HunterxHunter 341: Yaaay, HxH is back at last! And I hope for a long time. This chapter was all exposition, with a bit of a surprise at the end, so a bit dry, but I’m interested by where this expedition into the new world will take us.

One Piece 749: nooo, no One Piece for the next two weeks, while Oda has his tonsils removed. At such an exciting point too! Loved this chapter, with all the powerful moves and the silly fanboyism for Usopp.

Naruto 678: Though there wasn’t much happening here and the new bad guy feels like a cop-out from a situation the goodies can’t win in, I liked this. The wish-fulfilment scenes were cute, especially Gaara’s. 

One Piece 748 did it again – a simple joke, that everyone wants to ally with Luffy and be the one to kill Doflamingo, was taken to absurd and brilliant lengths and culminates in the assembly of an amazing, weird, squabbling army.

Naruto 677: while this wasn’t as dramatic as I had hoped, I am pleasantly surprised that the devious plan came to fruition at all – though of course with key players protected so that they can fight back. 

One Piece 746 was an awesome chapter. Even though nothing much really happened, it had that mix of frantic pacing, high emotions and humour that Oda does so well. The parts with Usopp were hilarious, and the different factions now established are interesting.

Naruto 675 had a silly ‘mwahaha, all along I was behind everything’ moment, but it was still quite interesting overall. Odd pacing with the sudden flashbacks and a feeling of stalling overall, but nothing to make me cringe this time. 

One Piece 747, while not moving things on very much, had a joke so simple and so effective it was a marvel. It’s so ordinary, something as simple as a voice really, really not matching an appearance, but it’s so very funny.

Naruto 676: while most of this chapter was just rocks flying about and big stupid monsters made of inner energy, at least the bad guy has actually attained his goal – which might mean things actually get interesting now. 

One Piece 745: for the first time, really, since the time skip, we get the sense that the opponents the Straw Hats now face are absurdly powerful. The arc has nicely condensed now - so the pace ought to pick up hugely. 

Naruto 674: Well, I'm glad that the bad guy is finally seeming formidable and actually able to exploit weak allies. The battles are still a bit flat in Naruto these days, but this was a decent combat chapter for the first time in a long while.

One Piece 744: I may not have liked how Usopp's little coup went, but the fallout from it is utterly brilliant. He's become a messianic figure now! There was also the big reveal of who the second Lucy is - but it's been pretty obvious for a while, now. 

Naruto 672-673: eh, Gai got to look cool, with some Mortal Kombat x-ray effects included, but ultimately his little aside served no purpose, and now Naruto can use his Jesus-no-Jutsu to stop his suicide attack being a suicide attack anyway. Not excited for this final showdown. 

One Piece 743: Still a bit disappointed it was all accidental, but the fallout of Usopp's action is definitely rewarding. I doubt this is the end of DoFlamingo, though. 

Naruto 671: So the series that started out being about how hard work trumps natural talent ends up falling back on not only power-ups you're born with, but an ages-old destiny. Lame.

One Piece 742: Well...if it turns out that Usopp's moment of triumph was actually unintentional, his face being so scary that it made Sugar faint, rather than it being planned all along, I'll be a bit disappointed, but I'll take it. The flashback was nice, too - but balanced with some of the main story, which is what's important (take note, Kishimoto). 

Naruto 670 was tedious - Kishimoto is trying to justify his telling the same story over and over and over again, I think, through going back to yet another retelling of that story, this time the first time it happened. Wasting half a chapter on the lame joke of talking funny...that was a mistake, too.