Naruto 694 could really have been one page. Sure, Sasuke is a maniac now who wants to wipe the slate clean to begin a better world, like most other insane anime bad guys. Get on with it, will ya? Wonder if he’s rushing for a nice even end at 700 chapters?

One Piece 762: setting up the story of the flashback, this chapter wasn’t too interesting until its dramatic ending. There’s some fun in seeing the younger versions of the current crop of bad guys, though. 

Naruto 693: still ridiculously abrupt, this final showdown gets its stage set...with a cliffhanger that promises lots of talking. Oh boy. How exciting. And it’s pretty bad that I actually laughed a little when I thought Sakura had died. 

One Piece 761: a simple chapter, with an interesting clumsy character introduced in flashback – unless it’s another familiar character in another form! Looks like we’ll have quite a bit of flashback to come...but next week’s a hiatus. 

One Piece 760 was a good one – another of Oda’s chapters where characters simply put their trust in others and bow out of the main story, which while a convenience seems so powerful as a gesture. And of course Doflamingo isn’t so easy to take down. He’s started talking about his past – not a surprising one – so the real battle is going to be paused a little. 

Naruto 692: that ridiculous face/heel turn! Though it was always going to be the climax of the manga, I thought the recent arc meant he was going to sidestep it altogether. Instead, Kishimoto has set up the final fight in the most abrupt and stupid way. Surprise! Even though I had a million opportunities to further this agenda in the last fight I’ll do it now instead! And it didn’t happen until after Kishimoto got in more tsundere-Kyuubi lines, for even more demerits. 

One Piece 759: not a lot happened, and obviously this won’t be enough to beat Doflamingo, but it was deeply satisfying to watch it happen. Poor Bellamy, though.

Naruto 691: Kurama the awesome nine-tailed fox is being all tsundere again. Lame. Then there was some mawkish speech saying goodbye to zombies that didn’t move me in the least.

Genshiken 103: oh, Sasahara’s little sister. You femme fatale, you. This was really never going to have ended any other way – it’s oddly opposite from the West’s usual depiction of female purity...indeed, of most manga’s...but one of the main things prized in a book about otaku for otaku is male purity. How being a virgin is both an embarrassment yet a mark of pride. It’ll be interesting how the title’s singular take on transsexuality will develop next time.