One Piece 831: the creepy cute forest isn’t a bad idea at all…but eh, the execution is a bit goofy. Still, quite fun to see the crew being so daft as usual.

HunterxHunter 360: Ugh! HiatusxHiatus again. Just when I was really starting to get engaged in this – and after a pleasingly weird chapter full of odd creepy nen creatures. Now it will probably be two years before the next chapter…

One Piece 830: Not a very exciting chapter, but things get closer and closer to real action.

HunterxHunter 359: A good chapter for the pace of the arc, already a murder mystery. No great character moments or particularly stunning scenes but I'm intrigued at least.

One Punch Man (manga) 61.2: a very satisfying chapter mirroring Genos’ fights – drawn superbly this time – with the next round of matches in the martial arts tournament. Even though this was a Genos chapter, though, it was undoubtedly Saitama who stole the show as usual – the way he undercuts any portentous or boastful speech with his incredible indifference is just superb. 

One Punch Man webcomic 107 – after finally getting past the first two pages, this was a very fulfilling overview chapter following the fallout of the recent events in the association HQ. My favourite parts were Saitama’s neighbours, Child Emperor and the exchange between Silver Fang and Atomic Samurai. And One’s art is genuinely getting better and better.

HunterxHunter 358 – back to Kurapika for another info dump. Sadly very little of interest happened, but at least it’s a segue into the arc proper. I just want to see a lot more familiar faces. That said, the cliffhanger ending was pretty intriguing.

One Piece 829 – well, Big Mama is certainly an interesting one. I’m curious to see how the crew will deal with her. A very odd character to be a Yonkou!

HunterxHunter 357: Well, as quickly and oddly as it began, it ended. And this is a disappointment of a different kind for me. Hisoka loses, revives and then decides to go on a killing spree that should really be Kurapika’s business. Koltopi was never going to amount to much, but it’s very disappointing to see Shalnark dealt with so briefly, with Kuroro still holding his nen abilities. I wanted him to at the very least get a decent extended fight. It seems like such a waste.

As for Hisoka’s ability, well, can’t say I thought it was a shock or anything outside the way the HxH universe works. 

HunterXHunter special: Hisoka origin story – now this is an interesting development! Ishida Sui of the hugely successful Tokyo Ghoul after a conversation with Togashi. He drew the chapter sketchily, but it’s 69 pages long so no joke! Impressive that he found the time with his other commitments. The story is a good one, of Hisoka an imitative prodigy taken in by a circus with a secret. It shows his introduction to nen and development of his own powers. Nothing unpredictable or unusual but a lot of fun to see in another artist’s style. If one day it could be animated, that would be well worth seeing. 

One Piece 828 - not the most interesting chapter, but we saw a bit more of the Vinsmoke family, and the situation with Sanji's betrothal is at least a bit more nuanced than being foisted into a marriage he'd loathe.

HunterxHunter 356 - Hisoka is at a huge disadvantage now, which at least makes this fight more compelling, but it's also making it ever more certain he'll win. I just hope the spectacle gets ramped up a few notches - it would be a shame if this were purely a fight of flinging bodies around.

Boruto 002 - Oh, I didn’t realise in chapter 1 that this is only supervised by Kishimoto, but drawn and written by others. It’s a good imitation so I’ll read on. There was nothing much with emotional weight here, but Boruto himself is still on the cute side and I’m interested in seeing him continue to interact with Sasuke.

Yotsubato! 92 – I didn’t miss 91, it’s just that the chapter numbers have been rejigged a little, which apparently happened before as well, though I didn’t notice. In fact, this one is listed as chapter 90, so that’s all a bit confusing. But it was a great chapter, one of my favourites lately. Yotsuba went to try yoga and was unexpectedly quite a genius. But it was her deeply honest, badly-timed comments that really got me smiling. Lots of fun!