I also still stand by my opinion that Rin is being written as a beard for Toriko by Shimabukuro. “Please don’t mind that I’m leaving behind a hot woman who wants to marry me to go on a trip with four other guys.” Still, it’s refreshing that a shonen manga artist besides Toriyama actually has his main character discussing marriage, it seems so oddly absent from almost every other series I read, so this is a nice breath of fresh air and the source of many jokes for me.

Blue Exorcist Ch. 056
Dr Gedoin is an odd character, on the one hand he is too disgusting to keep around, but on the other hand he was moderately amusing this chapter, mostly because he is so clearly oblivious to how things will turn out that it’s almost endearing. Ignoring of course the lolicon vibes the guy gives off. And the fact that he’s clearly a misogynist. Can we please move away from him? But at least we get weird Frankensteinian zombies, which despite the fact that they are different from the ghouls we saw at the beginning of the series clearly resemble the ghouls at the beginning of the series. Hopefully the characters will realize next month that the doors in their cells have clearly been left open.

Blue Exorcist

Special Bonus Story – Dragon Ball
When it comes to sharing my opinion about manga I normally do so without fear. After all, it doesn’t matter what I say, I’ll step on someone’s toes. But it’s not often that I find myself on the precipice of writing something that I know will piss off pretty much every manga fan online. But I am committed, so here I go.

I didn’t think this bonus story was very good.

Besides the fact that Toriyama’s art looks strange coming back to Dragon Ball after such a long time, all the characters look oddly proportioned, too skinny I might say. It was really neat to find out what Planet Vegeta looked like before it blew up (though it reminds me a lot of Namek, and earth for that matter with how Toriyama draws them). I think everyone can agree that Goku’s mom looks like nothing we imagined, and in general this was a fun little experience.

The problem is that it’s impossible not to draw comparisons between this little chapter and a very famous story relating to a comics icon. Almost beat for beat this is the origin story for Superman. Planet about to be destroyed, father called it, sends son away. I’d always imagined Goku was legitimately on a mission to destroy earth, not sent away to save his life, and that would have been a perfectly fine story. This version works in that it lines up with everything Toriyama wrote in the past about it. But at the same time the similarities are so close that I can’t help but wonder why no effort was made to avoid the comparisons?

It’s a fun little chapter, but anyone with a passing knowledge of western comics will more more than a little distracted while reading it.


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Filed Under: FEATURES & REVIEWS, WSJA Recaps Tagged With: bleach, blue exorcist, Dragon Ball Z, naruto, nisekoi, One Piece, one punch man, Seraph of the End, toriko, world trigger

Weekly Shonen Jump Recap: March 31, 2014

April 13, 2014 by Derek Bown 1 Comment

March 31 CoverI didn’t get much reading done this week besides Fairy Tail Vol. 36, of which I will be writing a review shortly. I did pick up the first volume of The Seven Deadly Sins, and will be giving it a read through this week. But let’s jump right ahead into the latest Weekly Shonen Jump chapters.

Seraph of the End Ch. 014
I admit to finding myself a little bit intrigued. I still do not consider Seraph of the End a good manga, but the concept of the humans using what appear to be some kind of fallen angel based power, is actually somewhat intriguing. So often powers in manga are derived from demons or monsters, but to see powers derived from angels is rare. And for those angel powers to be more dangerous, if not quite what I have in mind when I think of angels, is all the more curious. It’s enough to make me wonder what happens next, but I still hate all the characters and all the past baggage this manga has been dragging along.

Seraph of the End

One Piece Ch. 742
Talk about a range of emotions, from being heartbroken at the tragedy that is Kyros’ backstory, to being disappointed at Usopp’s foregone defeat, to being amused and somewhat terrified by what has to be the wackiest, and most frightening, set of faces Oda has ever drawn. I don’t want to go into spoiler’s on Kyros’ backstory, let’s just leave it at “stuff’s messed up yo” and look forward to the mess that DoFlamingo will have to deal with next week when all the toys turn back into humans.

One Piece

World Trigger Ch. 054
The ongoing action in this story has been excellent. We end with another cliffhanger, but it’s once again one of the good ones, and not the cheating kind where a piece of information is withheld. Rather we continue with cliffhangers of the “They’re boned” variety. The humanoid neighbors are turning out to be just the right level of powerful to really push the power limits while also not going overboard. There’s a certain balance to this story that I can’t help but appreciate.

All You Need Is Kill Ch. 010
Not only do we get an explanation to all the weirdness going on, we also end Rita’s flashback. The information shared about the story is certainly interesting, but the way it is shared with the reader is a bit strange. Rathe than focusing on the viewpoint character we learn all this information without him having learned it. It comes across as being incomplete, and doesn’t really fit how this kind of story should be told. It definitely feels more like how a novel would be written, with a narrator changing who the viewpoint character is, which feels very out of place to the story as it had been told before this flashback.

Naruto Ch. 670
Every once in a while I’ll read a chapter of Naruto that makes me feel a little bad for how much I like to dump on the series. And then I get a chapter like this one. Which shows just how inept the writing has gotten. Not only is the comedy middling at best, but the central focus of the story, and I feel no shame in spoiling this, is about how Naruto is the reincarnation of a character we were only just introduced to this very chapter. See, this kind of reveal loses some of its impact when half of the reveal contains information that was not important enough to be introduced to us until just now. Granted it’s the weakness of the serialized medium, you can’t go back and insert foreshadowing where you want, but there is a certain gravity that revealing a character is the reincarnation of a historical figure who we’ve known about for the entire series, versus the complete apathy the same kind of reveal incurs if said historical figure did not exist in the series before this chapter.

And to make things worse, what started out as a subtle “Naruto and Sasuke’s battle has happened before with other characters”, has become hammered in so heavily that one would think Kishimoto doesn’t trust his readers to get it. We got it back when the parallel was between Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade. We became a bit annoyed when that parallel was again brought up with Kakashi, Obito, and Rin. Now with the parallel being brought up again with the Sage’s son’s I’m a bit insulted that you think I didn’t get it the first time. And if there turns out to be a girl involved in that third parallel then I might just go from insulted to irately enraged. If Sasuke turns out to be the reincarnation of the older Son, which he inevitably will, then I’m done with this series.

Naruto

Toriko Ch. 271
Sometimes humor is out of place. But with Chichi the Nitro (I think he is at least), I think I’ll let it slide. There’s just something about him that I can’t help but like. Even if he brings out the sleaziest parts of Toriko and the gang as they start bartering for Chichi’s help with women’s clothing. Jeez, Toriko, you’re not even married to Rin yet and you’re already exchanging her clothes for services. Well, at least you’re not like Goku who offered up Bulma’s breasts to that old Kami pervert and then had the gall to insult his own wife by saying her breasts were not firm. Yes, this is a thing that happened. Look it up and try and disagree with me the next time I say Goku is the worst husband.

And yet, I enjoyed this chapter because it foreshadowed exactly how much bigger this series is going to get.

Toriko

Nisekoi Ch. 116
After the excellent Ruri story I’m a bit disappointed that the followup chapter would be so lackluster. The story itself is fine enough, but the age old “the girl is a terrible cook” has already been done here. And to better effect as at least Onodera makes food that looks good. Though I do appreciate how Chitoge at least isn’t being unreasonable about Rakku eating her food. At least she appreciates his effort.

Stealth Symphony Ch. 006
At the moment this manga is stuck in the phase where all I can really say is “it’s a manga”. This is because it has neither done anything horrendously terrible, nor has it done anything amazing yet. The concept that Jig is going to be fighting against the first friendly people he’s met is certainly interesting, but it does feel like the relationship between the characters needed to be developed first before we got this confrontation. A few more one off chapters wouldn’t have been amiss. There’s a reason some of our favorite manga started with single story chapters before moving onto larger stories, it’s to build up the characters. At the moment I don’t have any particular attachment to the characters so I can’t really say that I’m particularly invested just yet. I’ll need a better reason to root for the characters, other than the fact that they are there.

Bleach Ch. 574
Remember those old roleplaying forums, where people would create characters and write up stories together without any set rules for how the characters’ combat abilities worked? This chapter felt like a battle between the most hated participants in those role playing forums. The guy who had no limits to his character’s powers, and just made it all up as he went along, and the guy that had no imagination at all, but would constantly insist that his opponents attacks did nothing.

That is, 100%, exactly what this chapter is. And seen from that point of view it is actually kind of glorious. Already the stupid action that any Kenpachi fight is was entertainment enough. But with that realization I skyrocketed this chapter to quite possibly one of my all time favorites for Bleach. And now you too can enjoy this chapter in a way you never could before. You’re welcome.


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Filed Under: FEATURES & REVIEWS, WSJA Recaps Tagged With: bleach, blue exorcist, Dragon Ball Z, naruto, nisekoi, One Piece, one punch man, toriko, world trigger

Weekly Shonen Jump Recap: March 24, 2014

April 2, 2014 by Derek Bown 3 Comments

March 24, 2014 CoverI finally finished Attack on Titan, so I am now immune to spoilers, mostly thanks to Crunchyroll for the chapters past volume 11. And it would appear that I am arriving late to the craze, if the New York Times Best Seller List is any indication, but I now find myself in the grips of the obsession over everything Titan related. Even to the point where I picked up, but have not yet read, Attack on Junior High. I have some misgivings about this one, but the reviews have been mostly positive so I’m going to be diving into that one soon.

I’ve also received, and am starting to read, volume 4 of Genshiken Second Season. The story in this series moves quite fast, as Hatto’s plotline seems to be coming to a head much faster than I thought it would. We finally get some answers as to why he cross-dresses, and I look forward to reading through those chapters.

My manga reading has been a bit sparse this week, with work getting in the way of spending my time on manga, but I have a stack that needs reading and commenting on. But for now let’s talk about the only manga I seem to have time for, the weekly chapters.

All You Need is Kill Ch. 009
One of the biggest strength of manga is the opportunity for a large, well rounded cast. While the first few chapters of any manga are an opportunity to get to know the main character, the only way to really know if a manga will be able to keep going at full steam is by judging the supporting cast. And while All You Need is Kill has been focusing on its main character for the most part, these past two chapters giving us Rita’s backstory have been an excellent opportunity. Not only do we get to learn more about “Rita” but we also get more plot development. A great chapter is one that plays multiple roles. Having character development, action, and plot development is essential. And this chapter does exactly that. Is it good character development? Well, it’s a start, but it “Rita’s” character development takes a back seat to unveiling more clues towards the mystery of the time loops, and I’m perfectly okay with that.

Bleach Ch. 573
This week’s chapter reminds me of classic Bleach. In which Kenpachi shows up and wrecks everyone’s sh*t. Is this clever storytelling? Not really, but it’s miles more interesting than almost anything Kubo has written in years. And sometimes a good story is really that simple. No need to get complicated, just appease the lunatics that read your manga with a bit complete devastation from everyone’s favorite blood knight. Sure it may not be the most intellectual of manga, but it’s much better than previous chapters.

Bleach

Naruto Ch. 669
What should have been a great action filled chapter of Naruto, as Guy uses what remains of his life to beat Madara, instead becomes exactly that, but poisoned by far too many pages of wordy dialogue as the other characters discuss their strategy. Is it really so hard to let the action just be action? Or is it impossible to keep the dialogue out of the chapter? The other characters spend the first half of the chapter discussing their strategy, and then later pull it off without any variation. If you’re going to discuss it all then show it, skip the discussing part and just show the plan. Or start discussing how it will work and then reveal the rest later on. Don’t just say what you’re going to do, and then do exactly that. It doesn’t make for interesting reading.

Stealth Symphony Ch. 005
Stealth Symphony is starting to grow on me more. The moral ambiguity of the characters works towards the story’s advantage, and the characters themselves play around with established tropes while still bringing their own twist. Such as one new character’s attempts at being the kind of sociopathic character, while everyone around her calls her out for how inappropriate her jokes are. And what we thought were the main characters taking on a job for a slaver, ultimately it makes one wonder how exactly everyone’s alliances will end up falling and that makes for an enjoyable read.

One-Punch Man Ch. 034.2
The biggest problem with One-Punch Man is that it has long since abandoned its comedic premise. The action scenes are well presented artistically, but come out of nowhere. It feels like a satire of action series that have no story but flow from fight to fight, except someone forgot to let the readers in that was the joke. It seems that our writer has dealt with the issue of Saitama being too strong by almost entirely ignoring him for most of the story. Which takes the unique premise of this series and turns it into just another pretty action series. And while the action scenes are very well done, there isn’t enough story to support their existence. If this is still meant to be satire then it’s not effective because it reads as a sincere, boring action series. Satire is not taking the object of ridicule and then playing it completely straight as if just seeing the story played out like it has always been is enough to make us laugh.

One-Punch Man

Nisekoi Ch. 115
With the somber theme of this short story, one would have thought that there was no way a comedy could handle death in a respectful way. And surprisingly that’s what Nisekoi actually did this week. We move from a comedic twist back to a somber twist right back around to the initial outcome that was promised. And yet, it was done so well that it actually brought some tears to my eyes with the final page. Though it really did drive home that we didn’t need Rakku there, as the main character focus in the end really was between Shu and Ruri. I think it would have been a lot more fun to have Shu play the role of the fake boyfriend, and just have the story be about the two of them. Seeing Rakku alone with two of the most interesting characters in the series just goes to emphasize how bland he can be.

Nisekoi

World Trigger Ch. 053
I’m constantly amazed when I stop and think of how far World Trigger has come. I was definitely not a fan early on, but the past several months and weeks have proven themselves again and again. Currently World Trigger is one of the rare battle manga that can keep an ongoing war situation sustained without turning into an exercise in tedium. The cliffhangers the past few weeks really help in that direction as they are not so much of the “what is this thing you cannot see!?” variety, but rather are of the “well, they’re boned” variety.

Special Preview – Food Wars: Shokugeki No Soma Ch. 002
Food Wars is one of the only currently running shonen cooking manga that I know of being published by a major magazine. And while this chapter doesn’t quite show off everything the manga is about, it does give us a pretty general sense of what we are in for. The typical arrogant characters underestimating the main character are all there, but what really sets Food Wars apart is the flair with which it executes its presentation. For anyone curious, said presentation has more in common with To Love Ru than Oishinbo.

Food Wars


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Filed Under: FEATURES & REVIEWS, WSJA Recaps Tagged With: bleach, blue exorcist, Dragon Ball Z, naruto, nisekoi, One Piece, one punch man, toriko, world trigger

Weekly Shonen Jump Recap: March 10, 2014

March 17, 2014 by Derek Bown Leave a Comment

Introductions are the hardest part of writing this column. And since most people skip them I might even be forgiven for just omitting them completely. Then again, that would be lazy, and the last thing I would ever want to be accused of is being lazy (I really do wish there was an easy way to express irony in written form). But I thought of something that might be fun, if perhaps I spend a moment talking about the other manga I’ve been reading for the week.

At the moment I’ve been catching up on Attack on Titan, well, to tell the truth I watched the anime and then read the manga from there in Crunchyroll, but I’ve been going back and buying the volumes the anime covers so I can get the story as it was originally told. The question always comes back to what is better, the original or the adaptation, and having read and seen both I have to say that I do think the anime is probably the better way for someone to experience the story the first time. The music ads a lot to the overall experience, and seeing the characters in motion is particularly impressive. The story was rearranged a bit to help the viewer grow attached to the characters before they started kicking the bucket. But I do find that the manga is somewhat easier to digest simply because it tells the pure story, without adjusting the timing to meet a certain runtime. And waiting until after the first slaughter of characters to then go back and get to know them also has a certain charm to it.

Nisekoi, for those that haven’t read it from the beginning, already has two volumes out. Definitely worth checking out and I just read them again this week for the first time in a while. Other than that, those were the only two major series that I read. I did take the time to pick up the new printing of Ramna 1/2 so I’ll probably talk about that after I get around to reading it. That’s been the week so far, now let’s get into the latest Jump chapters.

Nisekoi
March 10, 2014 Cover

World Trigger Ch. 051
Have I ever mentioned how much I hate fake cliffhangers? You know the type, the ones that make it seem like something shocking has happened, but then turn out to be not at all what we thought? This chapter only gets away with it because Kitora was absolutely badass the entire chapter through. And it’s at the end of this chapter that we get the true “they are so screwed” cliffhanger.

Kitora has easily become one of my favorite characters for the whole series. It would have been so easy to have her been an antagonistic kind of character, and in some ways she can be, but she also backs up her attitude with action. And even though she had to be saved by Yuma during her first battle of the series, this week we see how she takes that moment and uses it as motivation to win against the strongest type of trion soldier we’ve seen this entire arc. Too bad it took so much out of her to defeat just one of them, now that she’s left facing several I don’t see this ending well for anyone involved. I can only hope someone has the presence of mind to force a bailout for all the C Rank agents before they get captured.

World Trigger

One Piece Ch. 740
For a moment, as I skimmed through this chapter again to think of what to say, I found myself at a loss. Stuff happens this chapter, but none of it really stands out. Though I did enjoy Baby 5’s interaction with Law as a bit of comedy. Then I got to the last two pages, saw that Robin had been turned into a toy, and remembered exactly what I wanted to talk about this week.

As any fan of One Piece knows, Usopp’s character arc has always been about overcoming his fear. In fact he’s done it several times before. And as with all long form media stretching out character arcs can become problematic. In most cases writers will move on to a new character arc for anyone they keep around after their original character arc has completed. Only the worst writers will regress a character to a point where their character arc starts from the beginning.

Usopp’s reaction to being mistaken for some great hero was funny and all, but in the past he’s reacted like that but he’s always come through for his friends when they need him. Which is why the last page of this chapter pisses me off to the point where I am barely able to keep my language at a level appropriate for an all ages audience. Usopp running away this chapter is quite possibly the worst thing he has ever done in the entire series. It’s not like he’s even running to draw the enemy away. He is literally running because he’s too chicken-sh…cowardly, to stand up to his opponents. He’s not making a strategic withdrawal, he fully intends to abandon the Tontatas, and Robin (though he doesn’t remember her anymore). What happened to “I can’t laugh with my friends if I’m not willing to fight like them”?

This is character regression pure and simple. Now perhaps Oda has a plan, he usually does. And I’m willing to wait and see how this goes. But if Oda intends to just laugh it off later on then I will have to call bull…crap…on this most boneheaded of moves. If this is meant to be taken at face value, without any twists in Usopp’s actions later on, then it’s nothing but Oda showing that he can’t think of anything else to do with Usopp. It’s already annoyed me how he continues to be a coward despite his progress throughout the series. I feel that we’re at a point where the cowardly Usopp character just does not work anymore. After all he’s gone through, he can’t bother to man up at all?

Again, like I said, maybe Oda is going somewhere with this. So until then I will reserve judgement. I will just simmer in frustration, waiting for the tipping point where I either calm down or explode in a rush of fury and fanboy indignation.

One Piece

Nisekoi Ch. 113
While Raku playing the fake boyfriend again is amusing, I kind of wish this chapter had just been about Ruri and Shu. Just imagine how much funnier it would have been had she been forced to pretend to be the girlfriend of the one guy in the cast she completely despises. But, I suppose that will have to wait for my eventual fanfic, the story as we got it was excellent.

Ruri has always been one of my favorite characters of the series, even though she doesn’t get much focus. I just can’t help but enjoy the deadpan snarky characters. And seeing young Ruri’s pictures were particularly funny. And her grandfather, while following the typical goofy grandpa archetype, has a certain charm to his design that I haven’t seen before in any of the other manga I’ve read.

The sudden tone shift at the end I could have done without, but the way the scene is set suggests that I might just get a stronger focus on Ruri and Shu without Raku next chapter. Which would be much appreciated.

Nisekoi 2

Naruto Ch. 667
It is my opinion that it is a sign of a weak, unimaginative mind to always go for the sexual reference. But I mean come on!

Naruto

The imagery in this page is so phallic even the cover art of the Little Mermaid VHS Tape is thinking Kishimoto has gone overboard. Sure it’s coming from his stomach, and not his crotch, but I dare ANYONE to look at that and not immediately think “Penis!”. I can just see Orochimaru thinking, “Damn, Kabuto beat me to it!”

From there we get a pretty strong focus on Kabuto being a changed person, and I don’t care because Kabuto was never my favorite character.

On the other hand, Gai’s half of the chapter was great. Methinks next week we’ll get to see him go out in a blaze of glory, though I really was hoping to see Rock Lee jump in and save the day. Just randomly he shows up, beats up Madara, and becomes the new hero of the series. I wouldn’t even be mad if that happened it would be such a troll move by Kishimoto.

I imagine we’ll be seeing Samui and her brother making a return next chapter, since apparently TenTen is playing around with the Sage’s artifacts, so I can only imagine this is Kishimoto’s way of getting those characters back.

Stealth Symphony Ch. 003
It’s refreshing to see the old trope inverted this time around. Rather than having Jig automaticaly join V&V Security it turns out he’s actually not qualified. I imagine he’ll eventually join them, because one cannot escape tropes forever, but for now it shows a level of awareness on the part of the writer that will serve the series well.

Souya also appears to be an interesting character that I imagine will be around for quite a lot of the series, and the way the assassins guild operates in the city is in its own way quite intriguing. While we are only three chapters in I like how the story has been handled. Nothing groundbreaking yet, but in its own way it is shaping up to be a competent little story. Whether it can keep it up or will lose steam has yet to be determined.

Stealth Symphony

Bleach Ch. 571
Now this was the first chapter of Bleach in a long time that I can legitimately say I really enjoyed. Bleach has been in the limbo of not being terrible yet not being great either. It barely manages to be good most of the time instead opting for being dull and confusing. This time around it feels like Kubo is back to his old form. The power Gwenael Lee (whose name I refuse to remember, much like the names of any of the other Stern Ritter) is quite imaginative. Though it does have the problem a lot of the other Stern Ritter powers have in that I keep asking myself how exactly they still Qualify as Quincy.

But seeing Yachiru kick ass is entirely worth it. And her shikai release feels so nostalgic for Pre Hueco Mundo Bleach that I can’t help but enjoy this chapter entirely. I can only hope that we get to see the releases for all the other Soul Reapers that we haven’t seen yet.

Bleach

One-Punch Man Ch. 034
After seeing Saitama defeat so many enemies easily, I’m looking forward to what Boros can do. It’s pretty ridiculous, though that’s the joke, that nobody but Saitama can reach invincible status. But as the series has grown more and more serious it would have been a bit of a stretch to have every enemy be easily defeated by Saitama. I can only wait and see what happens next chapter, as One-Punch Man moves into what I can only describe as a new era. Can it keep up the quality even as it becomes a more generic battle series?

One-Punch Man

Toriko Ch. 269
Methinks Shimabukuro has been in a shippy mood, now with Komatsu interacting with Nono for the first time, though we’ve seen her express interest in him in the past. While personally the image of Komatsu hooking up with Melk the Second is more entertaining (I don’t know why, but for some reason short guys with tall women amuses me. Must be why I still like Tom Cruise despite his crazier antics in the past). And I find it odd that they are going back to the Gourmet World so soon. And while I don’t mean to focus so much on the relationship aspects of this series, I can’t help but wonder whether Toriko and Rin plan to get married before he goes to the Gourmet World, or if she’s planning to wait until they return which would make no sense since they don’t know if they’ll be back. Or maybe she’ll go with them, I don’t know. I’d prefer the latter, it would be more entertaining.

Blue Exorcist Ch. 055
And here I thought we weren’t going the Zombie route, since walking corpses were already a thing in this series. But I guess we’re playing the Fantasy Semantics game by having similar creatures that are actually quite different. I like to play the Fantasy Semantics game myself so I look forward to some more Zombie action.

Still, I wish for this arc to be over with. I’ve had more creepy pedo scientist than I can stand. And the more I see Shima playing the traitor the more I don’t buy it.


If you want to hear more, check out the Manga^3 Podcast Archives.

Filed Under: FEATURES & REVIEWS, WSJA Recaps Tagged With: bleach, blue exorcist, Dragon Ball Z, naruto, nisekoi, One Piece, one punch man, toriko, world trigger

Weekly Shonen Jump Recap: March 3, 2014

March 4, 2014 by Derek Bown Leave a Comment

March 3 CoverIt’s so easy to be pessimistic about manga. Except for this week, even working to my full ability I couldn’t find any reason to be overly enraged at any of the chapters, so I’m afraid you’d just be wasting your time reading this. Well, except for…

Seraph of the End Ch. 012
This only applies to me most likely, but starting off the week with Seraph of the End is a sure fire way to make sure I put off reading the new chapters until I run out of other things I’d rather be doing. I suppose I could always skip the first chapter, and go on to more interesting series, but that would just mean I never come back to read this one. My habitual bitterness aside, this week was actually pretty decent. Granted, any time Shinoa opened her mouth was excruciating, even when she was sharing plot important information, but especially when she was forcing what passes for humor in this series on us. The action, however, was quite well done, with the opening pages of Yuichiro killing a vampire giving me hope for the rest of the chapter. And the final two page spread gives me hope for the rest of the series. Not much hope, given the general writing style, but I’m curious if Writer Kagami will fully commit to what this could mean to the series, or if the outcome will be a half-hearted at a dramatic cliffhanger easily resolved next chapter.

Seraph

Stealth Symphony Ch. 002
This is where things started picking up this week. While chapter two, after the introductory chapter last week, was spent wrapping up the rest of the set up it certainly convinced me that we’ve got something good on our hands here. The story is passable, if nothing spectacular, but what really sells me is the art design. Troma’s design, of what we can see, is traditional western, but after so many attempts at artists trying to be more original with their dragon designs it feels comforting to go back to a more standard fantasy design. And what other manga can boast a character who looks like a goblin straight out of World of Warcraft? The first chapter may not have been anything special, and downright predictable in places, but in an age where design aesthetic is moving away from traditional designs it’s almost unique to see someone willing to go back to what has been a standard in fantasy art for decades. I can’t promise for where the story will go after this, but I can certainly recommend this series to anyone based just on the refreshingly familiar approach it takes to fantasy.

Nisekoi Ch. 112
Marika is both the worst and best character in this series. In part she is everything that characters I would normally hate are. But mostly because she is so obvious about how conniving she is I can’t help but love her. Even Raku isn’t fooled, he knows exactly what she is doing, but fortunately for him she is so easily satisfied that even when she tricks Raku into doing her will she can’t go too far because a simple pat on the head is good enough for her. And it is thus that she is so lovable. I have to commend Raku for his smooth move with the ring though, that is a legitimately romantic move that it even leaves the “mastermind” behind the whole scene speechless for a moment.

Add in a perfect fourth wall breaking opening (perfect in that I had indeed forgotten entirely about Migisuke), and an ending that is both the most awkward and ridiculous thing you’ll read this week.

One Piece Ch. 739
Well, Trebol’s overreaction was received about as well as was expected, but sadly it did not knock Sugar out as I had hoped. Sure that would have been an easy resolution to a major plot point, but it would have been worth the joke. We get a minor flashback for Rebecca, it seems that Oda is definitely playing around with shorter, more frequent flashbacks this arc. Which I think would be an excellent change to his storytelling style. While flashbacks tend to be one of the highlights of each arc, they do drag the reader out of the story, making it hard to get into the flashback and then back into the actual story. Several smaller flashbacks would definitely smooth the flow of each arc over much better, giving us the same information but spreading it out. It works much better on a narrative level because the big reveals in each flashback would then be able to correspond to the big reveals during the current timeline.

It’s a shame though that Rebecca’s effectiveness as a fighter seems to have come to an end. Of course it makes sense that she couldn’t stand up to one of the high ranking villains, but nonetheless it’s a disappointment to see her pushed to the side, when Oda was once one of the few manga artists that actually let his female characters have fights as important as those of the men in the story.

And of course we have a big reveal at the end, which was somewhat obvious, but the question is whether it is meant to be obvious or whether Oda legitimately thought no one would figure it out. Given his decade plus track record I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I will say that the twists this arc have been very easy to call. Or at least those that had any kind of buildup earlier in the arc. The one involving “Lucy” was impossible to call seeing how we had nothing to suggest that’s where Oda was heading.

All You Need Is Kill Ch. 007
Now we get some real action, we’ve finally gotten past the buildup, though more will surely follow, and now it’s time to enjoy our newly baked badass action hero. I had been a bit confused as to why Keiji turned Rachel down last chapter, but this time around it makes sense as he’s not interested in one-night stands, which is all he could have since she would not remember anything when he looped again. Which officially makes him a better person than Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. And of course the twist at the end of this chapter suggests that maybe Keiji’s lonely journey won’t be quite so lonely anymore. And again, this twist was somewhat easy to call, but nonetheless opens the story up for some interesting direction.

All You Need Is Kill

Toriko Ch. 268
Even the worst tasting food will be a feast to anyone that is hungry enough, and the denizens of Toriko’s world have hungered for real food long enough that even the apparently foul tasting Billion Bird becomes the greatest food. Though it seems that maybe the bird doesn’t actually taste that bad, and its entire body can be used to make meals that are more than just the meat. And while this is clearly a message heavy chapter, I for one can definitely appreciate the message that sometimes all someone needs is a bit of praise.

It’s nice to see that Shimabukuro isn’t planning to ignore the fact that Rin proposed to Toriko and he accepted. I thought that would have been ignored for a while, so it’s a nice change of pace that it isn’t being ignored. Though I’ll never understand why anyone would eat raw or barely cooked egg; nor do I understand why I suddenly hunger for a soft boiled egg.

Toriko

Bleach Ch. 570
Rukia’s bankai certainly looks spiffy, it’s a shame we have absolutely no idea what it actually does. And while I do get somewhat annoyed when the series focuses on the Soul Reapers too much, at least my annoyance is somewhat lessened when it focuses on the more ignored Soul Reapers like Isane and Yachiru. I think this might be the first time that Isane actually gets any kind of major focus. If she’s to have a fight I’m certainly looking forward to seeing what she can do. Though I get the idea that perhaps this is meant to be Yachiru’s time to shine?

Bleach

World Trigger Ch. 050
Osamu’s fight is perfectly executed. The parallels between him and Yuma make the pay off of his victory all the sweeter. What else can I say? The flashback was a bit time consuming, but not in a distracting way, and the cliffhanger has me tearing my hair out in frustration. I can’t believe that this manga, that I actually used to pretty much hate, can actually be good enough to make me hate it for the cliffhangers now. We’ve definitely come a long way, and I’m pleased that the awkward teenage years of this series have been put behind us.


There’s no such thing as a perfect week for manga. But this one got pretty close. Definitely a great way to start the week off right.

If you want to hear more, check out the Manga^3 Podcast Archives.

Filed Under: FEATURES & REVIEWS, WSJA Recaps Tagged With: bleach, blue exorcist, Dragon Ball Z, naruto, nisekoi, One Piece, one punch man, toriko, world trigger

Weekly Shonen Jump Recap: February 10, 2014

February 26, 2014 by Derek Bown 1 Comment

February 10 CoverIf you don’t have a Weekly Shonen Jump membership you really should consider buying one. The past couple weeks have been quite excellent, almost all the manga published in the magazine have had a pretty excellent run the past couple months. Even the series I complain about on a regular basis have been doing pretty well.

A good week of manga is a lot of good chapters. Or just a lot of chapters. But it’s a double edged sword. Because the more there is for me to read and enjoy, the more work I have to do when writing it all up. It’s a good thing I love sharing my opinion so much on the internet. So let’s do this.

Blue Exorcist Ch. 054
This series has been a bit lackluster the past several chapters. This month is a return to form as we get the pay off for some foreshadowing we didn’t even realize was being implemented. We also go back to a focus on action instead of in between chapters and backstory. Keep in mind, in between chapters are necessary, but in a monthly series more than just a single in between chapter drags on for a dangerously long time. Finally getting some action after a long while really helped me be more interested in this chapter. And the way the story is portrayed really works in that we have two separate stories being interwoven quite well, as we switch from Kamiki to the rest of the group. Definitely a recommended read for this issue.

Blue Exorcist

Nisekoi Ch. 109
Last week I raised some concerns about how Komi would handle Haru as a character. I worried that she would go the stereotypical route of being just another member of the harem. Fortunately this week mostly dispelled those fears. There are of course major hints that she will become a member of the harem, but for the moment she is going to be a much more interesting character than I initially feared. I find the idea of a character who clearly accepts how they feel about someone, but are willing to step aside for someone else quite interesting. I’m curious to see how far Naoshi Komi will be taking this idea, whether he will go all the way with having Haru refusing to act on her feelings, or if we will be treated to her confession to Raku despite her intention to support her sister. Either way, this chapter definitely salvaged what I feared was a lost cause of a character.

Nisekoi

World Trigger Ch. 048
This was an excellent chapter. I’ve railed against Border for being another incompetent military organization, and while I still question the ethics of using teenagers as soldiers, I loved seeing the commanders competently handle the battle. And not just the ones we figured would be competent, but even characters built up as buffoons are showing their intelligence. We get a pretty badass scene where Tachikawa cuts a bomber in half, which was easily my favourite part of the chapter. And seeing Kitora act outside her originally established character was an excellent moment, one that I’m sure the shippers probably are enjoying. With each trope a character follows, the best way to gain points with me is to have them act outside that trope. It does wonders for making characters feel more real, and Kitora certainly is doing that for me in this series.

World Trigger

Toriko Ch. 265
This was much better than last week. While I enjoyed last week’s chapter I found that it was a lot harder to get over Komatsu’s rescue being skipped. This week I’ve accepted that jarring shift and was able to enjoy the chapter for what it was. And while a little emotionally manipulative I loved how the chapter sets up the food shortage as a very real problem, the world has clearly had to evolve around this situation, rather than just being a one chapter problem and yet somehow we get the emotional payoff of seeing Toriko deliver the food he brought. And all that in just a single chapter. I love Mansom’s new design, though he does look quite a bit like Ichiryu. And is it just me or does it look like Komatsu may have just found his long lost son?

Naruto Ch. 663
So we get confirmation that Gaara is going to try and fuse Minato’s ninetails chakra with Naruto, so that’s nice. And I enjoy seeing Sakura actually be involved in the story. And actually care about her so called friend. But the sudden powerup from Karin comes out of nowhere, though I’m biased against her so I doubt she could do anything I wouldn’t hate. And Madara finally takes on the form of the sage of six paths. So at least the plot is moving forward. And for all intents and purposes Sasuke is pretty dead. So overall this was a good chapter for me. Though I have to wonder as to the effectiveness of cutting a dying person’s side open and massaging their heart directly. That’s not an actual thing that’s ever been done is it?

Naruto

One-Punch Man Ch. 32
This is definitely a chapter where if you haven’t shifted your paradigm from comedy to action you probably won’t enjoy. Personally I’ve finally made the switch again so I was able to enjoy the excellent art and fighting scenes. I like the idea of an enemy that can regenerate no matter what, which I think is honestly the only way to pose any kind of threat to Saitama. So I look forward to this monster fighting Saitama. Other than that, this was definitely a great chapter to show of the fighting prowess of the other characters. Worth a read, but unless you spend a lot of time studying the art you will get through it very fast.

Bleach Ch. 567
Has Kubo just forgotten that his characters are ghosts/spirits/gods? What’s all this talk about Rukia being dead as if it wasn’t her usual state. She is already deceased! That which is dead cannot be alive as well! She is a spirit! A soul! Are we supposed to believe that souls in this world have a different kind of life? And that’s why they can die? I guess that kind of works. This chapter would be a lot easier to swallow if it weren’t for the fact that the mythology of the afterlife in this world is completely messed up. The best I’ve been able to gather is that after humans die they become spirits. But spirits can also die/be destroyed. But their energy cannot be destroyed, because physics, and ultimately they are re-purposed as energy to create spiritual constructs and (and this is me assuming) new spirits. Hence how soul reapers can have families. But if spiritual energy can become spirits in the afterlife, what with there being families that soul reapers are born into, then at what point does spirit matter go back into the human world? Can only the soul reapers reproduce? Or can the souls of dead humans do the same? In fact, if they ultimately become spirit energy, then what’s the point of human spirits retaining their consciousness? And ultimately, what is the purpose of this system? If souls can be destroyed, as quincies have shown the ability to be able to do, and that destruction causes an imbalance, suggesting that the spirit energy is destroyed as well (which should be impossible since it is energy) then what is consciousness and what is spirit?

Ultimately, how can Rukia be any more dead than already dead!?!?!

All You Need Is Kill Ch. 004
We get a satisfying answer to how Keiji gets his battleaxe. And I guess it doesn’t need to be forged in the traditional sense so it doesn’t take as long to make. But is he really going to have to convince Shasta to make him a new axe every single time. I guess we aren’t really supposed to think about it too much. I do feel a bit disappointed that we don’t get to see any actual action, but the anticipation is good enough for me right now. The pacing has been quite strong, and I’ve found no real fault in the series to this point. The writing is strong and the art is as always excellent. Though I cannot stress enough how out of place Obata’s women are. But at least I haven’t seen anything in this series that could lead to major accusations of sexism like in Bakuman.

All You Need Is Kill

One Piece Ch. 737
So would Peka’s Stone-Stone ability qualify as a paramecia or a logia? Since he doesn’t really turn himself into stone on his own, rather he has to absorb it from somewhere, I’m guessing it’s a paramecia, even if earth/stone is considered one of the classical elements. Either way, things aren’t looking good for Luffy’s group, how can they fight someone that controls the entire building they are inside?

The answer will of course be, “Amazingly” but we’ll have to wait for that. For now it’s time to focus on the coliseum. Clearly “Lucy” is a force to be reckoned with, and what we all thought would happen occurs, people start to notice that “Lucy” fights differently from Lucy. The delayed final reveal of his identity is puzzling. We all know who he is, but Oda continues to hide him from the audience. All I can say is, what exactly is he planning?

Finally, the build up for Leo’s mission is to over the top that it’s clear that something will go wrong. I kind of want it to go right, because that never happens in any story ever. But it’s pretty clear that something will go awry. Either way, I got more than a chuckle out of the running gag with Usopp this time around.

One Piece

Dragon Ball Z Ch. 50
Who knew this was only going to be a temporary thing. Next week we lose Dragon Ball Z, and here I was hoping it would run through the whole series, to give me a chance to read it all the way through again. But I guess if we’re getting some new manga space must be made in the magazine. And while space isn’t really an issue in a digital magazine, the effort it takes to get an extra series ready for publication really does push costs up.

I enjoyed the Superman parallels with Kami, this was a part of the series I hadn’t read before, so I’m picking up a lot of details that I had missed before. I enjoy Dragon Ball Z a bit more when we aren’t focusing entirely on the fighting. And this was definitely worth the read for me.


I don’t know how we got through it, but we did. This was a long issue, and while I love reading all the extra manga, I look forward to a lighter load next week.

Don’t forget to mention in the comments which series was your favorite this week.

If you want to hear more, check out the Manga^3 Podcast Archives.

Filed Under: FEATURES & REVIEWS, WSJA Recaps Tagged With: bleach, blue exorcist, Dragon Ball Z, naruto, nisekoi, One Piece, one punch man, toriko, world trigger

Weekly Shonen Jump Recap: February 2, 2014

February 23, 2014 by Derek Bown Leave a Comment

Cover Feb 2, 2014This was another really strong week, though the lack of Naruto might be what put me in such a good mood about this week’s issue. Who knows, I doubt that’s the case since I’ve actually been enjoying the past couple weeks of Naruto. Though perhaps for the wrong reasons.

Toriko Ch. 264
Toriko is back! After a month off we finally get the start of the Gourmet World Arc. Finally Toriko is going to save Komatsu and…wait did I miss something? Komatsu has already been rescued? It’s been over a year that they’ve been in the Gourmet World? What’s going on!?!?!

The thing about timeskips and manga is that they can work when we are warned ahead of time. And then there’s the approach Fairy Tail and Toriko took, which is to spring it on us with no warning. And that leaves me feeling conflicted. On the one hand we dodged a rescue arc, though it’s not like Midora would have tried to keep him. He said Komatsu could go, but the latter decided to stick around and wait for his ride. Chances are Toriko would have shown up, ready to fight, and Midora was all “Whatever, take him.” And I kind of wanted to see that!!

Given how much time we spent getting Komatsu captured, it feels like all of that was a waste of time if it doesn’t even matter in the end. I have to admit, while I don’t care for rescue arcs, given how they’ve been overdone, having it completely skipped like this feels incomplete.

An odd return for one of my favorite manga, but considering Toriko has a track record of amazing chapters, and some less than stellar, I’m willing to wait and see where this goes.

Toriko

One Piece Ch. 736
It’s always a good chapter when a brand new character finds themselves trapped in Luffy’s pace. Though I have to wonder how on earth Zoro still hasn’t gotten used to Luffy always doing the wrong thing. You’d think he’d be able to predict it by now. I hope that at some point in the future we’ll get Luffy about to go and do the absolute worst thing possible and one of the smarter crew members catches him before he can.

And you gotta love DoFlamingo losing his cool as he realizes that the “Lucy” in the coliseum is not Luffy at all. It’s the beginning of the fall for him.

And then there’s a giant rock monster. Looks like we’re moving into the action packed climax of this story, and I can’t wait for all the fighting goodness.

One Piece

World Trigger Ch. 047
What is it with manga always having military groups act completely unprofessionally? Even if the neighbors invading aren’t exactly human, they must be some kind of military group, so what’s with all the bickering? It’s getting a bit tiring seeing this in every manga I read.

The escalation of the battle is handled very well, especially considering how early on in the series we still are. Compared to other series that had wars happen. And the fact that I actually care about the characters, compared to where we started with this series is kind of surprising.

Nisekoi Ch. 108
I’m curious to see where the next chapter goes, seeing how it will determine whether Haru is just a bland character or the worst character in the manga in a way that will never be surpassed by anyone else. Her obsession with her Prince Charming is an annoyance I would rather do without, but it would really make her a pretty awful person if she decides to pursue Ichijo, who to this point she hated, just because it turns out he did something nice for her in the past. It’d be kind of a crummy thing to pursue someone you know your sister likes just because you have a sense of romance that even Disney has been trying to distance itself from.

I wouldn’t be so annoyed by all this, if it weren’t for the fact that this series is really good when Haru isn’t the focus. And trying to play her off as another one of the girls being added to the harem feels unnecessary considering Nisekoi is usually so good at not being just another harem series. I’d hate to see it change that. And trying to pass off a pretty unlikable character as legitimate as the other characters that have been around for much longer would be a pretty boneheaded move.

Nisekoi

All You Need Is Kill Ch. 003
Definitely a strong showing for this series. The ongoing development of Keiji as a soldier is fascinating to watch, and the weaponry and battle tactics employed by the humans is very interesting. Though it makes me wonder why they even bother with guns if said guns are not effective.

The timeloop does raise some problematic issues that I’m not sure how the manga will adapt to. Keiji seeking out an axe like Rita’s doesn’t make much sense, if he’s in a timeloop he’d need to have it made new every time. I’m pretty sure there is no way for him to take it back in time with him. And if those axes aren’t standard issue, which they should be, how does he expect to carry one of those into battle without questions being asked.

And, of course, we get a third woman, with a design that really, really doesn’t fit in with the rest of the manga. They all feel like they belong in the dating sim version of All You Need Is Kill (would that be All You Need Is Ecchi?)

Still, this is a promising series, and the art by Obata, some design choices aside, is always a treat.

All You Need Is Kill

Bleach Ch. 566
I’m curious to see what the explanation for Rukia not being affected by Äs Nödt’s fear powers. She certainly has experience enough in her life that there isn’t much left to fear I imagine. And the continued abuse of Umlautte by Kubo aside, I look forward to seeing Rukia win a fight without almost dying herself.

At times, however the art gets a bit confusing and I can’t make out exactly what is happening. Which really shouldn’t be something Kubo has to worry about, considering how much space he gives his art. I could understand someone with a cramped art style having a hard time with the blocking of their action scenes, but when someone uses a style that leaves a lot of open space I wouldn’t expect them to be the one that has a hard time showing exactly what is happening.

Seraph of the End Ch. 010
There are few things sadder than seeing a writer continue to fail at comedy. Shinoa is not a funny character, and the constant attempts to make her endearing in an odd way just aren’t working. And it’s amazing how Yuichiro is everything a stereotypical shonen hero is. And yet somehow he manages to combine all the worst qualities of shonen heroes without any of the charm any of his predecessors have. Everything he does just infuriates me even more. When Luffy doesn’t listen and just does his own thing it’s endearing. When Yuichiro does it he’s the worst character in existence. And I’m not entirely sure why this is.

Maybe it’s because I’m an adult now, as opposed to when I started reading One Piece. Back then I could appreciate a hero that did his own thing, without taking any guff from anyone. Now anytime I see the same thing in a new manga my reaction is more akin to “Damn kid, can’t you just listen for once you little moron?”

It almost makes me sad that the vampires didn’t finish them off when they had the chance this week. It’s not like it would have taken long. Just a couple minutes and you could have been on your way. Please?

Seraph of the End

Dragon Ball Z Ch. 049
This chapter was really good. The obvious, “I have a message about this character” was kept to a minimum, and what did happen was really funny. Most people think of Dragon Ball Z as just an action series. But keep in mind Dragon Ball was a comedy originally. And Toriyama is still adept at comedy this early on in the Z incarnation.

Though I have to wonder, how is it that the Dragon Balls are limited by their creator’s power level, but they can resurrect the dead? Does that mean Kami can resurrect the dead? And if he can, why does he constantly make them gather the Dragon Balls? Unless the idea is that he has enough power to do so, but doesn’t know how? Which doesn’t make any sense because I know for a fact that if I had supernatural powers, and my ability was strong enough to learn how to raise the dead, I sure as heck would take the time to learn how to do it. Or maybe the idea is that he is powerful enough, but cannot do it without a focus like the Dragon Balls.

Either way, it’s never explained and I want a bloody explanation!


If you want to hear more, check out the Manga^3 Podcast Archives.

Filed Under: FEATURES & REVIEWS, WSJA Recaps Tagged With: bleach, blue exorcist, Dragon Ball Z, naruto, nisekoi, One Piece, one punch man, toriko, world trigger

Weekly Shonen Jump Recap: January 27, 2013

February 11, 2014 by Derek Bown 1 Comment

January 27, 2014 CoverPretty good batch this week I have to say. Some chapters weren’t the greatest, but overall even the chapters I don’t usually care for were pretty good.

Naruto Ch. 662
All I can say about this chapter (well that’s not entirely true) is, “Ding dong the witch is almost dead!” But I jest, my condolences to anyone whose heart broke when Sasuke got stabbed last chapter and remained stabbed this chapter. Honestly I’m surprised he didn’t think to switch places with a handy log.

What really stands out this chapter is how romance in this series works. I know right? We start off talking about an almost dead person and suddenly it’s all about romance. Allow me to explain. As it turns out apparently Ino and Karin’s “love” for Sasuke is so great that they were able to telepathically realize that he is mortally wounded. I can understand Ino being capable of that, what with her ability to transmit thoughts across multiple minds. But how exactly is Karin realizing that he’s been mortally wounded? If the answer turns out to “True Love” then I just might break something.

More amusing is the fact that neither Sakura nor Hinata reacted when Naruto was mortally injured. In fact, Sakura was one of the only characters who’s ever had a thing for Sasuke that didn’t react when he got stabbed. Make of that what you will.

Overall the chapter is actually enjoyable if mostly because seeing our two main characters in such a life threatening situation makes for good drama no matter how the rest of the series fumbles the ball when it comes to storytelling. And the shipping implications are entertaining for anyone that enjoys watching the shipping communities go mad.

All You Need Is Kill Ch. 002
I didn’t get around to reviewing the first chapter because it was in a special issue instead of a regular issue. Should I have reviewed that special issue? I say Nay because there were only three chapters in it, all of them from Obata’s old series. Instead I’ll tell you what I thought right here.

The first chapter was interesting, the concept certainly has my attention and I do like body armor. But I find the female character designs a bit problematic in that they don’t seem to fit in the world this manga is trying to build. They look like they’d be more at home in Bakuman, rather than a gritty action sci-fi series.

The second chapter continues to be worth the time it takes to read by introducing the idea that Keiji can change the outcome of each time loop slightly. Ultimately he is unable to change his ultimate fate without more experience, but as he comes to realize that while his physical abilities will not increase, he can improve himself mentally by learning how to properly use his armor, learn battle strategies, and more importantly gain combat experience from facing the mimics over and over.

Seeing how this series is not only being made a manga, but a western style comic, as well as a movie, I have to say this odd cross promotion has been strangely effective. I originally wasn’t intending on seeing the movie “Edge of Tomorrow” but after seeing the basic concept handled well in the manga I’m curious to see how the big budget adaptation turns out.

One Piece Ch. 735
One Piece can be hard to review because each chapter has so much content that it almost deserves its own review. There’s so much to say that if I were to say only a fraction of it I would feel like what I did say didn’t do the chapter justice.

But enough creative stalling, the chapter was of course, as usual, excellent. I still don’t understand what Oda is trying to do with Señor Pink, but this time around I actually thought he was kind of cool. If he weren’t such an odd parody of I don’t know what he’d definitely be a cool type of character. I think it deserves mention that this is the first chapter of One Piece, ever, that acknowledges that sex exists in the One Piece world. Sure we’ve had children born in this series before, but never before has Oda gone into the specifics of how such an event comes to be. And then this chapter we have one of the random groupies flat out ask Señor Pink to “Make love to me, Señor!”

Fujitora’s plan to undo the seven warlord system is fascinating, and definitely makes him stand out as a character, and not just another Admiral. This arc has been very good with its characters, even moreso than the Fishman Island arc because with these characters we can expect them to stick around and show up later in the arc. At least we can with Fujitora and the newly appointed Lucy who is making his appearance in the finale of the tournament.

One Piece

Nisekoi Ch. 107
I continue to wonder why Haru gets so much focus in this series, even when she’s tolerable she’s far from my favorite character, so it becomes hard to enjoy chapters of which she is the focus. However, the reveal at the end where she discovers the truth about Raku and Chitoge’s relationship is definitely worth it. Now we just have to see how she reacts now that she knows her sister isn’t trying to steal another girl’s boyfriend.

Nisekoi

One-Punch Man Ch. 032
I think the main thing this chapter highlights is that the weakness of One-Punch Man is how the characters kind of appear without any real development towards their personalities. They usually are introduced during a fight, rather than the standard way of introducing them outside of a battle. To be fair, I call this a weakness, when I’m not sure that’s the right term I’m looking for. It’s a unique approach certainly, but it does mean that we’re spending a lot of time with characters that are perfectly fine, I just haven’t had enough time to grow attached to them, so anytime Saitama isn’t on screen I feel myself struggling to remain invested in the other characters.

One-Punch Man

Bleach Ch. 565
Not only do we get to learn Yhwach’s powers, but we also discover, in a kind of roundabout way, that Uryu definitely hasn’t turned against his friends, but that he most likely went to avenge his mother, only to find himself trapped. And the Quincies find themselves in a never ending battle because if Yhwach ever stops battling he will return to an infantile, helpless state.

An interesting concept, but the chapter was a bit too explainy to really be entertaining.

Dragonball Z Ch. 048
People can say what they want about Chi-Chi, I will contend that she’s in the right. Think about it, how happy would you be with your spouse if they got your child involved in a life or death battle for the sake of the planet? Sure everyone would have died had they not, but keep in mind this is your son that hasn’t even hit puberty yet. I’d be pretty furious too in that situation. So to see the characters all complain about what a terrible wife she is kind of pisses me off. What exactly was Toriyama trying to say? That caring about your offspring makes you a terrible spouse? Yes she’s overbearing, but the extent to which the other characters call her out on not caring about Goku is a bit sickening. Because, let’s face it, Goku isn’t exactly a model husband and father. Ultimately I feel that her portrayal in this chapter was excessively political in that she was clearly there to make a statement, and the statement being made is problematic at best.

Dragonball Z

El Viento Del Norte
I’ll spare you the rant about how Katanas are not the greatest swords ever made, and how the constant praise heaped on them by manga kind of pisses me off (We get it manga artists, your ancestors made good swords, well guess what so did my ancestors. And Katanas aren’t actually all that unique, the form was simultaneously developed/adopted on the asian mainland by Cambodia, Thailand, and Burma to name a few. Not identical, but the basic shape of the swords of these four countries are very similar. And how exactly does some goon in the middle of the US Mid-West (or wherever this is set exactly) know what in the flip a Katana is? These are the people for whom the basic name for Chinese people was offensive at best, and to them EVERYONE asian was Chinese. I doubt they’d even care to make the distinction between Chinese or Japanese, so how are they supposed to know what the smeg a flipping Katana is??!?!? And don’t get me started on cutting guns, a Katana can’t even cut a basic European longsword, how are they supposed to cut an entire gun?!?!?).

…sorry.

Anyway, as for the manga itself. The idea of a sword wielding cowgirl is interesting, and while I have to suppress my inner fanboy to accept that said cowgirl wields a Katana, the execution of this one-shot is amateur at best. Which, of course, makes sense considering it was written by an amateur. But it feels like the whole thing was an attempt to appeal both to the Japanese and the Americans voting. “Oh hey, Americans like Cowboys right? Well let’s make it a Cowgirl, and give lesbian overtones because the Japanese (and some Americans) like that along with Katanas.” It feels like something Nobuhiro Watsuki wrote at the beginning of his career. The art style even resembles it a bit. And if Watsuki wanted to write a western with Katanas I would be down, but this story feels like a watered down version of what he would have drawn.

The characters are difficult to get invested in, mostly because of lack of space, which is somewhat countered by the old manga fallback of exaggerating their every interaction. The lesbian overtones from Marianne are a good touch, as sexual attraction can easily explain the attachment between two characters, but the two act like they’ve been lifelong friends instead of people that have only known each other for less than two days.

It’s fun, but when compared to professional standards I wouldn’t expect this to be a long lasting series were it being given the chance at serialization.

El Viento Del Norte


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Filed Under: FEATURES & REVIEWS, WSJA Recaps Tagged With: bleach, blue exorcist, Dragon Ball Z, naruto, nisekoi, One Piece, one punch man, toriko, world trigger

Weekly Shonen Jump Recap: January 20, 2014

January 30, 2014 by Derek Bown Leave a Comment

WSJ January 20 CoverI think this was one of those rare weeks where I enjoyed all the chapters. Well, almost all, there was one or two I didn’t care much for. But I can’t say there were any terrible chapters this week. I’d almost say I’d rather have a week where all the chapters are good rather than one or two chapters be amazing while all the others are terrible.

Unfortunately we start the week off with one of the less than great chapters, which during my first read through did not bode well for the week.

Seraph of the End Ch. 009
Pro Tip: If you want me to give a chapter a good review, perhaps consider not starting it with underage nudity. When I started reading this series I thought that we would be subjected to many things, but I never would have thought blatant underage fanservice would have been something I’d have to deal with. I guess my naiveté got the better of me this time around. Still, this makes me wonder how exactly Shokugeki no Soma is too risqué for the manga when they just published some pretty heavy nudity in this manga.

Besides getting off to a bad start, and the attempts at humor falling as short as always, the rest of this chapter wasn’t actually terrible. The fights were good, we had a decent enough twist halfway through the chapter. So overall it was the most tolerable Seraph has ever been. Though it does raise questions such as why the Imperial Demon Army would abandon people outside their walls. Sure maybe they don’t have space. But they aren’t exactly abandoning these people to death per say. They’re abandoning them to become the nourishment of the enemy. Last time I checked it was good strategy to deny your enemy resources whenever possible. Ancient armies would often slash and burn their own crops to deny sustenance to their invaders. I doubt vampires would be very hard to fight if they were denied food. So methinks the Demon Army is fairly incompetent. Not only are the abandoning their own people, but they’re doing it in a way that only makes the enemy stronger.

Seraph of the End

One Piece Ch. 734
I’ve been waiting for Cavendish to get that little extra something that would round him off as a character. He was already better than expected, but still missing that extra flair that Bartolomeo had gotten several chapters ago. And this week we finally got it. Cavendish having a split personality may not be the greatest twist, but I think that’s because I may be unfairly comparing him to Bartolomeo who is easily my favorite character of the arc.

This week is another chapter that mostly spends its time setting up the final climax of the arc. I can’t say how long it will last for, but we are moving into the phase of the story where characters start pairing off for battles. And considering we haven’t seen all of Doflamingo’s group I’m particularly looking forward to what happens next week.

One Piece

Naruto Ch. 661
This week, despite Madara going on about stuff we’ve already heard about, was actually pretty good. We’ve got plenty of dramatic tension with Naruto in the process of dying to make up for Madara’s verbosity. And to make things better Madara finally does what I’ve wanted to do this entire series! So all things considered this chapter is a win.

Bleach Ch. 564
I’m a bit worried that Kubo is going to go the route of “Everyone gets a power up because they didn’t actually know their bankai’s name”. It works once, and only once, but if it happens again it will only be because Kubo likes power ups, even when it makes absolutely no sense.

Bleach
Still, seeing Renji actually win a fight makes this chapter worth our time. Though I will miss his previous bankai, which I thought was really clever, if underpowered.

World Trigger Ch. 046
After seeing an incompetent army in Seraph, it’s nice to see some competency in Border. The majority of the chapter focuses on figuring out how to defeat their enemy. And since it’s done in an intelligent way with the setbacks caused not by the incompetency of the characters, but rather by the advantages of the enemy, gives me hope for the future of this manga. It’s just good writing to have setbacks in conflict be caused by the enemy and not because the enemy hasn’t done anything special, the main characters are just moronic. So yes please, more intelligent characters please.

World Trigger

Nisekoi Ch. 106
Sometimes seeing fictional characters suffer is hilarious. And considering that Nisekoi is all about the facial expressions for me I have to rate this chapter quite high. There was almost an overload of great faces Chitoge made throughout the chapter. And the resolution of her lost hairband was perfectly paced for a one chapter story. It seems a lost art among manga to write single chapter stories. Which is a bit of a shame, but probably happens because writing an ongoing narrative is an easier way to keep interest. One still needs to write it well, but I think the individual chapters need to be much better in single chapter stories to get readers back the next week. An ongoing story, while good, can have some chapters that are setup and don’t have proper payoff at the end, and readers will come back because they want to know how it all wraps up.

Dragon Ball Z Ch. 047
One of my big peeves with Dragon Ball is how a lot of the problems are made worse because Goku refuses to end the threat in favor of getting a better fight. It makes him seem dumber than he actually is, but at least this time around Goku acknowledges that his desire to keep Vegeta alive is a bad idea. It doesn’t make it any smarter but there’s something to be said for someone that knows they aren’t very smart vs. someone who has no clue.

With the fight finally over we can get back to some more character moments before we move on to the next conflict. Personally I prefer those chapters so I look forward to next week.


Like I said, this was a good week. Even the series I normally love to hate were actually enjoyable on their own merits and not because of the joy I get from ripping them apart. Though in the case of Naruto, again, it’s because I’ve wanted to do what Madara does at the very end of the chapter for years now.

If you want to hear more, check out the Manga^3 Podcast Archives.

Filed Under: FEATURES & REVIEWS, WSJA Recaps Tagged With: bleach, blue exorcist, Dragon Ball Z, naruto, nisekoi, One Piece, one punch man, toriko, world trigger

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