Currently Running Manga Discussion

[LumRanmaYasha]

It's unfortunate, but I really do think going two+ years without writing any of the Straw Hats except Luffy has made Oda unable to write the crew well, or give them all something meaningful to do in the arc, which he was able to do quite well in the pre-Whitebeard War arcs. Increasing the scale of the conflict and adding a whole bunch of new characters doesn't help things either, since he's juggling all of them and all these separate plot threads and it has just mostly amounted to an underwhelming mess so far. Like you, I'd prefer a smaller scale arc where he devotes more time to the Straw Hats, and makes the conflicts more personal like he did with the CP9 arc, which would hopefully help him get back in touch with how to write them as well as he used to.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Apparently the next Kuroko chapter will be the final one. That sounds about right. I don't think the series has anywhere left to go after that game with Rakuzan, anyway. Overall, I did enjoy the series, even if I was let down by the final game and a few parts of the story after the rematch with To'oh. It was still a pretty decent and entertaining sports series for most of it's run.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

What's this? A new One Piece chapter that I actually liked? Yeah, this is one of the better chapters that I've read in a long time. It had a single focus, and while it didn't move the plot forward too much, it did justice to one of the Straw Hat pirates. Usopp was actually in character this time and totally made himself useful by sniping out Sugar from an insane distance before she could get to Luffy. Additionally, having him claim that he will support Luffy and his crew, even if he doesn't get noticed for it, felt like the slightest bit of character growth for him. Nicely done, Oda. Now, if only you could actually keep this up for more than just a single chapter. One can only wish. Regardless, this chapter felt like classic One Piece to me, which I haven't felt from this series in far too long.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

As for Magi, on the other hand, please wrap this shit up already. I was sure that this would be the last chapter of this arc, but it seems like it'll be at least another 2 chapters now to see what other shit will go wrong for Ugo before this is all done. I get that this flash-back is important to the story, but I think it would have been smarter for the author to find a way to reveal this to is in bits and pieces throughout the story, rather than force the whole thing on us at once.

[LumRanmaYasha]

This was a good week of manga, overall, but I've had a tiring week, so forgive me for being brief here:

A Silent Voice chapter 50 - This chapter featured a great exploration into Ueno's character: why she likes Ishida, why she hates Shoko, and why she behaves the way she does. I find it interesting, and realistic, and Ueno doesn't change her mind about Shoko and join the movie project. There's plenty of people who simply can't let grudges go. But it was nice that she does end up helping her anyway, giving her the number for a sound production team, after being won over bu Shoko's determination. I don't know if this is the last we'll see of Ueno, but if it was, it was a good resolution to that conflict and her character arc.

Assassination Classroom chapter 100 - A hundred chapters! Yeah, so Flower Shop Guy is the assassin killer, though it turns out Lovro is still alive, though he's laying low for now. I was thinking that they'd show Irina fight him or something first before being subdued, but looks like we're jumping straight into a rescue mission. I'm curious as to the Reaper's ability to make people feel at ease even though he's threatening them. It sort of reminds me of what made Nagisa an effective assassin, in a way, except more refined. Perhaps this encounter with someone very similar to him will help hone Nagisa's assassination skills even further. 

Bleach chapter 594 - I have no clue if Mayuri is trying to cure Hitsugaya or not. Dude's a fucking sadist. Either way, I'm kind of annoyed that Rangiku, Kensei, and Rose are all zombies now, apparently. Not only that, but it appears that the effin' Privarion Arrancar are going to fight and probably defeat them? C'mon Kubo, Rangiku is one thing, but Kensei and Rose were captains, I can't buy that the Privarion Arrancar are going to be match for them. But the real issue is that Kubo has killed off major character unceremoniously and are now using them tactlessly as more fighting pawns to drag out this battle further. Goddamit, I don't care about these characters, but they were actually developed/characterized and had a significant role in the story thus far. This shouldn't be just an "oh, looks like this happened, too bad" kind of thing. Whatever. At least the other battle is ending fast enough, with the Pepe guy looking like he's wiping the floor with both his enemies and allies with his weird ability to make people fall in love and obey him. Now that may prove a bit more amusing to see played out, especially if Byakuya falls victim.

Fuuka chapter 28 - Looks like the gang is going to win over people with their performance, and attract the interest of the american celebrity. Good stuff.

Girl May Kill chapters 15-16 - So the kid assassin was not Mei's little brother, but was instead a kid that Manome left alive back in his old days as an operative, unable to shoot him. The kid grew up and joined Dragon's Beard to get revenge on Manome, and dang, he succeeded. Manome is...dead. I didn't see that coming. The kid is dead too, which I did sort of see coming, but it's still kind of sad since he had a tragic story behind him. But man, with their leader dead, I wonder what Gohongi, Katsura, and Mei are going to do now. Especially since Mei's brother is a member of Dragon's Beard, and a high-ranking operative, unafraid to let his sister get killed. Dang, the guys are looking pretty screwed. At the very least, it looks like they'll need a new hideout, and Gohongi is going to need to get another job.

Joshi Kausei chapter 19 - The group makes rice balls. Hilarity ensues. There really isn't that much to say about this one. Cute chapter.

Magi chapter 236 - Hmm, I thought this would be the last chapter of this flashback arc, but I guess there's still more. I guess it was nice seeing how Ugo managed to create peace among the races while he bid time to make preparations ready for the creation of a new world. But even I am getting a bit impatient to get back to the main storyline again.

Magi: Adventure of Sinbad chapters 31-32 - Great chapters. It was interesting seeing how Sinbad met and became friends with the King of Balbadd, and used his storytelling skills to finance his firm and earn the King's financial backing. Very cool stuff.

Naruto chapter 690 - Wow. So, Kaguya and Zetsu are dead then. The battle is over. It's finally over. Fin-a-fucking-ly. Of course, Madara is still alive (though unconscious), but I doubt we'll be seeing him fight again. Rather, he'll probably have some bullshit redemption scene, but whatever, I don't care as long as this series ends faster. Crossing my fingers for it being gone by the end of the year.

One Piece chapter 758 - Finally, a legitimately great chapter of OP, the first in a long, long time. Better yet, Ussop was totally in character here, nice to see after Rebecca was so out of character last chapter. Totally felt like a classic chapter of OP. If only Oda could make chapters like this more often, these days.

Orange chapter 13 - Meh...last chapter it seemed like the plot was going to move forward what with everyone receiving the letters and all, but now were back to bland shojo romance antics. Not bad stuff, but just kinda boring.

The Seven Deadly Sins chapter 90 - Well, it looks like the demon-transformed Knights can be reverted by some means, as Ban and Gouther were able to successfully save Guila and Jericho's lives. But it seems Hendricksen has defeated both Dreyfus and Griamor, and Elizabeth is slowly dying. At this point, I'm wondering if Meliodas will reach in time to stop his plans.

Shokugeki no Soma chapter 83 - Soma seems to have missed the point of the contest, somehow. Will Erina really help him out and help him devise a new variant on his dish, one that can defeat Mimasaka's? It'll be interesting to see them work together.

Toriko chapter 290 - And so a new Horse King is born! Seems like Heracles will spare Toriko and co.'s life in exchange for Air, a good result, though I'm wondering if a Nitro or something is going to come now and screw things up for everyone.

Vinland Saga chapter 107 - I feel bad for Gudrid, being forced to marry some guy and give up on her dream of sailing the seas just because she's a woman and stuff. But it looks like she fucked up and stabbed Sig, so know she's in a whole lot of trouble. This'll probably lead her to escaping and joining up with Thorfinn and co., through some way.

Rankings:

1. A Silent Voice - 10/10
2. One Piece - 10/10
3. Girl May Kill - 9/10
4. Fuuka - 9/10
5. The Seven Deadly Sins - 9/10
6. Magi: Adventure of Sinbad - 8.5/10
7. Assassination Classroom - 8.5/10
8. Vinland Saga - 8.5/10
9. Shokugeki no Soma - 8/10
10. Toriko - 8/10
11. Magi - 8/10
12. Joshi Kausei - 7.5/10
13. Orange - 6.5/10
14. Naruto - 1/10
15. Bleach - 1/10

Some good developments this week.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, One Piece took me by surprise this time. It felt just like a classic, pre-Amazon Lily arc chapter. It also had a character gag that, while not necessarily that funny, felt fresh and worked in Usopp's favor. Too bad we don't get more chapters like this in OP's current run.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, Kuroko no Basket is finally complete. Overall, I found the last match to be disappointingly underwhelming. I really did think that the series was best when it didn't go too over-the-top, which was mostly up until the re-match with To-oh. The match with Yosen was pretty boring, but then the re-match with Kaijou was actually well-done, and not that over the top. Then we got a flash-back arc, which I usually don't like, but it was decent enough, although a bit dragged out. Finally we wrapped up with this match, and the biggest problem is that (outside of the over the top techniques and whatnot, which I might have been able to overlook) this series really didn't do a good job of building up its characters, at all. It's one of those sports series that cares more about the glory of the actual game than the characters participating in it, and THAT is the true weakness of the final match. I just didn't care if Seirin won or not. Realizing that this was the end, I thought about how this should be the epic climax of each of the main characters' personal arcs, but the characters never really evolved in this series. Less experienced readers would assume that just becoming better players is evolving, but those who have read better manga in the genre know otherwise. Slam Dunk is the perfect example of how to do thus manga the right way. Nobody was especially complex, but each of the main characters had arcs that were followed throughout the entire series, and upon finally getting to the climactic battle with Sannoh, it was an emotional arc as much as it was an exciting one, as each character was reaching the pinnacle of their development, not just in terms of skill, but in terms of their actual "character" as well. Comparatively, Kuroko, just like many other sports manga, just fall flat in the end when we don't really feel that invested in the characters by the end. In that regard, we really wanted to see Shouhoku in a Slam Dunk win because we wanted to see the characters triumph.

Putting that aside, I did still enjoy the manga on the whole. Would I read it again? Perhaps....but certainly not any time within the next few years. Yet, I can't deny that I did enjoy more about this manga than I didn't. It's more that the final match left a sour taste in my mouth, and less that the entire manga is poorly written, which it's not, outside of the weaker matches.

My Overall  Series Rating: 7/10 (flawed, but still above average)

[LumRanmaYasha]

I enjoyed KnB, for the most part. At the start I found the premise interesting; in that Kuroko did not aim to be the best player, since there was no way he really could, but instead use his own skills to be the best teammate there is, and help Kagami become the best player he could be. I thoroughly enjoyed the story up until after the rematch with To-oh. After that, the series started to rely a bit more on the gimmicks, or at least blew them up to much more unbelievable and superpower-y proportions. But the real problem was the series started to lose track of the character arcs, and what is at stake for this team and characters. It became more about making the games more exciting and over the top, whereas the tension shouldn't have come from just the players' skills, but also what they were going through emotionally. And it all completely fell apart in the final match. There was no sense of what was at stake, and no sense of what it represented for the characters. They didn't truly change or reach the pinnacle of their character development, like in Slam Dunk, and things just felt like a wash the whole way through. And Akaishi's character and character arc was super annoying. I don't think I've ever been so annoyed by an antagonist in a manga or anime quite as much as him. He acts so unrealistically and says such groan-worthy things throughout the series that it goes to far for me to retain my suspension of disbelief at many points. I felt his character was the weakest written part of the series, and it certainly didn't help things much in the final match. Overall, I would say I enjoyed more of the series than I didn't, but it's not something I think I'll ever re-read again.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Geez, the new Hunter X Hunter chapter is delayed for yet another week.  I fully expect Togashi will take a long hiatus after it finally comes out.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I guess he's taking too much time to be the editor for other people's manga.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

As for One Piece, while I didn't like it as much as the last chapter (probably because that one took me by surprise since it was the best chapter that I had read in a long time), this is the second chapter in a row that I liked better than average. Interestingly enough, it also had many classic elements of OP in it, such as Luffy confronting the villain and getting pissed at how he's treating his own subordinate, even though Bellamy used to be his enemy. At the same time, though, it had its own twist to it with Doflamingo purposely doing that to make Luffy angry so that he would screw up, which Law pointed out to Luffy after he rashly attacked Doflamingo and accidentally hit Bellamy when Doflamingo used him as a human shield. The strategy that he and Law used to attack Doflamingo was also really clever and made it feel satisfying to finally see Luffy deliver a huge gut-punch to the guy.

Also, the artwork wasn't sporadic at all in this chapter. It was simple and the action was easy to follow. There were no overly-grand-scale spreads or cluttered panels that made it harder to keep up with what was going on, so the chapter had a nice flow to it.

I don't want to jinx it by saying anything prematurely, but is it possible that Oda might just be slowly regaining his momentum after so many years? To be clear, I didn't love this chapter or the last one in the grand scheme of things, but relative to what we've been getting since the time-skip, they are the first 2 way better than average chapters that I have read from this series in a long time, and this is the first time that I'm really, genuinely interested in reading the next chapter since the time-skip. I really do hope that this isn't just a lucky coincidence, and that Oda is indeed getting his act together.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Lots of things "ended" in the manga world this week:

A Silent Voice chapter 51 - This was a fantastic look into Shoko's perspective and how she perceives her surroundings, as well as her regrets for how things turned out and her longing for a normal, happy childhood. Very moving, powerful stuff. I'm a bit confused as to where Shoko is going at the end of the chapter. In the dream she had it seemed Ishida was going to die. Maybe she's going to visit him again. That could lead a very emotional moment, especially if Ishida wakes up soon.

Assassination Classroom chapter 101 - Geez, the God of Death guy is one creepy mofo. I loved how the students are outwitting him and playing a stealth game, but it's going to be interesting to see if they can beat a guy who's killed professional assassins.

Black Butler chapter 96.5 - I guess this filler-y chapter was meant to commemorate the end of the Book of Circus anime. Personally, reading through this chapter I couldn't help but be reminded how all these characters died in horrible, brutal ways and how Ciel burned all those children to death at the end of the arc. It's kind of hard to go back and look at a scene where they are all friendly-like with each other considering how Ciel basically kills them all without remorse later on and stuff. Otherwise, the chapter is just a kinda lame story, so meh.

Bleach chapter 595 - Byakuya can't fall under Pepe's spell because he is incapable of love. Uh huh, sure, okay. And Pepe is already taken down thanks to...zombie Kensei and Rose? Huh? Whatever. At this point, who's left? Just Giselle, then? Well, at least we are ending these battles quickly, though anti-climatically. I bet the editors are pressuring Kubo to pick up the pace and end the series sooner rather than later. Hey, works for me.

Fuuka chapter 29 - And so the concert wins over the haters. Classic music series trope, but a good one. I didn't expect Fuuka to invite Koyuki to sing on stage with them. I wonder what this will lead to. Though, I'm fully expecting Fuuka and Koyuki to become rivals, albeit friendly rivals.

Kuroko no Basket chapter 275 - I already gave my thoughts on the series as a whole earlier in the week, so I won't say any of that stuff again. But as a final chapter, this felt anti-climactic. Basically just the usual congrats-let's play each other again promise, and then some eh comedy bits that try to tell us where the team will go from here, and then leaving the series off on a scene that I do like, but doesn't scream finality. Mmm. I dunno, I would have liked some more emotional moments, resolutions to some characters' arcs like Hyuuga and Kiyoshi, and stuff. Too bad. See ya, KnB. It was a fun, interesting ride.

Magi chapter 237 - Oh, looks like this flashback arc is finally over! Looks like I was right about this lasting until the end of the summer after all. I did enjoy this chapter, how the dungeons and metal vessels were set up, explanations for how all the people in the Magi world came to be, and then a look into the events leading up to the beginning of the series. Good stuff. Now to see everybody's reactions to this story. I'm sure it gave both Sinbad and Kouen a few ideas...

Naruto chapter 691 - And with this, it's over. Finally. After four years. Four long years. The war arc is over. It's over. OVERRRR!!!! Everything has been resolved. Madara even got his half-assed redemption moment like I expected he would! All that's left now is Naruto vs. Sasuke. Who knows how long that will last, but I'm placing my bets that the series will end by the end of the year, so probably not too long. As for this chapter, I want to appreciate what it's trying to do, but because I'm so thoroughly un-invested, it's all just a wash to me.

One Piece chapter 759 - This felt like a classic villain-confrontation chapter. Good scenes, pacing, and focus, and the action in this chapter was straightforward and effective, unlike it has been in recent chapters. Nice stuff. Hopefully the rest of the battle can be like this chapter and be a fun experienc.e

One-Punch Man chapter 52 - Oh, right. I forgot King was a poser who is actually super weak. Dunno why I didn't remember that. Either way, since Saitama and Genos are there, he's probably going to be bailed out again. I wonder how he's going to figure into this new arc?

Peephole chapter 37 - Uh oh, looks like Yawagiwa knows Kurosu knows something about her brother's disappearance and has got the police officer to come and inspect his room. This sure won't turn out well for him. Unless, Miyachi can somehow get away with killing or diverting both of them...

The Seven Deadly Sins chapter 91 - Ouch, poor Dreyfus and Griamor. They got curb-stomped at the end there. But now all the Sins have arrived to fight Hendricksen and stop him from reviving the demon clan! Can they beat him? Probably not, unless Meliodas taps into his own demonic powers...

Shokugeki no Soma chapter 84 - Huh, Erina didn't help Soma after all. She's such a jerk. But her words did make Soma think over what he was trying to do, and when Nikumi arrived with various cuts of beef, he's come up for a new variant on his beef curry stew. But what is it? That's what I want to find out. Of course, the way Cooking manga work, the losing dish is always presented first, so it's gonna be a few chapters, but I'm excited to see Soma totally beat Mimaska at his own game.

Space Brothers chapter 234 - I'm glad the series is back on track plot-wise. I don't know what happened to Mosh, but I guess he's out of the mission? Or maybe it's just this photo-shoot. I do want to see Carlos return to the team, but I don't expect he's the "replacement." But I guess we'll find out in the next chapter.

Toriko chapter 291 - Whoa! Toriko has added Air as the salad to his Full Course! Fuck yeah, that's awesome! I can't believe things turned out so well for them, but know both Joy, Midora, and the other Beast Kings know they are in the Gourment world, so things won't go so smoothly for them later on. Still, a great moment, a great moment, and a great end to this arc.

Rankings:

1. A Silent Voice - 10/10
2. Assassination Classroom - 9/10
3. One-Punch Man - 9/10
4. Magi - 9/10
5. One Piece - 8.5/10
6. Shokugeki no Soma - 8.5/10
7. Toriko - 8.5/10
8. Fuuka - 8/10
9. The Seven Deadly Sins - 8/10
10. Space Brothers - 8/10
11. Kuroko no Basket - 7/10
12. Peephole - 7/10
13. Black Butler - 6/10
14. Naruto - 3/10
15. Bleach - 1/10

Overall, a pretty darn good weak. I'm satisfied.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Odd. This week's chapter was cut short of the usual page count. Perhaps Oda fell behind schedule. At any rate, not much happened this week, but it looks like we'll finally be learning more about Doflamingo's past. We already knew that he was a Celestial Dragon, but now we have a clearer idea of his goal to take out the Celestial Dragons. I always find it interesting when one villain wants to take out another bad guy or group of them, albeit for the wrong reasons. In this case it makes Doflamingo a little more interesting, which was really needed since he wasn't catching my interest at all throughout this entire arc.

Anyways, it was a mostly average chapter again. I'm not surprised, though, as I couldn't expect Oda to keep up the quality of the last 2 chapters, but I really was hoping that they were the beginning of a streak of great ones for him. I'm still hoping that we get more chapters like those, but for now, it was just serviceable.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Huh, looks like the Tokyo Ghoul manga is ending. Bet the anime producers wished they hadn't blasted through the material as quickly as they did now. I've been meaning to keep up with this series, so maybe I'll start it around October, since it would be amusing to have a horror manga to read for Halloween-time.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, Magi finally got back to the present day story-line. It looks like Aladdin is attempting to get the 3 major kingdoms to agree to a truce, even if only temporarily, to unite against the common threat of Al Tharmen. I have a feeling that the Kou Empire will be the one holding out if this doesn't go down, otherwise they will all agree but will still be double-dealing behind each others's backs as none of them will outright trust each other, which will probably surface as a problem later on as a major weakness for Al Tharmen to exploit.

In all honesty, though, I want to go back to Alibaba's side of the story and see what happens in regard to his status with ruling Balbadd. That was interesting, and part of me believes that he would be willing to cut a deal with the Kou Empire since it means a lot to him to be the for his homeland, even if the cost for doing so is not something that he would like on a personal level.