Shonen Beam

[chapter link]

Last chapter was surprisingly good. Well, good for Lock On!, anyway. Let’s hope the author builds on that.

A rival club? It has potential, I suppose. Arata (the cocky underclassman) could serve as a decent comic foil to Utsuru.

P4, bottom-left panel: See, this kind of stark panel would work excellently if Lock On! regularly had competent backgrounds.

Lots of festival/competition types of storylines in shonen manga right now. It’s almost as though that’s what’s happening in Japanese schools right now.

Yuki is a little too gullible, even for her role as the gullible kindhearted friend.

P16, bottom-right panel: Sadly, what’s clearly supposed to be a touching moment is ruined by the art style. This looks like My First Manga. Take off the training wheels already, Tsuchida.

Rival status confirmed.

Final Flash: I still feel Arata has some potential, but that’s not saying much in a series that began like a sinking ship. That potential needs to be realized quickly.