One Piece 703: a fun chapter. I got the giggles when Luffy tried to enter the tournament incognito then began writing down his own name – only to enter with a hilarious variation on the theme.

Naruto 625 continues the flashback – I’m glad it didn’t end quite so abruptly as I thought it would, but I’m not sure anything much more needs to be said here. Madara’s thought processes really don’t make much sense either – he’s progressively being made less formidable by this filling-in of backstory…and that’s a shame. 

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Micro Series: Rainbow Dash was something of a damp squib, trying too hard and missing the mark, sadly spoiling all its good ideas with poor execution. There will definitely be parts of the internet up in arms about the ‘pandering’ of double rainbows and brohoofs, with a panel about ‘anonymous meanies’ almost certainly aimed at them and thus confirming their theories, and the only reference that really worked was the most subtle – the Bowie reference, which after all has quite the precedent in the show. The main problem, though, was that the story idea was poor, the idea of emotional manipulation was muddy and has been done before, the epilogue part had pacing that was all over the place and antagonists were random and a poor fit for the established universe. A swing and a miss.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic 04 actually had some similar problems with being a bit too close to Internet culture, especially with ‘Le close’, phasing that is one of the more annoying expressions stolen from 4chan and used too much by Redditors, thus disowned by the original users. The horror film references that followed were better, but also seemed to be trying too hard. Luckily, the main comic series has a much more interesting story, better pacing, far more interesting art and better overall humour to fall back on, and thus this was not the same sort of failure as the mini-series. And I have to say, Scootaloo talking about how nice it would be to have a big sister will always make my heart melt.

Plus the cover with Spike and the birthday cake is my favourite of any of ’em yet.  

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Micro Series: Rainbow Dash was something of a damp squib, trying too hard and missing the mark, sadly spoiling all its good ideas with poor execution. There will definitely be parts of the internet up in arms about the ‘pandering’ of double rainbows and brohoofs, with a panel about ‘anonymous meanies’ almost certainly aimed at them and thus confirming their theories, and the only reference that really worked was the most subtle – the Bowie reference, which after all has quite the precedent in the show. The main problem, though, was that the story idea was poor, the idea of emotional manipulation was muddy and has been done before, the epilogue part had pacing that was all over the place and antagonists were random and a poor fit for the established universe. A swing and a miss.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic 04 actually had some similar problems with being a bit too close to Internet culture, especially with ‘Le close’, phasing that is one of the more annoying expressions stolen from 4chan and used too much by Redditors, thus disowned by the original users. The horror film references that followed were better, but also seemed to be trying too hard. Luckily, the main comic series has a much more interesting story, better pacing, far more interesting art and better overall humour to fall back on, and thus this was not the same sort of failure as the mini-series. And I have to say, Scootaloo talking about how nice it would be to have a big sister will always make my heart melt.

Plus the cover with Spike and the birthday cake is my favourite of any of ’em yet.  

One Piece 702 was a bit confusing in the middle, where it seemed it would follow Zoro but instead followed Luffy and Franky, and it seems a tournament arc may be about to start, but things have still moved neatly to a place where I’m interested to see what will happen. A decent transition chapter, and the old man (presumably another of Doflamingo’s kin) is certainly a very interesting little enigma.

Naruto 624: I have been very down on this flashback arc, and the way it was shoehorned into the story, but I’ve finally warmed to it – just as it ends. It brought nothing new to the story, and feels less like a clever statement on history always repeating itself than just an author with only one idea he keeps rehashing, ultimately giving the impression that the whole of the main story could have been condensed to the handful of chapters this arc has been afforded. But there’s a glimmer here of what used to make the series something special. And it’s a basic affection for characters with simple, childish attitudes that may seem naïve but actually just have a much clearer view of right and wrong than those around them. 

One Piece 701: Apart from the slight toe-curling sensation of seeing a very well-drawn sink-hole (made by gravity) in the wake of the news a few days ago of an American man being swallowed up by one along with half of his house, this was an interesting turn for One Piece. We’re going to be seeing another very odd country, but there can be no lack of seriousness at the same time, which is where the genius of Oda lies. I have to say, though, even though the whole crew spent the timeskip powering up and becoming self-confident, they’re slipping back to old overpowered/weakling roles.

Naruto 623: Hmm. Nice art this week, but I’m still just feeling this is a load of dusty old ideas that is bringing nothing new to the Naruto universe – itself old and dusty by now – and as with so many other franchises making what seemed like a long-established culture as young as a few decades (see Star Wars).  

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comic #3: the interesting arguments were solved a bit too easily with everyone saying sorry without actually coming to understand the situation, which was a shame, and the mallet space jokes went too far, but this comic continues to be very entertaining by doing its own thing emphatically and rambunctiously. It's daft and funny and very boyish - lots of monsters and falling off cliffs and fuzzy creatures getting splatted and jokes about burps. Being so different from the series is what makes it work.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Solo Spotlight: Twilight Sparkle: these little side-stories look to be weaker than the main title, which makes sense - though one has to wonder why these writers and artists are published when there's amateur art on the internet that does the same thing much better. A pleasant enough little story about Twilight meeting a frosty librarian and coaxing her out of her shell through their mutual love of books, it had a highly predictable twist and a cute saccharine ending, but it was drawn very sloppily and could have been one of a million throwaway works of fanfiction, so felt...well, redundant, really.