Issue 47 rankings:
Tier 1 (Great):
1: One Piece #1196 – I can’t believe how close we are to 1200 chapters lmao, I remember thinking One Piece might be done by this point some 10~ years ago. Anyway! I loved this chapter. First of all, Sanji’s nightmare being Iva is super interesting. He doesn’t fear Germa anymore since he got over them on Whole Cake Island but he DOES fear Iva and the reason he fears him is probably because he saw through his weakness, a weakness Sanji doesn’t want to admit is real. Btw the Killingham/Iva fusion is nightmare fuel lmao. On to the flashback and Iva is completely correct, Sanji has always sacrificed his own body for others. It reminds me of his fight vs Jabra where he purposefully took the hit from him in order to finish the fight, he didn’t HAVE to do that but he did. Similarly, he also took an attack from S-Shark on Egghead willingly as well. Not to mention the countless times he’s sacrificed himself for others whilst thinking of himself as below the person, or people, he’s sacrificing for. Iva tells Sanji that he lacks self love and that someone lacking self love cannot love another, despite Sanji protesting otherwise. Iva saying he has someone he’d protect with his life as well…something about the Monkey D. family huh? And in that moment Sanji no longer fears Iva so the fusion in undone. And Sanji looks so cool in that last panel! Ahhh. Sanji’s development across the whole series is Oda at his absolute best, I have a lot more to say about this chapter and Sanji in general, but I’ll keep it here for now to prevent it from getting so long lol.
2: Akanebanashi #226 – Seeing Akane reflect back on her journey is lowkey emotional wow, she’s come so far and it’s taken so many years! Issho has so much aura as a villain, honestly the best WSJ villain in years. Or maybe antagonist is a better word. Either/or. Akane recognises she can’t surpass him with just enthusiasm alone and so her request is…for Issho to teach her Shibahama. Yep, I thought this might be it. Damn, that has to hurt her, to ask Issho of all people to teach her that. And with that the Isshokai Arc ends, and WHAT an arc, truly one of the best in the mag for years. Also a constant theme of the past few arcs has been people commenting that Akane is more like Issho than Shiguma, so she’s been getting further and further away from the Shiguma style. And holy shit! Guriko returns! And he looks…way older lmao. Almost didn’t recognise him at first. And he’s going back to Tokyo to revive the Shiguma School! This will most definitely play into what I just said about Akane leaning more Issho than Shiguma, I think him forming the school again will try and pull Akane back into the direction of Shiguma style Rakugo.
3: Roku #26 – Ah been a while since we’ve seen Kabaneji at his job lol. Hey Kabaneji has his own friend group now! Or at least, work group lol. It’s nice when they have people to hang out with outside the family. Ooof what a question to ask lol, I think we’ve all been there in life at some point where we’re just kinda wondering “what am I doing with life?” lol and it’s never a pleasure to answer. I’m surprised at the depth we’re getting from the store characters here, Nakamura is REALLY good at this kind of stuff. I’ve only known this group for one chapter and I’d already die for them. And it ends by setting up something that seems to be much more serious. Again this series’s ability to mix that seriousness with comedic bits and also heartfelt bits. Good chapter!
4: Witch Watch #266 – Holy fucking aura man, is this the coolest a group of protagonists has looked ever or what? Even Kanshi looks cool! “At this rate, they’ll overpower me” Shikimi, bro LOOK at the state of you, you are already being overpowered lmao. Shinohara continues to display Roswitha’s power in very cool ways using the medium of manga. Everything has been building up to this and even then it seems like Shikimi plans to fuse with Roswitha? Maybe not literally, but still.
5: Ichi the Witch #102 – Haha Gokuraku having to “hi five” with his knee. Something is up about Mayoi huh? I did think it was weird for him to involve himself in another Majik’s trial, hmm. “I’ll go clap them out of existence!” phrasing, Hakari. Ichi following Dess’s moves to the letter is cute! Look at that, she’s finally actually mentoring lol. Ichi copies Dess’s Lazud! But it’s not nearly as powerful lol. At last we finally got an explanation for what the difference is between spells used by the original user of the Majik and spells used just in general by anyone. I like Ichi declaring that Hakari’s hands aren’t as tough as Gokuraku’s because he leans too much on his regen. Seems like Mayoi can interfere with magic? Dess without magic will be interesting to see, she’s finally vulnerable!
Tier 2 (Good):
Kagurabachi #135 – The little art of Misaka riding away on his bike is very Toriyama-esque lol, so cute. Akemura wanting an Enchanted Blade despite being a child is endearing, he obviously wants to protect his sister himself or feel like he had some say in her defence and I don’t blame him. Anyway the Seitei War begins and we get…a whole fucking antagonist group. I didn’t expect that tbh lol, it means this flashback will probably go on for a looonnnggg while yet, or they’re just gonna be quickly dealt with lol. But I always enjoy me a good ol’ big antagonist group introduction in shounen, it’s a trope I can never get enough of, so let’s see what it’s like next week!
Under Doctor #36 – Aww Shuli is starting to represent Haiji, in more ways than one! And of course FF is crazy. Shuli parrying the whip is pretty cool, it kinda makes sense for him to have some sort of deflection technique that suits his protective nature. Shuli go!! Great attack. Unfortunately it seems FF doesn’t feel pain and only gets off on it, of course. Haiji with the cool pull up! And the look on his face…I wouldn’t want to be FF right now, I don’t think we’ve ever see Haiji look like that at someone before lol. I thought that this is where it was trending of course but I was surprised Shuli actually got some hits off of his own, fully thought he was just gonne get pulverised without doing anything and then Haiji would show up, so that’s nice!
Shinobi Undercover #101 – Tears in my eyes, I COMPLETELY forgot that the beauty contest was even happening lmaoooo. Shit, her heartbeat was so loud that even OP heard it? You might have to go to the hospital lol. Alright absolutely LAUNCHING Aoi across the room in the air is crazy, even if you knew Yodaka would catch her lol. Anyway, fun chapter.
Someone Hertz #53 – Hey happy birthday to Mimei! Lmao Mizuo’s attempts to buy a birthday present for him was cute, although I don’t think a mushroom would have been a good present lol. Though knowing Mimei, he’d accept anything she got him lol.
Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi #112 – Iefuda legit has immortality? I mean, it requires killing people and changing his look but damn, that’s pretty impressive. The dumb demon guarding the barrier pillar is pretty funny. Yo the Principal got fucking WIPED, I’m crying, top 5 embarrassing moments to be like “leave this all to me” and then get instantly destroyed lmfao. I knew Hitsugi would be a part of this arc! He had that look to him when shown earlier. Good pull up!
Hal Formula #17 – A lot of character intros, but I suspect only Masuno and Kiryu will end up mattering lol. Whenever I see the name Kiryu I think of Kazuma Kiryu from Yakuza so it’s funny to see such a feminine looking character have the name to me lol. I’ll be honest, I thought she was a he, just because that’s what I expect from shounen manga now, but no she’s actually a she, nice. Masuno floating above the race track is a funny visual for some reason lmao. And his face after Miharu pushes further than him is pretty funny, fun to see the so called “cool” character act like that lol.
Greykeith #6 – The taste of an evil corpo dude can’t be THAT good can it? I’d rather not find out lol. The Devil’s design is pretty cool, Uvlor is his name. Since he’s appeared this early in the series I’m gonna hazard a guess he’s not that strong, but still, a devil is a devil. The method to finding Shigi and tracking him down seems a bit too easy to me, but also they’re using stuff already established so I can’t be super annoyed at it, just nitpicky lol. “Would you like to see what I can summon?” Greykeith got aura. And Baron du Flaim looks fucking sick! Come to think of it, this kinda gives me the feeling of Jojo’s and Stands a bit. Except Greykeith can summons multiple Stands. Maybe more like Yugioh then? Hmm, either way, I love it.
The Ura Files #7 – Another Kemono! I was wondering when, or even if, this series was gonna introduce more beings like Ura. And man, Inari is pretty hot ngl. The girl’s designs in this series are really good lol. Tbh I thought Kibitsu was gonna like…spy on their convo and overhear what they talked about, not directly go to Inari, of course she won’t say anything! This was a surprisingly emotional chapter, and I do like that it shows more of Kibitsu not being in this for himself but to help whenever he sees fit, even helping Kemonos. I wonder if we’ll ever be introduced to evil Kemonos that he actually has to fight or act aggressively with? Either way, I’d like more chapters like this mixed in with the SoL stuff.
Tier 3 (Ok):
Animal Signal #18 – How forward lmao. Honestly could have given me a hundred guesses, I’d never get close to guessing a Texas Longhorn was the thing awaiting Tsubasa in the classroom lol. Anyway, seems like Kokone is realising her feelings for Tsubasa, as early as chapter 18? These new gen romcom stories sure move faster than their predecessors lol.
Class 2-B #24 – Well, it’s small but it is a black flame, I guess lol. See? They didn’t look for Shihan last chapter and he was fine! And now he’ll eventually come back for them! Although it seems like he doesn’t have his weapon anymore and it’s stuck in Kumon, so. The intro of Sasha was pretty funny tbh lol. Her falling in love with those demon eyes….you got issues girl. Although being introduced to another one of the Dragons so soon makes me wonder if this series is speeding up.
Cannon Master #16 – Poor Fehl, she really wanted to protect the workshop, that sucks man. Once again the double page spreads of this series are really really good. The Bazaar feels absolutely bustling with life. Himroh’s design is sick, as per usual for this series. Anyway, this does kinda feel like it’s wrapping up now, this new general is the “final boss” and it seems he even has a direct connection to the Wind Clan, so that kinda screams “finale” to me too.
Nue’s Exorcist #165 – Congrats on the anime! The younger a villain gets, the more dangerous they are, that’s Shounen 101. The panel of Kasha ripping off Gakuro’s head was pretty sick, even if it was a vision. Ok I like the set up here of the others having to destroy the tree so that Kasha can be defeated, I’ll always love a team effort to take down an overwhelming opponent!
Sakamoto Days #279 – Kanaguri going “meh, change locations for my movie please” is kinda funny. Not too much to say about this chapter since it was basically all action, Sakamoto recreating Godzilla’s…errr, I mean Idzilla’s heat ray was sick (insert Austin Powers “it’s Godzilla, but it’s not!” meme here). Samurai genre next should be fun too!
Ruridragon #52 – I don’t have much to say about this tbh, it was basically a setup chapter to beginning Ruri’s training. I will say, her demeanour seems hella different at the end there and she even refers to Kuro with what I assume is his full name, so maybe some dormant Dragon memories (her father’s?) awakens in here also when she goes into Frenzy mode (unless Kuro told her his full name and I forgot lol).
Me and Roboco #301 – Stylish (?) colour page lol. It’s actually been a long time since we saw Nyonta, huh? The professor blowing up was pretty funny. NOPE, that Nyonta form better not be something I see again, how creepy lmao.
hmmmmm 