Katekyo Hitman Reborn! 285
Enma is so apathetic that he censored his own face? … oh.
“Thanks for yesterday. For fixing my pants.”
(Just going to leave that there without context.)
Can I see your hand? I want to creepily caress it.
This is the Gokudera I missed. Ridiculous, crazy, amusing.
If Hibari is knocked out, he’ll get beaten up? I’m hoping that’s a translation error. That makes no sense.
Reborn swinging in on a vine! This is also like the old/good Reborn.
They’re guests of the ceremony. That’s not bad, actually. Less predictable than “a group of exactly 7 people who think they’re the rightful heirs.”
Final Flash: The first taste in a long time of the style that made this series enjoyable so many chapters ago. Hopefully a sign of things to come.
Psyren 114
[chapter link]
Tangela attack!
P1, bottom right panel: The facial expressions on Yoshina and Amamiya genuinely convey chaos. Great panel.
Kyle was playing basketball? He gets cooler every week.
Shao Van fighting makes me want an anime. Right now. His style seems so fluid.
No, I didn’t need a flashback for this villain, thanks. He was cool enough, and the fight was just getting awesome. Oh well, at least it’s only a couple pages.
P16, center panel: Now that’s a good use of a blank background.
Great change in momentum.
Final Flash: Excellent fight thus far. If this is any indication of the fights to come, we’re in for a treat.
Bakuman 81
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Whoa, Mashiro. Your finger. It’s huge.
I’m liking Hattori’s plan. I like just about anything Hattori is involved with. How much would this manga lose without Hattori?
“Think One Piece and [Dragon Quest II: Dai no Daibouken].” Brilliant line.
Confident-Mashiro has taken this manga to a new level. I’m glad he’s on the same page as Hattori (through Miura).
I love how Eiji can pick up on tiny personal insecurities by reading a script.
“Magma of Stopper”… may not be the best title ever. Keep going, though, you guys are great.
Finally, the culmination. Great time for color pages next chapter.
Final Flash: The great thing about Bakuman’s unique genre is that chapters such as these, which might ordinarily be labeled “transitional” or “setup” chapters, feel just as exciting, interesting, and necessary as the chapters with shocking plot twists.
Hunter x Hunter 304
[chapter link]
See, everyone with background-drawing deficiency? Even Togashi can draw trees, and he plays Dragon Quest 27 hours a day.
“Wink Blue” is a silly name.
We get to see Gon starting on page 7! Finally, some more face time for the best character.
Can’t wait for Pouf to be killed.
Wow. Kaito is dead. It would carry a little more impact without the other fights and without the hiatuses, but it’s still sad.
Final Flash: Your moment has arrived, Gon. Make it happen.
Gamaran 43
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I have absolutely no qualifications to talk about proper swordfighting technique, and I know this is manga, but the stance for Muhi Musou Renjin seems a little… completely wide-open. Even for a fully offensive move, it makes little sense. If this is grounded in any reality, he would die before even reaching his target.
I point it out in the bad series, so I have to play fair and point it out in better ones: Hugely disappointing number of speed lines this chapter. I know the action is fast-paced, but limit yourself.
P13, top panel: Why we like this series.
I hope when I die, I don’t say “Abeh…”
Final Flash: Shinnoujou’s fight is over. It might have lasted a little too long for my tastes, but it was still acceptable. Ready for the main cast again.
Jump SQ.19 – New Shueisha Magazine
Shueisha, publisher of Weekly Shonen Jump, is set to launch a new magazine entitled Jump SQ. 19. Presumably targeting a similar demographic as another of Shueisha magazine, Jump SQ, JS19 features a fairly impressive lineup of mangaka for its debut. The more notable series and respective authors include:
Kekkai Sensou, Yasuhiro Nightow (Trigun, Gungrave)
Teichi no Kuni, Usamaru Furuya (Genkaku Picasso)
Agrippa, Uchimizu Tohru (Kain, Asklepios)
Wakaki Utsumaru no Nayami, Honemaru Mikami (Tsumikabatsu)
Himasupe Usagi, Yuuki Nakashima (Kirihoushi, Element Hunters)
Issue 1 will also feature an as yet untitled series by Miki Miyashita (Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou), a spin-off of Mayoi Neko Overrun! by Kentaro Yabuki (Black Cat, To LOVE-Ru), one-shots by Kawashita Mizuki (Ichigo 100%, Hatsukoi Limited, Ane Doki) and Yamato Yamamoto (artist of Kure-nai), and assorted other works by lesser known authors.
The first issue will hit Japanese newsstands May 19. Its subsequent release schedule is thus far undetermined.
Credit: News-Paradise (plus followup article)
Hayate no Gotoku! 267
[chapter link]
Wow. That’s a pretty sudden return to comedy.
“This is called a hat.” Isumi at her deadpan best.
Hayate walking in on her was a little too telegraphed.
Current financial climate joke! Actually, quite a good one. Unexpected.
Final Flash: The return to this style of episodic comedy could only have been more jarring if Hayate wasn’t on break last week. Funny, but difficult to get used to again.
Bleach 399
These covers make me think Kubo has become disinterested with his own series. While Bleach has obviously gone in a poor direction, I would be fair enough to give his next manga a chance. The interaction between the classmates early in Bleach wasn’t bad, and Kubo seems to have an eye for fashion, so perhaps he could pull off a schoolkids/comedy series.
I just want to point out that the text at the top of the first proper page says “Finally, the Last Battle!!” I’m holding him to that. Not necessarily the final battle of the series (though I’d love that), but at least the final battle of this arc.
In the first few pages of the fight, Isshin is clearly outmatched. Hasn’t landed a hit yet.
Ichigo’s explanation is way too long. You’re in the middle of a fight. Fight.
Yeah, I’m going to have to agree with Gin on this one. Ichigo is creepy.
Broken. Gin’s Bankai is completely broken. Silly, overpowered, yet completely useless in a direct fight if he actually had credible opposition. Broken.
(Incidentally, I can’t wait for doujins to start parodying this. Do you know how long my… “bankai”… is?)
The frustrating thing about Gin’s power, in exactly the same way Aizen’s reappearance was frustrating (when he killed his own men for being weak), is that it completely nullifies everything we’ve read until this point. If Aizen and Gin are this strong, there’s absolutely no reason they couldn’t have achieved their goals long ago. I don’t feel as though as I’m reading a sensibly paced conflict; I feel I’m reading conflict written for the express purpose of racking up chapter and volume numbers.
Ichigo, performing his one move. The entire fighting style and structure is completely counterproductive to shonen storytelling. The Shikai/Bankai concept is fine, and it’s guaranteed to provide at least one memorable (though not necessarily quality) moment each time someone first reveals their Bankai, but Kubo didn’t establish any underlying powers or fighting styles innately associated with Bankai, so each time someone powers up, that’s it. They have a couple attacks at most. Yes, the Soul Society folks have Kidou, and Hollows have Cero, but their power has been explicitly limited.
Final Flash: Not great, and Gin’s Bankai was completely disappointing, but there was more action and progress in this chapter than in many recent chapters, at least.
Naruto 490
[chapter link]
Kabuto could yet prove to be the redeeming villain this series has needed for years. His pure interest in ninjutsu, as long as it remains unaffected by personal motives on either side of the war, is refreshing.
Ten bucks says Konohamaru was in the obscured coffin.
Wait, who’s Tokuma? Was it really necessary to create another Byakugan user when Negi and Hinata don’t get nearly enough face time as it is? That’s too bad. I was actually excited for a moment.
A plotline loosely involving Orochimaru develops and, all of a sudden, Anko reappears.
Whoa. What Naruto is doing is exactly the same as what Negi is doing in Negima. Neither author is copying the other, obviously, but… how strange.
Time to go find us an octopus! … that’s actually an ox. … inside of a Bee. I’m lost.
Final Flash: For a developmental chapter, it was enjoyable. Let the coffin-theorizing begin! Friend of the site Clint has presented the theory that the body contained in the coffin presented to Madara is none other than… Madara! Quoth Clint: “If you look at his reactions, and what he’s saying, in the context, it makes a ton of sense. Tobi actually isn’t Madara, and he had to join up with Kabuto, or Kabuto would reveal him.” A fascinating theory!
Mahou Sensei Negima! 285
[chapter link]
Negi, the perfect example of a male protagonist unwittingly making every girl around him fall in love. So innocent.
Why, hello Evangeline. So nice of you to drop in.
(Love that she’s playing a retro game on a retro TV, the way it’s meant to be done.)
Shonen paraphrasing: “There is an option but it’s dangero–” “I MUST DO IT”
All these overt parallels to RPGs (well, video games in general) present the obvious, mandatory scenario: An American release of the inevitable comprehensive Negima (Suikoden-esque) RPG encompassing at least the entire Magic World arc. This must happen.
Page 15: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and Chidori on the same page? Hm.
Nodoka meets up with Yue, too! I was hoping this would happen soon.
Final Flash: Great fight scenes and the final character development necessary before the climactic fights.
Lock On! 7
[chapter link]
Even the coloring on the cover page is uninspired.
A new character? She seems to have some personality.
Oh, she knows Sanada. That’s too bad. With a personality like that, she might have made a good rival.
Large panel, p9: Cementing that the series’ photography theme is an excuse for full-body shots of girls.
Sanada really is famous. Huh.
Yuki, the requisite kindhearted idiot. I swear, I’m not trying to hate this series, but it’s so standard.
Final Flash: A rescue mini-arc. I have no expectations. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Fairy Tail 179
[chapter link]
Let’s see how much I can write without mentioning cats.
“What path is left in Edolas without any help?” is a pretty shallow statement. It wouldn’t be predictable shonen manga without someone coming to help them right about now.
Hm, handcuffs that restrain special powers. That sounds familiar.
Activate the Buster Ca– er, Code ETD.
“So, the purpose of strengthening our military was for this…” Yes, it was, Dalton.
What do you know? Someone showed up to help.
Final Flash: The swerve of the humans waging war on the Eksheed is the only redeeming quality of an otherwise linear chapter.
Beelzebub 55
[chapter link]
The more Baby Beel, the better. Not that there’s anything wrong with Oga.
“I trust Miki-kun.” Priceless.
Center panel, p10: Haven’t seen this face from Oga much. Usually he’s more comical or sadistic. Interesting expression.
Oga may not be much for team spirit, but he certainly acts like a leader.
All set up for fights next chapter!
Final Flash: Beelzebub finally gets its year anniversary recognition and issue cover next chapter. Well-deserved.
MiXiM☆11 90
[chapter link]
No better way to get into serious mode than with a character with an onigiri for a hand.
You know the point in professional wrestling matches where all the obvious losers use their finishing moves in quick succession before inevitably being beaten? That’s what the first part of this chapter feels like.
(… what do you mean, you don’t watch pro wrestling?)
“Lets’s fly”? Really, scanlators?
Momoko doesn’t look bad with short hair. However, I don’t need to be told this by idiotic translator’s and editor’s notes.
Fact: Predictions ruin anything.
Final Flash: At least they’re fighting. Get the lesser characters out of the way as quickly as possible.
AR∀GO 14
[chapter link]
Very amusing cover.
I’ll be disappointed if Joe really is distancing himself from Arago.
Rio! Everything’s better with Rio.
“The Arrowhead of Fairies”? I wonder if that will later change, like “Orca” did. Hopefully it will change to “Orca.”
Arago and Joe arrive at the same conclusion. I like that; shows that each is a good detective.
Final Flash: Joe could potentially learn about Arago’s powers. Next chapter should prove important.
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