Currently Running Manga Discussion

[LumRanmaYasha]

In other news, Viz has just announced that they've licensed Kuroko's Basketball, which they will release in 2-in-1 editions starting next summer. In addition, they've also licensed Haikyu!, Yona of the Dawn, 7th Garden, and Everyone's Getting Married, which are all also coming next summer. Finally, Black Clover will be released in print starting this spring.

Wow, I'd have never thought that Viz would give a chance to sports manga again considering their track record with them. While I'm not much of a fan of KuroBas or Haikyu! (though I do like the prospect of seeing the latter added to Jump), this is great news as far as increasing the availability of sports manga in the west, and gives me hope that both Hinomaru Zumo and Straighten Up! will soon get picked up as well.

As far as the latter three licenses go, all are series I've been meaning to check out for a while, so this reminds and gives me renewed incentive to start.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

One Piece's peak in terms of actual quality ended years ago, yeah; though to be fair it didn't dip nearly as bad as Naruto did. Its popularity in terms of sales is bigger than ever, though.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Popularity is what we we've been talking about. Naruto's quality dropped hard in the middle of it's run and it got progressively worse to the end, but it remained and is still as popular as it's ever been if not more so by the time it ended (you should have gone to Comic Con; the amount of people there in Naruto cosplay and went to see Kishimoto was MASSIVE). Jump needs to create another series with that level of international influence and longevity going forward.

And as far as OP goes, after re-visiting Dressrosa in chunks, it really reads much better than it did when I was going through it the first time week to week and my opinion of it now leans to it having far more positives than it does negatives. OP isn't as strong as it was at it's peak, but to say it's dipped into the mediocre to bad territory that Naruto did post timeskip (especially post Hidan and Kakazu), is a real over-exaggeration imo.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Which is why I specifically said that "it didn't dip nearly as bad as Naruto did."

[Spark Of Spirit]

I wish they would license Ushio & Tora and release it in 2-in-1 volumes. 

Honestly, when it comes to Haikyuu!, I'm good with the anime. It's a very well done production and fun to watch. I'm not so certain reading the manga version would add a whole bunch to it.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The Haikyuu! anime is flat-out better than the manga. It takes a pretty typical story and just executes it really well with great animation, very clever styles of directing (in terms of the games), and a great soundtrack that's actually utilized with thought and care. It turns a fairly average manga into a pretty entertaining show.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I wish they would license Ushio & Tora and release it in 2-in-1 volumes. 

Honestly, when it comes to Haikyuu!, I'm good with the anime. It's a very well done production and fun to watch. I'm not so certain reading the manga version would add a whole bunch to it.

That'd be swell, though considering the length, I think they'd be best off with 3-in-1's. I do hope they see enough demand for U&T to try and release the manga sometime.

And yeah, with Haikyu! it's best to stick with the anime. Reading the manga is a far less engaging experience and makes the weaknesses and tropes of the series less forgiving than through how the anime executes things. It's honestly my least favorite WSJ manga to keep up with these days (besides Bleach, of course), but the anime is easily the best made for any of their series currently-running by far, and does a lot to make it more enjoyable to me when I'd be unenthusiastic or indifferent to it otherwise.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

It really makes me wish that the Production IG staff that works on Haikyuu! could do a future anime adaptation of a manga that's much better. I mean, if they can do that good of a job with "just OK" source material, imagine what they could do with a really good property like MHA or another popular, energetic shonen series.

[Spark Of Spirit]

It really makes me wish that the Production IG staff that works on Haikyuu! could do a future anime adaptation of a manga that's much better. I mean, if they can do that good of a job with "just OK" source material, imagine what they could do with a really good property like MHA or another popular, energetic shonen series.

MAPPA x Production I.G. would be ideal for My Hero Academia, IMO. Especially if Nishimura was director. Chances of that are next to nil, though.

I wish they would license Ushio & Tora and release it in 2-in-1 volumes. 

Honestly, when it comes to Haikyuu!, I'm good with the anime. It's a very well done production and fun to watch. I'm not so certain reading the manga version would add a whole bunch to it.

That'd be swell, though considering the length, I think they'd be best off with 3-in-1's. I do hope they see enough demand for U&T to try and release the manga sometime.

And yeah, with Haikyu! it's best to stick with the anime. Reading the manga is a far less engaging experience and makes the weaknesses and tropes of the series less forgiving than through how the anime executes things. It's honestly my least favorite WSJ manga to keep up with these days (besides Bleach, of course), but the anime is easily the best made for any of their series currently-running by far, and does a lot to make it more enjoyable to me when I'd be unenthusiastic or indifferent to it otherwise.

Well, if they do license it (I do have hope that the anime's steadily increasing popularity will provide interest in it) they clearly won't go the single volume route for release. It's too old, and the standalone stories would probably deter non-fans who just want the main story, not to mention 33 (or 34, I think) volumes is a commitment that just isn't going to happen for something that isn't One Piece level popularity. Whether 17 volumes or 12, I would jump on them either way and hope Karakuri Circus won't be too far behind (whether anime or manga) as I'm fast becoming a fan of Fujita's.

I honestly couldn't imagine Haikyuu! without the voice acting, music, and direction. They give tremendous energy to the whole thing that would be hard to do without.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Manga sales in the U.S. are up again this year. While it's not as much as in 2014, that's still good to see. I'm sure it can be partially credited to the debuts of several high-profile series this year, such as Tokyo Ghoul, MHA, and OPM. Hopefully things keep on pace next year too.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Good choices from Japan for the MHA poll.

Here are the results of the top ten for Japan for the curious out there:

Spoiler

10. Denki Kaminari
9. Shota Aizawa
8. Tenya Ida
7. Fumikage Tokoyami
6. Tsuyu Asui
5. All Might
4. Ochako Uraraka
3. Katsuki Bakugo
2. Shoto Todoroki
1. Izuku Midoriya

Pretty good choices. Always good when the main character is #1 in my books. Especially when it's the same character I voted for over here. 

[close]

In contrast, this is the top ten(-ish) for North America:

Spoiler

11. Gran Torino
9. Mina Ashido / Mei Hatsume (Tie)
8. Stain
7. Fumikage Tokoyami
6. Shoto Todoroki
5. Katsuki Bakugo
4. All Might
3. Ochako Uraraka
2. Tsuyu Asui
1. Izuku Midoriya

Quite a bit different. Same #1, though.

[close]

I quite liked this chapter where Midoriya is worrying about Stain's words and Bakugo's motivations are becoming more clear. Getting the snot beat out of him is probably the best thing to happen to him since he first got Deku as a friend and Midoriya slugging him one was more than well earned.

[VLordGTZ]

Kazune Kawahara is starting a new manga in January.  I have yet to read Aozora Yell or High School Debut, but since I love My Love Story, I am looking forward to her next work.

[LumRanmaYasha]

^Definitely something I need to keep an eye out for, as do I for Hitoshi Iwaaki's new manga, Reiri. Speaking of whom, I really need to read Historie sometime, especially since my Parasyte buzz has been rekindled now that the anime is airing on Toonami.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Here are the rankings for the October 19th issue of Weekly Shonen Jump:

Assassination Classroom (Cover, Lead CP)
1- Haikyu!!
2- Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma
3- Hinomaru Sumo
4- My Hero Academia
5- Gintama
Straighten Up! Welcome to Shika High's Competitive Dance Club (Center Color)
Mononofu (Not ranked)
6- Toriko
The Mishaps of Kusuo Saiki (Center Color)
7- Black Clover
Samon the Summoner (Not ranked)
8- Nisekoi
9- World Trigger
Q.E.D!! (One-Shot, Center Color, 19 p.)
10- Kochikame
11- Bleach
12- Best Blue
13- Kagamigami
Chronicle of Isobe -Life is Hard-

[Spark Of Spirit]

Yeah, looks like Kagamigami is on its last legs. Shame, but that's just how it goes.