Jump special live stickers in Weekly Shonen Jump 2023 issue #4/5

They're gonna school ya

So a lot of media does 'forbidden magic' shit and it's like using blood as a medium for magic or casting magic on a person or something. And usually it's presented well and like ah yeah I get why that would be bad I guess. But also it's kind of an intellectual thing. I don't live in the world of magic so a kind of magic that becomes super addictive is kind of, like I can use it as a metaphor for drugs but that usually falls apart if you start to consider it too much (hey would I do heroin to save someone's life? Sure I probbably wouldn't become addicted after one hit)

So it's more of an intellectual exercise of why it's bad rather then any kind of emotional reality.

Then fucking Ginka and Gluna comes along and introduces memory magic. Casting absurdly powerful magic by drawing on the strength of passionate memories and using them as fuel to cast your spells losing the memories in the process. Forgetting the person and the reason for your sacrifice as you make it.

And like.... Fuck that's some shit man. That's fuckin genius. I feel that shit. Memory magic is horrifying in ways I've never seen forbidden magic depicted before.

Don't sleep on this fuckin comic.

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.

Wild how Ginka and Gluna introduced Roa like that in the latest chapter.

I don’t read this one but you just made a great sales pitch in its favor

Alright, nearly a week late but I did it

I read the first chapter of Ginka & Glüna - it had an interesting premise, and it looks like a fun fantasy adventure story AND THERE’S A TEENAGED GIRL WHO DOES NOT HAVE BREASTS LARGER THAN HER OWN HEAD!!! She’s actually very flat, and it’s so refreshing TBH

Weekly Shonen Jump 2023 issue #4/5 cover

Every day I wake up and am reminded that this isn't the current Shonen Jump lineup, and then I cry.

my least favourite post on this website is still that one where people are loudly proclaiming they want Shounen but with girls as all the major characters, because whenever a manga like that does get released nobody here FUCKING READS IT

Weekly Shonen Jump Manga Round-Up(2023-03-26)

It’s the weekly manga review once again! I’m going to be talking 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. Click the ‘Keep reading’ to take a look!

Tokyo Demon Bride Story(Chapter 28)

Again, the impending feeling of cancellation looms over the series as the stakes are racheted through the roof with a once in several centuries evil threat rising and attacking our heroes while a wistful narration weaves through. I think until it ends, Tokyo Demon Bride Story will get its own paragraphs, as it's a useful vehicle to talk about how Shonen Jump cancels its stories. I understand it’s a business but it feels as if over the years, the editorial has gotten out of touch with the fact that it sometimes takes time to develop and find the core of the story, especially in a magazine like Shonen Jump. In the past, they let stories like Shaman King and Katekyo Hitman Reborn! meander for around 30 and 60 chapters respectively. Doing so not only allowed the story to develop it’s characters and dynamics but also establish a rhythm to normal life that felt absolutely earth shattering when it was disturbed. With how often I talk about Reborn! and Shaman King, I should really go back and talk about them. But to get back to the point, letting the story find it’s core paid off, as Shaman King utilized it’s easy going early chapters to find a balance between the zen and buddhist nature of it’s story and the need for shounen action, whereas Reborn! did the same with slice of life comedy and action. Tokyo Demon Bride Story has a strong core of slice of life moments that, if focused on, could lead to interesting story dynamics in the future, but it feels all a little too late to talk about. I personally think that the ideal balance of slice of life story and drama amongst shounen battle necessities was achieved in Lucifer and The Biscuit Hammer, as we found out about our characters lives while they waited for the next attack. Comparable stories also include Neon Genesis Evangelion and the Persona games. With the downtime between threats forcing the characters to commit to and live life to their fullest, we get a lot of beautiful moments. I hope future manga get a chance to flourish, Shonen Jump has to realize this isn’t a sustainable strategy.

Ginka and Gluna(Chapter 27)

This manga definitely benefits from being binged, though this week's chapter packed a punch regardless. The story had been moving at a rather breakneck pace before this, but finally we slowed down, only to get hit with a gut punch. We miss out on a lot of memories in between, but we see Ginka’s tragic backstory, and see the mistakes he’s made as well as the mistakes he thinks he’s made. We also find out he has a deeper relationship with Magaraka than was previously assumed. Ginka’s always been aloof and I feel like it’s always been somewhat of a false front as there’s moments where he genuinely struggles. He’s supposed to be the Overpowered protagonist stereotypes like other contemporaries such as Saitama, Sakamoto and Mashle, but in truth he’s a lot more vulnerable. He’s looking for a way to restore his body and he’s not as strong as he once was. And even though his mantra when teaching Gluna was that there’s nothing a wizard can’t do, he doesn’t believe and it’s quite evident at times. So it’s even more devastating that, in a burst of confidence, he challenged a foe they couldn’t defeat and his pupil had to suffer the consequences. It explains the crushing negativity he’s experiencing and it’s totally warranted. I also love how this manga dips into absolute horror and despair quite often, as with the circumstances surrounding Ginka’s childhood and his sister. It’s a sign of confident storytelling that this manga can dip between Gluna’s optimism and wonder at the world and the absolute crushing reality of their circumstances. I really like how they’ve established Magaraka as the bad guy, he’s been sprinkled throughout and I could see him slinking away and building power like Ganndorf. We haven’t had much face time with him, but he’s already despicable in a really unique way that still makes you root for his defeat. Though I do want to see Gluna’s memories restored as I love the characters, but it might be more interesting to continue the journey without doing so. 

Fabricant 100(Chapter 15)

I’ve been somewhat hesitant to label Fabricant 100 as ‘good’. There have been flashes of brilliance but I wasn’t sure if those were coincidences or not. But with this chapter a lot of these moments really come together to prove how intentional all of it was. With the second major and emotional story about the Fabricant’s we see a clear pattern develop. Underneath it’s disguise of a shounen series, Fabricant 100 seems to be concerned with questions of life and humanity and has set about examining them in quite profound ways. We have these beings who seem to feel no remorse but they understand all of the elements to it. So we have to ask the question ‘what separates understanding and feeling?’ and suddenly we’re thrown into a discussion on empathy. And these few moments after the Fabricant dies where we see them express what appears to be regret and sorrow, is that real? Is the manga saying death is what makes them human or is it that they never had the chance to grow and would’ve learned if given enough time? It’s somewhat of a cosmic horror that these powerful beings are compelled to act in such an unnatural way. We, as the readers, want so badly for them to be able to break these bonds but the manga sticks to its guns regarding those rules, rendering the atmosphere discordant and horrific in a hard to describe way. I could care less about the shounen elements but I am fully invested in its story now, and eager to see how Fabricant 100’s quest for answers about herself lead to further enlightenment. I love her character so I can only hope for some sort of emotional development.

Cipher Academy(Chapter 17)

Each week, I look forward to Cipher Academy more and more. After the incredibly dense murder mystery game we get a little breathing room where we learn about our cast of characters. But before we talk about that, I just wanna gush about the art. I love the character designs in this manga so much and I absolutely adore the way Toshusai’s group always poses. It’s so ridiculous and endearing and while it’s taken a while for my perception of her as the villain to fade away, these things help to show how dorky she really is. One thing I am a little unclear on is the stakes of Cipher Academy. Obviously the decorum of this world is it’s own thing, with characters being exaggerated caricatures the norm, but is there an actual possibility of the students dying? The world of Cipher Academy takes an investment as even though it’s set in our world and references it quite heavily, a lot of the behaviors and modes of conduct betray more of an isekai plot setting. I haven’t had the pleasure of reading or watching the authors other work so I can’t say for sure if this is his style but I really like how unique it is. Okay, now let’s get back to this chapter. We see Iroha excited that he doesn’t have to solve ciphers but soon after see him not only begging for them but examining everything in the context of a puzzle. This place has done some major damage to my boy. We also see a lot more of his classmates acknowledging him and more of a sense of community develop, even before the bonding exercise. And it’s this exercise, which Yosaimura suggests, that catapults her to the frontrunner in the class private race. I don’t know how many of Iroha’s other classmate’s share his goal of peace but Yosaimura seems to be a kindred spirit. Here’s also where I acknowledge that I don’t see why Iroha needs to become the class private other than his desire to treat everything seriously or gather more allies. Yosaimura seems to like the perfect candidate for the private role as not only was she able to suggest an acceptable activity, showing clear understanding of the task and her peers, but she was also able to weave in her own desires and gain admiration from her peers as well. Alls that to say that I’m a fan. The dynamics established so far are really interesting as well. The main players right now are Iroha as our hero and Kogoe as the somewhat villain. Ensa is the first of what appears to be Iroha’s subordinates and Toshusai is his rival. It’s with Yosaimura’s introduction into the story that we see what Anon’s role is going to be. Where Toshusai is his rival, Yosaimura and Anon are much more capable than Iroha, representing a sort of paragon of good and evil respectively to strive towards. As we appreciate the warmness of camaraderie amongst our cast, Yosaimura drops the proverbial bomb, in which she reveals her goal was to show how people in war don’t get to enjoy what they just had, shedding so much light on her character all in one instant. She also is able to almost single handedly alter the mood of the entire class, once again painting her as the obvious choice. And that’s why I think that she won’t be able to win the nomination and if the stakes are really death then she might even die. But it does provide Iroha a good example to strive towards. At the end of the chapter we see Anon conspiring with Kogoe and we see them once again propped up as villains. 

Witch Watch(Chapter 102)

We haven’t met another weirdo in such a long time that I just have to talk about this chapter. I love Fran so much already. A Frankenstein based shut in is such a good addition to the cast. Her method of rejecting people is also hilarious. And I don’t know about her, but Rui and Miharu’s exchange sounded suggestive the whole time through. At first I thought he was talking like that because he knew Fran was listening but it’s even funnier knowing it’s just the way he talks normally. It’s a 100% consistent with his trickster identity. I also love Fran’s character design so much, it was easy enough to tell that she was based off of Frankenstien but her seeking to make robots instead of flesh monsters is a nice change as it helps keep it PG. One thing that’s really neat about Witch Watch is that if characters are a part of a certain character’s world, they only interact with character’s outside of their social circles organically. It’s built up quite a living and breathing world through that. 

Akane-Banashi(Chapter 55)

These two new characters that we’ve been introduced to, Tama and Kaichi, are really interesting. It seems like it’s a running trend with the great character introductions this week. I wasn’t sure what I found interesting about them until I realized that a point was made about their newness to the scene. These two characters create an interesting dynamic because they seem to be the first few characters that Akane doesn’t need to learn things from but are still her peers. And besides the dynamic, they’re interesting characters in and of themselves. Kaichi devoting himself to Rakugo later in life and his wistful way of talking coupled with the sly info drop of him being a salesman paints an interesting character to pair with his expository older brother type personality. Tama is definitely the more interesting characters as he lacks confidence but is still somehow able to hold his own enough to apprentice under who seems to be as formidable as Ikken. The exposition this round also helps to prop up Akane as the prodigy she is, and gives her some much earned credit. And one last thing I want to mention, I love Akane's signature look, as shown in the panel above, of having her arm before her in a sort of defensive stance. It calls back to Bruce Lee thumbing his nose before a fight while also being a distinctive character pose. It shows her defensive nature but also that she's ready to attack at any moment.

Undead Unluck(Chapter 152)

I love this chapter so much. Using Billy’s initial trait of untrustworthiness and not having faith in others to turn around and have his power become acknowledging and trusting others is such a beautiful way to tell his story through technical plot elements that I can’t get over it. And not only does this manga pull that off magnificently, it also weaves it through his backstory while justifying his viewpoint before having Fuuko shatter that viewpoint. It’s hard to be eloquent and in depth about something as intelligently and empathetically done as this. The story has immense love for it’s character’s and treats them with respect. And once again, having Billy’s power represent his change from wanting to shoulder all the burdens himself to trusting others in such a way is genius. Also the fact that Fuuk achieved such a feat, changing a man’s entire worldview in one moment in such a believable way is such a testament to the writing as well as Fuuko as a character. She’s grown so much since we first saw her and I love how the above displayed page shows off her intensity and empathy.

The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins(Chapter 18)

And so the other shoe drops. While everyone else has tried to go on living after the accident, the past 17 chapters have been inside Tsubasa’s head as he dreams during his coma of four years. We watch as his mom mourns her son and feels guilty about the dreams she’s been having. She goes to the roof to probably kill herself only to find Tsubasa’s dad there as well, about to jump off. The chapter ends as they both come to the conclusion that they’re having the same dream. Taizan5 finally hits us with the sobering reality in this chapter and it’s absolutely tragic. But through whatever dream magic this is happening, they’ve been given a literal second chance. I’m curious to know if Tsubasa’s other family member’s survived. This development in the story tee's up for one last permanent change. Though it won’t change the past, this revelation is the Ichinose Family’s one last chance to make it right. It’s honestly a brilliant way to portray the themes of growth and change. This manga did it’s best to put forth the message that it’s never too late to change the way you live going forward, but doing it through the plot device of repeating time loops felt off and kind of hollow. But now, with the reveal that everything is permanent? It presents the perfect opportunity to fully cement those themes.

THE LEFTOVERS

Today’s release date also coincided with another release of Naruto: Sasuke’s Story-The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust(Chapter 8.2) where Sasuke continues his battle against the dinosaurs alongside his pet raptor. Yup, Sasuke has a pet raptor in this. There’s a reason why I don’t talk about this much. It was nice to see a side character that had been teased to have deeper motivations finally take the limelight with Meico finally solidifying her desire to beat Roboco in this week's chapter of Me & Roboco(Chapter 130). Ichigoki’s Under Control!!(Chapter 16) also seems to be in its final arc as they’re setting about to restore Misao to her normal height. Going on a Dragon Ball style hunt, they end up in a heavily stereotyped American prison and help to reform it. I don’t know if it was funny but it was definitely interesting… Tragedy strikes in Jiangshi X(Chapter 10) as our main character’s father gets stabbed while trying to help him escape. I’d always wondered about the colour in the titles but now it pays off with red blood on the last page. It was a well emphasized and earned moment. We get to see the new additions to the cast in an adorable chapter of Mission: Yozakura Family(Chapter 171). For the first time in a while, I didn’t have many complaints, this was quite a fun chapter. I really like the character’s the kids and it’s fun seeing Taiyo and Mustumi as parents. Mashle: Magic and Muscles(Chapter 149) once again uses Mash’s superhuman strength as it’s one and only punchline as he strikes a deal to come back to life. The art’s good though. This week’s chapter of The Elusive Samurai(Chapter 103) begins in a bizarrely dreamlike sequence before hurtling back towards battle again. In Blue Box(Chapter 94) we get a bittersweet story that contrasts Hina And Taiki with Natsu and Yumeko. It’s nice to see Yumeko develop and I find her to be a really engaging character but it’s always a rough chapter when Hina’s sadness is brought to the forefront. Here’s hoping for some happiness in her future, the manga needs to stop doing her dirty. In Sakamoto Days(Chapter 112) we get some insight on Sakamoto’s choice to have a family. We also get a rare look under Sakomoto’s stoicism through the sweet moment he has with Konomi. We get a little development for Mina and also learn about how we got to the current circumstances of the battle in My Hero Academia(Chapter 383). In Black Clover(Chapter 355) we get the start of the battle.