Some bad news folks, next week Weekly Shonen Jump goes on break. That means NO One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, Psyren, Bakuman, and Beelzebub. So next week’s Shonen Weekend will be much smaller than usual.
ONE PIECE (chapter 553) – Conflict at the Summit
Aokiji manages to freeze the tsunami before it causes any damage. He also sends ice spears flying towards Whitebeard, who uses his quake fruit to shatter the spears and shatter Aokiji into ice pieces. With the surrounding ocean frozen, the captains of Whitebeard’s allies set out to attack on foot, where they face off against the vice admirals. To test how far away he still is from Whitebeard, Mihawk sends a long range slash his way, but it’s stopped by Third Division Captain Jozu, who can turn his body into diamond. Kizaru uses the distration to try to attack as well, but his light beam kicks are stopped by First Division Captain Marco, who has the power of blue flames.
It may not seem like much, but there was a lot that happened this chapter. More of the captains’ character designs were shown, and there are way more vice admirals that I even knew existed. Oda has a lot of creativity to come up with so many characters that I’ll never know the names to. It’s also good to see that Marco and Jozu are really strong, so this war is definitely going to be exciting. Luffy and the rest of the Strawhats still have a long way to go. And it looks like the Shichibukai will have their hands full as well. So many strong pirates populate the New World. It makes me wonder how much longer this series is going to continue for. I will gladly stick it out for the rest of the story. Good chapter.
NARUTO (chapter 459) – Sakura’s Decision
The Kages disagree that Danzo should lead their alliance. The neutral party, Mifune, gives his reasons why it makes sense only for Danzo to lead. However, one of the Mizukage’s guardians senses something is wrong, and he uses Byakugan to see why. Back at Leaf Village (yes, I’ll stop using Konoha), Naruto’s friends have come to a decision about Sasuke, which Ino still doesn’t approve of. Shikamaru goes to Sakura to let her know: to prevent the cycle of hate and revenge to bring about war, they are prepared to stop Sasuke at all costs, and Shikamaru asks for her permission to do so. Back in the Land of Iron, Naruto is still conflicted about what to do with Sasuke. Sasuke’s group is transported back outside the meeting. Zetsu meets with Tobi/Madara, who tells him it’s time to begin. Shikamaru finds out that Naruto is trying to meet with the Raikage. Sakura wants to go see and talk to Naruto. Mizukage’s guardian who has the Byakugan realizes that Danzo has Uchiha Shisui’s chakra color, and reveals that Shisui is able to mentally control people with his Sharingan. Before any action can take place, half of Zetsu appears in the Kage meeting, saying that Sasuke is around.
I’m actually a little glad we’ve gotten to see the other ninjas that were showcased during the awesome Chuunin exam arc. I know those characters have a lot of fans, and, with the exception of Shikamaru, they’ve been seriously neglected after the timeskip. Hopefully they’ll be able to do something useful, rather than just be background fodder. It’s also interesting that there are a lot of spoils of war in this universe, especially with the special eyes. At least now I’m thrown off the trail of thinking Danzo is Tobi/Madara. With Sasuke’s presence now known, hopefully there’ll be some good action scenes soon. Good chapter.
BLEACH (chapter 369) – Spit on Your Own God
Hachi’s kido rots away from Barragan’s powers. Barragan then monologues how all things eventually rot away. Hachi then makes a huge shield out of multiple kido, and strengthens it with an enchantment. He then asks Soifon for her help, specifically for her bankai. She agrees to help on one condition: that Uruhara gets placed in one of Hachi’s kido for two months. Barragan is trapped inside a super kido, preventing him from using he rot abilities against Soifon’s bankai. Now with a point blank shot, she fires it right at Barragan. Will it be enough?
So it looks like we’re going to have the top three Espada defeated in the same order. Look for Halibel to be defeated within three more chapters, assuming Barragan is actually defeated next chapter. I thought the monologue bit was amusing. Reminded me of Pixar’s Incredibles. Wondering how well the other team-ups will work? Decent chapter.
HAJIME NO IPPO (chapter 862) – Shocking Phone Call
Vorg calls Ippo to let him know about his spar with the Indonesian champion, Woli (finally revealed his name). Around the same time, Dankichi calls Coach Kamogawa to let him know about Vorg’s spar also. Woli is most effective when his back is against the corner. Continuing from last week’s cliffhanger, Woli manages to get out of the corner before Vorg strikes, and is about to connect with Vorg. But Vorg manages to get a blow in at the same time. He stops the match after the dual exchange and leaves the ring. He tells Dankichi that if they continued any further, it would stop being a training spar and turn into an actual boxing match. Both he and Dankichi can tell that he’s going to be a world class boxer. The next day, Ippo and Coach continue with their training regimen, trying to trap Woli in the corner. Coach believes in Ippo’s abilities, and really feels that he can defeat him in the corner. Woli finally arrives in Japan.
Finally I can call him something else besides “Indonesian Champion”! Woli does seem very impressive. His fight against Ippo will definitely be a great match. No doubt Ippo will be able to realize what Woli’s trick of escaping the corner is, but I’m assuming he won’t do it until they’re well into the match. It was also cool to see Vorg and Dankichi again. I keep forgetting that this series has a great supporting cast. Don’t know if the matches will start next chapter or not, but with everyone (except Takamura) having a match, it’ll be a great arc. Just hope that it doesn’t go too long like Miyata’s last fight. Good chapter.
FAIRY TAIL (chapter 146) – The Slow and Angels Prayer
Gerard has lost his memories, and only remembers the name Erza (along with how to use his magic). As Erza tries to approach him, he attacks her and tells her to stay away. Erza then summarizes his past, and why she hates him. After hearing what he’s done, Gerard is distraught. After falling from the waterfall, Lucy and Natsu wake up, wearing new clothes. They were saved by her stellar spirit Virgo. They notice that the light for Nirvana changed from black to white. Natsu decides to continue heading to where Gerard is. Cherie appears and tries to attack them, but she’s stopped by Gray. Before her anger rises again, Leon appears. Seeing that he’s okay, Cherie falls unconscious, and a light leaves her body, indicating that she is no longer possessed by Nirvana’s magic. Cobra reveals himself and confronts both Gerard and Erza. Gerard states his true intentions for unsealing Nirvana: to destroy it. He casts a self-destruction magic to which only he knows the code for. Knowing how much hurt he also caused Erza and other people, Gerard also casts a self-destruction spell on himself, a sacrifice to destroy Nirvana forever. This way, he also hopes to take away Erza’s hatred and set her free.
So this will possibly be the last we see of Gerard, at least until they explain what the hell’s up with Mistgun. It was a pretty enjoyable chapter, and Leon’s non-death was apparent to me for a while, and verified last week when Brain thought Angel was dead, yet she said she wasn’t. Still, I didn’t really like how Gerard’s sacrifice was handled, but it was acceptable. Don’t know if this means Cobra and Erza will face off or not. Have to wait til next week. Decent chapter.
KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN (chapter 253) – The Phalaenopsis Paradox 2
Irie continues to explain about Byakuran. Using the knowledge from other worlds, he’s able to manipulate things to occur in this world. He’s able to awaken 10 years ago because one of Byakuran’s henchmen sent a trigger signal back with Irie. During one of his other time travels, 10 Years Later Irie made Irie lose his memories for 5 years. In order to get closer to Byakuran and earn his trust, this was the only way. He was even instructed to bring Tsuna and the other Vongola members eventually. With his memories returned, Irie was able to decipher than this world was the only one which Byakuran hasn’t ruined/conquered from his abilities. The main reason why is because Irie was able to meet Tsuna, thus allowing for the creation of the Vongola boxes. 10 Years Later Tsuna also faked his death with a special bullet, fooling everyone to think he was actually dead. However, they still lost, and Byakuran has come to claim his prize. Irie tries to call in a favor from the last time they played Choice, and asks for a Choice Rematch. Byakuran refuses, but Uni (see Phantom Knight’s past) claims she has the right for half of this decision.
I honestly forgot who Uni was. Had to look her up. Since obviously the protagonists can’t be defeated, the Choice Rematch will further extend the Future Arc. So we’ll see the upgrades for the other Vongola members along with the powers of the other Funeral Wreaths. I thought it was really cliché that this world/timeline is the only one that has a chance of stopping Byakuran. Then again, most shonen titles are full of clichés, so it shouldn’t be that much of a shock. I guess it just amounts to how it’s handled, which just wasn’t well this time in my opinion. Hopefully there’ll be some cool fighting scenes with Hibari in the upcoming weeks. Decent chapter.
HISTORY’S STRONGEST DISCIPLE KENICHI (chapter 347) – Trump Card
The battle continues! Kenichi is laughing because it’s what Elder told him to do (mental games). Being momentarily stopped, Ethan renews the attack with a throw followed by two devastating kicks that Kenichi is barely gets hit by. Chikage realizes that Kenichi is still worried about Rachel’s situation, just like Ethan is. And that his worry is what’s making him susceptible to Ethan’s combinations. However, Chikage is also recalling the feelings she’s newly discovered by hanging out with Kenichi, and it seems that she’s starting to worry about him as well. With a third kick coming, Kenichi throws himself into it and takes the blow; but by coming in closer, he reduces the impact point, allowing him to deliver a counter-attack punch. As their next flurry of attacks are dodged or blocked, Kenichi decides to use his new technique, the second one taught to him by Elder. As Ethan closes in, Kenichi prepares his technique.
Interesting to see what Chikage will end up doing/feeling. This match is indeed highly entertaining as well. Much better that his last match with Miu against that fat guy. But then, that was the B-story match, so I can give him a pass on that. Also looking forward to what Kenichi can pull off next week. The pace of this fight has been great so far, and I’m hoping it continues for the remainder of the match. Good chapter.
PSYREN (chapter 82) – Memories
Ageha and Amamiya must wait for Nemesis Q’s master recovers. As they do, everyone back at headquarters tries to live a normal and peaceful life as best they can. When she finally does recover, she contacts Ageha and Amamiya telepathically to come meet with her. As they talk she reveals that the has no name, and is known only as Number 07. She then uses her abilities to show them her memories of before her life as a psychicer. She was an orphan, and she never knew her real name. Then these men came and tested all the children to choose a certain card. She kept choosing the wrong card, which is what they planned for. They took her away for experimenting, and once they were done with her, they planned to dispose of her. Instead, she was moved from the facility, and left in the capsule. The building she was left in was destroyed, but her capsule remained intact and supported her life. She was able to make a separate consciousness that can travel back in time. Ageha wants to know why they were chosen. Was it to save the world? No. 07 says it’s not as noble as that. The true purpose of the game of Psyren was to get to a certain location, and find a certain person: Amagi Miroku, creator of W.I.S.E. and her twin brother.
Crazy…This was a great reveal of the Nemesis Q’s past and purpose. I really wasn’t expecting her to actually try to save the world. However, her reasons might actually end up saving the world inadvertantly. That’s actually one mystery solved of this world. Really looking forward to the direction this series will take next. Can’t wait for the next chapter. Good chapter.
BAKUMAN (chapter 49) – Recall and Call
At the meeting, the manga authors and artists decide to boycott submitting for Jump. They will do so until Trap is no longer on hiatus. The editors are trying to convince them that they won’t be able to live and even pay their assistants, but Niizuma says he he has enough money to help pay for all their assistants for a while. So their agreement is that they’ll keep drawing to keep their skills up and continue their stories, but they won’t actually submit their chapters for printing. Except for Hiramaru, he’s just not going to draw. They tried to compromise if Mashiro can submit chapters once he’s out of the hospital rather than after he graduates, but they can’t come to an agreement over something that hasn’t happened. The editors try to convince the EIC to reconsider Mashiro’s hiatus to end sooner at the risk of the lack of five manga series. Mashiro is able to finish drawing Chapter 19 even though they aren’t getting published. There’s a tender moment between him and Azuki, where she gives him a good luck charm for his surgery. It was successful, and the next day they discover what happened in Jump. The editors are having a field day trying to answer the phones about angry fans complaining; however, sales of Jump have increased due to the curiosity of the missing series.
Per usual, there is a lot that happens in each issue of this series. I’m pretty amazed at how both the artist and author (two different people working as team) can cram so much information and detail in each issue, and it still doesn’t feel like enough. With the sales of Jump increasing, I don’t know if that’s a blessing for the boycotters or not. I’m pretty sure that the EIC will reinstate Trap after the surgery, but when it does happen, it’ll be a good reveal. Hiramaru’s antics are still really funny to me. Good chapter.
BEELZEBUB (chapter 24) – Get Out
Hilda tries to feed BL a milk bottle, but it explodes due to the heat. Apparently, his illness has now increased his internal temperature. But that’s not the only drawback. For some reason, the Zebub symbol on Oga has disappeared, meaning that his connection with BL has been severed. Oga thinks he’s finally off the hook. He asks Hilda if it means he can be further away than the 15 meter distance, and instead Hilda kicks him out of his own house. Disgruntled, Oga walks around the city, where he meets one of Tojou’s lackeys, Aizawa. He delivers a brutal kick to Oga, and says he isn’t near the level to face Tojou.
I didn’t think that BL’s illness would turn into this type of situation. I thought it was just for comedic effect. I’m sure that Oga will somehow get BL to reconnect with him, it’s just a matter of when. I don’t know what’s up with Hilda, but it certainly is an interesting development as well. What will she try to do to get BL back to normal? Oh yeah…and what will happen to Oga? Is he going to be able to kick as much ass without BL? Looking forward to this new direction before he faces Tojou. Decent chapter.
