Lets see if I can actually write some thoughts up for issue 39:
One Piece: I'm... a little surprised Luffy just kind of mentally toughed it out in the moment this much after how last chapter went. Imu genuinely is looking like Kratos now, and I kind of love seeing the new form (makes me wonder if it's not too dissimilar to Luffy's gears); though it does make me wonder if there's a "base form" of Imu we've yet to see as a result of this. Perhaps something more sickly hiding under the cloak.
Someone Hertz: I spent the latter part of the chapter really expecting them to have accidentally switched the mic on and to be broadcasting the conversation to the whole school, which would've made me burst out laughing. This scene-setting was cute though, and I feel like foreshadows the idea of them doing their own radio show as an endgame of the series outside of the more obvious romantic endgame. Yamano is getting better at making Kurage cute each chapter, without taking away from her unhinged and funny persona, which I am definitely here for.
Sakamoto Days: Not only is the final boss the perfect version of our protagonist, but he's also all the great aspects of the other parts as well? This makes me really curious what the process of "killing" Uzuki will look like, then. Sakamoto's up now, though, if only on sheer willpower for the 4th time. We'll see how he can manage to chip back in on the fight to get that protagonist finisher in spite of his condition.
Shinobi Undercover: Ooh, I... kinda like several things going on here? Suzume feels kind of like something of an opposite archetype of Yumichika from Bleach; whereas he was a man who tried to fit into the mold of the "strong cool guy squad" but actually really likes beauty and has a beautiful power, Suzume by contrast is someone with an ugly and terrifying power who prefers to take on the presentation of a beautiful person. I could easily see this being an avenue to delve deeper into her backstory and potential trauma that led her to the state of mind she's in. I also enjoyed reverse bloodshed maniac.
Witch Watch: I KNEW Ran was coming back! I even said it 1-2 chapters ago, and am happy to see how quickly I was proven right. He even brought his squad from that arc, which I was surprised by, but I suppose makes sense given that they are all on the same side now. Will be interested to see how many other people end up pulling up by the time we get to the end of this conflict given the other scenes we've seen already.
Ichi the Witch: Did NOT think Gokuraku was that much machine in the arms, but that is a convenient means of showcasing basically gore while still having a shonen rating. Nothing much else stood out besides that though, the trial extraction was kind of a functional scene, and now we have our journey. I only wonder how big of a force Hakari will be during this, if we're basically playing Temple Run collecting these stones while chasing us.
Nue's Exorcist: Shinuki pointed this out already but Gakuro being told to reflect on a girl he likes and then having the first hand on his shoulder be Zenno is unintentional(?) comedy gold. Gakuro looks sick with the new fit (to no one's surprise), I haven't analyzed how different or not it is from his previous soul gear but I'll trust it's not a carbon copy. The big part of this for me was the end of the chapter basically being constant final blows back and forth; most other series would've had several of these attacks in both directions be the finishing blow, but they both kept throwing hands regardless. Very cool.
Roku's House of Oddities: It was nice, I can accept some of the dynamics between the club members and the curses being a re-visitable gag. I was surprised the club members didn't press with skepticism at all regarding the nature of the curses, especially at the end when I accidentally thought Gevaudan started flying instead of just doing a big leap.
Akane-banashi: Ohhh, I was not expecting this at all but I love it. We've seen before how Zensho, despite being cruel and conniving, is honest regardless of circumstances, as we saw when he begrudgingly gave Maikeru his approval. Now we see another layer of sincerity: despite being the king of comedy, he's trying to sincerely depict tragedy through his story, but the consequence of his demeanor or force of presence leads to it reading as comedically incongruent. I can kind of see why he got twisted down the bitter and cruel route, always envying what others can accomplish that he can't. Delicious character building for a deliciously nasty character.
Me & Roboco: A good amount of it was lost on me since I haven't read or seen The Promised Neverland, but Bondo with Emma's fit was pretty hilarious, and the bits were perceivable. Motsuo as the black hair kid matches surprisingly well (I'm also realizing this is kind of a fulfillment of the TPN Roboco cover... wonder if the characters still line up with the ones used back then?)
Hal Formula: This was quite nice, but I do have to take the one moment to step back to reality and say that they would NOT be looking directly at each other while mid-race. It only did it the once I think but that would probably be enough to just totally wipe out. Back to suspending my disbelief though, I like the way we had to do multiple tries at properly overtaking him, and we're not confidently done until the end of the race. The fact that he goes faster on straights adds additional pressure since that last stretch before the finish line is gonna give him a chance to retake it from us.
Kagurabachi: I thought Joji was backing up at first because he was scared, but then I realized it was just genuinely too physically hot for him to endure being in there. The fact that Shiba then was able to come back to support his homie despite being at death's door and not a blacksmith at all is very potent. I continue to be impressed with how much we've been able to watch an emotional arc with Kunishige during all this, it's reminding me of how Blue Box takes a normal basketball game and makes it tell a whole backstory and emotional arc between characters. Does blacksmithing count as a sport? Is Kagurabachi a sports manga?
Animal Signal: For it using a typical misunderstanding trope, it wasn't that bad. Kokone using her ability habitually to confirm her own fears only to be blasted with a rebuttal was funny and it was honestly a pretty sweet moment. I still am forced to wonder what led to the circumstances of her being this secretive about her abilities and how no one's questioned what her ability is outside of having the physical bat traits.
Cannon Master: The story is cool and all, but golly is that face reveal panel beautiful. I did not know Machida had this in the bag, and while I can't say for sure how confident I am in this specific manga surviving based on what we have to work with, I do have confidence that this mangaka can put out some banger art, and at least some good characters. Consider me drawn to this flame a little more (not me using another dying series to glaze an existing one).
Class 2-B: Hero Destroyerz: I do like this idea of moving them outside of the castle. The new hero kinda just looks like Erdrick from behind? Which I guess makes sense, though I suspect that hidden face has an unexpected twist to it, combined with his boastful nature as described by the locals.
Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi: Kitano is giving me big Numbah 1 vibes from Codename: Kids Next Door. I think it's mostly the glasses and the facial attitude he has going, but I'm pretty okay with him so far, and his lackeys make a fun dynamic. I appreciate the contrast in Kiyoshi and Akari's reactions to things between finding it childish and cool.
Drawn to the Fire: I mean yeah it's wrapping up the game. It does a solid job of giving growth to the characters even when being defeated by our protags. I'll likely have more to say on this next week.
Under Doctor: It was a casual but fun chapter, I appreciate the moment to breathe and get an additional taste of everyone's daily characteristics. This I think is one of the stronger aspects of the series, despite it not doing much to push anything forward plot-wise.
Kinato's Magic: To be honest, I didn't have much faith in the story from chapter one just off of the concept, but there was always a glimmer of hope though the lens of how comical the situations were and how funny the characters were. I think that is what allowed it to survive an additional batch and make it to this point here where we got at least a handful of arcs to watch our character grow. It kind of wasn't always confident on what it wanted to be: at some points comedy, at some points battle shonen, and at some points kind of erring towards just ecchi, but the end result did display some competency to create likeable characters, even if said characters weren't handled the most cleverly. I think I would say this artist could maybe go for a third try by himself, but I wouldn't turn down the scenario where he ends up as the artist side of a duo.
