D.Gray-Man 215 was, at least in the part about the 14^th, largely confusing. Still, the chapter was worth it for the incredibly weird image of Timcampy starting to cry. Whut? Still, I’m glad Johnny’s okay, and the cliffhanger was a good one.

Fairy Tail 261-266: I’m well behind in Fairy Tail now – but a few chapters closer to catching up! After some silly preparatory chapters – which might have had what was probably the intended One Piece-style celebratory effect at the end of an arc, but didn’t quite work aside from as a gag at the beginning – the guild are off to take part in the tournament. It’s probably going to be an underwhelming by-the-numbers arc, but Gerard’s presence hints at something more. We’ll see. 

One Piece 679 was a functional chapter, but for one signature Oda piece of absolute silliness somehow managing to be incredibly emotional – I won’t spoil it, but it involved a thumbs-up as a very moving gesture. How does he do it time and time again? This arc is getting progressively better…

Naruto 599 – yes, yes, Kishimoto really did it. He devoted a whole chapter to the ‘reveal’ of Tobi’s actual identity, which has been clear to readers for a long, long time. It was in doubt when it looked like Danzou might be the older Obito, and again when it seemed to be revealed that Tobi was Uchiha Madara, but as soon as both possibilities were eliminated, that left only one possibility. I am genuinely stunned that there are still people out there who were surprised by this over-the-top reveal. On the other hand, the chapter had some fun fanservice with younger versions of the characters – although echoes the big problem with Naruto’s age group, in that it seems to imply all of Kakashi’s generation of ninja were in the very same class, the very same year. Just like apart from Lee, Tenten and Gai, ALL the strong ninja of the younger generation were in the same year in ninja school and apparently all their parents decided to have kids at exactly the same time. Whereas all the other years have apparently produced next to no ninja of any note at all. Whut?  

Ah well, at least I can stop moaning about the Tobi situation every week now.

Rozen Maiden II 37-38. Wow, I certainly didn’t expect that from Megu. The dolls taking action made me sit up and pay attention, though. I feel like I’m the only person left reading Rozen Maiden, though…but still love it. I hope II gets animated!

Naruto 598 is another eye-rolling baby-step towards the big Tobi reveal that ought to surprise exactly nobody. It was also absurdly easy to trick him – once upon a time Naruto’s lifeblood was underpowered fighters doing something genuinely clever and inventive to win a fight. Not any more.

One Piece 677 has a great little glimpse of some other Supernovas, and a very easy way out for the prisoners. Sanji's absurd 'power up' also had me chuckling away in public. Quite brilliant - and it feels like a build-up to the kind of overblown ass-whuppin' One Piece does best. The two large panels with awesome moments for the two unlikely team-ups were awesome, too.

Naruto movie special: for a lead-in chapter to one of the tie-in movies, this one certainly felt slapdash and strange. The idea was that Naruto’s innermost desire – not to be alone – was revealed, but it happened through a weird story about bathhouses and being caught peeping, very different from the Jiraiya introduction. It all felt more Rock Lee’s Springtime of Youth than Naruto post-timeskip. But oh well. I will still give the movie a fair chance. 

One Piece 676 was not a very eventful chapter, but it marked the transition from a silly blob thing to a huge cloud of gas – which means the worst thing about this arc has probably gone away permanently. That’s good! And I ought to get a new chapter to read tomorrow, too – so the fact it’s a lead-in to something more interesting is no bad thing.

Naruto 596-597 has Kakashi finally figuring out who Obito is – or so it seems (though it looks like Kishimoto is holding onto the reveal for another chapter to give the very slow in his audience a shock). Unfortunately, it’s all a bit contrived that he has this weakness – but hey, it’s not as though he could go completely undefeated until the end.