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roydeezed · 1 year

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Weekly Shonen Jump Manga Round-Up(2023-03-20)

It’s the first weekly manga review! Where I’ll talk about any thoughts I’ve had on manga that were released this sunday. The ones which I care about and have extensive thoughts on will get their own sections while the others will be packaged into one paragraph at the end.

Spy x Family(Chapter 77)

This chapter sees Loid help the resident tutor get over his trauma. We find out that he’s been using the busjacking as an excuse and his real trauma comes from his wife. And Loid being Loid, not only does he deduce that, but he uses basically every resource he can to confirm it and help the man. As we saw from his backstory, Loid’s always been a good person and I think that ever since getting his current assignment, he’s used it as an excuse to help people as much as he can. He literally used government agents for this and justified it as helping him get closer to students and alumni, my man is so deep in denial. This chapter also highlights what a great relationship Yor and Loid have. A fun detour after the bus jacking incident!

Tokyo Demon Bride Story(Chapter 27)

Picking up from what I talked about from last week's release, it unfortunately did turn out to be a fake-out. It was actually a test to measure Jinta’s loyalty to Manaka, Though it didn’t lose the dramatic tension as much as it punted it down the field for future chapters. Which this manga has been guilty of doing in small doses for a while. I did like that they still kept Manaka’s aunt’s lethality and the whole moment with the blade cutting off the fingers was really cool! The crumbling mirage effect totally worked. Though I can feel the cancellation bells ringing over it as the last panel felt like a preamble to a finale. I still really want to see its full potential.

Ginka and Gluna(Chapter 26)

Ginka and Gluna is very quickly raising the stakes, while focusing on what’s important. I hope it chugs along strong because it has legs. By not detailing how Magaraka escaped, the story kept all of its drastic weight and momentum into the reveal that Gluna forgot Ginka in his entirety. It’s an absolute tragic turn and I can’t wait to see where they go from here. I’m not sure if the power-up itself is temporary, but if it isn't, the dynamic of an amnesiac student stronger than her master will also be really interesting to see. The way Gluna’s spells corresponded with the memories she was giving up, was absolutely heartbreaking. It’s also heartbreaking knowing that all the chapters we’ve seen were so beautifully drawn and even those memories are lost to her. Gluna had a really strong personality from when she first arrived onto the page so it’ll be interesting to see what sort of personality is built up and how Ginka reacts to it.

Cipher Academy(Chapter 16)

This chapter concludes the murder mystery game and establishes Iroha’s skill and prowess over the rest of his team, gaining their support. Almost each page is filled with a crazy amount of information so it’s sometimes a little hard to parse but the best I could understand, mst of the messages were part of a progress report that the victim, as a spy was sending out. The five-star clue turned out to be that there was one more spy, and that was the deceased. So while the initial assumption was that this was so gamefied that the clues were all dying messages, the twist built upon the assumption by having the messages be true but not be dying messages. In fact only one of them was. And each player had their own objective, meaning that while you could solve the mystery, it usually wasn’t everyone’s top priority. So, after finding out everyone’s unique win conditions we discover what this game really is, and that’s a charisma based game much like mafia and wereworld where knowing the truth heps, but isn’t the end all be all. In fact, not knowing the true killer actually helped as it cast doubt on who it was. This was a game all about withholding and releasing information strategically and the way it was revealed and played out was masterful storytelling. One thing I’m curious about is the line when it started that the game held more truths then were outright apparent about some of the players. So I wonder if we’ll get a payoff about that anytime in the future. At the end of the chapter, Iroha meets up with his friends and gets introduced to Anonymity Requested who basically turns out to be a cheater. Let’s call them Anon from now on. Anon also seems to be the most outright evil character right now, being able to judge really well when to put in effort, when to not, and when to cheat. Also could be they’re just lazy. This was a really dense set of chapters so I can understand people who don’t stick with it, but if you’re reading this, I urge you to give it a shot because I don’t fully delve into all the puzzle elements but I have found a lot of enjoyment in it from just the dramatic beats. And the character progression is great too. It’s a lot faster than most manga as we’ve seen Iroha’s meteoric growth since the beginning and even more since chapter 11. I am really digging this series so far and can’t wait to see what Anon is gonna get up to.

Witch Watch(Chapter 101)

Last week, I didn’t give Witch Watch the kudo’s it deserved so I wanna pile a heaping helping now. Witch Watch has so many great things going for it, from it’s adorable art and romance to its hilarious comedy to its surprisingly engaging underlying plot. But what makes all of that work, including this week’s chapter, is how great the character’s are. They all fit within their tropes, sure, the stoic in Moi and the comic relief in Kanshi among others, but it’s the little quirks, twists, and evolutions of those tropes that fully flesh them out. Moi, despite being stoic, is always passionate about the things he cares about and thus gets into weird and super niche hobbies. Kanshi is callous and loves instant gratification and thus is a bad gambler. Each of their characters are built upon the core of their trope and archetype, helping to make sure their portrayal is always consistent. And because they’re so consistent, when they’re taken to the logical extreme it can be played extremely seriously and be that much funnier for it. In this week's chapter we start with Moi and Miharu getting into an argument over streaming service passwords. Moi, because he’s stoic and passionate, wants to set rules. But Miharu, who is kind of a little trickster, tries to talk him out of it. Nico, trying to remedy the situation, turns them into super fluffy versions of themselves, hoping they won’t be as direct and mean, but we get a hilarious and somewhat sinister body horror exchange where Moi gets brained and his memories stolen, which then turns into a battle shonen over the stolen memories. Because Witch Watch has such solid characters and is just that confident in it’s characters, storytelling, and comedy, it pulls off this gag so well. Also Nico turning the characters soft, softened their words, but because the characters are so strong, their personalities still shone through, and because such cutesy things were said with the edge of begrudging adults, it all took a hilariously sinister turn as well.

Undead Unluck(Chapter 151)

Undead Unluck continues it’s streak of great chapters with this week’s where Fuuko tries to get Billy to their side. Undead Unluck has such solid characterisation in it that, once you figure out a character’s motives, you can trace that as a thorough line through all of their actions. Billy’s always been consistent, shouldering as much suffering as he could manage so other’s didn’t have to. And negator ability of Unfair ties directly to his desire for that. He doesn’t want an unfair world, one where the weak should have to fight. Fuuko’s always been a direct opposition to that as she was one of the weak. Nut because she was allowed to fight and grow, she got stronger. From the moment she met Andy, to before the reset, and to now, Fuuko has had tangible and experience driven growth, learning from every battle she fought and every tragedy she witnessed. Bor both Fukko and the reader, things like the battle with God will forever be etched into their brains. And speaking of that whole battle, since I wasn’t doing this back then, can I just freak out about how great that was? It established such a strong foe and let us know what we would need in order to beat it while also making it clear that it would be nigh impossible even with that. But getting back to characterisation and motives. Billy is only the most recent example. You can chart almost every character's actions in that way once they’ve solidified their resolve, it’s seriously great storytelling and attention to detail.

The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins(Chapter 17)

The rabbit hole keeps getting deeper and deeper with this manga. Taizan5 brought back Takopi to it’s origin with the name so I am really curious about what the sins are going to be. Because right now, the family just seems to be a victim. The mother disappears and after being confronted, Sota tells them they’ll understand once they figure out everything. Then they act like a family to try and figure it out and go to a baseball stadium where Tsubasa remembers getting his picture taken by what appears to be Sota. Sota seems to be a tragic figure and can’t tell them why they’re looping for some reason. But the sadness behind his eyes is evident. If the Grandpa has looped 2000 times without finding an answer, what hope do they have? This manga also reminds me a lot about Spirit Circle, where with each successive reincarnation, the bad guy became more and more obfuscated. It seems to me, the more and more we learn, the less sure we’re gonna be about everything, at least until the end. The panel at the end where Sota tells Tsubasa that he was in a coma for 4 years, is that before the time loop or during? Could it mean this is like a matrix type situation where they’re being put in this loop to be a better family?

Akane-Banashi(Chapter 54)

This chapter sets the stage for the upcoming competition and in the optimistic way it sets up Akane, I echo the character’s sentiments, it feels ominous. With the organizer being the guy that Akane humiliated, I can’t help but feel she will get some sort of payback in this competition. We also get introductions to competitors and further development to some side characters. Although there wasn’t much to talk about in this weeks chapter, it was still fantastic in it’s ability to set the tone going forward.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations(Chapter 79)

Although this chapter had some crazy sci-fi twists, I loved it so much. Honestly, at this point I see Boruto as being kind of an alternate universe and it makes the experience so much more enjoyable. The stakes were raised so high with this chapter as Boruto and Kawaki literally switched circumstances. Only a few people know but this sets up even more tragedy as the title character is on the backfoot for real for the first time. Not only is Naruto gone but Sasuke and the entire village are all now enemies of Boruto. Boruto has always been kind of spoiled and counted on the fact that others would save him. With this, he has no choice but to actually grow and learn on his own. I love the new landscape this sets up and can’t wait to follow it as it develops.

Dragon Ball Super(Chapter 91)

I love the slice of life style storytelling in this arc. It harkens back to the original dragon ball’s storytelling and updates the humour. It’s also absolutely adorable as we Piccolo once again pick up the mantle of best dad as he trains and looks after Pan, who is also adorable in her own right. As Videl runs a dojo and Gohan researches for his presentation, Piccolo sees his son (Gohan) go down the same deadbeatedness of his actual father, Goku. Obviously, he’s mortified, as are we. He also says that Pan could one day be stronger than Goku and Gohan. But it’s all in good fun as they are basically one happy family nowadays. On the other side we have stakes beginning to rise as Dr.Hedo is recruited by the Red Ribbon Army. While the Red Ribbon Army is definitely evil, Dr.Hedo honestly seems pretty cool and would make a great friend to Trunks and Goten. Hopefully by the end of this arc he does. Also can we talk about how Videl and Gohan give Piccolo plushies as thanks for looking after Pan, it’s just doubly adorable. I never thought the day would come when Dragon Ball would be the cutest manga on Shonen Jump. But all in all, it was another fun chapter, I love these Red Ribbon Dorks.

THE LEFTOVERS

For the first manga of the leftover we have, Mission: Yozakura Family(Chapter 170) where the main characters get a five year training timeskip where they train and get stronger. I understand it was supposed to be played for laughs but it wasn’t really funny, just weirdly perverted. Though I did audibly gasp at the last panel where Taiyo and Mutsumi have two children. If anything, the cutesy moments between those two and kids are always the strong points of the manga so hopefully this time skip helps its quality. In Me & Roboco(Chapter 129) we get a fun detour into one of the side characters' lives, Gaku Serizawa. Playing it completely straight made it absolutely hysterical, I love when the authour does the hyper detailed and chiseled faces, it’s stupid but it’s my kryptonite. Jiangshi X(Chapter 9) had some blink-and-you’ll-miss-it characters come back to tee up for what feels like a tragic end to this little arc. The art was gorgeous as always. And I do get a certain Shaman King-esque vibe from it sometimes, though that might just be because Lee Pyron was a Jiangshi. Ichigoki’s Under Control!!(Chapter 15) had a another hilarious chapter, and this time with memory loss shenanigans. Oddly this was just one of many manga in Jump this week that played with memory. Anyways, I love the fake memories gag, it was done so well in the show Community that I still think about it. I almost had enough to talk about in Fabricant 100(Chapter 14) but I think I can squeeze most of my sentiments in a few sentences. This manga is slowly turning into a real battle shonen so I’m glad they’re solidifying the rules a bit more like with the badges and the blood. Also I like how the author sticks to the motifs they’re developing, like the sanctity of life and the fear of death, portraying both with beauty and reverence. In Blue Box(Chapter 93) we get a glimpse at Hina and go back to Yumeka again as Chinatsu’s basketball game fast approaches. We get a sweet moment between Yumeka and her boyfriend where he agrees to delay their date so she can go to the game and it does a lot to humanize Yumeka. It also shows how much she cares about basketball as it’s something she talked about with her boyfriend enough that he knows how important it is to her. It seemed like it was something she dropped cold turkey but obviously it’s not. We get another manga talking about giving up memories in Mashle: Magic and Muscles(Chapter 148) where in the afterlife Mashle will be allowed to come back if he gives up his memories in a sequence that parodies Fullmetal Alchemist's Gate of truth. Again, not a huge fan of Mashle so I can’t find much positive about it other than the fact that the art was great. Black Clover(Chapter 354) looks to be setting up the final battle and arc. In this weeks Sakamoto Days(Chapter 111) I’m pretty sure we see Sakamoto actually kill someone for the first time on the page, since this is the past. It’s adorable to watch the four of them bicker and their dynamic plays off really well together, I’m looking forward to what the pay-off of these two girls being inside the decoy is going to lead to. In Jujutsu Kaisen(Chapter 217) Sukuna faces off against Megumi's older sister who is a special kind of twisted and we get some really cool action scenes. Finally in The Elusive Samurai(Chapter 102) we see Tokiyuki for the first time being able to enjoy family outings. It’s pretty tragic as he doesn’t want to go back to war but he’s being forced too. His childhood his been ripped away from him by the war and he can’t do anything but bear with it.

#weekly shonen jump #manga discussion #manga recap #manga #spy x family #loid forger #tokyo demon bride story #ginka and gluna #ginka & glüna #cipher academy #witch watch #undead unluck #the ichinose family's deadly sins #akane banashi #boruto #boruto naruto next generations #dragon ball super #spoilers

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