Okay. It's been a good while. Work got busy, just floating around a little bit. Picked up pottery in an effort to impress a girl. Nothing much, just a bit of turbulence. With that outta the way...
We've got debuts in Animal Signal, Hal Formula and Cannon Master. Coincidentally, my order of preference is the same as the order of release. Generally, I think all three are good and very worthy of serialization. They have short and snappy titles too, which I think goes a long in making them stand out amongst their ilk.
Animal Signal's not surprisingly my favourite of the batch. Tsutsui's back, his art's still cute, the writing's got a bit more sauce since he's got someone manning that wheel and the characters are funny. The chemistry's fantastic, and the duo of Tsubasa and Kokone bounce off each other very well. Most of it is Kokone doing the heavy-lifting with her cute and expressive faces and her brash, egotistical personality and how much fun she has reading Tsubasa's thoughts: Of which he isn't aware she is hearing all of that. Tsutsui's mostly known for his harem manga, but this setup makes it exceptionally difficult for the manga to transition into that: The crux of Tsubasa's character lies in the fact that he's highly inexpressive but jumping in excitement inside his head, and the only one who really knows what's going on in there is Kokone. This means it's absolutely impossible to build any kind of dynamic between him and any other girl, because the only person who could possibly understand him is her. Harem manga are built on the illusion of choice, even though it's usually the main girl who wins (Yes, I'll talk about
that in a bit), you could be deluded into thinking the other girls have a chance because of them building their own chemistries and dynamics with the blank slate self insert boy. There's just not many ways to build anything outside of Tsubasa and Kokone as a pairing because of how compatible they are. So all that lies in the future of Animal Signal is a buddy cop show, of which I think it has the legs for. Kokone can carry this manga alone for 100 chapters. There's also the potential of a battle manga, but it's gonna have to make a massive leap to get there.
Oh. And I like animal trivia. I love educational content in my manga. Unsurprisingly, I was big on Dr Stone. Doesn't look like Jump has any educational manga in their lineup. I hope they keep this one. Like who doesn't love animal trivia? Yeah, give me some of that. Elephants don't sweat? Interesting! Frogs croak when it's about to rain? I already knew that, but interesting! Just pile it all on me!
Hal Formula had a first chapter that makes me think Terasaka is putting a lot of himself on that page. Someone has one last shot at making it big or else they're getting sacked? Sounds a lot like an author publishing a third manga on Jump after two axes... I'd say it's alright, there's something visceral about the feelings expressed because they're very real emotions that someone goes through when having to quit. It's something that can only be written by someone on the edge of their career. I generally prefer the second chapter vastly over the first chapter, as it's much more detailed about the ascent from zero, whereas the first was mostly spiraling into despair. I like that his "awakening" was conquering the fear of death which allows him to take dangerous routes and turns, something that anyone who's been in a car can understand. Fantastic idea, it's not something everyone is able to do, but if they manage to do it once, their brain unlocks and they can do it again and again. I hang around a local wrestling scene, and one of the first things you gotta learn to do is fall flat on your back without catching yourself. It sounds completely counterintuitive to your instincts to deliberately fall down and it takes time to rewire your brain to allow you to do it. But do it once, and you can do it forever.
One of the most interesting aspects about it all is how many people believe Miharu's gonna die. I can see why this is a prevalent expectation. Between Miharu and his brother Haruka, Haruka seems to have the more interesting character design and personality. Miharu is very much a piece of dry bread whose most interesting aspect is his failures rather than him as a person. Haruka's more loud personality and willingness to fight for makes him a hundred times more interesting to follow as a person. The thorn of having to pick up your dead brother's dreams after a devastating crash makes for a very interesting drama that can fuel a manga for 100, no, 200 chapters. Huh... Wait, this is the plot of Akanebanashi.
Personally, I kinda already like the sidecast Terasaka's building up. We got the Betty and Veronica love triangle setup, like c'mon, it'd be a waste to throw that away. Thanks Terasaka for taking the heroine of GGG and just making her an OL, based decision. I feel like Miharu dying is the most interesting way they can proceed with the story, but I also don't really want that timeskip because I'm getting a good feel for the side cast... Get a feeling so complicated.
Cannon Master is funny from the outset, the immediate inspiration of Mob Psycho 100 is apparent right from the getgo. It's funny, for one thing. Gotta praise the art and setting too. Middle eastern desertpunk is a very good flavor to have that sets it apart from other manga. But the artwork for those Regiliths are amazing, and the desert's really brought to life nicely. I knew this artist was something special from his one shots, seeing the serialization gives me a really good feeling about him. I think the characterizations are alright, a scamming responsible father figure and his excitable apprentice who's way stronger than him but has been fooled into believing he isn't. Yeah, it's just Mob and Reigen. Don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, but...
The biggest issue that prevents Cannon Master from being a decent battle shonen is that Ur is as strong as he is, and furthermore: That it seems that Bharat is the main character, with Ur being more of a Zatch Bell type of companion. They seem to exist in a polycule, with not much relationships outside of their duo. This puts it multiple levels down below Mob, because a lot of the situations and comedy came from the balance of Mob's regular life versus the supernatural occurrences. Cannon Master's setting doesn't allow that to happen, and unless Bharat and Ur can establish connections outside their polycule, the potential for this series remains very low. Personally, I would like Cannon Master to devolve into a baking manga, with Ur trying to master baking. You guys ever seen Uzbekistan bread? The author drew it right there. That stuff's a work of art.
Under Doctor has been selling well, but doesn't seem to have been going anywhere. But I think, lack of direction is the correct direction. When I was reading this week's chapter, I saw a fight about to break out, and was relieved when it ended immediately. I think the setup for this manga warrants one-off medical dramas over any major plots, and it's better off for it. How good is it's future if all it does is tell one-off stories? Can't imagine it going far. But it's a much better place to be than pretending at being an action manga. Though, it really doesn't bother explaining much of the medical side. I've been watching some of Black Jack to see how medical it is and I've come to understand that surgeries in Black Jack are just magic. My man was doing surgeries on aliens, there was never any attempt to be true to actual medical practices. And that's okay.
Hima-ten
Yeah, I have Kanna at my lowest of low interests, but I think it would've been a better ending because at least she tried. Himari also tried. Honoka? All she did was exist. Geez. Well, if the manga was gonna go out with a bang, this was the only way. It's been pretty meandering for a very long while now, and I've been half asleep reading the chapters. There's still hope though. Himari can get ran over by a car and use the coma strats to make Iemori break up with Honoka so he can take care of her.
Nue's Exorcist is going too fast for its own good again. I like the ideas for the arc going forward, but it really could've used a brake, and some introspection to really build Gakuro's return.
Kagurabachi has been laying out lore after lore, and now we see history being made. Fantastically hype, but also fantastically hiatus. Hokazono probably drew those pages covered black in ink as a protest to Jump working him like a dog.
Shinobi Undercover caps off its little romance arc between Yodaka and Kasasagi with her stepping outta the way and giving him the words he really needs to hear. And that's great. No need to keep her in the cuck shed. I think that's a decent way to handle a losing heroine with grace who already knows she ain't got a chance. Would personally take a Kasasagi over an Aoi any day, but that's not very compatible with the story.
Roku is a good manga when it's a Sachiko chapter. I don't know why this isn't just a Sachiko manga.
Drawn To The Fire got me thinking that I'm starting to feel annoyed at the main character who's wishy washy about being good or not good at basketball. Which is it? Even his personality is wishy washy, cause he's all Deku every day, then gets all smug at basketball and I find the contradiction unendearing. I dropped
Class 2-B because it's just not suitable for my reading. These chapters come out at midnight and that manga's too damn wordy for the attention span I'm willing to give. Mayyyyyyybe I'll pick it up in three years.
Votes:
1) Akanebanashi
2) Animal Signal
3) Sakamoto Days
4) Shinobi Undercover
5) Hal Formula
