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.