So, while we wait for the new series to drop, here's a forum game:
Name your five favourite Shonen Jump arcs across the many series which they have published.
Ugh, this is going to be painful. Alright, let me think deeply about this. Slight spoiler warnings, I guess....
1. Gintama
You can't do this to me. Deciding my favourite arc? That's like picking who your favourite child is! Damn it! Gah...it might have to be the Courtesan of a Nation Arc. But this is truly difficult. There's so many good Gintama arcs...
2. Minus Arc (Medaka Box)
Kumagawa is still my favourite villain in all of Jump history, and I feel like this is where Nisio Isin finally started getting Medaka Box right. The villains and their abilities were fascinating, as were the battles. I especially liked when the Student Council started questioning about what it meant to "win".
3. Love Hotel Arc (Hinomaru Zumou)
God, this was so difficult. I thought Hinomaru Zumou had fantastic matches (especially in part 1), but in my opinion, this is still the best romance/couple in all of the Shounen Jump manga I've read. The situation around Hinomaru slowly becoming a villain in the professional world thanks to the hot-blooded beliefs he's held since his childhood and having Reina and Jinou decide to do something about it was amazing.
4. Land of Waves (Naruto)
This choice surprises me. After all, I don't like any of Naruto's main characters. Team 7 is at their most tolerable here, in some strange way. I think it's the Land of Waves, Haku and Zabuza that really make this arc for me. This isn't Naruto's first arc, but it sets up the cycle of hatred theme that encompasses the series in a truly compelling way thanks to Haku and Zabuza representing it.
5. Princess Iron Fan Play (Act-Age)
Time to rip the band-aid off the wound. This was actually a fairly difficult choice between this arc and the Night of the Galatic Railroad. I gave the edge to this one. It shouldn't have worked. I was worried that having the two casts perform the same play would be dull, but I was proven wrong. Each side got to show off their personality in their battle in a way that only Shounen manga can really deliver, and the emotions racing through this arc really pushed Act-Age to new heights. I wish I could re-read it. :/
Runner-up: Trust and Rebirth (Rurouni Kenshin)
I haven't reread the manga in a while, and I was hesitant to put any Rurouni Kenshin arc here because I might be misremembering things due to how the anime and live-action did them.
