One Piece 979: Another set-up chapter, not the most exciting or amusing but I’m still grateful we’re out of the long flashback sequence. There were some laughs seeing Chopper get excited about being able to command a tank and how well the more sensible members of the Mugiwara crew know the less sensible ones. I’m interested in Kaido’s big announcement and whether his son is someone we already know well, but more interested in the chaos Luffy is bound to cause here.

Agravity Boys 19: I still read this title “A-gravity Boys” but I suppose I should say it more like how the katakana suggests. Anyway, I’m pretty sure I’d tune in for Chris’ streams. And it’s good to know that in a far-off world many many years from now the streaming will be very much Nico Nico Douga-style. He’s pretty much exactly the kind of character I like and his first stream was adorable. I may not care too much for maid outfits – that’s a pretty Japanese thing I’d say – but I almost want a whole series about Chris’ misadventures as a galactic livestreamer. I guess last week’s new character needs to get involved here, though. It’s pretty fun that this kind of manga is in Jump. Hope it’s popular and has a long, long run.

Yotsubato! 108-9: Yanda and Yotsuba’s frenemy dynamic is definitely the best thing about this manga. And there’s a lot that’s good about this manga, which is still consistently the sweetest and most adorable thing around. Yotsuba’s methods to persuade others were adorable. Generally I need to check more often if there’s new chapters of this wonderful series.

Bone Collection 1: I’ve been trying all the new Jump manga out lately, which has been great in the cases of Agravity Boys (or ‘Aggravity’ as I should probably pronounce it) and Moriking, but disappointing in the case of Majou no Moribito. Bone Collection … I’m not sure about. Basically, monsters attack and high-school exorcists fight them. One hapless exorcist befriends a super-powerful one and can use her powers to be super-strong. My first impressions were bad - generic humour about boobs does nothing for me, and the main character has a very generic look apart from weird lower eyelashes. The gag manga tendencies didn’t sit well, but the serious side of it mostly came over as a poor version of Kekkaishi. But towards the end, as Kazami showed he’s used to defying social norms and has won over a very powerful yokai, I started to be won over a little. I’ll keep reading for a while but I might drop this. It’s certainly not bad like Samurai 8 was bad. 

Moriking 3: Let’s be honest, at least in Tokyo, nobody would look twice at someone who looked like they had a big beetle horn coming out of their hat. They’d barely look twice when he started flying. Still, I’m continuing to very much enjoy this gag manga, and once again it’s Shoko playing the straightman role that really makes this work. A fun read every week so far. Again, hope this continues a good long time.

Chainsawman 68: Guess I was flat-out wrong last time. Denji did have a crisis of conscience and doesn’t want to be a murderer. Once again, the art, fluidity and sheer macabre imagination on display here is very impressive even if for me this arc lacks focus somewhat. Chainsawman always goes at a breakneck pace, though, so I’m sure it will wrap up soon.

Haikyuu!! 392: Heyyy, a Bokuto chapter. Absolutely the best character from this manga, after Hinata. And I’m still not on board with this post-timeskip non-cute Hinata. I thought perhaps we’d go into more depth on his tendency to get tilted, but it seems he conquered that in the timeskip and is now just an outright powerhouse – while charismatic as ever.

Dr. Stone 149: As I thought last time, we’ll be seeing some human life here in the post-apocalyptic US. Most of the chapter built up to that revelation, and there was a remarkable show of hostility. But where will this arc go from here? I somehow doubt it will just be a good vs evil showdown. The last arc was a bit too much of that. We’ll see.

Bone Collection 2: I still really don’t like the main character’s design, with those weird eyelashes. But this chapter was very funny. The ecchi stuff I can take or leave but the comic timing of the Gashadokuro’s reaction to an historical image made me laugh out loud. And cutting straight from silly fight to family meeting made me chuckle too. And what an interesting way for the haughty big brother to be humbled, too. Last time, I felt like Bone Collection was a mediocre action manga with some awkward gags, but it might just become a very funny gag manga with some action scenes. I hope so.

Majou no Moribito 13: a bit of the ole talk-talk-no-jutsu. It was quite heartfelt, so even if this was yet another super-generic chapter, I didn’t hate it. I imagine having this witch actually come with the main cast will be too complicated, so she’s going to end up dying to save either our main character or, more likely, this stickler-for-the-rules guardian. Hopefully I’ll be surprised, but given the precedent set, I don’t feel it’s that likely.

The Promised Neverland 176: Nice frontispiece this week, after the break last time. I almost wish the memes about Phil being the ultimate evil of this title came true. For me, this was a bit overly mawkish and YnN has been a bit off the rails since roughly when Emma had to go and make the new promise. This almost felt like it was going to be the very last chapter, but a bit of somewhat artificial tension got added, and Mama gets to make a grand gesture. I really can’t tell if this wildly successful series is about to just wrap up or if there’s another arc to come. There’re still a lot of unanswered questions but for a series that started out so beautifully-paced and intriguing, it really does feel haphazard to me, jerking between clumsy action scenes and bathos without really giving me the impression of a solid plan. We’ll see where it goes. But it seems likely the end is nigh. If this and Kimetsu no Yaiba both end soon, there’ll be a bit of a gap in Jump for serious drama series, as most of what’s started lately has been comedy. And, I mean, Majou no Moribito just ain’t gonna cut it.  

D. Gray-Man 236: Poor Allen. He was a good boy. And our Allen attempting to understand Mana’s emotional state was oddly fascinating to read. And it looks like we’ll finally learn where Cross Marian comes into this picture. I certainly hope Hoshino-sensei gets to tell her story in full. It’s clear a lot of this was planned a very long time ago. D.Gray-Man may have a fraction of the audience it used to have when it was in Jump, as opposed to one of the various SQ magazines, but if anything it’s more interesting to me now than it ever used to be, and is just as polished and well-drawn as ever.