Shonen Beam

More enemy introductions, and more Ranmaru fighting.

This seems unusually straightforward. Still waiting for the mandatory mid-fight advantage shift.

Looks like we’ll have to wait until next chapter, too.

It’s the only brother Naoyoshi likes? Wow, that’s completely… expected.

Final Flash: I really don’t care for how long we’re focusing on Ranmaru. His flashback was decent, and the fact that he’s also Ogame school is interesting, but this is taking too long.

“… and you are?” I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels this way about Ranmaru.

A Ranmaru flashback? Well, at least it’s short.

Brutal scenes like this are such a big part of the appeal of this series, which is why I’m irritated by how much unnecessary exposition we’ve been given recently. It’s a pure samurai action series; give us action with the bare minimum amount of plot to keep it interesting.

The art in the large panel of page 16 is bizarrely reminiscent of Good Ending. Maybe it’s in the hair.

Final Flash: One moment of action excellence doesn’t make up for the pacing. You have swords! Use them!

It’s too bad we don’t get to see these other schools fight until Gama meets each of them. That’s a pretty poor way of building up a credible antagonist.

It’s Ranmaru!… ok, which one is he again? I’m fairly favorable towards this series, but aside from Gama and Naoyoshi-san, I’d have a difficult time producing names from memory.

Ok, it is pretty cool that Ranmaru is a student of Jinsuke. There isn’t enough development in the Jinsuke storyline.

Ranmaru steps in to fight? This is one hell of a Ranmaru chapter, which is just bizarre.

Final Flash: Ranmaru v. nobodies isn’t a fight I really care to see. If all we’re going to get is a tournament, I at least want to see said tournament.