MangaHelpers

Issue #17, 1999: the one where Luffy and the gang walked to Arlong Park, JoJo classic concluded and Yabuki was debuting with a later axed manga.
Issue #12, 2005: the one where the battle between L and Light had a winner, Matsui debuted with Neuro and many other series delivered their own historical chapter.
Issue #22, 1985: the one where I tried reviewing an issue of the '80s and it was so difficult that I swore to never do that again. Now updated!
Issue #45, 2011: the one where I wanted to cover a pivotal chapter of HunterXHunter, but I read the wrong issue and got a pivotal chapter of Naruto instead.
Issue #15, 1991: the one where a certain Saiyan turned his hair blonde for the first time, and the history of manga changed forever.
Issue #48, 2008: the one where Jump didn't care to celebrate its 2000th issue, but there are a number of historical chapters anyway, most notably Bleach is about vice-captain Omaeda.
Issue #33, 1997: the one where it was the last time we lived in a world without One Piece, and I thought it would be an easy issue to cover but there are too many unfound chapters.
Issue #43, 2011: the one where I corrected the mistakes of the past and covered the issue with that pivotal chapter of HxH, where we mourned the loss of a King.
Issue #41, 2001: the one with the weak motivation of being the last issue of Jump before 9/11, but at least it contained some gems like the 5th chapter of Bleach.
Issue #29, 2017: the one where a beloved Pillar says goodbye at the end of the Mugen Train Arc, and six consecutive series just debuted, all of them notable in different ways.
Issue #41, 1993: the one where YuYu Hakusho gets cruel with kids and nothing else was particularly impressive, sign of a transitional era for the magazine.
Issue #6/7, 2015: the one where Gintama lost an important member of the cast, and Tamura delivered a one-shot between Beelzebub and Hungry Marie.
Issue #29, 1990: the one where I finally had the chance to write about one of my favourite all-time series, Saint Seiya, and also Goku uses his mind-reading technique for the first and only time.
Issue #46, 1981: the one where I was tempted to go through the first Jump with 10 reviewable chapters, finding the first episode of Black Angel and some good classics like Cat's Eye or Dr. Slump.
Issue #36, 2003: The one where Death Note debuted as a special one-shot, tons of battle shonen are thriving at the same time, and Jaguar won the contest for the panel of the week.
Issue #1, 2010: The one that kickstarted the decade of the '10s, with One Piece Strong World heavily promoted any many future succesful authors trying their shot with a not very succesful series.
Issue #7, 1987: The one where Dio Brando went too far after five chapters from his debut, and Kinnikuman was so '80s weird that it has to be seen.
Issue #30, 1995: The one with the special manga biography of Roberto Baggio that unfortunately couldn't be reviewed, but at least Bonbonzaka ends and a Yakuza bets his arm on a new era.
Issue #25, 2013: The one when Kochikame was finally translated (apparently by AI) and I reviewed a whole issue because of that; an issue with a game of Lacrosse and Soul Catcher(s).

1. Eyeshield 21 154: The reason why I chose this issue is the chapter where Sena removes his helmet in front of Mamori and reveals to the World who is Eyeshield 21. It happens before the all-or-nothing match with Bando Spiders begins, and there is a first half of a chapter spent on the rivalry between the kickers of the two teams, that springs Sena into the decision of finally being himself in the field. Powerful scene that arrived not too early, not too late in the story, perfect to divide two distinct parts of the series.
2. Gintama 87: At the introduction I was like “Meh, a filler comedy episode that I won’t laugh at”. And then the twist - I did laugh at it! It was a parody of the Speed movie series with an alien that dies if she stops running fast on a motorbike. A number of well written gags and the appearance of the most mysterious character of Gintama, Hasegawa’s wife, makes this chapter an hidden comedy gem for the series.
3. Prince of Tennis 285: Tezuka, who I’ll pretend to know who he is, has his own arc. Here he comes to the rescue of a little girl who is bullied by an arrogant player, telling him to discharge his stress on a better opponent. “Bullied”, of course, means “Harshly defeated at tennis”. For someone who is a fan of the series, this had to be a good chapter.
4. Pyu to Fuku Jaguar 215: Sometimes I’ve been harsh with this series, sometimes I’ve been lenient. This time I actually enjoyed the chapter, which is about Jaguar getting bored as hell watching his friends watching his friends playing videogames (not a typing error). Everyone has felt either as Jaguar or as the excited watchers at some point in their gaming life, especially back then when online gaming wasn’t a thing yet and to enjoy some company gaming you had to gather at someone’s house for real.
5. One Piece 383: It’s titled “Luffy vs. Blueno”, but most of the time they talk, to introduce some concepts related to the organization called World Government. When they finally fight, Luffy reveals to have gotten stronger, an hint at the introduction of Gear 2 some chapters later. Meanwhile, other characters do other stuff, and the problem of Oda having to follow multiple scenarios at once is evident also in 2005.
6. D. Gray-Man 63: Protagonist and popularity contest winner Allen is fighitng to retrieve his arm, and he’s not doing good. Meanwhile, evil people chat about useless subordinates, and a menacious figure emerges in the moonlight to conclude the chapter. I wasn’t very impressed the other time, I was much more so today.
7. Naruto 277: At the beginning of the Shippuuden (or, as I was calling it back then, “Naruto Z”), Deidara is fighting against the Z warriors main ninjas, many vs. one, and being an Akatsuki member he can keep up with them. So an action chapter that does its job well. The final panel left me confused, I don’t understand if Deidara is exploding as he promised, or if he is hit in the face by a mysterious arrival.
8. Bobobo-Bo Bo-bobo 223: It is veeery difficult to follow this. I think we are close to the end of the series, and this chapter has final battle vibes in it. All I can understand is that the opponent is way too strong for every trump card Bobobo and the others try at him. and that his father is also a hair and a sword. 3-in-1 baby!
9. Muhyo & Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation 40: The rich and arrogant Goryo family challenges the protagonists to a good old battle of ghost exorcising. The chapter is introductory and the real action doesn’t begin until the last pages, so it is not expressing the best that this series can offer. The design of the ghosts is still intense as I remember it.
10. Majin Tantei Nogami Neuro 30: This is a very difficult series to rank, because if you read the volumes in one session it is indeed a captivating albeit unconventional story, but reading the single chapters may not have a great flow. Here, the villain X has killed some people to find his insides (it makes sense in context), other characters from the police investigate and ponder about the nature of people. A chapter of this always leaves you with a sense of discomfort.
11. Mieru Hito 10: From the autor of Psyren before Psyren. Two heroes are fighting against two twin monsters who carry around a huge bell, and their power is using it to squash their opponents. It doesn’t work as well as they think, so much that the heroes spend the time talking about how to name the love interest of one of them, while winning easily. Nothing groundbreaking, but cool design for the twin enemies who reminded me of Oddworld’s Mudokons.
12. Death Note 80: Our favourite battle of wits series is unfortunately in the middle of the excitement sink that was the second phase. This time, Near and his squad have to escape from a building without Kira noticing their face, and they drop a lot of money to the people outside to achieve the goal. Then they talk and deduce a lot of things, as they always do: but it’s boring now.
13. Bleach 196: First in ToC! At the very beginning of the Arrancar arc, Ichigo lost all his willpower having lost a fight before (against Ulquiorra and Yammy? My memory is foggy after so many years). Rukia forces him to get himself together by having him slay a random Hollow. Good for him, but not a very exciting chapter.
14. Katekyo Hitman Reborn! 66: They are preparing for a big war, but they are still the silly characters of the early series. When they reach the battleground, the mood changes as they are attacked by zombie dogs and a wild beast targets Yamamoto…so we are basically genre transitioning, because it is mentioned that the war is against Mukuro, and the fans know what it means. It takes some time to assess, so this chapter that wants to be two things at the same time is not great.
15. Taizo Mote King Saga 9: Aah, the bad humour of ‘90s-early ‘00s. This is the story of a prince coming to this planet to build his harem; there are 7 dragon girls with stars as nipples, and the quest is to find them all. Taizo is distracted in his glorious quest by a girl otaku for which everything is a Jojo reference, but an imposter monster disguises as her to set a trap on the hero! He then summons a cat monster from his ass (literally) to fight him off. Congratulations to everyone who is able to appreciate this stuff.