Naruto 495
[chapter link]
Naruto rapping on the cover page does not fill me with confidence.
P3, top-right panel: This panel is to be saved for posterity.
The entire discourse between Naruto and Dark Naruto is poor. No specifics to comment about. Just poor.
Those guys were just sitting there watching him? That’s… bizarre.
We’re done with the pre-training arc stuff. Now, to the actual training arc. I’m a little depressed to say that.
Final Flash: Not a good chapter, and very little to talk about, but at least we’re moving forward.
One Piece 585
[chapter link]
I suppose Magellan and Hannyabal don’t have any other friends.
Despite not being a huge fan of flashbacks, and despite wanting to move forward with the present-time storyline, I’m enjoying this flashback now. It’s fun to see kid Luffy devising attacks but not yet being able to pull them off.
Oda seems to be having fun writing this, too. One Piece rarely features so many narrative boxes.
Sabo is the son of a noble, and he’s passionate about becoming a free pirate. Sorry, kid, but your fate is sealed.
Several pages of bittersweet scenes of three brothers. This would feel completely different if it had been before Ace’s death. Sorry for doubting you, Oda.
Sabo’s father in cahoots with Bluejam. Next chapter should be the climax of the flashback.
Final Flash: A very different kind of One Piece chapter. More narrative, extended stretches of allowing the art to speak without dialogue. Reminds me of some old Calvin & Hobbes Sunday strips. Very much a “feel” chapter, and a good one.
Bleach 404
[chapter link]
Sadly, our wish of “Bleach 404” being a missing chapter error message did not come true.
Well, five pages in, and it feels like the chapter’s missing. Nothing happening. Just staring.
Unnecessary and ill-timed comic relief between Yoruichi and Kisuke.
Tired of seeing extreme close-ups of these three. If you’re going to kill someone off, hurry the hell up and do it. It’s not like there’s going to be any impact anyway; might as well get it over with.
Oh, right, Ichigo’s here.
Again, Gin is spot on in his remarks about Ichigo. Gin is easily the only tolerable character left in this series.
P16, middle panel: I’m sorry, is that supposed to be an attack? Is that art supposed to convey anything?
Ichigo, already useless, resorts to Hollow mode. Great.
There’s Matsumoto again. Do something this time.
Final Flash: Typical putrid Bleach.
History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi 382
[chapter link]
P1, top panel: Okay, I understand Kenichi‘s propensity for fanservice, but Miu’s chest is pretty ridiculous.
Excellent cover page.
P4, bottom-left panel: Excuse me, sir; your neck seems to be trying to devour your face.
“I would even beat up the President, but don’t make me get on a plane!” Great line.
Matsuena seems to use progressively more cutesy characters in lighthearted/comedy scenes these days. Not exactly chibi, but slightly deformed.
Some menacing scenes of the Setting Sun of Eternity, then a rather abrupt ending. Almost feels like a page is missing.
Final Flash: It’ll take a couple more chapters to properly set up the main fights, but this was enjoyable enough.
Fairy Tail 184
[chapter link]
Cover page says “Climax of the Edolas Arc.” I am holding you to this, chapter.
Taurus: Useless, as always.
Virgo, now. Proving Lucy’s powerlessness before she reveals a new summon, maybe? I don’t know. There’s no sense of purpose to this fight.
I am entirely unsurprised that Mashima is having a cute girl fighting a baddie with tentacles.
You can’t use a “protect your friends” speech when the character is trying to save a stranger. This is a basic storytelling principle.
Yep, Lucy proved to be unnecessary. Natsu would have come through that wall and saved the day whether or not the octopus guy was tied up. Chalking this up to fanservice.
Two mid-bosses were defeated, and that’s the “climax of the Edolas arc”? Gray hasn’t even fought, Erza is still fighting herself somewhere, the old man has yet to reveal his power, and there are surely at least two more “shocking” developments in this cheap Enies Lobby ripoff.
Final Flash: Chapter, that’s unacceptable false advertising. I demand to see your supervisor, chapter.
Beelzebub 60
[chapter link]
Color page: Colors are pretty good, but this isn’t the most flattering example of this mangaka’s art. Too many of Oga and Toujou’s features look similar.
Page 5, top-left panel: Oga’s willing to fight! Excellent.
So Izuma not only dodges Toujou, but somehow hits his arm in such a way that it’s smoking? Scary.
Not sure how I feel about Toujou shrugging off Miki’s attack. It’s a cool scene, but I thought we’d already established that Oga was above Toujou.
Deathmatch. Yeah, Izuma is scary.
Furuichi! Back to chasing girls, too. Can’t go wrong, here.
Expulsion? That can’t actually happen, can it?
Final Flash: Some cool moments, but it’s very disappointing not to see any of the fights resolved.
Toriko 94
[chapter link]
Well, that’s one way to start a chapter. Bare ass. Full color, too.
Color spread: So much pink! The large character behind Toriko looks a lot like Blackbeard from One Piece, too.
“And my completely dead three subordinates” is an amusing line. They’re not just dead. They’re completely dead.
Page 5, third row, right panel: Toriko is uncharacteristically adorable here.
Butterfly Therapies… yet more interesting ideas used only in passing. Great touch.
As expected, Setsuna foreshadows an interesting development with the wall penguin child.
Nice to see Toriko walking around casually without an arm. I expect him to get his arm back soon, but in the meantime, this is good.
Onsen Sharks! Creative.
The first person in our world to successfully genetically engineer Diet Fish will make a fortune.
Love that Sani was so focused on himself that he didn’t notice Toriko’s missing arm.
… whoa. I was more right with that Blackbeard comment than I expected. Yosaku is practically the spitting image of Teach. Weird.
Final Flash: Fun transitional chapter with many great new species.
Weekly Power Rankings – 5/9 – 5/15
Beamcast – May 17
[download link – 86min, 43mb]
In this week’s show:
News
34th Kodansha Manga Awards (Inazuma Eleven, Ace of the Diamond, Kuragehime, Giant Killing)
4Kids reports $3.5 million loss in Q1 2010
Buronson, Hiroyuki Nishimori each launch new manga in Monthly Shonen Sunday
One Piece vol. 57 is best-selling book since 2008
Moyashimon beer!
Weekly Oricon rankings
Licensing announcements
Rosario + Vampire
Chaos:HEAd
Chrome Shelled Regios
Rideback
Sora no Otoshimono
GUNxSWORD
Current/Classic Reviews
Naruto
Death Note
This Week in Manga
0:40:03 – Bleach 403
0:45:31 – One Piece 584
0:48:44 – Naruto 494
0:51:46 – Bakuman 85
0:54:35 – Beelzebub 59
0:59:39 – Fairy Tail 183
1:02:21 – History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi 381
1:04:44 – Hayate no Gotoku! 271
1:06:36 – Mahou Sensei Negima! 288
1:08:08 – Psyren 118
1:10:58 – Hajime no Ippo 893-894
1:17:46 – Zettai Karen Children 215-216
1:19:32 – Lock On! 11
1:20:45 – D.Gray-man 194
1:21:56 – Fullmetal Alchemist 107
1:23:16 – Hunter x Hunter 308
1:23:50 – Kimi no Iru Machi 89
1:24:37 – Nurarihyon no Mago 104
Chapters of the Week
Final Flash
Comments / questions / additions? Email the show.
Want to share with friends? How kind. Have a shortlink: http://wp.me/pJOZe-gM
Credit: AnimeNewsNetwork
Naruto 494
Was not looking forward to this flashback at all, so entering with low expectations.
Just as expected: halfway through the chapter, and this has all felt pointless. We already know how tailed beasts ruin kids’ lives. We saw that whole flashback with the title character of the series. Speaking of which, can we go back to him already?
There he is, brooding over the awful truth of this world: That everyone hates you until you save their asses multiple times.
The squid moment elicited a half-smile from me, but I can’t help but feel like this isn’t the time for humor.
Really don’t care at all about Motoi.
And Motoi’s issues with Bee are resolved? How? Was Bee listening the whole time? This doesn’t make sense. You can’t use the audience to convey plot from character to character.
Final Flash: Unnecessary flashback featuring an uninteresting character.
Bleach 403
The next time someone asks me to explain Bleach, I think I’ll just show them the first panel of the first page of this chapter. It pretty succinctly sums up the full depth of the Bleach experience.
Perfect Aizen looks completely stupid. What an awful character design.
Wow, Yoruichi. You don’t say. It’s not like the entire Beamcast crew predicted this mere days ago or anything… not that that makes us special. Anyone with a pulse could have seen this coming.
Oh, good, speed lines.
What the hell does she have on her arms and legs?
Completely unsurprisingly, she did absolutely nothing of value. Even “shocking” character reappearances are devalued in the face of Perfect Aizen.
Final Flash: Well, fanservice-hungry readers probably enjoyed this, at least.
One Piece 584
Why wouldn’t Crocodile and Daz Bones be walking around with mafioso hippos?
Man, Ace and Sabo were jerks when they were young. Well, at least Ace “was.” Who knows about Sabo, yet.
Luffy was a real man even when he wasn’t a real man. Here’s hoping for some serious retribution against Polchemi.
Oh, good. The kids aren’t so bad, after all.
Well, there’s that retribution. Pretty brutal.
While I’ve questioned the placement of this flashback, the fact that it was withheld until after Ace’s death makes the scene where Ace finally accepts Luffy both touching and haunting.
As if Sabo wasn’t certainly going to become an important character already, he’s now also staying with Dadan? Look for him to feature prominently in some capacity.
Tenryuubito. Things are about to get serious.
Final Flash: I would expect next chapter to be the last chapter of the flashback, which would be acceptable. Given that we know most of what happened to Luffy and Ace after this point, I would expect it to be Dadan or Sabo who gets tangled up with the Tenryuubito.
Katekyo Hitman Reborn! 288
[chapter link]
Tsuna, you’d be well advised not to sleep with a PSP. It’ll break if you look at it wrong, let alone roll onto it or drop it a couple feet.
(He sleeps with Nuts, too?)
Another future project for me to consider: A comprehensive list of shonen stereotypes. I say this now because Tsuna’s mom is clearly the quintessential ‘gullible/oblivious parent’, which would surely chart highly on the list.
P6: “Is it really okay [for me to stay]?” “Of course!! Nuts is here too!” … uh, what? Stupid name aside, how the hell does that make any sense?
Gokudera has easily inspired the most confidence in me regarding this series’ return to form. He’s been excellent thus far in this arc.
Studying battle? Amano is going all the way back to the beginning of Reborn for this style of humor.
P16, bottom-left panel: Adelheid is keeping watch. Clearly, the Shimon family aren’t quite as straightforward of allies as the author would have us expect. I doubt they’re enemies, but I’m curious as to their agenda.
The ninth! Good timing.
Final Flash: Solidly enjoyable chapter. The charming humor from the very beginning of the series with a little of the action that set the series apart from its comedy contemporaries.
Beelzebub 59
[chapter link]
No way Oga thought that far ahead.
P2: Yep. Also, love everyone’s facial expressions in the large panel. Especially Beel.
Dual hadokens from Oga and Beel! Excellent.
Furuichi’s little moment of comedy reminds me how much I’ve missed him in the last few chapters.
Fake attack names! Hilarious.
Nanami-senpai? Hm.
Oh, 6 Horsemen. This could become interesting. Or completely one-sided.
Toujou! Yeah, decidedly in the “interesting” camp now.
Final Flash: Still good, but not as excellent as preceding chapters. A little disappointing to see the Oga/Miki fight end unresolved.
Beamcast – May 10
[download link – 78min, 38mb]
In this week’s show:
News
Naruto becomes fifth Shueisha manga with 100+ million copies in print
Dragon Ball Z Kai to air on TheCW4Kids on Saturdays during 2010-11 broadcast season
AnimEigo unable to license rest of Yawara! anime
Japan to spend 214.5 million yen to train animators
Welcome to the NHK, Excel Saga artists each launching new series
10th One Piece film, Summer Wars to compete at Annecy
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood director confirms FMA manga to end in two months
New Gainax series: Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
30% of Kodansha manga rejected by iTunes
Weekly Oricon rankings
New releases
[anime]
Darker Than Black – Complete First Season (eps 1-26) (DVD) $69.98
Dragon Ball – Season 4 Uncut (eps 93-122) (DVD) $49.98
Dragon Ball Z – Dragon Box Z Set 3 (eps 85-126) (DVD) $59.98
Rozen Maiden + Rozen Maiden Traumend – Complete Set (DVD) $49.98
Tsubasa, RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE – Collected Memories (1-52 + movie) (Bluray) $99.98
Vandread – Ultimate Collection (complete + OVAs) (DVD) $49.98
You’re Under Arrest: Full Throttle – Collection 2 (eps 13-24) (DVD) $39.98
Initial D: Stage 3 Movie (DVD) $29.98
Initial D: Stage 4 – Part 1 (eps 1-12) (DVD) $59.98
One Piece – Season 2, Part 7 (eps 131-143) (DVD) $49.98
ShinChan – Season 1 Complete Set (Dub DVD) $49.98
ShinChan – Season 2 Complete Set (Dub DVD) $49.98
Xenosaga – Complete Series – Viridian Collection (DVD) $24.98
Air (TV) – Complete Series – S.A.V.E. Edition (1-12+OVA) (DVD) $19.98
xxxHolic – Complete Set – Viridian Collection (DVD) $49.98
[manga]
One Piece (vols. 44-48) $9.99 each
Maou: Juvenile Remix (vol. 1) $9.99
Current/Classic Reviews
Bleach
Great Teacher Onizuka
This Week in Manga
0:39:48 – Mirai Nikki 51
0:40:41 – One Piece 583
0:42:44 – Naruto 493
0:45:09 – Bleach 402
0:48:01 – Bakuman 84
0:50:37 – Beelzebub 58
0:51:56 – Fairy Tail 182
0:53:35 – Kekkaishi 303-304
0:55:16 – Hayate no Gotoku! 270
0:57:19 – Mahou Sensei Negima! 287
0:59:26 – Psyren 117
1:01:59 – Hajime no Ippo 892
1:04:43 – Lock On! 10
1:06:59 – AR∀GO 17-18
1:08:17 – Toriko 92-93
1:14:11 – GE – Good Ending 32-33
1:14:31 – Hunter x Hunter 307
1:16:04 – Kimi no Iru Machi 87-88
1:16:53 – Nurarihyon no Mago 103
Chapters of the Week
Final Flash
Comments / questions / additions? Email the show.
Want to share with friends? How kind. Have a shortlink: http://wp.me/pJOZe-g1
Credit: AnimeNewsNetwork
Shonen Beam Social Network
Shonen Beam 