Currently Running Manga Discussion

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Here are my thoughts on the current WSJ series that I'm following at this point:

One Piece- This series continues its hot streak with the Wano arc, and I'm so happy to see Zoro back in a prominent role again after him and half of the other Straw Hats being absent from the story for well over a year. Really, this should be his arc more than anyone else's since the Samurai theme is his whole shtick, and it looks like the series won't disappoint on that end. I think this will be another long one but I'm genuinely OK with that as there is a lot that needs to happen here, and I think that as the story builds up, many, many more characters and factions will become involved in this conflict, making this possible the biggest arc in the series since Marineford just on an event scale level.

My Hero Academia- Still hasn't lost its edge, IMO, which is impressive considering that it's quickly nearing the 200-chapter mark. Granted, I'm not sure if I'm OK with Endeavor getting a redemption arc without first having to suffer more severe consequences for his years of abuse and neglect towards his family, but I am liking that his character is not going the generic "evil dad" route that other shonen might take. At any rate, that arc was still well-handled, and I'm surprised at how quickly it got me to give a shit about Hawks. The current arc is also the kind of stuff that I love the most about the series, with Deku and the rest of UA going through more teamwork-building exercises.

Kimetsu no Yaiba- Yet another series that has been on a hot streak for me, and one that won't seemingly end anytime soon. I am really liking how this series has been handling the Pillars, giving each one their own personal character arcs and backstories one at a time, to the point where I'm totally cool with them steeling the spotlight from Tanjirou at the other characters for now even though I normally hate that in most other series. This arc in particular feels more like establishing the Mist and Love Pillars as important future friends/allies for Tanjirou anyways, so his character still feels very involved in that regard even though he's more of a background fighter in this current scenario.

Dr. Stone- Still enjoying this series as well, but if I'm to be honest, I feel like it's stalling a bit now. We've had more than enough buildup, and I do feel that it's the appropriate time for the main battle between Ishigami Village and Tsukasa's Empire to take place. I'm hoping that's what will happen after the conclusion of this rescue arc.

The Promised Neverland- You all know that I wasn't a big fan of the previous arc, but while it's still really early into this new arc, this does thankfully seem to be moving back into a direction that I'm on board with. We'll still have to wait and see where the plot goes from here, though.

Black Clover- This one is kind of a force of habit read for me, at this point. I'm a sucker for battle shonen so I can even mildly enjoy the most basic, generic ones, but I think even for me it's really starting to wear thin here with how lazily written this material is.

Food Wars- And this one has just become an utter joke at this point. The funny thing is, I'd drop it but I'm still entertained by this manga, albeit for all of the wrong reasons. I still contest that the manga screwed itself with the introduction of Azami and Central, but even that series of story arcs had a coherent direction about it (as incredibly boring and predictable as it was), and had at least a few redeeming qualities that at least made it readable, mainly Erina's character arc. However everything since the time-skip has been absolutely bonkers and clearly made up on the spot. The story has no clear direction, is introducing nonsensical and infuriatingly annoying new characters out of nowhere, somehow managed to fuck up Soma's main goal in no time at all by having him job to a garbage new villain, and the manga is now relying on fan-service more heavily than ever before. It is unarguably pretty terrible at this point....but just seeing how much lower it can sink is actually kind of what makes it so fascinating to read at this point. That, and seeing the shit-storm people (rightfully) raise about it on forums and message boards.

As for Hinomaru Zumou, I'm still playing catch-up on that one since I took a break from the manga after I caught up with the scans, however it looks like since then they have released a bunch more chapters online, so I'll pick it back up one of these days.

[VLordGTZ]

Here are my thoughts on the current WSJ series that I'm following at this point:

I noticed that you didn't include Haikyu.  Did you drop it, or is it because (iirc) you read it in chunks? 

I've fallen behind on most manga in WSJ with the exception of Demon Slayer and Haikyu, so I don't really feel like commenting on those for now.  Strangely enough though, I am keeping up with quite a few Shonen Sunday and Magazine titles:

Detective Conan - While the series is now on irregular serialization (likely permanently), I feel like the trade off has been that the plot has progressed far more quickly than previously.  With the Akai family, Rum/Asaca, and Karasuma plot threads all slowly converging, it seems like a final arc is definitely looming.  Since the series is no longer weekly though, it's hard to tell when exactly the series will end, but I'll be looking forward to what Aoyama has in store.

Zero's Tea Time -  This manga is basically just Amuro/Bourbon going on slice of life adventures, but it's a surprisingly relaxing read.  It helps that Amuro has always been an entertaining supporting character, but series also does a good job of splicing in some brief introspectives on to his mentality of having to deal with three different identities.  It also seems like Arai and Aoyama are going to start doing proper story arcs soon for the series, so it will be interesting to see how those turn out.

Tonikaku Cawaii – This is my first experience and Kenjiro Hata's work, and damn do I love it!  It definitely gives me similar vibes to My Love Story in that it's mainly about the life of a stable relationship.  The recent chapter where Tsukasa finally meets Nasa's parents in particular was especially sweet and heartfelt, which really shows Hata's ability to balance the romance/comedy elements alongside the development of his cast.  From what I've heard from BDR/Sakaki, Hata was inspired to make this manga after recently getting married himself, and I think that contributes a lot to the genuine emotions you feel when reading this series.

Eden's Zero -  It's Fairy Tail IN SPACE......ok not really.  Honestly, so far, this manga just feels really standard.  Outside of Mashima's artwork, nothing feels particularly unique, and Shiki's gimmick of being obsessed with making new friends gets old really fast.  It's a quick read though, so I'll probably continue to keep up with it.

Orient – It feels like Ohtaka has been given a lot more free reign with her new series for better and worse.  There are some awesome action sequences in the first few chapters and the cast is pretty entertaining so far, but pacing seems to drag at times, especially during the first battle, where the enemy seems to keep coming back to life and prolonging the fight.  Still, there's a ton of potential here, and given Ohtaka's track record, I'm sure she can pull something great out of it once she picks up her momentum.

Hitman – I've been wary of Seo Koji's work given his history with "out-there" plot-twists, but so far this series has been pretty good.  Having a "manga about making manga" from an editor's perspective has worked surprisingly well, and Koji's choice to have the lead mangaka/heroine be female was a pretty good one.  The supposed main "twist" of the series was also quite unexpected for me, and it has a lot of potential if Koji handles it properly. I'm definitely interested to see where this goes.

To Your Eternity – I already gave my thoughts on this earlier.  To re-iterate though, it's amazing, and is slowly becoming a favorite of mine.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I suppose you could say that I've put Haikyuu on an extended hiatus. I'm over 100 chapters behind on it and I want to catch up but can't find the time right now.

Your list reminds me that I really do need to read a lot more Shonen Sunday series, but I'm definitely with you on To Your Eternity being among it's best.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #40 (September 5th, 2018):
One Piece (Cover, Lead CP)
1. Dr. Stone
2. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
Hinomaru Zumou (CP)
3. Jujutsu Kaisen
4. Act-Age
Haikyu!! (CP)
5. Promised Neverland
6. We Never Learn
Ketsueki Nuru (CP, Golden Future Cup Entry #2)
7. Kimi wo Shinryaku Seyo!
8. My Hero Academia
9. Black Clover
10. Gintama
11. Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Souma
12. Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs
13. Alice & Taiyou
14. Tanaka Seiji
15. Momiji no Kisetsu (End)

Kind of a strange week, rankings-wise. Anyway, another series down, and with Gintama wrapping up that makes it 3 for this round so far. If another goes, I'm going to guess it's Tanaka Seiji. Promised Neverland gets the cover and Kimetsu no Yaiba and Dr. Stone get color pages as does the next Golden Cup entry.

As for me, I'm really enjoying current MHA, KnY, and Promised Neverland. They're usually my top 3 reads for the week. They all had a really strong year and have only continued surprising and delighting me. Also eager to see the latter two when they finally get their anime. They both earned them.

[VLordGTZ]

Glad to see Act-Age and Jujitsu still getting killer placement!  It's interesting that Invade You jumped to the middle of the ToC.  It's possible that they want to keep it around for a while since there are no other manga to fill the gag manga niche in the magazine currently.  As far as series ending go, both Yuuna and Hinomaru seem to heading towards conclusions now, though I'm not expecting either to end for a little while longer.  I'll be interesting to see how the next serialization round turns out.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #41 (September 12th, 2018):
The Promised Neverland (Cover, Lead CP)
1. Jujutsu Kaisen
2. We Never Learn
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (CP)
3. Act-Age
4. Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma
5. Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs
Dr Stone (CP)
6. My Hero Academia
7. Black Clover
Koi wa Sensou (CP, Golden Future Cup Entry #3)
BE MADE (Oneshot)
8. Haikyu!!
9. Hinomaru Zumou
10. Gintama
11. Tanaka Seiji
12. Alice & Taiyo
13. Kimi wo Shinryaku Seyo! (End)


I guess that random ranking for Invade You was a fluke. That's 3 canceled series for this round, and Gintama is ending next week with a color page. That's 4 new series with HxH's brief return factored in. Black Clover gets a color page, too. There's a new series next week which is odd because you'd figure they would have waited for the GFC to end, but I suppose not. Feels like not much is sticking this year, and no sign of World Trigger still probably means it won't be back until next year at the earliest and a two year hiatus. Interested to see how the new series hold up.

[VLordGTZ]

It looks like there are two new series debuting in Issue #42

Shishunki Renaissance David-kun by Yuushin Kuroki

Jimoto ga Japan by Seiji Hayashi

No word on a 3rd new series strangely enough.  With Invade You gone, Tanaka Seiji and Alice & Taiyo are very close to the chopping block.  Besides that, things seem to be going as expected.

[VLordGTZ]

Kaiu Shirai's author's comment in Issue #41 says that TPN is entering its final arc.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I suppose the recent comments that it just passed the 50% point of the plot were true. The quest for the walls looks like it's going to be the final arc since it will definitely involve rescuing the kids, finding Norman, and beating the big bad. But I do think it's going to be a very long arc. Each arc has been longer than the last, so this only makes sense.

As for Jump, if there isn't a third new series... does this mean there's a possibility that they're holding the spot open for World Trigger's possible return in the near future? I sure hope so. Remember that they kept its spot locked for half a year before finally filling it with a new series.

EDIT: Another thing I wanted to mention was how good Horikoshi has been with characters. Within only a few chapters of his introduction Hawks is now on many people's favorite hero list. Really eager to see what he's got cooking for the next big arc since it looks to me like this current one is going to be important in some way due to the strange relationship between Shinsou's quirk and One For All.

[VLordGTZ]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #42 (September 19th, 2018):
Teenage Renaissance! David (New Series, Cover, Lead CP)
1.One Piece
2. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
Gintama (CP, End)
3. Jujutsu Kaisen
4. Dr. Stone
Apollo (CP, Golden Future Cup Entry #4)
5. Black Clover
6. My Hero Academia
7. The Promised Neverland
8. Act-Age
9. We Never Learn
10. Haikyu!
11. Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs
12. Hinomaru Sumo
13. Food Wars
14. Alice & Taiyo
15. Tanaka Seiji
I'm From Japan (New Series, CP)

Gintama will continue in Jump GIGA for a brief while, so that Sorachi can properly conclude the story.  In Issue #43, Jujitsu Kaisen will get the cover, and Hunter x Hunter will have a CP for its return.  I kinda wish Viz would pick up Jujitsu Kaisen and Act-Age asap, in order to prevent another situation like with Demon Slayer, but who knows what there plan is.  It looks like I'm From Japan is planned to be the new "End of Magazine Gag Manga" that Jump is going to try.  I'm curious if it will end up sticking.  Not much to saw besides that.  Overall, a pretty normal ToC.

[VLordGTZ]

I'm not sure if anyone has read the new Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba chapter yet, but the reveal at the end was unexpected to say the least.  I'm curious where Gotouge plans to take things from here.  The series has easily become one of my favorite ongoing manga to read alongside To Your Eternity.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm not sure if anyone has read the new Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba chapter yet, but the reveal at the end was unexpected to say the least.  I'm curious where Gotouge plans to take things from here.  The series has easily become one of my favorite ongoing manga to read alongside To Your Eternity.

It has become apparent to me that we have very similar tastes. Those are my two favorite currently running manga, shonen or otherwise.

[VLordGTZ]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #43 (September 26th, 2018):
Jujutsu Kaisen (Cover/LCP)
1. One Piece
2. The Promised Neverland
Hunter × Hunter (CP)
3. Kimetsu no Yaiba
4. act-age
I'm From Japan (CP/23p)
5. Dr. Stone
6. Hinomaru Zumo
Teenage Renaissance David (CP)
7. My Hero Academia
Boruto (41p)
8. Haikyuu!!
9. Black Clover
10. Yuuna and the Haunted Hotsprings
11. Shokugeki no Soma
12. We Never Learn
13. Alice to Taiyou
14. Tanaka Seiji

Issue #44 Preview

Cover/LCP: Hinomaru Zumo
CP: act-age (Consecutive Colour Page; #44 & #45); Black Clover; Mist no Kaibouroku (GFC Oneshot Entry No. 5) by Saezu Yuuto

I'm guessing Hinomaru is getting the cover to promote the start of the anime.  Act-Age is continuing to go strong, and two consecutive color pages is a good sign that editorial wants to keep it around for a good while.  WNL is strangely low, but I'm viewing it as an outlier in the ToC trends for now. Overall, things are looking good.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Kimetsu no Yaiba's recent chapter was excellent even before that ending. I don't know how Gotouge keeps it up, but the series has been on fire since volume 3 and hasn't waned yet. Even more than that, there are only 3 Upper Moons and Muzan left. I'm thinking we're going to get a big shake up soon, and this reveal might actually be it.

Also, in case you haven't noticed, there's a clear pattern with the main non-Pillar demon hunters so far.

Tanjiro: smell
Zenitsu: hearing
Inosuke: touch
Genya: taste

Next is sight. Really eager to see where it's going next.

As for the rankings, it's pretty much the same as always. But I would say I'm From Japan was the better of the two new series. It had better ideas and execution.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #44 (October 3rd, 2018):
Hinomaru Zumou (Cover, Lead CP)
1. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
2. One Piece
Act-Age (CP)
3. The Promised Neverland
4. Jujutsu Kaisen
Mist no Kaibou-roku (CP, Golden Future Cup Entry #5)
5. My Hero Academia
Black Clover (CP)
6. We Never Learn
Hunter X Hunter (Not Ranked)
Teenage Renaissance David (Not Ranked)
7. Dr. Stone
8. Haikyu!!
9. Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs
10. Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Souma
11. Alice & Taiyou
12. Tanaka Seiji
I'm From Japan

Gonna put it out there that I'm From Japan is their new gag manga. Probably a good choice as it was the better of the two, even if it's nothing all that interesting. It still clearly has more to it than one gimmick like David does. Otherwise everything else is more or less where you'd expect. Congrats to KnY for still being on fire and making it to #1 ahead of One Piece. I'm really eager to see where it goes from here. Otherwise Dr. Stone gets the cover next week, and Act-Age gets (another?) color page while three new one-shots join the fray. And here's hoping the Hinomaru anime turns out well.