Startled Joey Noises

Alternate titles: Connections Week, Fully Loaded Week

Here's a fun little tidbit for you, this is apparently the first time Jump's entire roster has been present all at once in a long time! One Piece, HxH, Kagurabachi and Ruri Dragon have apparently never all run at the same time, at least not without something else taking a break! I suppose technically we're still short Burn the Witch, but who the hell even counts that? I'll believe there's a season 2 when I see it, Kubo!!!

21. Hunter x Hunter ch.415 (-11, Unappreciated): As Kurapika sends out Oito's letter to the mainland, Martial Law is declared

That is not an accurate summary of the chapter cus a lot of little things happened that I didn't understand thanks to the fact that I don't recognize the vast majority of these characters. I don't even feel right ranking this chapter cus of how little I was able to comprehend it, but it's gotta go somewhere, and at least I understood what was happening on the surface level in everything else on the roster this week

20. Nue's Exorcist ch.155 (-3, Unappreciated): Yagyo gets the upperhand against Gakuro and explains that he was once an exorcist himself. Shitotsu and Yagyo's harem burst onto the scene, and Shitotsu instructs Gakuro to take a breather as she dons her Soul Armor

The choreography wasn't half bad, though I think the panel compositions could have been a bit better. Yagyo rushing to save one of his girls when some debris went flying at her was kind of an interesting moment, cus again, I think he's meant to be a parallel to Gakuro's own potential polyamory, they just didn't dwell on it or the fact that he was apparently once human long enough to let it really make an impact

19. Kinato's Magic ch.25 (-4, Neutral): Dua discovers that the princess is actually Linae in disguise. Noise tries to get his rematch with Kinato, but Jien takes over and flings Kinato towards Linae

Called it. The reasoning for the swap isn't terrible, but certainly contrived since we didn't get to meet the princess earlier, so I'm not exactly moved by it Noise has also gotten a lot less interesting now that we can see his face. I thought his design was easy on the eyes at first, but then he started making the same cartoonish expressions as everyone else, so he ends up lacking a lot of the personality that he seemed to have when he was wearing his mask

18. Witch Watch ch.256 (=, Appreciated?): Rose realizes that she never actually had magic, and Roswitha was the real Witch the entire time, so she calls the Inquisitors to execute her. In his grief, Alexandros awakens his own magical powers and slaughters everyone before fleeing to Japan to one day revive Roswitha

Wait, I'm confused...I thought Roswitha was supposed to be the leader of the Warlocks during the Great Magic War and her death came at the end? Dorey's story said she awakened as a Warlock when she was burned at the stake, and she definitely did...*something* big at that moment, but from the looks of it, Shikimi is the one who actually became a Warlock. At the very least, Roswitha definitely didn't do anything to suggest she was "the Greatest Witch Ever Known," she didn't even know she was a Witch until literally that moment! There's no indication that she was the Witch of Thousands, nor is there any attempt to delve into her perspective on things. She barely has any characterization, motivations or dynamics with the rest of the cast, so she ends up being little more than a MacGuffin *and* a bad one at that! With how much she's been built up, I really thought she'd be much more impressive, but we don't even get to hear her actually cursing the people who killed her, she just causes an explosion?? Again, *Shikimi* was the one who bore a grudge, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if he was the one who was actually cursing people. I'm starting to think that "Jura" was actually Shikimi the whole time, and all of his actions during the war were just attributed to Roswitha in service of the ritual to bring her back. That'd be weird and roundabout, and it's probably just so it can turn out like in Castlevania or Sonic Adventure 2 where the dead girl's last words were actually about forgiveness, but it's the only way I can think for this to work All of that said, for as poorly I think this chapter is presenting itself, honestly the art on display *is really good*, especially with how brutal Shikimi's retaliation on the village was - I wasn't expecting to see Rose get *gored through the mouth*, but it was sick as hell. It gets a few points back just for that, but maaan does it waste what might have been a heavy hitter of a backstory if it had just given itself some proper time to breathe

17. Me & Roboco ch.291 (-1, Appreciated): Heartbroken by the loss of Blue Box, Roboco tries to recreate its most iconic moments by mimicking Chinatsu...and failing miserably

The gag got old pretty fast, but it wasn't unfunny, and I rather liked the final punchline at least

16. Animal Signal ch.8 (-9, Appreciated): When a child gets lost during a kindergarten tour of the school grounds, Kokone and Tsubasa try to cheer him up with animal facts...only for Kokone to realize that Tsubasa isn't good at actually talking about animals, so she uses her mindreading to talk in his place

Kokone says "I forgot he's only fun in his head," but I just skimmed the rest of the series, and as far as I can tell, Tsubasa never shows any trouble conveying animal facts to people - he talks to Kokone, the clownfish girl, perpetrators...when was there any indication that he's bad at talking? This chapter was cute, but I'm so taken aback by that bit of character inconsistency that it loses a lot of points

15. Roku's House of Oddities ch.16 (-6, Appreciated): Roku and Johan go to investigate a haunted apartment complex, only to find that a local "spiritualist" has gotten himself possessed by a vengeful spirit

While I'm not particularly excited about the possibility of this series transitioning into combat, Johan's explanation that a Curse's existence can only end in either Exorcism or Salvation does help me feel pretty invested in this development as an explicit showcase of the alternative to the path that Roku has chosen Also is it just me, or did the possessed monk turn into Lieutenant Tsurumi?

14. Class 2-B Hero Destroyerz ch.14 (-1, Appreciated): Valaris comes down with a Demon King Cold, forcing Kumon to wait on her every order...until he also comes down with a cold just as an anti-Valaris faction arrives, and the two order each other to fend off the invaders

Absolutely ludicrous concept that I just know is going to have major repercussions later. The final moment of Mogura looking over Valaris and noting how much she's grown since he first met her adds a nice little bit of tenderness that I'm excited to see develop, but as it stands it's just a bit too vague for me to be moved

13. Drawn to the Fire ch.15 (-2, Appreciated): Kuchikusa is the away team against Eiten, and Hotaru not only manages to fool Keiki, but he also sees the sparks between Keiki and Natsu, allowing him to run interference

I feel like I should really like this chapter - Hotaru immediately proves to be an anti-Keiki, shutting down everything that makes Keiki special as the protagonist, which seems like it would be extremely appealing to me, there's just a weird...vibe to this chapter that I can't shake Maybe it's that really inky shot of Uba messing up Hotaru's play, which for as cool as it was, kind of undercut the threat that Hotaru poses...maybe it's the mini-matchups that all of the players got at the beginning, making it feel like we have that many characters that we're supposed to be keeping track of when we literally only just met this team...or maybe it's the emphasis they put on not having any pride, despite that not really being a thing prior to this? I don't know, maybe I'm just paranoid about this one being close to the axe, but nothing about this chapter felt very comforting in that regard...

12. Cannon Master ch.6 (-9, Appreciated): Rhuga is contrite when he learns that Bharat is his master, Rhaio's rival, and Bharat forgives him and allows him to join the campaign. When arriving in Brijeet, the squad learns that all of the hostages have been released in favor of the capital's Economic Minister and head Regilith researcher

I thought for a moment that Rhuga was going to be Bharat's rival, but no, I guess he's Ur's! Hopefully they'll get to have some interaction quickly, cus as it stands that shift is a smidge awkward. I did expect Bharat to let Rhuga join the mission, though, he got way too much focus to get sidelined so fast Going by the Minister's pointy ears, I think it's safe to say that he's a Demon, but the question is whose side he's on. Is he a Demon working for Sandasius, or is the one we're seeing a Demon simply pretending to be the Minister acting as bait, and the real one is either dead or imprisoned elsewhere? I think the former would be more interesting, but it feels too early to introduce a "good Demon" when we haven't even met an enemy one yet

11. Hal Formula ch.7 (+3, Liked): Miharu manages to make the toughest turn on Oita thanks to the new technique he picked up in training, impressing Kyogoku...but not seeming to impress up-and-coming WF3 driver, Aka Shiromiya, who's also vying for Kyogoku's attention

I'll give Terasaka this, he sure made me care about seeing a car make a turn! The visual of the timer floating across the panel like sound effects, the detail on the car bursting through the corner, it all felt so heavy and dynamic, like I could feel the G-forces forcing me to hold my breath. It was pretty sick! Miharu also had that moment where his life flashed before his eyes, and in that there was someone accusing him of being slow. Given the rest of the chapter, I have to assume that was Aka, who accused Miharu of wasting time in WF4 - this tells me that the question wasn't "why do you drive so slow," but rather "why are you so slow in catching up to me in our careers," which is a really interesting double meaning for a racing rival to ask! I really hope I'm right, cus I like Aka's design a lot and think that this has a lot of potential as a dynamic

10. Ruri Dragon ch.49 (-6, Liked): As Ruri tries to throw herself headlong into fighting the rampaging dragon, Kuro, En reminds her that she isn't fighting alone and shouldn't let herself get tunnel vision. Working together, they form a strategy that finally lets them tranquilize Kuro

Guess Shindou can do a cool fight scene then! Good choreography, teamwork, and a nice finisher with that cute toothy grin from Ruri! I don't necessarily want this to become a battle series, but I think a few of those every now and then would be pretty welcome! Also if this dragon's name is Kuro, black, and Ruri's name effectively means blue (lapis lazuli, plus the Ao in her last name), I'm wondering if all of the dragons will have color names. I hope so, I find that very appealing!

9. Under Doctor ch.26 (-7, Liked): When an explosion hurts several civilians, Haiji and co. sort the victims by severity to prepare them for the EMTs. However, one doctor questions Haiji's assessment and tries to impede him, until Dr. Ishiguro vouches for him

ISHIGURO!!! I genuinely cheered when I saw him, I'm looking forward to seeing how his reappearance pays off chapter 1. Samejima seems like he's going to continue being a problem, though, so I'm just as interested in seeing how he's going to gum up the works

8. Sakamoto Days ch.269 (=, Liked): Japan watches as Uzuki dies, though some can't help but feel the worst is still to come, as Atari's prophecy of Uzuki's beast awakening hasn't yet come to pass. Sure enough, Uzuki survived; with his hair slicked back, he starts fighting using a nearby pen - just like Sakamoto

Once again: CALLED IT! For as cliche as this feels, the atmosphere of the chapter feels appropriately eerie, and I do think that this is the best payoff there could possibly be for Uzuki's habit of adopting split personalities, as it facilitates probably the most important question this series asks: which is better, the Sakamoto of today or the Sakamoto of the past? If I had to guess, we'll see Sakamoto getting back up soon to save Shin and Nagumo, and then he'll find he's either evenly matched or somewhat outclassed by who he used to be until he starts working *with* Shin, proving that even in his prime, Sakamoto would eventually fall as a lone wolf

7. Shinobi Undercover ch.91 (-2, Liked): When the Aoi and Hibari Fan Clubs get into a fight over who Yodaka wants to win the pageant, Hibari notices that Aoi is a bit jealous of her and Yodaka's friendship. Meanwhile, Kawasemi appears and infects the Aoi Fan Club with Uzen Mud, forcing Yodaka to fight his classmates

It's so ironic that Yodaka wants Aoi to lose because he wants to be with her while Aoi wants to win so she can show off to Yodaka...cus if he told her directly what he wants, she'd probably drop out of the running in a heartbeat, and I'll bet that even if she *wins,* she's going to refuse to dance with the pageant king outright and go straight for Yodaka anyway. Buuut that's all assuming that the Kawasemi situation doesn't somehow prevent that, which admittedly feels a little bit like a distraction that somehow makes me less interested in what's going on, costing a few points this week

6. Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi ch.102 (=, Liked): As Misogi trains the team, Kiyoshi feels frustrated that his parents' killer is coming back to try to take everything from him again. Misogi reminds him that she trained him precisely because of that - that rather than seeking revenge, Kiyoshi wanted to protect people, and that the bonds he's so afraid of losing will be the very strength he needs to defeat Rushihara

Ah, so Solomon's Crest is literally powered by Friendship, huh? Cliche, but I don't hate it I also like that Misogi only agreed to train Kiyoshi because he wasn't going down the path of hatred, but love. Had he said he wanted to avenge his parents, that A) would have been proof that he wasn't capable of using Solomon's Crest, and B) would have meant he was throwing his life and happiness away for nothing. Instead, not only does he have a chance at success, but he's choosing the life with the greatest chance of rebuilding the happiness he lost, which is exactly what Misogi wanted for him

5. One Piece ch.1189 (+1, Loved): Hajrudin arrives to aid Loki and learns that Imu is their father's killer. Meanwhile, Imu draws weapon after weapon to skewer Luffy with, each with their own unique abilities, such as feeding on Luffy's life force - these are the weapons of the First 20, revived by Imu's Omen, and loaned to the God's Knights who descended from them. Before Imu can finish Luffy, though, Gaban appears to save the day

Damn, Imu out here moving like Gilgamesh, just chucking Noble Phantasms out of the Gate of Babylon I don't really know what kind of significance this lore drop has outside of being just downright sick as hell, but...it's downright sick as hell!! Who doesn't love cool weapons?? Also, as I posted the other day, I'm hoping that the payoff will be that Vivi still has access to the Nefertari Family's weapon, and maybe that Doflamingo will steal the Donquixote weapon Aside from that, this chapter gave us a long-awaited glimpse of Usopp's awakening Observation Haki, which is very exciting, and finally finished thawing out Shuri, so we're probably going to be getting some good Brook moments soon. Can't say I'm too psyched to see Hajrudin throw himself into a fight with Imu though - not one for powerscaling, but buddy got one-shot by Gear 2 Luffy back in Dressrosa, so Harald he is not...

4. Kagurabachi ch.126 (+5, Loved): In his childhood, Kunishige and his mother were abused by his father until his death on Kunishige's 9th birthday. Despite being free from him, his mother still saw his face in Kunishige's, so after years of abuse from her as well, she eventually abandoned him. While living in squalor, Kunishige began to fear the attachments he'd started to make with his friends, until one day Chiaki came to cook for him during a storm

I think there are two factors that make Chiaki's visit so impactful and reassuring for Kunishige despite his fears - 1) that she made absolutely no mention or judgment of the state of his home, and 2) that she stood in the rain for two hours waffling about whether he just wanted space. The level of concern that she's showing is so wildly different than what he got from his parents that it's understandable that it could overclock his fears and suspicions This chapter was also just gorgeous; it was so detailed and moody that it took on a real cinematic quality, which is impressive to see outside of Hokazono's usual wheelhouse of action scenes

3. Someone Hertz ch.43 (-2, Loved): Mimei helps his VP and kohai, Komai, train for the sports meet; in doing so, he inadvertently reveals to Komai his one-liner submissions and that he isn't the superman that everyone thinks he is, which only deepens Komai's admiration for him. Meanwhile, Kurage gets some help from Shuri, who tells her she's too slow to run track, but Kurage refuses to give up. Afterwards, Kurage and Mimei meet up and walk home together instead of taking the bus so they'll have some time to talk

I think it might be about time for a reread, cus I didn't recognize what Kurage meant when she said she's "evolved since last time," but thanks to the clearly recycled panel, I was able to find what scene she was talking about! In ch.5, when they went to buy radios together, she was wearing shoes she wasn't used to and got a blister, which she didn't mention earlier specifically because she wanted to walk and talk with Mimei as much as possible. Back then, he gave her a bandage, but this time she came prepared with her own! Sometimes I feel a little silly that I keep bringing up how excellently this series emphasizes mutual growth, but then I realize that that just means it's a consistent and well-developed theme within the story! Usually that's a theme relegated to sports and battle manga, so positioning the two love interests as rivals in a lower-stakes environment really helps give them a refreshing dimension compared to others in the same genre

2. Akane-banashi ch.216 (+2, Loved): In the wake of Akane's victory, Karashi and Hikaru feel the pressure of their rival's Ookanban-level performance...and are invigorated to reach the same height; meanwhile, Kaisei starts to feel dejected by Issho's decision, only for Issho to remind him that it's far too soon in his career to consider this a catastrophic loss. To keep the momentum of the event going, Issho announced a slight change to the schedule - rather than a solo performance, Issho will now be competing against Zensho

What was I just saying about rivals? Still not a sports manga, but you know what I mean. I'm really glad that Karashi and Hikaru aren't just being left behind now that Akane has matched and surpassed Kaisei, nor is Kaisei in any way being belittled for his loss I also really enjoyed that Akiko pointed out what I was saying last week, that Kaisei and Akane have basically swapped styles, with Akane mirroring Issho and Kaisei mirroring Shiguma - especially ironic when Kaisei said that he wanted to show Akane that an apprentice of Shiguma doesn't belong at the Isshokai. They're not really delving into that the way I thought they would just yet, but the fact that it was explicitly stated does make me feel pretty smart for picking up on it The most exciting thing though is definitely the upcoming Issho vs. Zensho battle. While Zensho's antagonism at the beginning of the event was kind of petty in comparison to how he behaved during Maikeru's promotion, it is fun to see that Issho wants to put him in his place. Of course, Issho is still our primary antagonist, so there's a part of us that wants to see him lose, but we're not stupid - we all know this is both meant to be comeuppance for everything Zensho has done *and* a showcase of exactly what makes Issho the ceiling that everyone else is trying to break through

1. Ichi the Witch ch.92 (+11, Loved): In mourning for Hitsugi, Hakari kidnaps the Ribboncandy children specifically to power their roaming fortress in a macabre parody of the Witches' Magic Circles, a Magik Circle. Meanwhile, inspired by Amadoro's determination to face Hakari again, Kumugi gets to work on formulating a battle strategy, prompting Ichi to volunteer Team Desscarass to join the mission...and for some reason Boxster is there too