Currently Running Manga Discussion

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm actually of the opposite opinion regarding KnY's latest arc. It started out really promising but gets more and more uncharacteristically silly with children going all Rambo on the demons. I'm all for the kids using their genetically enhanced intellect to outwit their enemies, but having them have such easy access to physical violence takes away a big disadvantage that they had which is what really gives the series its charm. Additionally, their strategies don't feel all that satisfying because the demons clearly aren't up to par with some of the previous foes which they had to contend with when it came to pitting their wits against each other.

As for KnY, I'm really glad to see it at number one and in general its high rankings are well-deserved. It has grown to being my favorite currently running WSJ manga (yes, even above One Piece and MHA).

[Spark Of Spirit]

I think it was more the demons got sloppy than the kids being the superior force. They were too arrogant and didn't expect reprisal. Their plan almost fell through twice and if it wasn't for Ray and Nameless then they would all be dead now. The last demon standing being able to take all of them all at once is proof of that. But the arc's just about done anyway. I'm more excited to see where it will be leading after this.

I do agree with KnY possibly being the best series in the magazine right now, though. No idea how Gotouge manages to make it such a fun read every week, but I'm definitely looking forward to buying the physical release. This is everything great about shonen in one series.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm also excited to see where the story goes after this arc. It's just that I'm not a fan of the demons at Goldie Pond. Lewis may be overpowering the kids, but to me that doesn't come off as threatening as someone like Isabella who is constantly outwitting the kids and there is no physical way for any of them to confirm whether they have a leg up on her or not. To me gunning down overconfident demons just isn't as interesting, even if strategy is involved.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I'm also excited to see where the story goes after this arc. It's just that I'm not a fan of the demons at Goldie Pond. Lewis may be overpowering the kids, but to me that doesn't come off as threatening as someone like Isabella who is constantly outwitting the kids and there is no physical way for any of them to confirm whether they have a leg up on her or not. To me gunning down overconfident demons just isn't as interesting, even if strategy is involved.

That's fair enough. It is a bit different here than it was in the beginning or even outwitting Nameless in the bunker.

There's still quite a lot left to do so I'm eager to see how they proceed from here.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #29 (June 12th 2018):
Black Clover (Cover, Lead CP)
1. The Promised Neverland
2. One Piece
3. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
4. We Never Learn
Dr. Stone (CP)
5. Jujutsu Kaisen
6. Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs
Haikyu! (CP)
Momoji no Kisetsu (Not Ranked)
7. My Hero Academia
One Piece in Love (Special Chapter, CP)
Kobi-ni no Kobiyama (Special Chapter, CP)
Invade You (Not Ranked)
8. Act-Age
9. Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma
10. Hinomaru Zumou
11. Noah's Notes
12. Gintama
13. Robot X Laserbeam
14. Ziga (END)

Shame about Ziga. I was hoping it would have had a chance to do something new, but it never really got off the ground. I'm also not sure why Jujutsu Kaisen is so high when it was fairly unimpressive from what I've seen. Robot still hovers at the bottom, and just about everything else is what you'd expect. The question is what is going to end next if Ziga ended that fast.

[VLordGTZ]

Two new series are debuting in issues #30 and #31.

Issue #30:
Sougou Jikan Jigyougaisha Daiyou Torishimariyaku Shachou Senzoku Hisho Tanaka Seiji by Keiji Amatsuka

Issue #31:
Alice to Taiyou by Takahide Touno

Seiji seems to be about a guy who quits his job to pursue being a mangaka, while Alice to Taiyou is about singing.

Also Act-age, We Never Learn & Jujutsu Kaisen are getting color pages in issue #30.

[Spark Of Spirit]

This hasn't been 100% confirmed yet, but it's interesting enough that I'm going to post it.

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #30 (June 19th 2018):
Sougou Jikan Jigyou Gaisha Daihyou Torishimariyaku Shachou Senzoku Hisho Tanaka Seiji (Cover, Lead CP, New Series)
1. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
2. Dr. Stone
We Never Learn (CP)
3. The Promised Neverland
4. Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Souma
Jujutsu Kaisen (CP)
5. Haikyu!!
6. Black Clover
7. My Hero Academia
Watashi no Hero Academia (One Shot)
Momiji no Kisetsu (Not Ranked)
Act-Age (CP)
Kimi wo Shinryaku Seyo! (Not Ranked)
8. Hinomaru Zumou
9. Noah's Notes
10. Gintama
11. Yuuna of the Haunted Hot Springs
12. Ziga (END)
13. Robot X Laserbeam (END)


One Piece is absent. And yes, it looks like Ziga didn't end last week. But the real surprise is Robot ending. Looks like the timeskip didn't help it out at all. Next week Gintama gets a color page and Black Clover gets a one shot and Alice to Taiyou gets the cover. Kind of surprised they waited so long to end their newer series this time. Here's hoping Fujimaki goes back to the drawing board and tries something like his archer one shot again. Haikyu's massive popularity sucks the air out of the room for other sports series. Next week Momiji no Kisetsu's first ranking comes in.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

It's a shame for RXL, but in a way it managed to still get in a decent 60-chapter run so it managed to get a few volumes in print and still keep Tadatoshi's name relevant as a mangaka. The series had potential, but I feel as though part of its failure is due to how oversaturated and competitive the sports manga market has become, while also succumbing to some of the same issues that plagued the later chapters of Kuroko no Basket (though it never got far enough to completely derail itself like that series did).

Perhaps it might be a good idea for Tadatoshi to take a bit of a break from sports and try out a different genre for a change. He can always come back to sports if he wants, but with how outlandish and over-the-top his stories tend to become, he may as well try his hand at a battle manga or something of the sort. Just food for thought, anyways.

[VLordGTZ]

It's a damn shame RxL couldn't succeed, but I guess the series simply didn't resonate with Japanese readers the same way that Haikyu and Hinomaru have in the long run.  What I'm really curious about is what Viz is planning to do with the open slot they now have in the English magazine.  There's a lot of potential options for them to choose from....

[Spark Of Spirit]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #31 (June 26th 2018):
Alice to Taiyou (Cover, Lead CP, New Series)
1. One Piece
2. Dr. Stone
3. We Never Learn
4. My Hero Academia
Gintama (CP)
5. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
6. Black Clover
Black Clover SD Asta-kun Mahoutei e no Michi (Special Chapter)
Tanaka Seiji (CP)
7. The Promised Neverland
8. Momiji no Kisetsu
Kimi wo Shinryaku Seyo! (Not Ranked)
9. Act-Age
10. Jujutsu Kaisen
11. Hinomaru Zumou
12. Haikyu!!
13. Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma
14. Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs
15. Noah's Notes

The new series ranked pretty decently. Yuuna gets the cover next week and MHA is taking a week break. Hinomaru, Alice, and Boruto get color pages. I have to say that I'm kind of surprised with the success of some of these new series as I don't really think they did anything better than other series that were canceled far faster, but it is what it is. Kubo has a one-shot coming in issue 33. Expect a lot of freak outs when it does. Nothing else to say otherwise.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #32 (July 3rd 2018):
Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs (Cover, Lead CP, Popularity Poll Results)
1. The Promised Neverland
2. One Piece
3. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
4. Black Clover
Hinomaru Zumou (CP)
5. Dr. Stone
6. We Never Learn
Alice and Taiyou (CP)
Tanaka Seiji (Not Ranked)
7. Momiji no Kisetsu
8. Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Souma
Boruto (CP)
9. Haikyu!!
10. Jujutsu Kaisen
11. Kimi wo Shinrayku Seyo!
12. Act-Age
13. Noah's Notes
14. Gintama

Yikes, I don't know what happened to Gintama to put it so low. Maybe it's time to finally end it. MHA is absent this week (on such a tease of a cliffhanger, too!) but just about everything else is where you'd expect it. Next week One Piece gets the cover, Kochikame gets a one-shot, and Dr Stone gets the cover page. It also looks like MHA will be back, thankfully.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #33 (July 10th 2018):
WSJ Cast (Cover)
One Piece (Lead CP)
1. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
2. The Promised Neverland
3. Haikyu!!
4. My Hero Academia
Kochikame (CP, Special Chapter)
5. Jujutsu Kaisen
6. Black Clover
Burn the Witch (CP, One Shot)
Bleach to Boku (One Shot)
7. Act-Age
8. We Never Learn
Tanaka Seiji (Not Ranked)
Dr. Stone (CP)
Alice to Taiyou (Not Ranked)
9. Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs
10. Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Souma
11. Hinomaru Zumou
12. Gintama
13. Noah's Notes
14. Momiji no Kisetsu
15. Kimi wo Shinryaku Seyo!

Okay, the new series dropped pretty quickly. Next week One Piece is lead color again and Food Wars gets a color page. More weird one shots are on the way. Not much surprising here otherwise, though it's good to see Kimetsu no Yaiba at the top. It's been on fire for such a good while now.

Also, the cover is interesting. It has newer authors drawing classic characters with main characters from their series.




The list is:

- One Piece and Goku (from Dragon Ball)
- My Hero Academia and Naruto (from Naruto)
- Haikyu! and ? (I can't remember the title of this)
- Black Clover and Hiei (from Yu Yu Hakusho)
- Neverland and Taluluto (from Magical Taluluto-kun)
- Kimetsu no Yaiba and Norimaki Arale (from Dr. Slump)
- Gintama and Himura Kenshin (from Rurouni Kenshin)
- Dr. Stone and Lala (from To Love-Ru)
- Yuuna and Shadow Lady (from Shadow Lady)
- We Never Learn and Hananakajima Masaru (from Sexy Commando Gaiden)
- Food Wars and Shindou Hikaru (from Hikaru no Go)
- Act-Age and Mutou Yuugi (from Yu-Gi-Oh!)
- Hinomaru Zumou and Kinniku Suguru (from Kinnikuman)
- Noah's Notes and Taikoubou (from Houshin Engi)
- Tanaka Seiji and Kurosaki Ichigo (from Bleach)
- Momiji no Kisetsu and Bossun (from Sket Dance)
- Alice to Taiyou and Rukawa Kaede (from Slam Dunk)
- Kimi wo Shinryaku Seyo! and Nougami Neuro (from Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro)
- Jujutsu Kaisen and Takeshi (from Seikimatsu Leader-den Takeshi!)

Very cool.

[VLordGTZ]

- Haikyu! and ? (I can't remember the title of this)

That's Cascade from Midori no Makibao.

It's interesting to see both Jujitsu Kaisen and Act-Age creep up into the upper half of the ToC.  I started reading past the initial Jump Start chapters of Act-Age, and I'm really enjoying the Death Island arc so far.  I hope it can keep up the momentum.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #34 (July 17th 2018):
One Piece (Cover, Lead CP)
Fisher's×One Piece 7 Tsunagi no Dai Hihou (One Shot)
1. Jujutsu Kaisen
2. Dr. Stone
The Promised Neverland (CP)
3. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
4. Act-Age
5. Black Clover
6. My Hero Academia
Shokugeki no Sanji (CP, One Shot)
7. Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Souma
Tanaka Seiji (Not Ranked)
Alice & Taiyou (Not Ranked)
8. Haikyu!!
9. We Never Learn
10. Gintama
11. Hinomaru Zumou
12. Kimi wo Shinryaku Seyo!
13. Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs
14. Noah's Notes
15. Momiji no Kisetsu

I guess congrats to Kaisen for getting at the top. I have heard literally nothing about it, but I also wasn't impressed with the early chapters so I have no idea why it's ranking so high unless it's being given a super push by the editors. Act-Age, on the other hand, appears to be pushing along just fine. The other new series all look like they won't last very long. Next week MHA gets the cover and both Haikyu and Food Wars get color pages.

[VLordGTZ]

Honestly, it's kinda insane that both Jujitsu and Act-Age have made this much of a resurgence.  I can't speak for Jujitsu since I haven't read past the Jump Start, but I think in Act-Age's case, the Death Island arc and the introduction of a number of supporting characters has really helped the series gain more traction with Japanese readers.  I really hope that Viz picks up one of them (if not both) for the magazine.