One Piece 978: of course we need the one-on-one opponents for this arc lined up. They don’t seem that interesting but they haven’t had much time to develop, of course! Some new outfits (good for selling figures) and a lovely setting. So Japanese-themed that it almost seems like what a foreigner would dream up, cramming everything in!

Agravity Boys 18: I really love Agravity Boys. Nothing’s made me laugh so much in ages. Some nice art this chapter too, with the alien architecture. I laughed affectionately at the way they didn’t find Chris pretending to be a girl funny at all, and loudly when Baba said the vase he was conned into buying fitted the décor of his room. A good new comedy of errors has been set up with this mistaken identity business, and while I may not think giant boobies make for a good design, I’m keen!

Moriking 2: This might make me laugh even more. And now the drama has been set up – assassins and over-dramatic battles are sure to follow. The father made me chuckle quite a bit, and the situation is just so gloriously absurd.

Haikyuu!! 391: Kinda nice to see Miya get encouragement from his twin and, indirectly, old captain. And there was some nice dynamic art this chapter. But I can’t get used to him being on Hinata’s side, and pinging the set back to his serve again was confusing – but maybe that’s just some quirk of volleyball I don’t understand.

Chainsawman 67: some incredible art in this chapter. This series is so underrated. Some very powerful beings are fighting right now and I wonder how much bigger this title can get. I don’t imagine Denji will have a morality crisis here.

Dr. Stone 148: Moving the plot on briskly as ever! I wonder if any living humans will be encountered on this excursion. And I guess the break last week means lots of the mangaka had time to produce some really nice art. The combat team are pretty cool – and was that Ginro, getting to look awesome just for a moment?

Majo no Moribito 12: I’m kinda irked that this manga, of all manga, is the one where there’s a character trope I’m using myself in my book. But at least this set-up is on the interesting side now that the heroes want to win these new adversaries over rather than just defeating them. Probably the best chapter so far – but this is still a very mediocre manga.

Kuroshitsuji 162: Toboso is uniquely good at almost getting British high culture right while missing just slightly. That food looks incredible and everything is pretty accurate but having a chicken salad on the side of oxtail stew, placed up above the wine glass? Unheard-of, haha. Even with a master dipping his bread in his stew! Despite myself, I became invested in this flashback of the ‘Owl’ and take Mei-Lin rather more seriously now. Plus as always, the art is just beautiful. Even if I didn’t feel the need to track down the manga for a couple of months, leading me straight to …

Kuroshisuji 163: again, the details, haha. Commendable to know tea could be sourced from Harrod’s in the late 1880s. But I seriously doubt a good member of an aristocrat’s staff would mention the place the tea was bought. But what proportion of this Japanese manga’s audience would quibble over that? And yay, Finnian showed up, my favourite character! He’s such a ray of sunshine, even when he’s … disturbingly … psychopathic … Anyway, I look forward to more with him included. I’m still just a little sad we’re unlikely to get this kind of flashback telling his complete story, though.

Shingeki no Kyojin 128: fantastic chapter, which I’m surprised by. I thought stalling out with a complicated raid on a building after everything that’s happened was very underwhelming. But they did it in a way very close to how I was thinking would be a good strategy (even if it failed) and then there were some really emotionally heavy moments at the end as our supposed good guys have to accept that if they’re going to change this situation they have to murder their former friends and comrades. Pretty heavy stuff, mixed up with some impressive action. SnK has become a step above the rest.

D.Gray-Man 235: Man, it’s been a long time since I read the last chapter. Where were we? I only remember the nice cover art last time. Oh yes, we found out the world the Noah remember is probably our one, which is a bit jarring for me. And this one was quite affecting. Poor Allen. The original Allen, I mean. This is some tragic backstory and it’s always been one of the strangest quirks of this quirky series to set so much of the foundational story in a circus, but I’m on bored for it. I guess Allen gets his name next chapter – which will be out in a few days.