Kuroshitsuji 161: I’m glad this flashback is over, though I did want Finnie to do more. I guess it’s interesting that he seemed to actually be aware of the full extent of the situation before being told not to pursue. Otherwise everything went as expected. I’m glad Toboso is leaning into the awareness that the mansion was ridiculously understaffed, too.

Boruto 43: weird guy became big useless blob guy, Naruto is still not doing anything worthy of his past exploits, and now Boruto gets some power-up mode where he’s controlled by someone else.

Guardian of the Witch 1-4: I’ve been kinda spoilt by good manga starting one after the other in Jump, so I tried this one too – but it’s about as mediocre as you get. Very generic story, pretty but soulless art, uninteresting characters and very stiff action scenes. I’ll probably keep reading as I’m reading almost everything in Jump just now, but I’m not at all convinced this will get good any time soon…

One Punch Man (manga) 127: King is absolutely one of the most enjoyable characters to watch in anything I read – equal to Buggy, who basically enjoys the same superpower of luck and everyone around him misunderstanding what he does. I like how Psychos’ confrontation with Tatsumaki is being extended, even if I want to get to the climax of the arc pretty soon. Saitama didn’t do much in this chapter but it was highly enjoyable nonetheless.

One Piece 972: I … don’t really know what’s going on with the guest artist for the frontispiece, but I kinda like it. Especially Chopper! The flashback is finally over, and there was just enough of the moving signature Oda stuff to keep it fascinating all the way through. The little mini flashbacks within flashbacks of each loyal soldier remembering his introduction to Oden was sweet. But I really am looking forward to getting back to the present day.

Agravity Boys 10: I almost feel like the series is prematurely jumping the shark by introducing new characters already, but seeing guys react to Chris is always funny. I don’t know if this is about to get very dubious and homophobic but so far I’m still very amused.

Chainsawman 59: again, pushing what should really be in Jump. But I’m interested in how they’ll deal with these latest attacks. And how important the ‘immortal’ guy will be going forward.

Dr. Stone 140:  Ohhh the return of an interesting character next time – and essentially the whole objective of this fetch quest. I don’t know if this rocket to the moon is feasible but perhaps there’s another way to surprise us with something similar, like the car and drone and so on. Either way, still enjoying this ride. Not sure they can’t just ignore the voice from space, though. Doesn’t seem like it really and truly needs to be addressed, since they only hear it when they tune in.

One Piece 971: Yeah, it was fairly obvious that he was doing this to save others. Oden went in the soup – silly pun name! This was classic shounen jump stoicism and self-sacrifice, which is nice, but I don’t exactly feel connected enough to this formulaic flashback character to care overly.

Dr. Stone 139: Haha, where else would they go? The mysteries aren’t solved at all but Ginro had some more fun moments and we’re already off to the next step in the grand adventure.

Chainsawman 58: So many crazy assassins on their way. They’re all interesting in their way. I want to get back to the main gang ASAP though.

Haikyuu!! 383: well, I’m glad there’s at least a true world-class pro that actually makes these guys realize they’re not the best in the world … but I still feel like this is a bit crazy high a level for these guys. And miss them being kids.  

AGravity Boys 1-9: Decided to try this new title while it was in its first 10 chapters, and loved it. It’s like Red Dwarf but with anime boys. The last four humans on a far-off planet are young teenage astronauts who are at once elites and absolute idiots. There’s the classic leader type, the intellectual, the gentle giant and then the girlish pretty boy. I’m a sucker for androgyny and it was not only present here but a major plot point of chapter one. I love the comedy style here, with straightman comments to every stupid thing they say. Perhaps a tad too much potty humour, though.

The Promised Neverland 166-7: Didn’t feel enough excitement to watch this last time. And this kind of exemplified why. I don’t feel any tension with this lazy climax. How could they possibly rely on hacking into the remote control of the security system as the cornerstone of their strategy? I feel like this title used to be stronger than this.

Samurai 8 37-8: Likewise, didn’t read this until today when there were two chapters available. That said, I quite like jealous Hachimaru, bless him. Still don’t care about the overall story much at all.

Dr. Stone 138: one arc ends and we’re quickly and intriguingly into the next. It will be interesting to see how this mystery unravels, and if Senku looks into the science of the petrification device…

Chainsawman 57: Haha, typically brief way to deal with this complicated threat. I didn’t actually get what was going on with the car at first and needed to reread the page, but that’s probably just me. And Power is just so funny. I can’t remember the name of the smiling guy at the end, but he has a great aura to him…

One Punch Man (manga) 127: Whole lot of big bulging muscles this chapter. Murata obviously had fun drawing it, haha. I like how this was expanded and I’m wondering what Darkshine’s flashback will be like. This arc is also just about to really get crazy and I can’t wait for the big climax. Still probably several years before we’re finished, though – sad to say! 

One Punch Man (webcomic) 121: I thought Saitama would just sort everything out but it looks like Amai Mask gets the spotlight for a while. I like that. We’ll see how this develops – Saitama could come back to let him keep his secret yet.

Death Note special one-shot: I’d rather a return of Hikaru no Go, but this is good too! I like how they tried to do something interesting with leverage but without needing to kill. Funny to see Obata’s renditions of world leaders, too. I’d like to see the wider political ramifications of this, and how just injecting an absurd amount of money into an economy prooobably would end in disaster rather than a boom. Nice to dip back into this world nonetheless.  

One Piece 970: so it was through underhanded tactics that Oden was defeated. Can’t say I felt much for this chapter. Looking forward to the story getting back on track. Must be weird for the little kids just getting old enough to start reading Jump to see this as their frame of reference for what One Piece is like. Of course they can read tankobon, but still… Break next week too.

Haikyuu! 382: I do like to see these powerhouses in action, but my favourite is seeing Hinata and Bokuto teamed up and being oddly similar in so many ways. Wonder how Hinata will serve next week. I expect a service ace!

Dr. Stone 137: Yes! After all this time, the device is in the hands of the heroes. Will they reverse-engineer it? What secrets will it yield? Where does Dr. Stone go from here? I’m intrigued to find out…

Chainsawman 56: A relatively normal chapter this time, though the ending was as quirky as ever. Lots of danger for our antiheroes and as brisk a pace as ever. The soft serve ice cream section was a tad suggestive for Jump, though…

Samurai 8 36: wow, it’s like Kishimoto is trying to make this emotionless and uninteresting. He literally made this manga as much like a clichéd video game as he could with necessary stats to do moves and stamina meters. At least it looks like some interesting action is incoming…