So with a scheduled return, a few issues missing this week. Beelzebub has yet to be scanned, and we had Ippo early for the past few weeks, so it was bound to fall back to normal eventually. Also, next weekend I’m attending the wedding of two of my best friends (yes, they’re marrying each other). So congrats to the happy couple! Shonen Weekend will most likely be late. I’ll try to publish it ASAP, assuming I can find a Coffee Bean or something in San Diego. Take care everyone, and have a great week!
ONE PIECE (chapter 557) – Luffy and Whitebeard
Flashback: Luffy and co.’s ship was trapped at the peak of one of the frozen tidal waves from earlier. Luffy’s idea, break free from the ice, and slide down back to the water to join in the war. But since they were on a Marine ship, they were able to hear the plan to execute Ace earlier than scheduled. Ivankov uses his Death Wink to break free, but they end up falling the wrong way. They’re able to land where it’s actually water and not ice, and Jimbei saves all the devil fruit users. Luffy and Ace finally meet. Everyone at the battle is shocked at surprised at the group that’s with Luffy. Smoker and Tashigi are especially surprised that Luffy is teamed with Crocodile. Seeing Jimbie standing against him, Sengoku is furious at him. Jimbei resigns as one of the Warlords. During that exchange, Crocodile uses the opportunity to attack Whitebeard! Before he can though, Luffy stops him. Whitebeard recognizes Luffy’s hat as Shanks’. He also tells Luffy that he’s just going to throw his life away in this battle. In response, Luffy tells him to shut up, and that he’ll be the one to become Pirate King. Amused, Whitebeard just tells him to not get in the way. All the other pirates are surprised that Luffy isn’t even flinching while standing next to Whitebeard. Kizaru asks if he can execute all the new intruders. Sengoku approves the order.
So the war is still escalating, especially with Luffy’s group finally thrown in the fray. I wonder if Luffy will be able to get a grasp of his Willpower/Haki before this battle is over? Not even sure who Luffy’s opponent will be. This is pretty much going to be a free-for-all anyway. And he’s not really fighting against Whitebeard’s crew either. Perhaps one of the Warlords that he hasn’t fought yet? Like Doflamingo? Probably fight against the newly introduced admiral, Akainu. Anyway, there’s so much going on, and so many good spreads… Oda needs to stop taking breaks! Also thought that everyone’s reaction to Luffy and Whitebeard’s banter was hilarious. Good chapter.
NARUTO (chapter 464) – The Power of Darkness
Raikage goes for the finishing blow, and Sasuke tries to get a last defensive Amaterasu up. Before they both connect, their attacks are blocked by sand. Gaara and his team make their presence known. Temari and Kankuro help save one of the samurai who’ve been hit by the black fire. Raikage is pissed that Gaara stopped their battle; he wants to talk to Sasuke before they continue. In the meantime, Raikage cuts off his arm that’s being consumed by the flame. He tells Shi to hurry up and heal his arm so it’ll stop bleeding. Gaara remembers from back when he fought Sasuke that his eyes still have the look of hatred in them. Gaara tries to save Sasuke from the world of darkness, much like how Naruto saved him earlier. Proving futile, Gaara is left with no choice but to treat Sasuke like a criminal. At the Kage meeting, they’re able to detect that Karin is able to detect their location. Sasuke’s fire isn’t able to get by Gaara’s sand defense. Gaara, Kakuro, Temari, and Darui attack all at once, trying to overwhelm Sasuke; however, Sasuke is able to use his new ultimate defensive technique, Susanoo.
Action is still staying at a pretty good intensity and pacing. Still thinking that Sasuke is a little overpowered, especially still being a young ninja. Oh, and did he really have to only use techniques passed to him from Itachi? First Amaterasu and now Susanoo, along with Chidori. Sasuke needs his own techniques. That’s really the disappointing part of this chapter (and that Sasuke is overpowered). Cool to see the Sand ninjas joining in the fight. Hopefully they’ll be able to hold their own for a bit, especially with most of Sasuke’s group already taken out. Also, it might be just me, but I’m seeing a lot more detail in the backgrounds for this arc than I’m used to in earlier post-timeskip Naruto chapters. Decent chapter.
BLEACH (chapter 374) – Grey Wolves, Red Blood, Black Clothes, White Bones
Kyoraku was hiding within the shadows and was the one who stabbed Stark. Kyoraku’s bankai has a special ability: it can make children’s games real, and when it makes the rules for the games, everyone within the spiritual barrier has to play by the rules. One sword also gives the edge to whoever has the higher ground, while the other sword punishes those who step on a shadow. They attack each other, trying to stay within the rules for the game. Suddenly, Kyoraku says “Irooni Gray,” and Stark gets slashed on his arm. It was a strong attack, but only a shallow cut. It’s Stark’s turn to choose a color, and he chooses white, which they are both wearing. Kyoraku takes a lot of damage on their next exchange, because of the rules. The color chosen can also hurt the one who wears it, and the higher the risk, the more damage you can do. There’s also some insight to what Stark is thinking, his desire to be weak, or at least to meet someone as strong as he is. Kyoraku removes his overcoat, wearing only the black Shinigami robe, and chooses the next color, black. Stark gets hit by a devastating attack.
Somewhat of an interesting fight, but there were some weird-ass rules. Not being from Japan, I don’t really know what the children’s game is. Not really sure if the battle is over or not, but I’m gonna guess no. And four-on-one kind of seems a bit much, even for Bleach. Still, the pacing was alright, and finally glad to see Kyoraku’s Bankai. Still wish Stark’s defeat would’ve been saved for last for the Espada. Decent chapter.
HAJIME NO IPPO (chapter 868)
No chapter available at the time of this writing.
FAIRY TAIL (chapter 152) – Jura of the Sacred Ten
After his attack, Jura still questions Brain as to why he’s specifically going after Cait Shelter. Brain then uses his dark magic, first as a feint to get Jura’s front guard up in order for a sneak attack from behind. Jura is able to predict the tactic and bend a rock wall to protect his back. Brain’s attack pierces the wall, but Jura is able to twist it to change the direction of the attack. Not expecting that, Brain was then caught off-guard, as Jura defeats him with his Supreme King Rock Crush attack. As he’s defeated, Brain mutters some final words before falling unconscious: “When the six prayers disappear…That person will…” Also, some of the markings on his face disappear. Wendy meets up with them, and they all head to the control room for Nirvana. She’s also able to cure Natsu and Happy’s poison. Back at the other battle, as Midnight gets up again, all the injuries are transferred over to Hoteye. He (she?) then states that he’s the strongest mage in the guild, surpassing his father, Brain. As our heroes arrive, they see that there are no controls in the room they were told for Nirvana, only rubble. With Brain defeated, Nirvana should have been stopped if he was the one controlling it. Wendy is still worrying about Natsu, since the poison is gone but he’s still out of it. After she discovers it’s motion sickness, Wendy is able to cure it for him (at least temporarily). Feeling much better, Natsu promises to Wendy that he’ll somehow stop Nirvana, which seems to be on auto-pilot towards Cait Shelter. To a defeated Hoteye, Midnight then states that Nirvana wont’ stop as long as he exists.
Man…now I can’t remember if Midnight was a man or woman. Either way, Midnight’s powers are strange. Right now, it looks like any magic damage he receives gets placed back onto the person that did said damage. Thought it was really funny that Natsu has now overcome his vehicle weakness. For how long remains to be seen. There’s still some more of the cast that has yet to make their move: Ichiya, Erza, Gerard, and for the sake of, also Wendy. Really, she hasn’t done anything besides heal; I still think she has something important to do to save her guild. Jura’s powers were very impressive. I know, you can’t help but think he’s like Kwame from Captain Planet, but come on, he’s definitely cooler. That, and his earth powers are actually pretty fluid. So far, this arc has been pretty good. Let’s hope the author can keep up the pace for the finale. Good chapter.
KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN! (chapter 258) – Escape
Zakuro is able to break through the Vongola base defenses and infiltrate the base. After everyone gathered to his location, he seems disinterested in capturing Uni, acting lazy and complaining that his transmitter and radar were broken. The Vongola Family is puzzled by this, but Squalo keeps his head and tells everyone to run away. Tsuna is surprised that he wants to take on him alone; however, only Squalo was able to detect the flames that Zakuro was about to emit on them and counterattack. They escape above town, with added protection against the 7(3) radiation. Trying to figure out where to hide Uni, Haru recommends that they visit a realtor who has a “secret hideout home.” Before they head out, the ground shakes, and there’s an explosion at the base exit they just took. Squalo emerges, but is seriously injured, with one of his arms cut off. The base begins to explode, as Squalo buys more time for the others to escape. They make it to Kawahira Realtor, and Haru pounds on the door asking for Grandmother (not her real grandmother, just an elderly lady). A man opens the door, and explains to them that the old woman they were looking for died three years earlier. However, he knows of their danger and tells them to get inside, saying that he’ll take care of the Six Funeral Wreaths for them.
Unknown man telling a bunch of teenagers to get into his house for protection. If it weren’t shonen manga, it’d be a hilariously bad situation for a horror film. Anyway, thought that we’d see Squalo fight, since he’s also pretty strong. Since he also helped train Yamamoto, things probably aren’t looking too good for the Vongola (or maybe just if Yamamoto fights Zakuro). Hopefully Dino will fare better if he fights. Not really sure what to say about the mysterious stranger, so I’ll hold further comments until we get more info, hopefully next chapter. Decent chapter.
HISTORY’S STRONGEST DISCIPLE KENICHI (chapter 353) – True Form
Nijima meets up with Kenichi and Miu to tell them some more news about Yami and Yomi. It turns out there’s a 10th master in Yami, the Fierce Fist God Ma Sogetsu. He also calculates that the probability that Tanimoto is the 10th Yomi is very high, much to Kenichi’s dismay. To make sure, Kenichi, at the behest of Nijima, asks Tanimoto himself; unfortunately, he isn’t able to get a direct answer. Meeting up with the other members of the Shimpaku Alliance, Kenichi finds them all at the gym enjoying a concert thrown by Rachel. Renka happens to be there as well, not wanting to lose to Rachel’s performance. Rachel says he isn’t Yomi. Relived, Kenichi enjoys lunch on the roof with Nijima and Miu; however, Nijima thinks Kenichi is too naïve since he believes an enemy so easily. Next, we cut to a different location, where the 10th seat of Yomi has to fight another disciple for his position because of his master’s wishes. That other disciple…is Tanimoto!
Okay, so that clears up the confusion from last week’s 10 silhouettes. They said nine in the scan, it was supposed to be ten. So Rachel wasn’t exactly lying to Kenichi. Currently, Tanimoto isn’t a member of Yomi. And he could’ve answered Kenichi either way and still wouldn’t be lying. It was good to see some more of the Shimpaku Alliance, and I wonder if they’ll play a slightly bigger part this arc. Anyway, Tanimoto could be joining Yomi for real, or as a saboteur. Would be cool if he were a saboteur. Hoping his fight next week will be worthwhile and the opponent not just fodder. Decent chapter.
PSYREN (chapter 86) – Sky of Each Other
Kabuto, still unconscious from the fight against W.I.S.E., journeys around his subconscious to meet his “other self,” a hulking being named Yoyo, who will grant Kabuto the use of his other powers when he needs it, besides his eyes. Before he can ask Yoyo any important questions, he finally wakes up, after recuperating for nine days. Ageha fills Kabuto in on the details. With the new rules Nemesis Q put in place, Ageha was able to explain everything to the Root members. Finally, he decides that he, Amamiya, and Kabuto will go back to their time to keep preventing this future from happening. Even if it means that they’ll no longer know the Root members as they are in this timeline. With everyone’s help, they are able to find the telephone line for their next goal in Psyren. Before they leave, Root tell Ageha to give their past selves a bit of advice to help their growth. As they go back, what will happen to their present?
Okay, so I was wrong last week, and THIS chapter is the official end of the arc. Haha, my bad. With Ageha and almost everyone back in the present, we’ll now see what they do with the knowledge they take back with them, and if they’ll possibly try to power up before going back to Psyren again. I wonder how the other side characters’ future will change? Well, still continued with a pretty good ending for the arc like last week. I honestly thought that they were going to stay in the altered future for a while since Hiryu and Oboro were still there. They might be totally different characters next time we see them. Okay, now I’m just rambling, so I’ll stop with the review here. This isn’t theory time. But with the wheels turning, I’m definitely looking forward to the next chapter. Good chapter.
BAKUMAN (chapter 54) – Gag and Serious
Mashiro and Takagi are sitting around their studio, trying to come up with new ideas. Mashiro wants to do a one-shot to be cautious. In the meantime, they decide to apply to a business college close by, as long as Takagi tutors Mashiro in English. Miyoshi wants to go also, and asks for tutoring as well. Trying to figure out what to do, Takagi goes through most of the staples: battle, sports, and turning ordinary into interesting. Back at Jump HQ, Miura feels the pressure trying to get a manga series in Jump. At their next meeting, Miura is surprised that they want to do a one-shot. He thinks it’s a step backwards, and that the editors are looking forward to their next serialization. Mashiro and Miura disagree. Still pushing serialization, Miura recommends that they do a gag manga, because of all the studying he was doing for Trap, and because their last chapter had a lot more comedy and came in 13th. Mashiro interrupts, telling Takagi that they should think it over. As they walk away, Mashiro says that Miura is no good and believes that they should do a one-shot. Leaving Jump HQ, they run into Hattori and ask for advice. Not willing to give advice due to not being their editor, he says that sometimes it’s okay to disagree with the editor, too. Mashiro came to the realization that Miura doesn’t really fit well with them, that he prefers comedy, and doesn’t really see Takagi’s strengths as a writer. Takagi ends up calling Niizuma, asking his opinion if he’d read a comedy by him. He would rather prefer to read a dark story. Now, they both think that Miura is wrong in the direction he’s pushing them in.
Alright, something dark coming up for our manga duo. I didn’t even realize that it was the comedy part that started their ratings drop. While Miura is still a nice guy and decent editor, he really isn’t suited for Mashiro and Takagi. Glad that Hattori still plays an important role for them. So now we’re at a restart for our story, or rather, the next story arc. And as usual, there’s a lot of info again this chapter, most of which I tried to leave out. Looking forward to next week, to see what they come up with for a name. Decent chapter.
BEELZEBUB (chapter 29)
No chapter available at the time of this writing.
