Yotsubato! 81: awwwww!! This chapter had a lot of the things I love about Yotsubato! all together – reactions to Jumbo, Miura being utterly adorable both when being stubborn and when being a lil’ wuss about insects, Grumpy Yotsuba, Yanda’s deadpan humour and Yotsuba being adorably useless for one of those uniquely Kiyohiko Azuma-flavoured endings. Love it!

Naruto 603: yep, this flashback is going to drag on a bit yet. But at least Zetsu and, surprisingly enough, Tobi are going to get fleshed out – and we see that the ‘good boy’ persona was not just a weird act put on by a powerful villain, which is quite a relief. Not nearly as bad a chapter as I expected – but that comes from good scenes within a bad scenario.

Rock Lee’s Springtime of Youth 17: Hurrrr cameo. This stupid chapter showed just why the manga’s humour is better – even with a bit of a dud of an idea, it just builds dumb gag upon dumb gag until you can’t help but enjoy it. There’s definitely something impressive about that. 

Wakfu ‘Manga’ ch4: Tot and co have proved again and again they can do inventive action scenes, and that’s what we saw here. It was pretty awesome, in fact! But this is a new development with Yugo’s powers. I wonder how they’ll get out of this. And now the antagonist has a clear past and a clear goal – but what is her motive? I’d love to see this animated. 

Rock Lee’s Springtime of Youth 16: This time, the silly chapter revolved around the Akatsuki. Nothing new, but it made me smile throughout, and that’s what you want from a stupid gag manga, after all!

Rozen Maiden II 39: so it looks like Megu really has fallen in league with someone else, though apparently not Kirakishou. A slow chapter, but I’m still interested – and would love a Rozen Maiden revival!

Soul Eater 101: here’s another I’d like to see animated. The witches came to save the day, and with them comes a chance for everyone to really shine again. I just want to see Crona again, sooner rather than later!

One Piece 682 was slightly confusing towards the end – a lot of loose ends to tie up now – but the glimpse into Doflamingo’s world, the exchange between Brook and the samurai were funny, and it sounds like we’re finding out what happened to his kid!

Naruto 602: Yes, yes, we really are having a flashback. And a creepy, rather boring one. Ah well. It doesn’t look like it’ll take too long. Just a bit about Rin, I’m sure. Then again, what was in this chapter was about two pages’ worth of material, so maybe it’ll be strung out a long time yet.

Rock Lee’s Springtime of Youth 15: another amusing chapter from this silly series – this time with Temari and co. They should’ve waited until there was a bit more to adapt before they introduced the anime. 

Fairy Tail 295: Very, very shounen, this random powering-up, but fun to read too. I was also entertained by the random little cart to put Gajeel in. Natsu’s gonna look very silly if he loses now. I hope we get to see a conclusion, and it doesn’t just get interrupted by the larger plot – which is quite the reversal of my previous stance! Still, the little flashback makes me pretty certain these other dragon slayers are going to be allies soon, even guild members. We’ll see. They’ve still got the apparent sin of killing their dragon ‘parents’ to deal with. 

Fairy Tail 295: Very, very shounen, this random powering-up, but fun to read too. I was also entertained by the random little cart to put Gajeel in. Natsu’s gonna look very silly if he loses now. I hope we get to see a conclusion, and it doesn’t just get interrupted by the larger plot – which is quite the reversal of my previous stance! Still, the little flashback makes me pretty certain these other dragon slayers are going to be allies soon, even guild members. We’ll see. They’ve still got the apparent sin of killing their dragon ‘parents’ to deal with. 

Fairy Tail 293-294. Well, Ichiya’s true power always had to come out sometime, and probably better it come out in a silly low-stakes tournament than somewhere genuinely influencing the overall plot. As it was, it was funny and stupid. Poor Quattro Puppy! As for 294, well, things are escalating in the usual shounen fashion, though Natsu and Gajeel got to look pretty cool. Having cutesy cat mascots for each Dragon Slayer was a stroke of brilliance, too. A great way to make me care more about the other guild’s slayers than I would have otherwise.  

Fairy Tail 292 shows an obvious awareness that the arc needs to be moved on, which is good. Fairy Tail’s team has been condensed, and the arc is clearly nearing its climax. Good good!

Naruto 601. Oh guhhhhhhhh really?! We have to sit through a flashback now? Really not needed…

One Piece 681. Not a funny chapter – nor an awesome one. But it moved the plot on. It seems like Smoker will have to intervene in Sanji’s fight…but I hope both get their individual glory. Sanji in particular doesn’t seem to have been very formidable of late…

Wakfu Tome 1 Chapter 1: French-written and in a decidedly French style, this publication nonetheless advertises itself as manga, so thoughts on my manga blog will make sense. A sweet little continuation of the anime’s story on a small scale, it was a bit of fun – but showed how difficult drawing Yugo is to get right. With his face too angular and a rictus grin making him look cocky, his character seemed wrong through the whole chapter. A shame!

D. Gray-man 216. NOOOOOOOOOO TIMCANPYYYYYYYYYY!!!! Another messy chapter from this faded series, but...well, the Earl appearing on the scene was pretty awesome and…and, well, I thought Timcanpy had immune mascot status!

Fairy Tail 283-285. Erza’s pure awesomeness made this arc. Even the ‘banal’ follow-up had a great moment. Natsu’s very Luffy-ish display of anger at Sabretooth disrespecting their own nakama was also pretty great. But there’s going to have to be a change in direction after those moments now, or else everything will likely seem anticlimactic. 

Naruto 600. The momentous 600^th chapter, and what does Kishimoto fill it with? Flashbacks. Guh. At least the cliffhanger was a pretty good one, and ought to lead to the series finally ending before too long. All that’s left is the two main characters’ final confrontation…right? Right?

One Piece 680. A bit of an uneventful chapter in comparison with other recent efforts, but the hilarious moment with that silly old-fashioned patronising Sanji made it more than worthwhile. And things are really heating up!

Fairy Tail 275-282. With Volume 33, I’m getting a little closer to catching up with this weekly title that’s slipped away from me. I enjoy it, but it’s clear why it’s always on the back burner – it still just feels too derivative and too by-the-numbers, especially with this tournament being played out in full, with the big game-changer being made so explicit there’s no chance of a twist when it appears. Still, the cat mascots get cuter and cuter, Elfman’s performance against Bacchus was a highlight of the series – never mind the arc – and there were some laugh-out-loud moments. Also some cool new female characters, even if just like Oda, Hiro suffers from making his girls all look too alike. The fanservice also goes a bit far, though the subversion in the omake with Blue Pegasus’ male members was absolutely hilarious. They’re probably the funniest thing in the manga and I’m happy they keep on coming back. 

Fairy Tail 267-274: this Fairy Tail volume saw the tournament starting, and I’m quite enjoying it. It’s a cliché in shounen, aye, but done well it can still make for some excellent storytelling and bring out its characters. I also like how Fairy Tail have been made the underdogs.