Issue 42-43 rankings:
Tier 1 (Great):
1: Witch Watch #262 – Bro said fuck your bell, that’s mine now lmao. Although weirdly Nico’s mother doesn’t remember it. BRO WHAT???? That’s been set up since the literal FIRST PAGE OF THE SERIES?!?!?! WHAT??? That’s insane lmaoooo. Funny enough, the anime cut this scene out lmaaao, WHOOPSIE! No wonder it seemed so easy and last chapter seemed so anticlimactic. Shinohara, I bow and I apologise, I should have trusted you more smh. There’s also a non zero chance that Roswitha comes back and is just a goofball and we go back to SoL shenanigans for the end tbh lol, though I doubt it’ll go that route…at least not immediately, maybe after everything is said and done and they fight and beat her, Roswitha finds a way to live in the present world just fine lol. (I will say, Shinuki, you lowkey spoiled me on this with your not very subtle clues that allowed me to put 2 and 2 together very easily lmao, but the chapter was so good, I don’t really care too much lol)
2: One Piece #1193 – What’s with the unhinged cover pages this week? Lol. Anyway, Luffy’s attack was so strong is shook the Adam Tree and it created basically an earthquake, which is crazy. Luffy is finally running out of energy for good, although in one of the panels he has an “hmm?” reaction, so I’m wondering what that’s about? Meanwhile, Biblo’s treasure box – it sure seems like it could be a Poneglyph in there. It’s the right shape and size after all lol. The giants all rallying together to take on Zaza in order to buy time for Sanji is pretty cool. Lmao this is the most Zoro has ever thought about something, probably. Sidenote, it’s been so long since we’ve seen Zoro without the goggles on Elbaf that it now actually feels strange seeing him without it lol. Anyway, like most thought, both Sommers and Killingham are not really on Zoro or Sanji’s level combat wise, the real challenge is developing their Conqueror’s Haki in order to even damage them at all permanently. I don’t think all of the God Knights are this weak, even Gunko showed she was stronger than these two, so it’s probably the typical “deal with the weaker ones first and then they scale up” shounen villain group progression lol. Zoro looks really cool in that last panel btw, Oda really always locks in when drawing him lol. Also Sommers…I hate him so much but he’s SO entertaining lmao, from that standpoint he’s probably the best villain the series has had for a while lol.
3: Akanebanashi #222 – Kinda sad to see the three “brothers” used to have normal everyday arguments like that, compared to what they’re like now. Holy AURA from Issho, oh my god, what an entrance. Barely anything really happened this chapter and it was still very good, no other series except maybe One Piece is THIS good at building up hype in the magazine imo. THIS is the final antagonist of a manga and how they make their entrance maaannnn, peak!
4: Someone Hertz #49 – Oh the Mon-mid crew is finally here! Meanwhile Mizuo and Mimei get caught up in trying to help…literally everyone lol. They even indirectly help a confession come to light! Haha Mizuo’s friends showing Mimei pictures of her throughout the years…they’re right, she’s barely changed lol. Oh shit, they told him that they think she likes him…come ON man, get the hint! The Mon-Min crew to the rescue!! They’re gonna help him rescue Mizuo too! They’re finally meeting! This kinda feels like the battle shounen version of the MC meeting vets from the past, like Luffy meeting Rayleigh or Gaban lmao. Why do I feel like some kinda confession might happen at the end of this arc? Or at least, significant progress on their relationship? It has the Cover Page next issue right? Please don’t be baiting me lol.
5: Roku #22 – I dig the Colour Page, the monochrome look. Also again more aura farming this issue haha. Damn, Johan and Kabaneji are PISSED. Although weirdly they are now translating Johan’s name as Yohan….which is how I was pronouncing it anyway, but seems a bit late to make that change to the spelling lol, oh well. Aha look at that! No fighting! I still think we WILL see some action at some point, but now anyone worrying about it becoming a proper battle shounen can relax lol. LMAO at Roku explaining to them how and why he released the curses, it really was that simple. Only EIGHT successful Salvations since the Heian Period is insane lol. Kariya has proposed the idea of the Ministry helping Roku, which makes sense. Not only do you get rid of dangerous curses without fighting, but you advance knowledge on how to get rid of them through Salvation. Also I’m already getting emotional thinking of saying goodbye to all the Curses, but that’s hopefully ages away lol. As expected not everyone in the Ministry will be for this though, which is where the conflict will come from. But for now, Kariya and Mikagami are together with them on this….but NOT together in the paying of a full bill from the restaurant lmfao.
Tier 2 (Good):
Ichi the Witch #98 – “How to acquire Hakari” “You don’t!” got a good chuckle out of me straight away. Ah so they’re Kumugi’s doggos, makes sense. Amadoro seems to have picked up on something, she seems impressed that she summoned this many dogs in the first place regardless of their appearance, so maybe Kumugi could be better at magic than she believes or has a bigger “mana pool” than she thinks? Either way. Gokuraku can still do stuff even after losing his arms, nice. Did…did Amadoro just adopt Kumugi? Against her will, no less! Lol. And why was it so suggestive lmao. But sick that she has Muscat now, even if temporarily…I’m guessing it’ll get her used to using “bigger” summons so that when she DOES eventually get Hakari, it’s not too big a jump lol.
Me and Roboco #297 – What a creepy cover page lmao. You know, the author of this series could definitely do a horror series after this if he wanted to lol. Lmao the last page, Gorilla is still cursed! This series' horror chapters are always a highlight for me.
Under Doctor #32 – Oh, some Artois De Beau backstory, nice. Hmm being good at everything but not able to save your parent, it’s very “Superman”. Holy pull up, I’ve never seen a Dr with as much aura as Dr. Stitch lol, also I’ve never read it or watched it, but is that Black Jack? At least, it’s a reference to him lol. So he’s obviously another Under Doctor we’ll probably see later on at some point. And he inspired Artois to become a Dr himself. Bro’s really gonna surpass his limits Saiyan style just to stop his tremors. I’ll admit I have no idea if what he’s doing is even legit, but it seems like it makes sense, so that’s good enough for me! Well, it almost worked anyway. Even Iceman is like “hell nah”, smh I expected better from you. Luckily Haiji is here! Good chapter.
Shinobi Undercover #97 – Inuwashi has aura. Lots of aura farming this week in the mag actually lol. Well, I’m not sure how Kawasemi’s problem of having his entire family murdered and being forced to be on the run is any worse than throwing out your back and struggling to make it to the toilet tbh. Kijibato also went to the Jackie Chan school fo fighting – use anything and everything you can in your environment lol. He’s also going full Deku, actually even more than that, he’s planning to literally blow his arm off. Luckily Yodaka stops him! Time for student vs student, and Yodaka has a plan! Can’t wait to see what it is lol.
Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi #108 – I like this ghost. He kinda reminds me of Brook from One Piece in that he’s a scary thing with a light demeanour. Also another mystery added to the pile – the ghost’s name. So Iefuda supposedly killed him to make a deal with a demon. Wonder if he was manipulated? Or maybe it’s an Uchiha type “I need to kill my best friend to unlock my true power!” type deal? Ah dang, sunrise appears before Mr. Ghost can talk and spill the beans about Iefuda’s Xr-cism technique. Meanwhile Kitano went off in Memento Forest…luckily Kiyoshi rescues him from Memmy just in time. Ooh some lore on the middle Kitano, seems like he’s dead but he’s got too cool a look. We’ll either seem him proper in a flashback or he’s still alive somehow. Maybe even involved in this case! Prof Yagi still seems too obvious, still not sure on him being the culprit. He might be the mole though, for sure.
HAL Formula #13 – Didn’t recognise Adler’s team manager, Haga, in comfort gear at the start lol. Ah business meetings…exactly what I want in my manga! The President, Washizaki, at least seems willing to listen to people, so that’s nice. Haga’s pissed! It’s like Sumeragi pressed a button on her lol. Literal fire in her eyes lol. It’s a nice enough chapter, I think maybe this means the series is safe for now, this is the kind of chapter you do when you’re stable and can afford to slow down a bit. Good signs!
Cannon Master #12 – Oh yeah, this definitely feels like an “end of series” type speech, or at least one that was supposed to come way later. Despite this, I actually still feel some of the emotion from it, which shows how good Bharat and Ur’s bond has been up till now, for me anyway. Oh shit, it’s the Father-Son Kamehameha…or close enough. Looks really cool, and of course this series would have a beam struggle lol. But again, it points to the axe some more, it’s like their ultimate attack. Ahhh, I’m just gonna enjoy what we maybe have left while it’s still here lol.
Graykeith #2 – Woah crazy octopus lady, fitting for a book keeper tbf. Cookies would work on me ngl. Ohh I dig “Towako Nemuri’s” design, she looks creepy/cool, if that makes sense. Hmm, translating something where the words kill anyone who reads it, it’s a nice challenge and an INSANELY cool concept. Dayum, who’d have thought translating was so life risking, actually shit he might have basically died a few times doing this so it’s beyond just risking his life lol. Well, those little goblin guys probably deserved that, and they knew the risks! Good second chapter, I liked it better than the first!
Tier 3 (Ok):
The Ura Files #3 – Ah the Tennis Club is full of handsome guys, classic. Lowkey those guys are kinda right, she did use him but for a different reason than they thought lol. Kibitsu showing his cool side is still something that kinda hypes me up, so long may that continue.
Animal Signal #14 – Hey nice, Kokone is getting promoted! But she’ll have to break up with Tsubasa when she does, damn. I feel like a Two Star needing to have a Two Star partner is a bit silly, surely they could do with a One Star partner? The Two Stars all being grouped together just makes the number of Two Stars lesser in general in order to take on cases, lol. Seems like this series is gonna survive and because of that, the author has now been able to set a long term goal! Nice. Half a title drop as well lol. 97 more Signals to go lol.
Class 2-B #20 – What a happy relationship this kid’s parents have….? WELP. That got dark real quick. Yeah he’s insane, and so are probably all the “Heroes”, time to kill them all. I had a feeling anyway of course, it was kinda obvious, but still. Good execution of it so far.
Nue’s Exorcist #161 – Shoutout to kicking style fighting, gotta be my favourite style of fighting. Blocking rain drops with boulders….idk about that one chief, but it looks cool, so I’ll suspend my disbelief lol.
Sakamoto Days #275 – Oh so the Sakamoto persona within killed all the other personas lol. Is Nagumo actually dead? I doubt it, since he still needs to become the first ever branch manager of Sakamoto’s store. Anyway seems Akira reached Sakamoto off screen and now Fatamoto is here to face basically his skinny version. A fitting final fight for the series.
Overall a solid issue of the mag! And now the break begins....
Btw very happy to see Roku's sales being as solid as that, probably my favourite new series of recent years!
