Currently Running Manga Discussion

[LumRanmaYasha]

It and Devilyman are sure to be the first picks to get axed when it's time for a new group of series to debut (which should be in a month or so). Unless Best Blue really bombs with it's first ranking next week, but we'll see about that.

[Pharass]

I caught up with Vinland Saga and these last few chapters have been very good. I'm really liking Hild as a character and her anger at Thorfinn is justified (poisoning his friends, or at least claiming to have done it, less so) and to Thorfinn's credit, he realizes this, which is one of the reasons why post-time-skip Thorfinn is one of my favorite manga-protagonists; he has matured a lot from the angry, vengeful young man he used to be.
Also, I squeed in excitement when Askeladd showed up in one panel in the flashback-chapter. If Johan is the creepiest manga-villain I can think of, than Askeladd is arguably the coolest.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, Vinland Saga is excellent. Even though I haven't been keeping up with too many series this year, I can safely say that VS is one of the best currently running manga series out there. And this is at a time when three are apparently tons of good series to follow, so that's saying a lot.

[Spark Of Spirit]

The recent MHA and World Trigger chapters were so good. Especially World Trigger. Definitely did not expect everything to hit the fan so fast after Mikumo was taken out.

Edit: My rankings for this week:

World Trigger
My Hero Academia
One-Punch Man
Food Wars!

But this was a pretty strong issue overall.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Here are the rankings for the September 7th issue of Weekly Shonen Jump:

Kochikame (Cover, Lead CP)
1 - My Hero Academia
2 - One Piece
3 - Hinomaru Sumo
4 - Black Clover
Carbonator (Center Color, Golden Future Cup Entry #7)
5 - The Mishaps of Kusuo Saiki
Assassination Classroom (Center Color)
6 - Food Wars: Shokugeki no Souma
7 - Straighten Up! Welcome to Shika High's Competitive Dance Club
World Trigger (Not ranked. Was absent in issue #33) 
8 - Haikyu!!
9 - Toriko
10 - Gintama
Nisekoi (Not ranked. Was absent in issue #33)
11 - Kagamigami
12 - Best Blue (first ranking)
13 - Bleach
Isobe Isobee Monogatari (Center Color)
14 - Devilyman
15 - Lady Justice (End)

And so Lady Justice finally kicks the bucket. A new round of series are about to debut, and I have a feeling that Devilyman will be the next to go. Ouch for Best Blue; I personally thought it had promise. A series with a first chapter ranking in the bottom five isn't likely to last much longer, unfortunately, so it'll probably get the boot sooner or later. Shame, as I was hoping for a new sports manga inclusion in the english Jump. Which we could still have, if Viz finally decides to run SU!   

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well, on the one hand it's a shame for any series with promise to be doomed for cancellation from the start. On the other hand, if the magazine is currently full of mostly good series as it is (which is what you and Desensitized seem to be saying), then it can be seen as WSJ readers now having a higher standard of quality that they uphold any new series to. So a manga with an OK first chapter would probably have been fine ten years ago when there wasn't much competition, but now anything less than very good just won't cut it.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Current Jump is pretty good. About my only issue is that it could be a tad longer and simply adding Straighten Up and Kagamigami would be enough for me. But as it is, it's a good weekly read.

Except for when they put Seraph of the End in. Like this week.

"It's your fault I'm a monster." "So growl or something then."

"That Guren guy is probably just using you." "Yeah. So? If he wants to he can. We're family!"

Somebody please throw Yu off a rooftop.

[Spark Of Spirit]

So MHA is really shaping into an interesting direction.

It looks like the real villain might be making his play soon, Ida's arm might be irreparably damaged, All Might will be telling Midoriya about his past and the previous user of his power, and the League of Villains looks like it might have benefited from Stain's actions despite getting caught. This arc might be over, but the threat definitely isn't. Personally, I think Stain will probably become a major character going forward after this chapter.

Here's hoping it continues its upward climb. It really only gets better and better.

Edit: I settled on my rankings for this week. That first chapter of Psyren is still a doozy.

1) My Hero Academia
2) World Trigger
3) Psyren
4) Food Wars!

[LumRanmaYasha]

Couple of news bits:

Bakuman is getting two prequel chapters to promote the upcoming movie. The first will be published in the 43rd issue of WSJ. It's nice to see Ohba and Obata working together again, and even though these chapters will take place before the series, it'll be fun to read some new Bakuman material after all these years.

Nisekoi is running a special bonus chapter in the 45th issue of WSJ, focusing on Marika. I'm hoping it digs more into her past, since recent chapters have made her background and backstory really intriguing.

Ajin is getting an anime, with planned worldwide streaming via Netflix. Interesting. I've been meaning to look into the series for a while, though I've heard mixed things.

Rin-ne has an "important announcement" next week. Probably will be a new anime season and/or a movie. Though, it could be an ending announcement. Which I wouldn't mind, since I really want something new from Takahashi, preferably something she hasn't tried before.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Also, here are the rankings for the September 14th issue of Weekly Shonen Jump:

Mononofu (Cover, Lead CP New Series)
1 - Assassination Classroom
2 - Haikyuu!!
3 - My Hero Academia
Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma (Center Color)
4 - Gintama
5 - Black Clover
Hinomaru Zumou (Center Color)
6 - The Mishaps of Kusuo Saiki
7 - World Trigger
Straighten Up! Welcome to Shika High's Competitive Dance Club! (Center Color)
8 - Toriko
9 - Nisekoi
10 - Bleach
11 - Best Blue
12 - Kochikame
13 - Kagamigami
14 - Devily Man (END)
Isobe Isobee Monogatari (Center Color)

[Foggle]

15 - Devily Man (END)

Ouch.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Re-reading chapter 1 of Psyren in the recent Jump issue really makes me wish he could put out something huge. At this point I doubt Kagamigami will be huge, but I would hope it could be doing better than it currently is.

He clearly has the talent, but his works just don't take off. It's a real shame.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Rin-ne has an "important announcement" next week. Probably will be a new anime season and/or a movie. Though, it could be an ending announcement. Which I wouldn't mind, since I really want something new from Takahashi, preferably something she hasn't tried before.

If it's as good as UY, MI, or Mermaid Saga, I'll definitely be interested. But she hasn't put out anything that really interested me since before Ranma outside of her short stories, so I don't know if that'll happen for me.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Well, I do like and enjoy reading Rin-ne for the most part because, like most of Takahashi's work, it has a very enjoyable and dynamic cast of characters with great chemistry and interactions with each other. I especially like how Rinne and Sakura have very different personalities and a much different dynamic than what Ranma/Akane and InuYasha/Kagome had. The series' greatest failing is that the plots and storylines for the series are just...uninspired, and often bland. There are some exceptions, like the Damashigami arc, the Black Cat Exam, and generally any story involving Renge, Left & Right, or Matsugo, but the series just doesn't get much out of it's premise and setting. The main reason being that Takahashi has done a supernatural comedy twice before, and the setting of Rin-ne is more restrictive than UY's and R1/2's, which prevents her in being able going as wild and extreme as those, and much of the material she uses rehash ideas that she's done much better and funnier before. The comedy is also really toned down and tame compared to the hyper slapstick and referential antics of UY and R1/2, which makes it a lot less funny and a lot less fun.

So really, I think she just needs to do something else besides a supernatural romantic comedy, because she just can't get any more mileage out of that. I'd like to see her try a horror manga again, maybe a space comedy like Maris the Chojo, or maybe just a slice-of-life or non-supernatural romance series like MI. Heck, the second half of InuYasha showed she could write really great battle-shonen material when she really focused on the story and character development and didn't drag plot points out longer than necessary, so I wouldn't mind seeing her try another one so long as it has a completely different concept, story, and character dynamics than IY and stays more focused than it was. I really just want to see another great series come out of her before she retires, and Rin-ne or another supernatural comedy series isn't it.

Re-reading chapter 1 of Psyren in the recent Jump issue really makes me wish he could put out something huge. At this point I doubt Kagamigami will be huge, but I would hope it could be doing better than it currently is.

He clearly has the talent, but his works just don't take off. It's a real shame.

It's a shame, for sure. Since new series tend to debut in groups of three, another series is going to have to be cut soon, so I don't think Kagamigami will survive for much longer. I hope Iwashiro gets another chance. He has great ideas and artwork, and it's a shame that he just hasn't been able to catch a break.

15 - Devily Man (END)

Ouch.

I wasn't surprised, but it is a shame, since I did like what I read of the series and saw potential in it, especially in the titular Devilyman becoming a sort of mascot character of sorts like Korosensei. Hopefully the mangaka will do better with his next attempt.

[Spark Of Spirit]

She could do Space Opera very well, actually. She's very good with characterization and connections, both of which are huge for that kind of science fiction. But yes, Rin-ne just hasn't interested me much at all. I'm sure it's good, but considering what she's capable of, it's not quite what I'm looking for from her.