Btw I did listen to one of your podcasts this month and got surprised by your voice, didn't sound like what i imagined but it does sound like someone from Scotland, cool voice
Can indeed confirm there's a Scottish man's voice behind all these words. Thanks for the compliment
Away travelling and taking time off but have kept with the magazine here and there. Since I haven't posted in a month, here's my round-up of all the series between #10-#13:
Oh my god what a shocking top spot
1. Akane-banashi - Fear not, your voice of adoration of Akane-banashi is back to wash away the hint of questioning the series' greatness! This training has been fun, and familiar faces are re-appearing at a gradual pace that makes everything post-timeskip feel that much more confident. This latest chapter got me thinking in particular that I kind of love that we've been spammed with the same story (The God of Death) a lot lately and we're getting to see so many possible interpretation of it as a result. All very cool build up for what feels like a coming together of the ensemble cast for the showdown to come. The series always manages to make the current thing happening feel like
the most important thing for Akane's journey and that believable escalation feels especially true here as well. Kind of hoping this is a meaty arc that takes up the rest of 2026. Also, it is funny that this is now the third series in the magazine currently taking place on a big ass boat where shit's about to go down.
Absolutely buying what I'm being sold
2. One Piece - Brook (my favourite character) getting stuff to do is always a major win, I'll take my crumbs. Overall this return to the present has been handled nicely, high amount of drama with the giant kids and ready for Luffy & co to get fully integrated back into the action and bring this arc to a satisfying close.
3. Ichi the Witch - I'm definitely not one of those who drifted in this arc; this past month has been the ideal balance of the heart with Chrono/Minerva and the cool with Ichi's return and how this is all coming together.
4. Kinato's Magic - Count me totally charmed. I could envision a world where Amemiya got his act together and produced something good but he's thoroughly exceeded even my expectations. I'm not even going to harp on about it being tropey and generic because it actually doesn't matter when the characters, action, and comedy are all in sync and working. I believe the world, the lead (Kinato is a sweetie, defo wouldn't count him has boring), the tone and style it has is identifiable even at this point. It's doing everything right that a boilerplate battle shonen should. Early Fairy Tail comparisons are real (and good, since the series was also just as fun back then) but there's something about it that feels retro in a 2006 WSJ sort of way. Every chapter has made me laugh, impressed me with the art, and genuinely keen to see whatever hijinks these goofy characters get up to next. Really hope this is a hit.
5. Me & Roboco - The 2026 run of chapters has been great so far. I don't know if the series is ending but I will say if it does it's maybe the series I would miss on my weekly read the most. More than anything Me & Roboco is the series of the decade in terms of its identity with the magazine, thanks to it being around since 2020 and powering through despite those who never got it. Just an abundance of adorable chapters lately.
I'm mostly liking it
6. Kagurabachi - This would be a tier above if not for what felt like some weird mistakes with the final chapter of Part 1 (which, I should say, is a very cool move). The final pages closing out the section of the story - mirroring his father - were an excellent note to end on, but the death-but-not-really-guys-
maybe-death and the choices in the first half of that chapter felt clunky and... wrong? I just had an overwhelming feeling that what we got undercut what was otherwise an excellent run of high action chapters before. But this extra chapter was fun and the promise of Part 2 has me excited, so I'm sure it won't be a lasting feeling. The new status quo should be a goldmine of opportunity to keep the series fresh and running for longer than I think some people were anticipating.
7. The Elusive Samurai - Almost teared up at the "Aah, that was fun" moment. What a brilliant send-off for his character. On balance this was a very fulfilling final stretch for the series and bumps it up in my overall estimation after being mostly not in love with the second half. The final chapter wasn't exactly my expected direction it would go but it was on point with the series as a whole that I can't be mad. Good on you, Matsui.
8. WITCH WATCH - Everything in this boat has been pretty firmly solid. Nothing blowing me away but the chapters are smooth to read. The balance of the high stakes and the silly comedy is nice.
9. Hima-Ten! - This development with Himari has been much, much needed. Sometimes I forget that I actually like her as much as a do. Honoka remains my favourite but this isn't a Nisekoi case where I know I'm on the losing side and can never get behind the female lead destined to win in the end. Himari remains delightful and the past few chapters feel like a recourse I can get behind in the long run. Plus, the built-in one month timer promises we'll hopefully get more juicy revelations this year compared to last. Also, the almost complete absence of Kanna has been... delightful!
10. Sakamoto Days - While it does feel like it's back in a good place right now, the latest chapter failed to hit in the way I expect it would, to the point that it was quite jarring. I've always been a big fan of the series (and still will be) but it's undeniable I think that there's
something missing from this final arc that was present in just about every other part of the series before it. The scratchy artwork lacking in details is continuing to that.
11. Blue Box - That kiss! And that other romantic development! Things are happening, but also the series right now feels like it's operating in slow motion that it's not as exciting as I want it to feel. At least now it's passed the chapter count to be the longest running romcom in WSJ history, so... let's wrap it up.
Here, there, in between
12. Under Doctor - Okay. On balance, I like it. But it feels like it's only about 55% as good as it could be with each chapter. A lot of repetition and over explaining within the dialogue to the point that it's a little annoying sometimes. The flashback in the latest chapter felt soooo MHA-coded, which made me chuckle. I can see a future where this carves a lane for itself and evolves into a confident, more mature action series. I don't think that will actually happen though.
13. Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo - I still enjoy this sequel more than the original series, I think, but the last few chapters have shown the mistakes of Gege's writing that were present in the OG JJK. It's no secret (and no shock) that his two clear inspirations are Bleach and Hunter x Hunter, but he's so much better when he's in his Kubo lane rather than his Togashi lane. He can't handle this overly wordy approach/anticlimax enough that it doesn't just feel empty.
14. Shinobi Undercover - Latest chapter was the best in a while thanks to us finally getting a new face on the scene. I do agree that there's a sameness about this arc as of late but it's still an ease to read. It's a middling series for me again, right now.
15. Alien Headbutt - Really liked the first chapter, but frankly nothing about it has lived up to the sick as fuck cover and lead colour page. It's starting to feel like a mix between MAD and Dear Anemone, and I predict more likely to achieve the fate of the latter.
16. Someone Hertz - Back to the routine since the big competition that felt like a swell of everything the series excels at. I like that we got introduced to more of the cast now but maybe the default mode the series operates just isn't my cup of tea (even if not bad). Feels like every chapter builds up to one 'moment', usually as a full page or spread. That part is nice. The rest, sometimes forgettable.
17. Hero Girl and Demon Lord Call It Quits - Occasionally I get a good laugh. Sometimes it feels like it's doing things in the wrong order and making a missed opportunity of the gags it's setting up. Wouldn't be mad if it got another round or two to potentially find its footing.
18. The Mage Next Door - As the resident defender of the series, it's been a flop since we stepped foot on the school grounds. I do wonder if knowing of its eventual fate now has prevented me from enjoying it as much, or if it really has downgraded from where I used to feel it was. Either way, it's just in a state of existing and being a bit boring right now.
Just not good
19. Nue's Exorcist - This whole face-off and fight is quite lame, frankly. Some nice panels in the latest chapter which bumps it up a bit, but I fail to be wowed by anything about or around Soranaki, which is disappointing since the flashback gave me a glimmer of hope.
20. Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi - There's something about this series which makes it feel like an AI-generated battle shonen. I can see everything playing out as if it's been calculated to be the way we expect a series like this to be, but I'm feeling little of the heart, humour, or action. The pacing is just stupidly off and there's never a sense of weight to the 'moments'. I was definitely more keen on the set-up stage of this arc but now I'm back to pushing through week-to-week.
21. Gonron Egg - It really does feel like Shuhei Tanizaki doesn't care at this point. Same, bro.
And for good measure,
my top 5 of Issue #13:
1. Akane-banashi
2. Ichi the Witch
3. Kinato's Magic
4. Me & Roboco
5. Kagurabachi
Btw, talking about Akane, the series has been quite low in the last weeks which is pretty rare and i noticed that curiously it also has been lower in the ToC, is the current arc really not that interesting?
For what it's worth, I reckon my not voting for the past 3 weeks or so where I could have given it #1 or #2 has a bit of impact on that, lol.
"This pretty much leads to a simple conclusion, pushing Shinobi makes them more money"
I'm having a really hard time to believe Shinobi Undercover as a series and its volumes sales is giving Shueisha
any relvant amount of money compared to other series in the magazine. Kiyoshi? sure, Hima-Ten? not really since they're pretty close to each other, but anything from Nue to above? Nah.
Is giving Shinobi dozen of color pages making Jump issues selling more copies than the usual? is Shueisha profiting any special amount of money from Shinobi volume sales? Is Shinobi as a IP getting any merchandise that is generating a good amount of money? Well, i'm not aware of anything special going on, so...
But is Shinobi Undercover being a potential chance for Weekly Shonen Jump to make more money really that much more unbelievable for you than when you took on face value that Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi's very good recovering with its TOC positions last year were from survey votes? What's stopping Shinobi from having higher survey votes than Kiyoshi ever had (which is more likely than not since it is a more popular series), which would warrant them going even harder on promotion for Shinobi than Kiyoshi - which they have. If we carry that logic through then it all makes sense?
My simplified take on this is: it's getting an excessive amount of promotion likely because of multiple factors, including: Santa's clearly very efficient output of work, that it's one of the up-and-coming battle series with potential for popularity (to fill the void that Sakamoto Days will leave soon) and probably because Saito probably has a liking for it. I also believe if this doesn't turn out super favourably in 2026 then it's going to end up the same as Kill Blue, Kiyoshi, and others before who got a moment in the spotlight earlier in their run to then be downgraded in their overall standing in the magazine. Or until enough other more promising newbies enter the scene.
At the end of the day, when we don't know the inner workings of the logic for making decisions, our own biases and feelings for or against the series are absolutely going to be a decider in how we feel these things do or don't make sense, so we can affirm that our personal read of the situation is the correct one. And since no one can categorically tell us otherwise we'll just all dig our feet and reject what we don't believe until the next Saito controversy comes around and we can do the same thing again.
it fits perfectly well as a Ending for a 2nd season adapting Ishu & Suzaku arc.
