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.