Currently Running Manga Discussion

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

It looks like Japan agrees with me that the Eizan arc of Food Wars was shit (the ranking revealed this week is for chapter 144 since all rankings are for chapters released 7 weeks earlier).

[Spark Of Spirit]

My rankings for this week:

My Hero Academia
World Trigger
Food Wars!
Muhyo & Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation

MHA is back in action mode and already bringing in intrigue such as what they want with Bakugo and if Midoriya can even survive what he's about to attempt. I've just been pleased with MHA for such a long time that I can't remember the last time not enjoying a chapter. I can't wait until next week already.

The invasion in World Trigger continues but we still don't know what Hyuse is up to or what Jin is off doing. Then there's the strike team fighting on the ropes against the ace attackers and the fact that we still don't know where the main characters are and it just keeps being a blast to read every week. Ashihara seems to be doing better, health-wise, due to his author comments, so here's hoping he won't need to take any more chapters off. This arc needs to keep the pace going.

Thankfully, Food Wars! did not cop out with the last chapter's reveal and has basically drawn a line in the sand between characters. It looks likes Shokugeki battles are back on again in an honest capacity though it could really go anywhere at this point. Definitely eager to see Soma's dad again to learn a bit more about why this is happening but all in all it was a good one.

Muhyo & Roji really just surprised me with another fun chapter of ghost busting, but with a few wrinkles from the last chapter that left me intrigued as to where it is going. It's nice to finally read a Jump Back of a series I've never read before because it is a lot like reading a brand new series.

All in all, another good issue. I'm sort of understanding One Piece since this is a brand new arc but Toriko and Bleach are still basically off the table for me. Especially Bleach. So is Uryu a bad guy or a good guy? I have no idea what is going on in Bleach at all. Otherwise I quite enjoyed every other series.

[VLordGTZ]

It's a real shame that Buddy Strike hasn't been doing well in the rankings.  It looks like KAITO can't catch a break even with a baseball manga. 

Bleach has been so boring to me as of late that I can't even bring myself to complain about its terrible plot developments.  I really wish Kubo would just end it already.  It's a waste of space in Jump and its not popular in there anymore either. 

The new One Piece arc has been pretty good so far.  I'm interested to see more of Sanji's backstory. 

Aside from the WSJ series that I'm up to date on, I've been keeping up with Magi, JoJolion, Detective Conan, and The Seven Deadly Sins, all of which have been great recently (especially JoJolion).

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Need to play some catch-up on MHA, and I'm still way behind on JoJo's.

As VLord said, One Piece has been picking up in quality with the recent arc, so there's that.

I officially dropped Nisekoi after reading a few volumes. It's definitely the kind of cliche harem rom-com that I simply cannot stand. I have no idea why it's so popular.

Food Wars is showing some good potential to pick back up again, but these last few chapters have been nothing but set-up. I'd like to see the story get the actual "food war" started between PSD and Central by now, and preferably give a few other characters besides Soma a chance to shine again. In particular, Takumi is long overdue for a comeback after suffering his last humiliating defeat quite a while ago. It'd be nice to see Satoshi in a match as well, now that he's officially been removed from the E10 Council.

[gunswordfist]

I'm surprised that everyone's backstory hasn't been explored to death with how long One Piece has been running. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well, we do get backstories for all of the Straw Hat crew. However, you learn more tidbits here and there about each of them that weren't touched upon in their initial arcs (and Luffy doesn't get his own backstory told until after the Marineford arc, despite being the main character of the series), and in addition to that they each have an extended backstory of stuff that we didn't see from the story's two-year time-skip.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I officially dropped Nisekoi after reading a few volumes. It's definitely the kind of cliche harem rom-com that I simply cannot stand. I have no idea why it's so popular.

It spends most of its time not being funny and being very cliche in the worst ways. I've enjoyed the most recent stuff because he's been ending character arcs and heading for the ending which is about what I usually enjoy from these sorts of things.

He is not as well known for, but is more well liked for, Double Arts. A battle manga with an interesting twist that was canceled much too early before reaching its potential. That was canceled, but Nisekoi (an inferior series in every respect) has been a best seller that has earned him much fame. Why it is as popular as it is really is a mystery to me.

Komi has talent, but he doesn't ever really get rewarded for it when he shows it off. Case in point, the recent Marika arc which pushed her forward, had some good fight scenes, and was well written, and had a really good end for a certain character. Probably some of the best writing the series has legitimately had. Guess what? The series has been ranking dead last since then.

It's just strange.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I think that I'd be more interested if there was more to Raku as a character than just "he's nice," and if it focused a bit more on being a good slice-of-life story as opposed to a bunch of cliche romcom antics. Or, if it is going to be a romcom, it could take a page out of OHSHC and be clever about how it subverts your expectations by turning various tropes on their head, as well as creating interesting situations for each character that don't always just involve the main lead.

[Spark Of Spirit]

It looks like Japan agrees with me that the Eizan arc of Food Wars was shit (the ranking revealed this week is for chapter 144 since all rankings are for chapters released 7 weeks earlier).

Here's where it gets weird.

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #9 (February 1st, 2016):
My Hero Academia (Cover, Lead CP)
1- Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma
2- One Piece
Straighten Up! Welcome to Shika High's Competitive Dance Club (Center Color)
3- Assassination Classroom
4- Haikyu!!
Tsuuten-gai Scrap (One-Shot, Center Color, 47 p.)
5- Mononofu
6- Hinomaru Sumo
7- Nisekoi
8- Black Clover
9- Samon the Summoner
10- World Trigger
11- Toriko
12- The Mishaps of Kusuo Saiki
13- Gintama
14- Kochikame
15- Bleach
16- Buddy Strike
Chronicle of Isobe -Life is Hard-

I think Food Wars, like World Trigger and Gintama, are too unpredictable in the rankings to nail down. They fall all over the map on almost every ranking. When either three eventually end they will most likely be due to the story wrapping up and not due to the rankings.

In other news, Viz really should consider running Straighten Up, Mononofu, or (ugh) Samon in the magazine. They're clearly not going anywhere and since several series are winding down, they should get a jump on something new. They can't hope for a surprise out of the box hit like Black Clover starting any time soon.

[VLordGTZ]

From its jump start and small amount of translated scans, I've really liked what I've seen of Mononofu.  I haven't read any of Straighten Up but I've been hearing very good things about it.  I think the main reason that Viz has avoided putting them in Jump is that they aren't action series or from a well known writer/author like Gakkyu Hotei was.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I caught up with Straighten Up. It's pretty decent. It kind of reminds of Baby Steps wherein the main character (or couple, in this case) doesn't progress very fast and is not particularly that talented, but makes incremental improvements in small strides that eventually add up. Though, since it's currently only 30 chapters in, the main pair has yet to accomplish anything of note.

[VLordGTZ]

Two new Jump series are starting in February. 

[Spark Of Spirit]

Wonder what's being canceled, then. Buddy Strike is too early and nothing else is consistently ranking low.

EDIT: A tease at what they look like.

[VLordGTZ]

The only likely candidate is Buddy Strike, so they may very well end it this early or move it temporarily to Jump+ to have KAITO finish it off.  Aside from Assassination Classroom (which will probably end in early to mid March), no other series right now is doing particularly bad or ending in the next few months.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Midoriya and Metal Bat showing what I like so much about shonen. Which probably gives away my rankings.

My Hero Academia
One Punch Man
World Trigger
Food Wars

MHA and OPM both contain protagonists at the end of their rope and fighting back with all they have. In the process showing why they are my favorite characters for their respective series. World Trigger continues with the invasion, though I'm getting to the point that I want to see the main three again. Food Wars was mostly exposition, but I enjoyed it anyway. But seriously, this issue was all about MHA and OPM. Excellent stuff and I'm anticipating what's to come next.