Issue 45 rankings:
Tier 1 (Great):
1: Akanebanashi #224 – Amazing. This is cinema. Or, I guess, theatre? It’s literally like WE the reader are the audience. The way Issho’s hands appear OUTSIDE the panels to show that it’s a story he’s telling? My word. Not only that, but I believe (and I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am) this is the first time we see a Rakugo performance from start to finish with NO interruptions. No reaction shots of the audience, no backstage reaction, no flashbacks. Just purely the story from beginning to end. And it’s a very different telling of the Time Soba story that what we saw before. Even ends on a comedic punchline! Just incredible man, this whole arc has been a treat to read.
2: Witch Watch #264 – This surely cannot be what Shikimi wants lmao, like yeah she’s back but she’s basically got no brain and is running purely off of instinct. She might as well still be dead. Oh and just as I wondered that, Shikimi confirms – he’s not sure if it’s still in the process of brining Roswitha back fully or if this is as far as it goes. Kokuryu lowkey the MVP, rest in peace. So! Ancestral Reawakening is our last gambit. I can’t remember if it was used before (only in a smaller capacity?), but it was definitely hinted at before. Shikimi using a livestream to show off Rosiwtha’s power is pretty funny, and makes sense. The way Roswitha’s power is being depicted is SO cool, she LITERALLY tore through to the very next page, insane! It’s not to the level of Akane, but reading both this and that series at the same time each week where they visually play with the format of manga is so so fun. The dads are here to hold off Shikimi and Roswitha while the Ancestral Reawakening takes place. Great chapter!
3: Ichi the Witch #100 – My word, Kumugi’s aim is poor, all those shots with that big ass gun and the stone hasn’t been hit yet? Lol. Although Mayoi still kinda cheated anyway, but putting her in a chair that sucks her magic power away. Well…Mayoi’s attack is terrifying. Gokuraku doing his best to defend Mugi, with his kicks. Kicking style fighting is never not cool man. Kumugi!!! I don’t know if that’s a good thing to copy Ichi for, but if it works it works! Kumugi does need to get more crazy to keep up tbf. Gokuraku with the speech! And Kumugi , it’s time to unlock your latent potential, let’s goooooo!!!!
4: Roku #24 – Altra is going outside by herself? Growth! Ok not totally by herself since Sachiko is tailing her to make sure she’s ok, but still! Ah shit, Altra kicked too hard and her leg came off…but this leads to Sachiko developing her powers a bit more and using them outside of the school, so silver linings, I guess?! Altra is so cute! I hope one day she doesn’t have to lose her limbs when performing tasks lol. Aww, they had a cute big sis/little sis day out…Roku is right, those days are the best!
5: Greykeith #4 – Oh some more lore, the Day of Unlocking is what they refer to as the day Humans and Daemons made contact with each other on a global scale. Hey human stories ARE pretty interesting, so it makes sense they’d get enticed by them! Lmao for such a huge creature that can cause such devastation, the escape announcements are pretty lax haha. “I never said anything about standing at the door, is she stupid?” hahahaha. Noooo the poor Sea Monk lost its friend, that was unexpectedly emotional…also lmao did Greykeith basically imply he waterboarded himself to learn Thalassean? Translating is no joke!
Tier 2 (Good):
Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi #110 – If I had a penny for every time a school’s student body got sacrificed for a demon in this series, I’d have two pennies. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird it happened twice. Also big up Akari for calming down Kiyoshi. Yeah thankfully the series answered it, but if the Academy is full of such promising students, they (and the teachers) SHOULD be able to defend themselves, at least for a bit! Bro!! This one demon with the crab thing is basically Mayuri from Bleach, like that’s totally a look he’d go for right? Lol. Kiyoshi living up to his name and deciding to do both at once, nice.
Sakamoto Days #277 – Flicking the ice cube was pretty cool tbh. I’ll be honest, Aoi being pregnant with their second child was not on my bingo card, congrats to them! Uh, I mean Sakamoto has to win this fight first of course…but the power of fatherhood will do the job!
Kagurabachi #133 – Bro really threw his sunglasses off as the explosion went off, max aurafarming, fairs. I’m gonna guess his dad was a crooked cop, going by Misaka’s other crimes. And the sibling rivalry between the two brothers goes back from even before the war lol. Short chapter though.
Under Doctor #34 – Oh a Chiwako focused chapter again, been a while! The VNL huh, a new organisation to fight. The Bandetta suit looks like something Daft Punk would wear lol. Oh seems Chiwako is actually super strong when she loses use of her guns, the Oshimori’s in general are blood lusted assassins who keep their bloodlust in check…most of the time. I hope one day we find out even more about the Oshimoris, they’ve been teased a lot but we barely know anything about them. I’m surprised it’s Shuli who came to help! I was expecting Haiji! Makes sense since it was said earlier on in the chapter that Shuli was around the area, having eaten at the same ramen restaurant.
Someone Hertz #51 – Haha nobody figured out it was Mimei over the loudspeaker. Aww them having their own convo amongst all the other socialising. Hmm Mizuo has something she wants to do if she wins the Listener Koshien, wonder what it could be? Probably something a bit embarrassing for her, as she dodges the question when asked by Mimei lol. Mimei finally made it to double digit points for the first time in his so far short career! Congrats!
Shinobi Undercover #99 – Damn Yodaka is NICE with that thing. Oh Kawasemi and Aoi backstory time. It’s kinda cute, Aoi trying to fit in with her new family makes sense and Kawasemi, even though he’s the villain here, at least has some “good” reasons for doing what he’s doing and he actually does seemingly care about Aoi. I can see a future where he joins us, Vegeta style. Holy shit, Kawasemi did something nobody’s done against Yodaka before – use his own mental tactics against him! Kawasemi and Yodaka are quite similar to each other, just one loves Aoi in a brotherly way and the other in a romantic sense.
Class 2-B #22 – Yep, so Shihan isn’t done in with that one hit, makes sense. Also Mogura countering him with nothing but a wine bottle is insane lol. Ah now it makes sense why Shihan didn’t recognise him, he’s actually the successor to one of the Heroes. And Mogura’s true name isn’t Mogura! It’s Kasim The Sword Saint, a Hero who supposedly fell to darkness. Mogura got aura ngl, outspeeding a so called speedster. Valaris attempts to protect the girl and her dog and Shihan, the bastard, uses it to try and kill her but Kumon protects her…interesting. I have to say this is the most interested I’ve been in this series since it began, good chapter.
HAL Formula #15 – Good sponsor to find! As expected, Kyogoku has become the new Team Manager and what great experience for a WF4 team to have lol, it feels like he’s smurfing a bit. I actually quite like that they’re butting heads already. It’s unrealistic for Kyogoku to come in, want to change everything and everyone just goes “yes, I agree!” instantly lol. Them arguing over Miharu and his safety reminds him of what I presume to be his parents, that’s a nice visualisation for how he feels right now, cute.
Tier 3 (Ok):
The Ura Files #5 – We finally get the names of Ura’s friends, Mimi Kuga and Mika Mikasa! Haha I was wondering how someone so strong could end up getting swept away by a crowd, but it makes sense that she just kinda lets them take her because she’s afraid she’ll hurt people if she tries to fight her way out of it. Holding hands?!?!?!?! How lewd!! So lewd, she crushed his hand. Smh. Nah but seriously, it was kinda cute. Kibitsu, thankfully, is a super strong agent so didn’t cry at the fact that his hand got crushed….i’d have been a mess of tears lmfao.
Cannon Master #14 – Yeah this is kinda in a strange place. I think it’s been axed, but some parts of it are moving like it hasn’t and some parts are moving like it has lol. Everything to do with Fehl is being somewhat rushed but at the same time, a whole new group of antagonists has been introduced and Bharat is getting into a proper fight with them, rather than a small skirmish (good action this chapter btw). I suppose this is probably a truncated version of the much longer arc the author was planning next and that we’ll get a “and their adventures continued” type ending where the author doesn’t necessarily rush to introduce every endgame thing they had planned in quick succession.
Animal Signal #16 – Welp, I guess the colour page actually has something to do with the chapter…I wonder if they came up with the colour page first and then based the idea of the chapter around it or vice versa? Lmao. They’re getting so into the performance they’re forgetting they have to only actually guard the actual idol group, instead they’re trying to compete with them lol, these three legit have one brain cell between each other. First concert of the Mana Queens? So they’re gonna be in this predicament again? Lmfao, hey fair enough. Feels like this series is getting more unhinged the more it goes on, compare the last few chapters to the first few and it’s like night and day difference lol.
Nue’s Exorcist #163 – Well we got some backstory to Nue and Raisei, but not a lot. Also seems like his youth was being kept together by Kasha and he severs Nue and him apart. Gakuro showing up kinda reminded me a bit of Ichigo showing up to save Rukia, although Nue was actively fighting lol. Very good pull up from Gakuro.
Me and Roboco #299 – Ooof Roboco’s sticker book got ignored lmao. And Roboco’s attempted trickery fires back on her haha. Never been a sticker collector myself, closest I can relate to this is trading Pokemon or Yugioh cards when I was younger lol.
