One Punch Man manga 124: Pochi is such a cute doggo, lol. This was another fun and impressively-drawn expansion on a short section of the webcomic, and I enjoyed it a fair bit. I wish we could get more!

Chainsawman 52: kind of unexpected for this major threat to just be quietly eliminated in a back alley, without Denji even being aware. A bit anticlimactic, actually. And not in the clever subversive way this title sometimes manages.

Dr. Stone 134: I’m looking forward to seeing how this progresses! A bit of a one-on-one face-off is a good idea in a manga like this, that’s usually so focused on its ensemble cast. Senkuu is still at a large disadvantage so I’m going to be interested in how things pan out now. It’s going to be satisfying seeing Ibara get his just deserts.

 Dr. Stone Reboot: Byakuya 9: Okay, in the end I finally did feel moved by the nobility of the robot that waits forever for its master. I suppose it’s a different form of the Hachiko story – unwavering loyalty is touching, even if we’re dealing with non-human subjects. I hope all this has a payoff – and I assume it must do, as otherwise the way this side-story ends is a bit too random. I’m looking forward to when Rei enters the main storyline.

Samurai 8 32: I guess there was some nice art. Still very much uninterested, though.

Haikyuu! 378: Ah, as soon as we get back to Japan, things improve with familiar old characters, even in older forms. Apart from him tallness, Tsukki still seems to be my spirit animal – right down to the Kahlua and milk. Buying him a gaudy pink T-shirt was so very Hinata, and Kageyama’s terrible curry commercial was absolute brilliance. Asahi becoming a designer was totally unexpected! I guess it makes sense to close Haikyuu with a confrontation between the two rivals from right at the start, even if I don’t think we needed quite such a long road to get there.  

The Promised Neverland 162: it does make sense to take this back to where it started, much like Haikyuu!, but I still don’t really feel like this can be anything but anticlimactic. The high-fantasy storming of castles and taking down evil queens has left this series with a big void to fill and I’m not convinced it’s doable. We’ll see, though. Mama playing a substantial role will certainly help. 

One Piece 966: I’m finally enjoying this flashback thanks to this impressive clash. And now Oden’s on another boat and we’re getting some more information about the trail Roger left behind him. I guess we’ll know more about the ‘one piece’ by the end of this side-story.

Haikyuu!! 377: Okay! This boring arc is over. Now big bulky non-cute Hinata can go and at least hang out with Bokuto. So as long as he actually gets onto this team that’s a plus. But what pay-off can this lead to? Will Hinata win an adult game? Will we care? Will it be the Olympics? Will we care?

Samurai 8 31: I should probably just drop this rather than moaning about it every week. But yeah, no emotional impact here whatsoever for me. I really don’t care about this battle or expect it will resolve in any but the most cliché way.

Dr. Stone reboot: Byakuya 8: I keep expecting this miniseries to be over, but not yet! This one raised a smile with the 50^th anniversary. And it is quite interesting to see how the little robot kept the earth safe. Seems like it should have been able to preserve more for itself to keep its operation up and running, though. Ah well, that’s how we get to a tragic ending next chapter, I’m sure. One downside to this added level of detail is (1) Europe’s people are mostly completely shattered, one would assume, and (2) this just makes it far more obvious that Senku and the others should all have been buried deep in the earth rather than lying on the surface.

The Promised Neverland 161: The stakes have been raised well and now it’s a small group versus a small army, which takes it TOWARDS a satisfying conclusion, and taking the setting full circle helps, but there’s still a long way before I feel like this is going to be a conclusion as satisfying as taking down the demon queen. Though maybe there’ll be one more arc after this with the weird metaphysical stuff again and THAT will satisfy.

One Piece 965: I'm not overly hooked on the Oden backstory but seeing all those characters from the manga's history in the final pages is a thrill as always. Let's have more of the big hitters together!

Shingeki no Kyojin 124: fantastic chapter. So much happened. The core characters actually ponder the ramifications of what is being done for their sake, which the audience benefits from seeing too. There was a great moment for Pixis that I didn't think he'd get. And then I didn't see the cliffhanger coming at all. I think this will bridge well into a final arc. Though I don't know whether it's going to be a huge spectacle or a small personal confrontation at this stage. 

One Punch Man 123: Ahh we’re getting to the good bits. Seeing the S-class in distress is such good build-up. And Tatsumaki seeming untouchable makes for the stakes being raised so much soon enough – when the real untouchable one shows up. This is why OPM transcended its gag origins – because when the camera is pointed elsewhere, the stakes are convincing.

Chainsawman 51: I should have seen this coming with the foreshadowing. But it was still nice. Not sure about letting the bad guy go but she’s obviously popular and maybe she can be redeemed. Maybe even next chapter!

Dr. Stone 133: You can tell these guys have good story sense because in this chapter building up to Senku being the heroic one, it was the other characters who came up with plans and used their specific talents. But it’s about time for this arc to get wrapped up, I think.

One Piece 965: I'm not overly hooked on the Oden backstory but seeing all those characters from the manga's history in the final pages is a thrill as always. Let's have more of the big hitters together!

Shingeki no Kyojin 124: fantastic chapter. So much happened. The core characters actually ponder the ramifications of what is being done for their sake, which the audience benefits from seeing too. There was a great moment for Pixis that I didn't think he'd get. And then I didn't see the cliffhanger coming at all. I think this will bridge well into a final arc. Though I don't know whether it's going to be a huge spectacle or a small personal confrontation at this stage. 

The Promised Neverland 160: Yeah, this was obviously what would have to happen for this arc to have any tension to it. Still not exactly finding it compelling, though. Stakes still so much lower…

Kuroshitsuji 158: This got a bit better, though it’s very clichéd. I at least cared for Rin and her little friends. But the cheesy mob guys and the old cliché of “Let them go you say? Well, okay then,” needed only a moustache twirl to be complete. Beautiful art as usual but very trite.

Dr. Stone 132: Haha, that’s a great move from the bad guy, both sneaky and creepy to look at. Very Shingeki no Kyojin. The spear fight was satisfying, too. Though I think perhaps I’d forgotten the way Hyoga fights.

Chainsawman 50: Aww, so many great little moments in this chapter. Beam the shark guy is such a great support character and the little moment with Aki and the angel was strangely adorable.

Haikyuu! 376: Lol, the little gag 4-koma at the end was my favourite part. Otherwise, still not really into it. It’s weird how this title’s strength always used to be getting the characters of big teams really fleshed out and interesting, but when it’s just a 2-on-2 I’m not clear on the personalities on either side.

 Dr. Stone Reboot: Byakuya 7: Awwww, that was a lovely end to this spin-off. Mostly it felt superfluous, but that doesn’t mean it can’t bring the feels. Much more for Byakuya himself than the silly robot.

Samurai 8 30: ehh, another step backwards. The guy who we thought was dispatched now has a still death star. I don’t really care about stopping him.

One Punch Man (manga) 122: Yay! More Child Emperor action. And he’s not going to come out of this well. And then a good summary of what S-class means straight out of the webcomic. I wish OPM came out more frequently, but then, the art quality of course takes time.

One Piece 964: Awww another break already? Still, this got more fun now that Wano is left behind and instead we’re focusing on Whitebeard’s crew. He got some good faces in. Oden is basically just another Luffy, which isn’t that exciting. But I definitely hope we see more of ‘Gold’ (not Gol D. this chapter) and the smol versions of Shanks and Buggy.

Chainsawman 49: Hilarious chapter! Was the whole thing set up just as a reference to Sharknado? Denji utterly failing to utilize his power in a sensible way was great and this whole crew is now pretty interesting. I guess the sword guy, whose name I’ve forgotten, wasn’t even close to just sorting everything out himself after his new contract, though.

Haikyuu!! 375: Nooo, I don’t want Hinata to be 171cm, I don’t care about this guy he’s teamed up with and I don’t like this arc at allllll. Seeing Kenma’s future was quite fun though. Wonder what Nishinoya and Tsukishima are doing.  

Dr. Stone 131: This actually came across as a bit messy and overly coincidental, and of course it has always been just a little silly how ridiculously superhuman the combat is in this ostensibly very grounded title.

Samurai 8 29: I’m still trying to care about this. But I don’t. These revelations don’t come on the back of making us care about the characters. Nothing but indifference from me.

Boruto 40: while this adversary similarly lacks development, and would have been much better if we cared about him or the threat he represents, he’s at least clearly formidable and allows our little team of heroes to shine. I’m actually quite interested in how they fare, though Boruto has several times now presented interesting set-ups and disappointing conclusions. And I still don’t like how they’ve made the old heroes, once so absurdly strong, seem unimpressive now.

One Piece 963: The arc might get more interesting now with the Whitebeard crew’s involvement. We’ll see. The three non-human characters were pretty entertaining in their mini forms too.

Haikyuu!! 374: This is the first chapter since the timeskip I enjoyed, mostly seeing the interaction between Hinata and Oikawa. Hinata’s still so easy to mess with. But ehh it still feels like an unimpressive filler side-show.

Chainsawman 48: A great dynamic chapter. This time the fight isn’t rushed, and that’s good at this point. Still such a gory and adult manga for Jump. And Denji actually needs to be saved, which might lead to some interesting developments.

Dr. Stone Reboot: Byakuya 5: With the main title on a break I thought this would be too, but I guess not! And this is kind of interesting. Not just how the robot figures out survival, but now it’s off on a voyage. I’m still not cute on the apparently sapient robot angle – it’s way too cheesy – but at least its problem-solving is cool.

Samurai 8 28: This kind of battle still has zero emotional weight. I guess the bad kid DOES get redeemed after all, which is a plus, but are we going to lose the cat, the mascot character and by far the most interesting part of this mostly pretty uninteresting manga? Sure, it wasn’t worth keeping his hidden strength hidden, because it was always very obvious, but a lot of death flags are raised.

The Promised Neverland 159: Hrmmm, I feel like Ratri should have been incorporated into this arc better. Compared to the Queen, he doesn’t seem like a true threat or like beating him will be a satisfactory end to the season. I guess we still have the idea of the promise and it’s possible tension will come from that, but I hope we haven’t had the high point of the whole title with it downhill from here.  

One Punch Man (manga) 121: Yeahhh Child Emperor back in action. His encounter with Evil Natural Water was very brief in the webcomic but it might get fleshed out some more here. The most CE the better! And Darkshine in action looked impressive, too. A chance for Murata to go crazy with the muscle art, haha.

Haikyuu! 373: Still finding this a bit of a grind, but it is nice seeing how carefully-rendered the Portuguese and Argentinian Spanish is.

The Promised Neverland 158: What I liked – oddly enough, I like good and bad characters standing across from one another spouting their philosophical views. What I disliked – blob creature dies because it can’t contain the power of its blobs and blob faces shout at it as it turns to gloop. It’s just too lazy and cliché for this series.

Samurai 8 27: This still means little to nothing to me. I don’t care about the cat’s true Naruto-ish form. All this stuff about using upgrades manually attached to your core is such dreary world-building. And the fight has no appreciable stakes.

Dr Stone Reboot: Byakuya 04: Amazing art as usual. The cutesy robot was a bit much, but raised a bittersweet smile at least. It’s all a bit silly but fleshes out the series background well. 

One Piece 962: Hrmm, I’m still not on board with this flashback. But maybe bringing in the fuzzy characters and giving us more of Roger’s past will make it more interesting. But at the moment I’m more bored than I have been by One Piece in a long long while.

Dr. Stone 130: I wanted to see Hyoga in action! And he may be an evil one, but he definitely gets to look strong and awesome. Fun chapter, even if not a whole lot happened. Wonder how much of this fight we’ll see. Break next week!

Chainsawman 47: haha poor Denji. Definitely has bad luck with girls. And the little comedy interlude with the plague mask guy was pretty amusing too. I really enjoy how different from everything else Chainsawman is…

Attack on Titan 123: We’re definitely reaching the endgame of the series now. And what a great variety of moods in this flashback. Great to see Sasha again, and there’s something wonderful about seeing Armin and Mikasa drunk. There was even time for some political commentary – as if the series isn’t replete with enough of it, cryptic though it may be – and then we flash forward to Eren finally being straightforward about what he wants. Mass extermination. I wonder if he’ll be stopped – we’ll have to wait and see!

Kuroshitsuji 157: More Mei-Lin chapters, this time telling us about her past on the London streets. All very Dickensian, with a bit of a sharpshooter twist. And I liked how boyish she was. Lovely evocations of Victorian London but as usual Toboso misses out on a few details. She drew the new floral hall on the Opera House rather than the old EM Barry one, and she’s a bit off the mark imagining lots of very well-dressed women walking around Piccadilly unchaperoned with little to no sign of the general middle-class population. Still very nice to see, even for such a short chapter.

Boruto 39: Still a bit lame that they have to rush to Naruto’s defence, but hey, maybe it will lead to an exciting plot from here on.

Haikyuu! 372: Brazilians calling Japanese guys ‘Jackie Chan’, haha – I know for sure that happens, we had that exact situation in our capoeira group. Oddly, I kinda wanna do capoeira again and go back to Brazil after reading this. But I’m still not really on board with this whole storyline.

Chainsawman 46: Another visceral brawl. This girl seems a little overpowered. Nice effort from the minor characters, though. I’m a little sad the wolf demon thing was so ineffective.

Dr. Stone 129: I have to say, if others in the fandom hadn’t predicted this over and over, I probably would have been surprised by the return of Hyoga. Really gonna enjoy this showdown, though.

Dr. Stone Reboot: Byakuya 3: While this continues not to hold a candle to the main series, the final dance in space was a pretty beautiful moment. And it’s still an amazing achievement to simultaneously run these two series weekly.

The Promised Neverland 157: typical villain monologuing. I kind of miss when this was a cat-and-mouse series about a matron caring for and deluding genius children. I do wonder what we will learn about Musica, though.

Samurai 8 26: still my least favourite of the manga I read. There doesn’t feel like there’s any real threat to the main characters and the betrayal doesn’t sting because it’s no surprise. Meh. 

Dr. Stone 128: Chaos bedlam! What this manga does best. Lots of fun as always!

Dr. Stone Reboot: Byakuya 02: This flashback continues to trundle along and not really interest me. I guess the Yakov-Kiseki connection was vaguely amusing but that’s really it.

Samurai 8 25: Aw no, I was just getting on board with this group being able to stick together, but now we see a betrayal. I guess there can still be redemption afterwards. But every other person I hoped would become a teammate so far in this title has been left behind.

The Promised Neverland 156: Hrmm, I guess this is regressing to a simple battle manga now. The twist that a minor character is the sibling of an antagonist hardly makes my jaw drop. Still, it remains a cut above the rest.

One Piece 961: ehhhh I don’t care about this backstory. And it’s a break next week! Bleh!

One Punch Man (manga) 120: A nice breather chapter. I enjoyed it but I want more, and soon! These chapters don’t come out fast enough!

Chainsawman 45: ooh, this led to a nice setup for another big battle. This time the pacing was good to build up tension and the group of characters is interesting. Nice!

Haikyuu! 371: nooo I do like this. It’s nice that it’s accurate but I dislike big Hinata and the dumb coincidence at the end.

One Piece 961: ehhhh I don’t care about this backstory. And it’s a break next week! Bleh!

One Punch Man (manga) 120: A nice breather chapter. I enjoyed it but I want more, and soon! These chapters don’t come out fast enough!

Chainsawman 45: ooh, this led to a nice setup for another big battle. This time the pacing was good to build up tension and the group of characters is interesting. Nice!

Haikyuu! 371: nooo I do like this. It’s nice that it’s accurate but I dislike big Hinata and the dumb coincidence at the end.

Haikyuu!! 370: ehhh, I’m not keen at all on this. Skipping through the other high school years and now Kageyama’s an Olympian and Hinata-kun is living in Rio to study beach volleyball and is no longer a cute short boy but a weird muscly little man like that one who went viral for being tiny and angry? Yuck. True, I didn’t predict he would switch to beach volleyball but that’s mostly because it seems like a dumb tangent to take and I don’t see what stakes can be introduced for this final arc that I’ll be interested in.

Chainsawman 44: okay, we knew she was going to go nuts but this was much sooner than I thought it would happen. This free-wheeling manga doesn’t really do slow builds of tension, after all, and I should have remembered the breakneck pace up to here. Still fun, but this ‘Bomb’ design doesn’t quite match up to the others in the manga. It’s just a little too goofy for my tastes.

Dr. Stone 127: Yay, they figured out that things weren’t right and retreated. And now everything’s chaos with a lot of free agents running about, including ones that haven’t been mentioned since the beginning of the arc. This is a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to everything coming to a head.

Dr. Stone Reboot: Byakuya 01: It's very impressive that Boichi was able to release this at the same time as the main series. On the other hand, I didn't actually enjoy it that much and would probably not follow it if it were the first chapter of a main series. The logic of these professional astronauts doesn't ring true, and there were a lot of huge stretches. Especially how they thought of Senku. 

Fake Rebellion 3: After a very shaky start, I really did enjoy this chapter. It may end up being more of a guilty pleasure than a title I really admire, but the idea of using the power of the recently deceased as a kind of 'requiem' that empowers them allows for some very touching moments as well as awesome visuals. I might even steal that idea. A stronger start would have helped a lot - potentially even this chapter - but I have a feeling this title might get better and better. 

Samurai 8 24: ehhh, not very interesting. It's not exactly hugely impressive that Hachimaru can do greater things with two supports than he can solo. And this new adversary coming to challenge our heroes isn't very interesting either. I guess it's a good thing this set-up didn't lead to a tournament arc, but almost half a year into this title running, it's still coasting on the name of its creator. If this had come before Naruto, I don't know if Naruto would even have existed. 

D. Gray-Man 234: I love the Halloween cover! But it's a reminder that we haven't seen Lenalee in many many chapters. But the chapter itself...rapidly had me swinging from approval to disapproval. I loved seeing Road again, younger, and having her interact with Cross. But the implication that the Noah are from another world, potentially OUR world, strikes me as very cheesy and connects poorly with the established setting. I get that the whole point of the Noah has always been the suggestion they were from another time wiped out by a 'flood' of innocence, but that being the distant past or some other similarly quaintly old-fashioned setting would be so much better than a world of skyscrapers and technology. Oh well. I've been invested for a decade or more now, so I'm obviously going to keep reading. 

One Piece 960: Hrmm, cool as he may be, I'm not very interested in the Herculean feats of young Oden, nor why he looks more like Kinemon than the flashback Kinemon does. I wanna get back to the main storyline. 

One Punch Man (manga) 119: A bit of intrigue about who the traitor is here, which ties into some developments in the webcomic later on. And Genos gets to look cool too. But these still aren’t the fights I want to see…

One Piece 959: ehhh, this all seemed rushed. At least Luffy, Brook and Chopper got to look all cool. I just want to get on with the big fight, I don’t want a flashback about Lord Oden…

Chainsawman 43: fun as ever. Of course Denji can’t just run into a nice normal girl. I still wish Pochita were actually a part of this manga, though.

Dr. Stone 126: Hrmm! The plan might be foreseen! It will certainly be more interesting if it goes wrong. I’m invested for sure here.

Samurai 8 23: another unimpressive chapter. Kishimoto tried to frame what was obvious from the start as a twist. Meh.

The Promised Neverland 155: This also feels like treading water. Not particularly interesting to see a blob thing go on a rampage, and the blob having recognisable old faces also isn’t especially shocking or new.

Haikyuu!! 369: Ooookay, well, I’m still disappointed by how that progressed and still unmoved by the same blobby tears we saw at the end of Hikaru no Go, but this new development was quite unexpected. We all wanted to see what happened next year – but apparently we’re skipping forward a few years to a probably much less cute Hinata in Rio de Janeiro. Hrmm!

Kuroshitsuji 156: Urgh I don’t care about this and I’m disappointed Mei-Lin was obviously overcome. The art and action looked cool but this is super generic, and now we have to go through a flashback. We’d better get this for Finnie next! But I don’t want it for Bard, lol.

Dr. Stone 125: I enjoyed the manly tension of this preparation chapter, and Kinrou got to look very cool and stoic. Actually excited for what will happen next!

The Promised Neverland 154: hrmm, this feels like an editor stepped in and advised the mangakas to walk things back a bit so that Norman remains sympathetic. But it doesn’t ring very true to me. And the cliffhanger doesn’t make me fear for his life. Then again, I’ve been wrong about this title before.

Chainsawman 42: Poor Denji, I’m pretty sure everyone he gets close to is going to get brutally murdered. But this was another nice free-spirited chapter with formative experiences like skinny dipping and totally failing to resist temptation. It has a very genuine teenage spirit and that’s something genuinely remarkable.

Samurai 8 21-22: Oh, I, uh…I guess I forgot to read this last week. Ann’s flashback might have been the most heartfelt and moving thing in the manga so far, and substantially more interesting than this little tournament that’s getting skipped through at breakneck speed. And it’s kind of good to see some consequences in this world where people can chop their heads off and be fine later.

Boruto 38: Everybody disliked this. No, I’m not trying to speak for others, it’s just a meme. But seriously, this route of just making what Naruto established as ultimate power moves totally useless doesn’t make the new bad guy look incredibly strong, it just makes the writing seem lacklustre. Especially since the main characters no longer think like they used to or use the countermeasures that were firmly established. Not very impressive.

Shingeki no Kyojin 122: I don’t think we necessarily needed Ymir’s story actually related so directly. I think it would have been more elegant in snatches or glimpses, because it’s a bit basic and simplistic anyway. But now our weird abstract diversion is over and it’s time for Eren’s real empowerment. I’m looking forward to next month!

One Piece 958: Aww, another break! And on an interesting cliffhanger. Our heroes will obviously save the day, but where have they gone? Fun to see Roger in his element for a moment, and young Shanks and Buggy is always fun.

Haikyuu!! 368: This does nothing for me. Even the disappointing ending of Hikaru no Go sticks with me and made me feel sad but this just feels artificial and a total letdown. I really hope we don’t have to sit through the finals, even with Bokuto, but I very much doubt we will. I don’t honestly care about next year’s team or building up the hype again. But I’ll stick with it, with a sinking feeling it’ll get cancelled before the end of next year’s tournament.

One Punch Man (webcomic) 117: Was confused for a moment with the same number of chapters out for webcomic and manga. This was a fun chapter, though, and One’s layouts are much improved. But I hope the focus shifts back to Saitama now. Or anyone else. This team-up was nice to see but I’m not very invested in Flash as a character.

The Promised Neverland 153: everything is moving quickly! I don’t think this will be a final showdown and the end of the series, though. I like that Norman’s plans weren’t ill-made enough that Emma could undo them, though. That happens too often with supposed strategic geniuses. I’m not sure I’m very emotionally invested any more, but I am curious.

Chainsawman 40: Hrmm, at some point the ‘everyone is so quirky’ schtick is going to wear thin but for now the title is still charming enough to carry it off.

Samurai 8 20: I think I’d be more keen on this series if we started here. Last week was fun and now this merry band is traveling together and instantly thrown into battle. Potentially this is where S8 gets fun.

One Piece 957: It was a lot of sitting and talking, which was a slight shame after the build-up last chapter (I want to see what happens to Buggy!) but there was so much hype in this chapter! Absurd bounties, more history, Garp seeming still more impressive and everything tying at least somewhat into the current arc. The tension is rising!

Samurai 8 19: in a microcosm, this was quite enjoyable. A classic shounen hero persevering before coming up with some stupid solution based on the universe’s particular rules. It wasn’t that gripping and the rules are a bit dumb, but it was still satisfying to read.

The Promised Neverland 151: pretty interesting battle, but I feel like we’re being misled and the queen is going to overcome all of this. Obviously Norman needs to be the ultimate antagonist but I don’t think we’ll be getting there yet. Need to find out what the new agreement Emma arranged is too.

Dr. Stone 122: this raised a smile as always. I like how they draw conclusion from nuggets of information and Mozu appearing was an unexpected but intriguing twist.

One Punch Man (manga) 117: Seeing Drive Knight in action will be intriguing, if we get to see it. But slows the arc down yet again. I’d like to get on with the core action, since it’s just about to get really good…

One Piece 956: I didn’t really want to go back to the Reverie subplot line, but this was actually intriguing. What’s happened to Sabo? What will the Shichibukai do? I’d love to see more of Buggy and Mihawk, especially if they decide to team up with our heroes again. We’ll see!

Haikyuu!! 366: What was cute about this chapter was the bonds between the guys. Kenma being a friend was super cute, and Kageyama still thinking about Hinata even off the court. It’s also getting us through the match quick, which I like.

Chainsawman 39: and now this time there’s a really convincing love scene! I’m surprised, but it was done well. Pretty good stuff!

Fake Rebellion 2: This chapter was a bit of a microcosm of what I expect of the manga. Very shaky start, with some vulgar fanservice and poorly-thought-through worldbuilding, but then quite engaging and sympathetic at the end. I may be on the overly charitable side if I think the larger manga will play out like that, though.  

Attack on Titan 121: very interesting! So Eren is utilizing an ability to see into the future to influence the past. He doesn’t need to go into the past to do this, just to be aware that his father can perceive him in the future. This is pretty wild stuff but I’m still on board with it, and Eren being this amazing puppetmaster. We’re a long way from where we started but I’m just fine with that and this feels like the series’ endgame.

Kuroshitsuji 155: I wish we were jumping between the different stories of the staff instead of focusing on this one, which is a bit generic. I’m guessing it will be finished next issue and Ran will sort everything out.

Fake Rebellion 1: Hmm, not sure about this one. I like the art and the idea of the lingering remnants of people’s wills getting focused into a weapon is very nice and potentially extremely moving, but that doesn’t help with an extremely generic set-up, unoriginal world, obvious twist and casual slaughter of undeveloped kid characters for some cheesy impact. I’ll probably give it a chance for a few more chapters – I prefer it to how Samurai 8 started, at least. 

One Piece 955: a build-up chapter, but some great moments with Zoro. I’m interested to see how this develops!

Dr. Stone 121: great chapter! Kohaku’s belief in Senku goes deeper than that, there were some dramatic scenes from Ginro but also he got to be a little heroic – or at least stoic – and we see that the petrification is technology. So probably nanomachines indeed. Lots of action but also great character and plot progression.  

Haikyuu!! 365: Very interesting chapter, dealing with exhaustion in a meaningful way. Poor Hinata – but the speech he was given was great. This felt oddly grounded, even though it’s actually melodramatic when you take a step back. Well-executed, but I hope this doesn’t mean the team is eliminated offscreen and we have to wait for next year.

Chainsawman 38: As usual, this is subversive in all the right ways. The wholesome shining faces as they take part in their ‘tournament’…our antiheroes are very strange, very funny guys. I always enjoy reading this, even if I wouldn’t be devastated if I heard it got cancelled.

The Promised Neverland 150: of course, the big bad can’t be anything but overpowered. But is she the big bad? That’s more likely to be Norman, of course. It will be interesting to see how Faust – I mean Zazie – fares here.

Samurai 8 18: yikes. This chapter actually wasn’t too bad, once I realized how comedic it was meant to be. The enemies are presumably gonna become allies. But to jump into a tournament arc already?! I’m not sure this has even built up the good will to even count as jumping the shark…

One Punch Man 116: back into original territory with another departure from the manga. Pretty fun, though – nice to see the power of the top brass after following Saitama for a while. I wanted so much more though…

Haikyuu!! 364: Aww, Hinata! He did so well and now he’s all spent. I hope we don’t follow him to wake up after he’s gone. But this makes it so much more obvious that Karasuno win this, so that Hinata has one more rise to glory.

Chainsawman 37: this still seems like something out of the 80s UK comics scene or something, like it would go neatly next to Judge Dredd. Very gory! But I did like Denji’s little deception.

Dr. Stone 120: Yay, a Ginro chapter! Or Ginny, rather. He’s such an excellent trap. I’d seen speculation that Soyuz would be the son of the great leader, and it seems something like that is coming, but there are still plenty of question marks here. Lots of fun, almost making up for no One Piece this week.  

The Promised Neverland 149: I did get on board with Gillan last time, but his henchmen? Not so interesting. Sometimes the suicide bomb cliché is moving and seems clever but here it just seems a bit brainless. Oh well. This is only a sideshow after all.

Samurai 8 17: Well, it was fun seeing Acala / Fudo-Myou-ou after reading about him for my last video. But otherwise this chapter was a dud. Too much dull explanation of made-up magic systems. The weird duo with an incredibly forgetful guy are kind of fun but I can’t say I care about them, and the jumping about of where characters were and what they were doing was very disorienting and unimpressive.

One Punch Man 115: so much fun. A little extra Flash and Saitama action to match with recent Webcomic events, and also some of the more amusing moments between them from the comic. I just wish OPM came out more regularly!

One Piece 953: aww, a cute Hachiko-ish story, only with a fox who has been transforming into a pretty funny-looking guy. All the pieces come together quite well, and Zoro might just get an interesting sword change. The plot has thickened, and now I’m much more interested in this side of the story. Good stuff!

Haikyuu!! 362: Ehhh don’t settle for ‘strongest decoy’, kiddo. This chapter was a great example of how the art in Haikyuu!! Usually looks…scrappy, but then occasionally they just look so good. Nice job, Hinata! And the rest of you too!

Dr. Stone 118: this was a fun twist to this little rescue operation. And so super manly, too!

Samurai 8 15: After a decent chapter, this follow-up relied on the good faith established there and didn’t do much with it. An infodump that made me go back to really not caring. Oh well!

 One Piece 952: the swordsmen clashing is pretty satisfying. But did Zoro get his sword back? And will this thief be able to arm the whole rebellion? We’ll see. I like how this arc is picking up momentum, though. Not sure where the Yonkou clash will go, though. I’ll be disappointed if Big Mom is taken out just to show how strong Kaido is.

Haikyuu!! 361: I knew we were due a Hinata chapter. It wasn’t anything we haven’t already seen – yes, he’s very small for a spiker, and he’s amazing, and especially there was no particular contrast with the other small spiker of the match, but it was still fun to see him shine.

Dr. Stone 117: another problem solved briskly. But I’m interested in whether this plan to snatch the petrification device will work, will backfire or will simply lead them to realize there’s something much more distant they need to get. It was also fun that MatPat did a theory on this series.

Chainsawman 34: Fun introduction of some new characters, though none as interesting as the ones we already know. Don’t suppose many of them will last long but I’m interested to see their antics.

The Promised Neverland 146: Huh, I was expecting that there would be a whole lot more preamble before we got to this invasion, but it’s fun that we’ve got there already. But it’s going to be hard to tell who’s who with all these monsters.

Samurai 8 14: surprisingly, this sad moment was done well, even if it wasn’t built up to adequately at all. The brothers plot is totally out of nowhere and doesn’t seem like it was properly planned-out either. This all has an unpleasant feeling of winging-it and not knowing what’s going on – but maybe it will head in a good direction now. Maybe. 

Shingeki no Kyojin 120: This is quite remarkable. Yes, it’s gone off into the weird existential internal land of memories and metaphysical reality-bending and ill-defined power that marks the point where many manga and anime go off the rails and lose most of the audience, but here it was done extremely well. First, Eren gets played, his true intentions exposed. But then everything is turned around on Zeke. I hope the anime adaptation gets this far, though I’m not at all certain it will despite how successful the series is. 

Boruto 36: I hate how weak Naruto seems to be. Sure, they say he’s been made soft by peace, but he is meant to be one of the most powerful beings in this universe, so just being hit by simple attacks all the time is pretty lame.

One Punch Man (manga) 114: a couple of the more bizarre and unpleasant cadre members here, but it’s fun to see them in action and given some extra details here and there.

Chainsawman 33: I think there’s no plan to this manga at all. A visit to a yakuza boss who made an interesting point about yakuza protecting Japan from worse foreign gangsters, thankfully undercut by being confronted with what a shitty excuse that is to be a criminal, and then the beginning of a large-scale assault. Very freewheeling.

The Promised Neverland 145: well, the pace just increased dramatically. Including everyone turning against Norman. I feel like this genius leader should have been able to keep them on his side somewhat better. And him now having tuberculosis or whatever tragic illness is a bit too far on the cheesy side for my liking.

Samurai 8 13: the pacing of so many other Jump series seems to be picking up, but this one is just all over the place. The battle ended in a flash, now we have seven clones of the main character (Kishimoto does love clones, which people like to say is down to him being a twin) and no clear focus for the storyline. I still find this to be a mess.

One Piece 951: lots of great moments in this chapter. I really liked Wano’s style of wanted poster, which Oda clearly had a lot of fun with. Robin pretending to be haunted was quite amazing. And then a clash of the most powerful beings in this long-running manga’s universe. All pretty great stuff. And the frontispiece made me want to see Buggy too!

Haikyuu!! 360: Hrmm, a chapter was necessary, really, to show the sheer exhaustion of this game, but that doesn’t make it that fun. Something needs to happen to liven up the tail end of this match.

Dr. Stone 116: this recovery was pretty fun. Balancing the full-on fantasy with hard science was a good plan, too. 

Mourning Bride 01-02: I picked this up because of Chrno Crusade and the cute youngest son, but I took an instant dislike to all the characters. Including the youngest son. But the premise is intriguing and the art is pleasant so I’ll probably continue with this.

Chainsawman 32: Aw, I hoped we’d get more from the training. Well, we still might. I know these bad guys are extremely formidable but I don’t have much interest in them just yet.

One Piece 950: a bit of a setting-up chapter this time, but it had some nice sentiments and hints at some more backstory for Zoro coming up.

Dr. Stone 115: This was a great chapter, just what Dr. Stone needs amidst all the zaniness – a bit of heart and soul with a father’s dedication and self-sacrifice. And hopefully this will propel the story forward pretty fast.

Haikyuu!! 359: ehh, I like how this match is being paced and it’s very compelling but I don’t like Hinata having a rival short guy who can do everything he can do and more. I get that it’s introducing a competitor to make Hinata grow more but it just makes it seem like short genius spikers aren’t as rare or remarkable as Hinata’s whole story led us to be inspired by. If little giants aren’t such an anomaly, that takes something away from Hinata’s arc.

One Punch Man manga 113: Nice to see two more big baddies from this arc. Pretty close to the webcomic, but satisfying nonetheless. Really looking forward to when it all comes to a head on the surface.

The Promised Neverland 144: Sung-Joo really is formidable. And would make such a good ally it seems Norman’s plan was very poorly thought-through. We need to know what Emma promised, too. But things are moving at a very fast pace and it feels like the whole manga could wrap up pretty soon. We’ll see. Interesting, fast-paced developments, though.

Samurai 8 12: This still feels too artificial. I’d be very very surprised if this has long-term consequences, so…it’s hard to care. That’s the big problem with this title, beginning to now. Kishimoto is not making me care. 

One Piece 949: wasn’t too convinced by Luffy giving a speech while facing the pain head-on. Gon did that many years ago a lot more convincingly. But when he foils the bad guys’ plan and looks very cool doing it, it made the chapter work.

One Piece ‘covers’ 1 – Boichi: This is great! The Dr. Stone artist takes on a classic old chapter of One Piece, from back when Oda’s art was…less impressive than it is now. Boichi is great at dynamic action scenes and overreactions and both were in evidence here. It’s really fun seeing this redrawing, not so different from what we get with the One Punch Man manga, and I’m very interesting to see who else does this. Man, I’d like to see Obata Takeshi try his hand.

Haikyuu 358: This felt like a meaty chapter, which is great for a transition between sets. We got more insight into the strengths of the opponent, fun character moments and some straightforward love of the game.

Chainsawman 31: the training is kinda fun but where’s it gonna go? Wonder what terms the ‘future devil’ will impose too.

Dr. Stone 114: haha, Ginro had another good moment this chapter. He should get more and more chances to shine in his own special way. And the science was actually good this chapter…even if just for making plaster expand.

The Promised Neverland 143: a really satisfying chapter for the first time in a while. We don't know what Emma has to sacrifice but we know it's very meaningful to her, and then Don and Gilda's story actually got really meaty, with double-crosses upon double-crosses and the guys we really sympathize with in this situation - even though everyone can be called a good guy in a sense - have the upper hand in a visually pleasing scene. Classic shounen, which this series in general is successful at transcending, but when it dips back into it for some action scenes, it can make for some great moments. 

Samurai 8 11: Kishimoto continues to just barely keep me engaged enough to keep reading. I still feel as though what we're seeing here was meant to be held in reserve for big twists later and the series not getting a great reception encouraged Kishimoto to show it now, but at least it made for some exciting action. And it's something quite peculiar to visual storytelling like manga that two close-up shots of our young hero and heroine can make me more sympathetic to them without any dialogue. 

Shingeki no Kyojin 119: having just caught up with the manga, at the very least I can say it still has the power to surprise me. I didn’t expect that cliffhanger, though I don’t think it will derail our main character’s plot. And honestly I expected these kids to tragically fail at everything they had hoped for – but it’s not going down quite like that.

Haikyuu! 357: ohhhh that Tsukki! Lol! What a great way to close out the set, and what a classic face. I fear this may come back to haunt him, though.

Dr. Stone 113: this was fun, figuring out what they meant from a message in symbols. It was obvious what it was as soon as we got ‘Pura’, though. Not that I got the ‘atta’ at the end. Ginro was funny here with his flashback too.

Chainsawman 30: I feel like this series is back on track. I like this for training a lot more than most shounen’s long arcs about mastering a secret technique or whatever. I’m expecting this attempt to be smart will be hilarious, too – and simply having that expectation means this manga is doing good things with its characterisation.

One Punch Man (manga) 112: as expected, Homeless Emperor looks pretty awesome. The momentum should build from here, now the most formidable enemies of the arc are getting introduced.

The Promised Neverland 142: the far-past flashback was not very interesting. I’m glad it’s over. But now I’m interested to see what the cost of this demand will be.  

Samurai 8 10: I was totally bored for the bulk of the chapter, and I hate introducing a supposedly super-duper strong guy only to be fodder moments later just to ineffectively hype up your bad guy. But throwing all the characters together with this new enemy and already showing the father’s mystery, which was until now a hidden hand – that makes this more interesting all of a sudden.

One Piece 948: Nice to see this particular formation come together. And it’s well overdue for Luffy to learn to use his haki properly. This should be the last substantial power-up before the manga’s final battles. I hope!

Haikyuu! 356: Good little run of points for Karasuno. Kinda wanted them to blast through to their inevitable set win, but I guess it makes more sense to draw it out a bit.

Dr. Stone 112: Getting into this title a bit more again now. It’s fun having the two parallel stories. And cross-dressing Ginro doesn’t hurt, joke character though he may be!

Chainsawman 29: Okay, this was starting to lose me but I enjoyed this chapter. Denji actually questioning whether he’s heartless was a good idea to keep us interested in him, and how they answered the three questions was fantastic.

Samurai 8 09: I still don’t care, either about Hachimaru the randomly cocky former home hostage or about random new stammering princess. Skipping over their potential bonding in a few panels was also a terrible idea.

The Promised Neverland 141: This flashback makes sense but it badly needs some more realistic touches. Some irreverence or undercutting of the pompous tone.

One Punch Man (manga) 111: yay for an expanded role for Child Emperor. He looked so cute when he heard from Zombieman too. And we've finally reached the most quirky villain of the arc getting involved. Should get more and more fun from here!

One Piece 947: whirlwind chapter. I'm not sure what's going on with Big Mom now, if this was a genuine knockout/her rouse to get to Kaido/exhaustion catching up, but I didn't like her basically being ushered offstage, even if it puts Luffy in a strong position.

Haikyuu! 355: I don't like this imitation shrimp! The real shrimp is much cuter. Hinata's shocked face was cute and it looks like he'll pull off something amazing next chapter. Or it could get undermined but that seems unlikely with this set-up.

Chainsawman 28: I kind of lost track of which was the good girl and which was the bad girl (despite being clearly delineated by hair colour. Probably I could have concentrated harder but Chainsawman has lost me a bit. Collapsing all the main characters into one place makes sense plotwise but seems too contrived.

The Promised Neverland 140: Well, at least the art was beautiful here. But I’m sick of the pseudoscience bullshit in what was once a very promising, cerebral manga. Hopefully we get out of this arc soon.

Dr. Stone 111: Nice colour chapters to celebrate the anime. Haven’t felt much of an urge to watch it, or the Promised Neverland adaptation – the manga will do nicely for now. Maybe in a few years when it’s nostalgic I’ll watch. But in this chapter, we got a few good laughs, and I’m all for cross-dressing Ginro, haha. I would at least like to see him animated!