Currently Running Manga Discussion

[Spark Of Spirit]

Spring Weapon #1 reminds me of Samon if it were enjoyable. I don't think it'll last but I'll enjoy reading it while it's here.

That chapter of My Hero Academia was quite great. Great character interactions, top notch action, and expressive art. That's why I read the series. The four characters involved (Midoriya, Todoroki, and the other two from opposite schools) should make for interesting character dynamics in this section of the test. Horikoshi continues his roll.

Black Clover, World Trigger, and Red Sprite were also almost as good this week too. If only they would add Kimetsu no Yaiba. Though it's hard to complain since they're currently running one series more than their standard. Most of them are pretty good too.

On the other hand, ever since Viz switched sites, the comments on the official site have been pretty terrible. Nothing but pessimists and aggressive opinions all over the place.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #47 (October 24th, 2016):
One Piece (Cover, Lead CP)
1. Haikyu!!
2. My Hero Academia
Spring Weapon No.1 (CP)
3. Hinomaru Zumou
4. The Promised Neverland
Boruto (CP)
5. Black Clover
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Blade of Demon Destruction (CP)
6. Samon the Summoner
7. Gintama
8. The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.
Amalgam of Distortion (Not Ranked)
9. Yuna of Yuragi Manor
10. World Trigger
11. Straighten Up! Welcome to Shika High's Competitive Dance Club
12. Toriko
13. Red Sprite
14. Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Souma
15. Love Rush!
Chronicle of Isobe ~Life is Hard~

I think that's bad for Love Rush, though Red Sprite isn't any better off. If they're lucky, Gintama and Toriko will be over soon and they can use the time to build their stories up. That's the second week Food Wars is that low, but the recent stuff hasn't been very well liked. It should probably change when we get to the recent chapters since the bear stuff was pretty good, though it matters how the match ends.

Gintama's getting an important announcement again. This is probably saying the ending is probably really soon.

[VLordGTZ]

Vertical Comic's Fall 2016 survey is now up.

They're taking manga suggestions for manga released after 2006, are currently 10 volumes or less, and aren't published by Shuiesha or Gentosha.  I suggested Vector Ball, Historie, and Souboutei.

[Markness]

Vertical Comic's Fall 2016 survey is now up.

They're taking manga suggestions for manga released after 2006, are currently 10 volumes or less, and aren't published by Shuiesha or Gentosha.  I suggested Vector Ball, Historie, and Souboutei.

Does Viz ever do surveys like this? I would suggest Ushio and Tora, Kongou Bachou, and Medaka Box in a heart beat.

[VLordGTZ]

Outside of the Weekly Shonen Jump surveys, Viz does some occasional surveys for manga.  The surveys aren't as straightforward about suggesting manga as Vertical's, but I always list some manga suggestions near the end when they ask for additional comments.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I threw in a vote for Souboutei. Also gave one to Vectorball and Dungeon Meshi since I know people who are big fans of both.

I'm not sure how likely they are. I'm not sure Vertical has ever picked up anything I've particularly wanted. Still, if Viz won't touch Fujita, and Kodansha aren't releasing Vectorball, then someone should get on it.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #48 (October 31st, 2016):
Black Clover (Cover, Lead CP)
One Piece (Not Ranked)
1. World Trigger
Gintama (CP, UDX Exhibition Event Announcement)
2. My Hero Academia
Spring Weapon No. 1 (CP)
Amalgam of Distortion (Not Ranked)
3. Toriko
4. Yuna of Yuragi Manor
The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. (CP)
5. The Promised Neverland
6. Haikyu!!
7. Kimetsu no Yaiba: Blade of Demon Destruction
8. Samon the Summoner
9. Hinomaru Zumou
10. Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma
11. Straighten Up! Welcome to Shika High's Competitive Dance Club
Chronicle of Isobe ~Life is Hard~ (CP, Music Collab Announcement)
12. Love Rush!
13. Red Sprite

Now this is a completely unexpected ranking. World Trigger I don't think has EVER been that high, and Toriko hasn't been that high in a dog's age. Meanwhile Food Wars is still in an unexciting part. I'm pretty sure Love Rush and Red Sprite are the next out unless Gintama and Toriko end soon. Those are pretty bad rankings. Straighten Up has been hanging in there, but I'm not sure it'll have much longer left at this rate.

Also, MHA volume 11 cover:

Spoiler

[close]

Also, apparently Tsukuda went on twitter to explain about the current Food Wars arc. He said that he knew that a lot of people didn't like it, but felt it was something he had to include anyway. In other words, he must need it to set up for something later. It doesn't excuse the predictable results and the lack of tension, but at least he is aware as to what he's doing and he didn't just lose his storytelling ability. Here's hoping the recent chapters mean he's starting to get back on track.

[LumRanmaYasha]

According to Bomber, the flyer for the Gintama UDX exhibition event made it pretty clear that the series was going to end around the time of the event, so it's safe to assume the series will end in the next two to three months. Similarly, after what happened in the most recent Toriko chapter, I feel safe in predicting that it'll end around the same time too. So, Red Sprite and Love Rush might get lucky come December, but considering the direction the latter took in the most recent chapter, I wouldn't be surprised if LR is also going to be on the chopping block. But it'll depend on how many new series debut in December. If it's just two, then LR and RS are safe. But if it's three, then one of them is on the outs, and the one I see going is LR.

It surprises me that Jump is going to let Gintama and Toriko end this year after four big series have already ended this year, but I guess starting 2017 with a fresh slate has a certain appeal. Besides, both have been in their endgames for a while now and it wouldn't make sense to stretch them out another couple months. Best to let them end naturally, on a high note. On that subject, I am glad to see Toriko break into the top three again at least once before it ends, especially since it's been so long. I'm especially happy if that chapter was 385. That one definitely deserves the honor.

I saw that tweet from Tsukuda and, as useless as the twitter translation feature is, based on what I was told from people who could actually japanese that seemed to be the jist of what he was saying. Hopefully the rankings improve with the current match between Soma and Hayama. Since Tsukuda mentioned people being unimpressed by the manga showing it's "predictable side," I'm hoping he'll try and counteract that by showing some major shakeups happen and have some of the other resistors lose to raise the stakes a bit.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I've enjoyed what I read of Vigilante. For a spin-off series, it has a quaint sense of humor and heart to it, making it feel like more than a cheap cash-in on MHA's popularity. I also really enjoy the dynamic between the main trio, and I like that the old guy has no quirk but is ultimately still a bad-ass, sort of like this Universe's version of Daredevil. This manga also has a different but equally great sense of humor than the main series.

It looks like the series is getting picked up for a full run on SJ+, and it certainly has a lot of potential, IMO. In the best case scenario, it could make for a great companion piece to the main series, and as the recent chapter demonstrated, it can pull off crossover appearances without feeling contrived and with a full understanding of the character that it features in its narrative based on how they would behave in MHA.

Bottom line, what I read was fun, and this could be a really entertaining series overall, which is honestly more than what I was expecting it to be.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I agree it's an excellent expansion piece to the world of MHA, with good humor, interesting characters, and tackling subjects the main series hasn't used yet. The old man in particular is a character I've wanted to see in the series for a while, a quirkless character who takes on supervillains for vigilante justice with brute strength and force of will alone. Really enjoying it so far. I'm hoping Viz adds it to the Shonen Jump website at some point.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I hope Viz plans on picking it up soon.

Speaking of MHA, I wasn't expecting the first failure from UA to be Todoroki. But he really did deserve it after blowing it like he did. At this point I'm really wondering who is going to last to the end. There's only one level left to the test, and there's still quite a lot of participants left. Looks like about 89 of them. If Todoroki of all people isn't passing then I can't imagine who will.

World Trigger was great. It's nice to see these little break chapters. Also Kageura spilling the beans about Yuzuru having a crush on Chika was quite out of nowhere and funny. That dude is the character I wanted to learn more about, and it looks like we will very soon.

That was a wacky chapter of Food Wars. That's all I can really say. It isn't as if the result is going to be much of a surprise, though. Black Clover was sort of the same way.

And Spring Weapon has a lot of potential as an action comedy. It just depends on how the characters are handled from here on. I have to say that I got some solid laughs out of this chapter.

Promised Neverland still continues being an interesting read. At this rate I just wonder if they're ever going to get out of there. It will really be an event if they ever do.

Good issue this week.

[VLordGTZ]

Toriko will be reaching its climax in the 50th issue of Jump (November 14th).

[Spark Of Spirit]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #49 (November 7th, 2016):
Black Clover (Cover, Lead CP)
1. Haikyuu!!
2. One Piece
3. Hinomaru Zumou
Amalgam of Distortion (Not Ranked)
My Hero Academia (CP)
4. The Promised Neverland
Spring Weapon #1 (Not Ranked)
The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. (CP)
5. Toriko
6. World Trigger
7. Yuna of Yuragi Manor
8. Kimetsu no Yaiba: Blade of Demon Destruction
9. Samon the Summoner
10. Straighten Up! Welcome to Shika High's Competitive Dance Club
11. Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma
12. Gintama
13. Red Sprite
14. Love Rush!
Chronicle of Isobe: The Life is Hard

Next week Toriko is getting 31 pages. A bit odd that it isn't getting color pages for it, though. It was a big deal a while back. On the other hand, with it ending and Gintama ending not far off, Love Rush and Red Sprite could potentially be safe for a while longer. Though they definitely are on the chopping block if there are more than two new series this upcoming round.

So since Toriko is ending, we'll be getting a third new series in our Jump. It'll probably be Amalgam of Distortion or Spring Weapon, but man would I prefer Kimetsu no Yaiba. It's got the potential to stick around longer than any of the other new series.

I'm also thinking with Love Rush's near cancellation that there is no room for other romance series in the magazine. It seems that one is the limit for the readers. Red Sprite is probably also suffering because there are enough battle manga right now. Even with Toriko ending, there is One Piece, MHA, World Trigger, Kimetsu no Yaiba, Black Clover, and Gintama, as series that feature a lot of battles and conflict. That's about half the magazine. I think the reason Food Wars, Hinomaru, Straighten Up, Haikyu, and Saiki, have stuck around so long is because they're entirely different. This is why I think of the two new series, Spring Weapon probably has the chance to last the longest, and why Promised Neverland has done so well. We have a good selection of battle manga right now, there just isn't room for more.

But that's just my theory. I could be completely wrong.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I thought for sure it would make it to chapter 400, but at least Toriko is ending on a high note, rebounding in the rankings in it's last few chapters. Shimabukuro held nothing back and it made for quite a ride. I'll miss it.

Love Rush and Red Sprite are definitely suffering from not being distinct enough to stand out against their competition in the magazine. Jump generally hasn't had more than one successful romcom running at the same time, and with how successful Yuna is there's just no room for Love Rush to wriggle in on it's audience. Red Sprite has even more competition from other battle series in Jump. I'm now kind of expecting Amalgam to similarly not last for the same reason.

It'd be nice if Jump added KnY to replace Toriko, but I figure they'll probably just add either Amalgam or Spring Weapon solely because they wouldn't have to worry about getting readers caught up to them. That's probably the biggest reason why they're holding off on putting Haikyuu in Jump, despite the series selling so well for them.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I would hope they'd think further ahead than that. If Red Sprite and Love Rush end (along with Toriko), then they move on to Amalgam and Spring Weapon. If they end, then they move on to the next batch of new series. Meanwhile, they're ignoring potential popular series that could bring a big reader base. We almost missed out on MHA because Viz decided not to pick it up for over four volumes of content.

Also, I see some people complaining about the arms thing in Black Clover and saying that there was no build up or consequence to his injury. I think you had to pay attention to what the witch said before she healed his arms. There's going to be a consequence here that is going to come back around soon. It's not just "problem solved" and moving on to the next thing.