Rock Lee’s Springtime of Youth 08 was probably the funniest one yet. I don’t know why TenTen makes such a great straight person in comedy, but she’s really the backbone of the series, and the gags are brilliant. I’m both glad this series gets the attention it will from being associated with such a huge series and sad that so many will ignore it for the very same reasons. It’s really one of the best gag manga I’ve read in ages. Even the mini-chapter to lead into the Jump Festa was brilliant. I’m glad it’s going to get an anime, though probably would prefer it interpolated into the series as I said yesterday.

One Piece 651 moved as expected into a war with Big Mama, one of the Yonkai. Likely to be a silly arc, it also should have some awesome fights and it will be good to see a conflict with very powerful foes after the timeskip power-up. There can’t be that much further One Piece can go after a Yonkai is taken down…but I guess Oda can spin it out however long he wants by having diversions into other islands, each of which can be a full arc.

HunterXHunter 330 continued to be interesting with Illumi and Hisoka back in the spotlight, looking extremely creepy. I liked the little stinger of Alluka’s powers used for healing, and of course Leorio’s predicament. Looking forward to more!

Naruto 568 tried to bring depth to the Tailed Beasts, but really ended up simplifying Kyuubi – or should I say Kurama? – rather than giving him depth. Son Goku was an interesting Tailed Beast, though, if obviously tied up with established lore.

Rock Lee’s Springtime of Youth 6&7 continue to show that the SD spinoff is more entertaining than the main title just now. A cute TenTen story and one featuring adorable CG Gaara, I think that instead of bad filler, if the anime needs to let the anime get ahead a bit again, they ought to animate these – or just animate one Naruto chapter and fill the rest of the episode with some Springtime of Youth!

HunterXHunter 329 was a good chapter of mixed tones, fun moments, dramatic moments and violent moments combining fairly well, though never pushing into the ‘awesome’ category. There was some great deadpan humour, and Leorio’s current situation is hilarious. Nice to see Biscuit, too, even if just for one panel. The cliffhanger was great.

Bakuman 159 went for jokes this week, too, mostly based on Hiramaru, the best minor character in the series. Meanwhile, the main characters have quite conveniently got to the top of the Jump rankings. A fun little aside, this was the kind of colour Bakuman needs- but it also needs a stronger main plot. And maybe to explain where the Big Three have gone!

Naruto 567 was another limp chapter that didn’t impress at all. Slow and a little confusing, it failed to capitalise on the cliffhanger from last week and didn’t make me excited about the current battle at all.

One Piece 650 was also a slow chapter, with a bit of exposition about the wider world, and a bridge into the next arc. Looks like it will be a slightly silly one based on gluttony, but will at least involve one of the ‘four emperors’, Big Mama.

Deadman Wonderland 49 saw the end of the conflict with Mockingbird. I was a little sad it was ended in such simple terms, and so quickly, but Ganta and Senji certainly looked awesome. Neither of them seem like strong shounen characters, but they really are – even if the ‘always get up again’ cliché, familiar from HunterXHunter and Naruto, is a bit stale now.

HunterXHunter 328 was nothing like as exciting as the previous chapter, and suffered from the stupid idea of a granny motorcycle. But it’s…refreshing, seeing that characteristic Togashi way of drawing random extras in a strange detailed way.

One Piece 649 wasn’t brilliant, for a big exultant climax to an arc, normally something Oda does so well. This felt a bit by-the-numbers, though the final twist was interesting and possibly leads us to another interesting arc.

Naruto 566 was short and mostly rubbish. All the different tailed beasts should have made for a real spectacle, but the only spectacular part was when Kakashi and Gai showed up, which let’s face it is nothing new for the title.

HunterXHunter 327 felt like being transported back to the title’s glory days. Didn’t expect Hisoka! A fantastic chapter.

Bakuman 157 made me want to see how calculating Eiji was about this. That’s also really not a rule of battle manga.