Currently Running Manga Discussion

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Admittedly, it's not a bad series (yet), but I also just can't deny the comparisons that many people are making. There's reusing common genre tropes, and then there's carbon-copying entire elements of a series. To be fair, Black Clover's quality is equivalent to that of early Naruto. Not by any means great or all that memorable, but fairly entertaining for what it is. Let's just hope that it doesn't follow in Naruto's footsteps all the way through, for obvious reasons.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Yeah, it's basically Naruto with a better sense of humor. Though so far it hasn't gone off the rails yet and Tabata seems to be getting better at writing as he goes so I hope it remains at least a pleasant weekly read.

On another note, CX and I came across this retrospective on Weekly Shonen Jump from its inception to 2014.  It was very interesting and I highly recommend giving it a read.

I forgot how much good stuff came out in the Golden Age. The late-90s would have had to suffer in comparison. Though I'm still not a fan of the late-00s as a whole. It's only in recent years have their been a greater number of series that interest me.

[Markness]

I've been continuing to keep up with and have been really enjoying the current arc.  The introduction of Escanor as well some of the recent plot developments have made me really interested in how the remainder of the arc will play out.

Yeah, Escanor's fight with Galan was pretty cool even if it was brief. It played out like a turn based RPG but considering the setting, it fit perfectly.

I remember thinking Dolor would be a monstruous brute but he turned out to be rather intelligent. I, along with many others, called Gloxinia Octololi since he appeared so feminine. Turns out he was actually Octoshota!

[Spark Of Spirit]

My rankings this week:

Kimetsu no Yaiba
My Hero Academia
World Trigger
Food Wars

KnY still has that old school feel that I really like. I'm not sure where it's heading, but it's a real shame that it won't be back next week. The other three were simply their usual great selves, Food Wars finally got back to what it does best which was great to see. MHA, though, still the highlight of the issue.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #14 (March 7th, 2016):
Black Clover (Cover, Lead CP, 1st Anniversary)
1- One Piece
2- Assassination Classroom
Mononofu (Center Color)
3- Haikyu!!
4- My Hero Academia
Samon the Summoner (Center Color)
5- Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Blade of Demon Destruction (Not ranked)
Hinomaru Sumo (Center Color)
6- Straighten Up! Welcome to Shika High's Competitive Dance Club
Yuna of Yuragi Manor (Not ranked)
7- World Trigger
8- Kochikame
9- The Mishaps of Kusuo Saiki
10- Toriko
11- Gintama
12- Nisekoi
Chronicle of Isobe -Life is Hard-
Bleach (Absent)

Next week Samon, Mononofu, and Black Clover all seem to get color pages again.

EDIT: Gintama is also confirmed to be entering its last arc this year.

[VLordGTZ]

Yeah, Sorachi has hinted that at Jump Festa last year so it's not too surprising.  I still need to start on Gintama at some point.   

[Spark Of Spirit]

My Hero Academia
World Trigger
Black Clover
Food Wars

Man, MHA is dealing with a mess. Tokoyami and Bakugo are gone, half the villains are downed, Aoyama cowards out, we're still catching up with everyone else, and that final panel was awesome. Definitely the best chapter this week. No question. World Trigger finally ends the mini-invasion, but leaves with a character confrontation at the end. Something big is going on next week. Other two chapters were enjoyable.

The oceans turned acidic and poisonous in Seraph? I guess I was right about there being something in the water.

[VLordGTZ]

I just finished catching up with Assassination Classroom.  While the series has not appealed to everyone, I have personally found it entertaining throughout both its comedic and serious moments.  Overall, the series has definitely cemented itself as a favorite of mine, and it will be sad, yet satisfying, to see it finally end in two more chapters.

[Spark Of Spirit]

This week:

Samon the Summoner (Cover & Lead Color Page)
1- Assassination Classroom
2- One Piece
Black Clover (Color Page)
3. My Hero Academia
4- Straighten Up!
Mononofu (Color Page)
5- Food Wars
6- Haikyu!!
Yuna of Yuragi Manor (Not ranked)
7- Hinomaru Sumo
8- Gintama
9- Kochikame
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Blade of Demon Destruction (Not ranked)
10- Nisekoi
11- PSI Kusuo Saiki
12- World Trigger
13- Bleach
14- Toriko
Isobe Isobee Monogatari

I guess it's probably a good thing Toriko is heading for its end.

[VLordGTZ]

Hunter x Hunter will be resuming publication.

I can't wait for 3 more chapters followed by another 1-2 year hiatus! 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Hunter x Hunter will be resuming publication.

I can't wait for 3 more chapters followed by another 1-2 year hiatus! 

Do you really think that we'll be lucky enough to get three whole chapters this time? That's pretty optimistic of you.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I'll especially like the squiggles that will only be corrected when the volume comes out.

[Markness]

Serious back pains? Translation: I was playing video games for too long and I got stiff from not using my muscles. 

If he atleasts shows a battle or two on the Dark Continent, I can deal with another hiatus.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I bet he kills Wing and Melody in the very first return chapter.

[Spark Of Spirit]

My Hero Academia
World Trigger
Food Wars
One Punch Man

Man, that was a great turn of events in MHA. Having Aoyama save the day at the end there was quite unexpected. And that line from Dabi: "So sad for you, Shoto Todoroki" was a nasty dig of the heel into him for not being fast enough. Bakugo is gone and the forest is on fire. So much to say that this whole raid has been one disaster after another.

World Trigger is always good with showing multiple sides like this. Aftokrator is clearly the most hated force even among all the other Neighbor peoples not just Earth's. Seeing the enemy dealing with Hyuse and trying to pin the whole attack against Aftokrator was a great idea. So seeing it not only backfire but Hyuse falling into Jin's long game plan to getting into Tamakoma-2 was a nice touch. Good capper to the the arc, and I'm eager to see if next we'll finally see the main characters on the road to getting into an away-team soon.

I give Food Wars a lot of credit for not taking the obvious out here. They could have had Kurokiba lose to Rentaro to make the bad guys look a lot better in retrospect and therefor make Soma have to take them all on himself. But they didn't do that. I also enjoy the way the twist was handled here by making the results just as crazy as the competition was. Good chapter.

Metal Bat. What else is there to say? Nice turn to see Garo do something good for a change, especially considering he didn't have to.

Much better week than last week, all things considered.