One Piece 673 was a bit of a slow chapter compared with many recent ones – not a lot happened, and too much space was given over to that silly slime that’s still the most annoying part of this arc. There was a small laugh with Usopp forgetting he had Nami with him rather than Sanji, and the throwaway ‘Yarisugi’ character was amusing, but the joke with a hamburger sounded too much like it was just covering up a drawing error to be funny (though the amount of drafts manga gets makes that very unlikely). I’m glad we’ve had an interesting twist at the end with who’s involved, though!

Naruto 592 comes with an intriguing implication at its end – which I’m not sure can be pulled off the way it’s hinted it will. I had almost forgotten Tobi was involved, too…and he’s battling the main character as well! It was a short, mostly throwaway chapter, but it was actually an interesting development, and thus the best Naruto chapter in some weeks. 

D.Gray-Man 213-214. It seems like a very long time since I last read D.Gray, and I suppose that since there was a month’s break, it has been a quarter of a year. It’s finally picking up, though – and I’m keen to know what’ll happen to Allen. 

One Piece 672 saw the arc actually pick up, and was the first really enjoyable chapter in a while. A new greater antagonist was introduced with law (what’s Chopper up to?), Luffy’s in a position he hasn’t been in since the time skip and more importantly, the Zoro/Sanji/Brook story really got more interesting with the samurai – who has the look of a new crew member to him, though possibly there isn’t room for him as well as Zoro.

Naruto 591 was heading towards being another poor chapter, with the sentimental part with Dan, redeemed only in part by some good art. But the final twist at least mitigates how utterly terrible what seemed to be the resolution to this arc was. It’s still very weak, mind you – just slightly less abhorrent. 

Naruto 590: a fairly nice, if uninformative scene between the two brothers can’t make up for how annoyingly simple it was to make the entire war collapse. I really expected better from this arc – though I’m not sure why. 

One Piece 671 was a much better chapter than the last few, though I’m still not impressed by this big poison glob. It’s clear Master is only the mid-boss of the piece, though proving more formidable than it at first seemed, but who is the figure in the cliffhanger? I wanna know – but sadly, no new One Piece next week. 

One Piece 670 was again a bit inconsequential, without any great moments. While this silly blob slime looks unlikely to make for a very interesting plot diversion, Luffy’s reaction to Smoker and his typical headstrong action at the end were fun.

Naruto 589, if it really does herald the end of an entire war with a few hand seals, was the crappest chapter ever. Better be a twist next time. And mention the mountain-cutting monster that makes Dragonball Z look sensible? Bad, bad shounen.  

Soul Eater 98: awww, where on earth is Crona? I’m not so interested in the other characters. The humour was also pretty awkward in this chapter – especially when it came to Kim fanservice. That said, the show trial was funny. More Crona soon plz!