Japanese Twitter poll results for Issue 9
1. Kimetsu no Yaiba
2. Act Age
3. Agravity Boys
4. Haikyuu
5. Dr.Stone
6. Jujutsu Kaisen
7. One Piece
8. My Hero Academia
9. Undead Unluck
10. We Never Learn
11. Chainsaw Man
12. The Promised Neverland
13. Yuragi-sou no Yuuna-san
14. Mitama Security
15. Mashle (NEW)
16. Samurai 8
17. Black Clover
18. Mission Yozakura Family
19. Zipman
Mitama that low and Agravity that high? I'm going to have to reject that poll since last week's chapter of Mitama was pure brilliance.
As for this week's chapters, wasn't too impressed with anything about Guardian of the Witch besides the art (specifically the color pages). I wasn't really expecting to enjoy it as much as some of the other gag series, but the first chapter just felt very "by the books" if that makes any sense? It seemed like your pretty standard setup for an adventure series, and the chapter basically went through a checklist and marked off each thing that normally happens in this type of series. That said, at least it seems to have avoided the pitfall that got Saiyuki of taking too long to get to the actual adventure. Maybe it could've expanded another chapter, but there's a lot of exposition-type details that could easily be covered while they start the adventure if the author so desires.
Something finally happened in Agravity Boys, kind of. Some of the first half of the chapter could've been trimmed down and still had the same effect, which could've allowed for more to happen this chapter though. Yozakura had a nice twist, but I'm not sure if it was necessarily a "your series is getting axed in x chapters" type of move. Mashle was decently funny, but you can definitely tell this author is a total newbie both by the art and some of the dialogue. That girl's introduction felt shoehorned in there, and her motivation was vaguely glossed over. This series maybe feels more like a series that'd have a better shot at lasting if it would've been on Jump+ instead of the main magazine.
Mitama might have just had its greatest chapter ever. I've been waiting for this guy's return, and it actually managed to exceed my expectations in every way. Glad to see Zobiro's doing well, and those Salmon jokes were hilarious. I wasn't even expecting that result at the end of the chapter, but I'm really glad the author is taking it in that direction. The next time they show the detective wannabe classmate, he's going to have a field day rationalizing all of these suspicious followers lol.
Undead also had another good chapter with superb pacing. By the end of chapter 3, the author in my mind has successfully done all of the following: introduced the main characters along with their current problems and primary future motivations, started expanding the supporting cast, introduced the main villain/primary antagonist, set the foundation to achieve the long-term goal and a few short/medium term goals along the way, and laid the map for adventures in interesting places. Other hopeful authors should be taking notes on how to plot out their series and introduce their characters using this series as an example. Regardless of whether you like what the author is laying out, it's pretty hard to deny that he's laying out his vision pretty efficiently without wasting pages or panels.
New series ranking:
Mitama >>>> Undead >> Yozakura > Mashle >> Agravity > Witch >>> Samurai 8 = Zipman
This week's top 5:
1. We Never Learn - Best girl chapter. I love their dynamic and history so much.
2. Mitama Security - For all of the above points.
3. Act-Age - Very curious to see what Team B has up their sleeves.
4. Undead Unluck - For all the above points.
5. Yuragi-sou no Yuuna-san - Very heartfelt chapter with a lot of relevance to the series' main plot
