Startled Joey Noises

Alternate Titles: Suspension of Disbelief Week

17. Me & Roboco ch.284 (+3, Unappreciated): Roboco represents Japan at the World Knee Cup

Should've called it the "KneeFA World Cup," but that wouldn't really have changed the fact that I simply didn't find this chapter funny at all

16. Sakamoto Days ch.262 (+1, Neutral): Shin and Tanabata's fight ends up on a stage at a rock show, where Shin uses mass mind-control to get the crowd hyped enough to drown out Tanabata's sound attacks and go for the win

I guess that makes sense? I don't know, scenes that happen in front of crowds always just make me wonder if what's happening would really be all that impressive to an onlooker without context, and this one felt especially difficult for me to believe. At least this fight is over

15. Kinato's Magic ch.18 (+3, Neutral): Terasu misunderstands Kinato's declaration of friendship as a proposal and goes public with their engagement at the Lunar Fighting Festival, turning it into a manhunt

This particular misunderstanding is pretty trite, but I don't really hate it cus I'm always a fan of a girl in love. Sorry it probably won't work out for you, Terasu, but I am at least in your corner for now (until Linae does something endearing enough to justify herself) My bigger problem with this chapter is the realization that one month of training is going to prove to be enough for Kinato to hold his own against an entire village of fighters with lifelong experience, so unless it turns out that Kinato is inadvertently sparking a faction war distinct from the current mounting one and gets some of these women on his side, that completely shatters my suspension of disbelief here

14. Nue's Exorcist ch.148 (+5, Appreciated?): Nue takes back her power from Gakuro so she can sacrifice herself to beat Kasha, but Gakuro's determination stirs his own power within him, and he returns to his family's land to recover his lost memories

Nue's concern for Gakuro backing her into a corner where she's willing to sacrifice herself for him and Gakuro's own internal conflict about all of the promises he's made to his team that he hasn't fulfilled yet are both pretty compelling character moments, strong enough that I'm able to get invested in the plotline of Gakuro's amnesia despite the fact that I completely forgot it was even a thing There's just one teeeensy problem holding this chapter back from being a Liked and forcing it into being a conflicted Appreciated - YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE NONE OF THE GIRLS HAD ANY OBJECTION TO THIS?! That ALL OF THE GIRLS came along to watch Gakuro get FIRED and allowed themselves to get reassigned without putting up ANY KIND OF FUSS?! Natsuki and Shitotsu, maybe, but Shiroha?? Kazusa?! ISSHU?!?! Maybe they did offscreen and Nue convinced them that this is the best way to protect him, but they all know him well enough that they should have predicted he'd react the way he did! I genuinely think this is a good plot point otherwise, but showing his squad meekly accept this after everything they've been through together is patently ABSURD!

13. Class 2-B Hero Destroyerz ch.7 (+2, Appreciated): Valaris gives the student body the rundown and introduces them to the roots of the Ghastree, which will provide both their bedding (by enveloping them like pitcher plants) and food (by mashing up Bundemonium bugs and casting illusions to resemble regular food)

IT'S THE BUGS FROM GINTAMA!!! That gag honestly hit me the hardest out of everything this week, but probably only really because it's a callback, I don't know how funny it would have been to me otherwise This chapter did make me realize something, though - seven chapters in, I think we're pretty much only just now where most series might be by the end of chapter 1 or 2. Not that chapter 1 didn't successfully establish its world, cast and tone, just that Sorachi is either really taking his time OR so much time is being taken up by gags that the pace is a lot slower than what we would normally expect. It fits his style, and I think more authors should be given the opportunity to slow things down, but it results in any given chapter feeling like nothing much is happening

12. Roku's House of Oddities ch.9 (-2, Appreciated): Roku takes Gevaudan for a walk in the day to help put his neighbors at ease about the monster lurking around at night. When a group of children's cart breaks down, Gevaudan gives them a ride, proving he's friendly

Aww, puppy just wants enrichment! Makes sense that the animal curse would have animal desires, but it really makes you wonder how he became a curse in the first place! For as much as I like Gevaudan, though, I think I'd rather die than have a pet that big that can make that big of a mess

11. Witch Watch ch.250 (+5, Appreciated): As Miharu spirals over his terrible team-up with Ban, Kanshi barely holds on against the Puppet Witch's giant until he remembers advice his dad gave him about never giving up. In a last-ditch effort, Kanshi tricks the giant into smashing through the deck - bringing everyone into Kiriko's game

I really like the sentiment of this one, I certainly feel a lot closer to Kanshi's mentality after this, but man do I have no idea where it's going! Is Kanshi going to be part of the game now? How will that even help? Guess we'll have to wait and see

10. Shinobi Undercover ch.84 (+1, Appreciated): The Octollection meets and decides that either Yodaka or Kasasagi needs to be executed to assuage the splitting factions. Kasasagi volunteers, but Yodaka's mind goes into overdrive, allowing him to object and formulate a proposal to prove he and Kasasagi are both too valuable to execute

I find this cast rather charming, though the gap between their antics and the subject matter is kind of straining. Moreover, Yodaka's talking so out of character here that it doesn't feel so much like character development as a contrivance of the plot. I'm invested in where this is going, but I wonder if there may have been a more elegant solution?

9. Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi ch.95 (-3, Appreciated): Kiyoshi returns home to the Gates of Hell and gets a warm welcome, until Nehan reminds him of his greatest challenge yet - finals!!! Meanwhile, Shishido finally casts his vote, and Kiyoshi is officially promoted to Cross Paladin!

Kinda feels like a foregone conclusion considering that Kiyoshi beat TWO OUT OF THREE of the Great Demon Lords when literally NONE of the Cross Paladins have proven capable of that, but hey, glad to see he's getting the proper recognition! I'm more interested in Bub's hastily shoehorned exposition that Kiyoshi's 777 tattoo resembles Solomon's XR-Cism Crest. I believe Roth mentioned something about Solomon previously, though I can't recall what I made of that. Did I say something like "Solomon will turn out to be alive and be the final antagonist?" Or maybe I guessed that the tattoo was a Crest all along even though Kiyoshi thought it was *just* a tattoo? I don't remember what I've said or when I said it, but it feels like we're building up to something solid

8. Under Doctor ch.19 (+6, Appreciated): In response to the raid, the Snake Whisperers set the base to self-destruct, but not before Haiji can rescue a handful of surviving children and Kasumi can get the data he came for

The pacing of this chapter was a little rough, and it doesn't feel like it amounted to much, but there was a really palpable energy here that tells me Tanimoto feels like this is a pivotal moment to either the plot or the core themes of the story. Between the brief glimpse of the Snake Whisperer leader(?) who will certainly become a major antagonist and Haiji's desperation to save the children, it's not hard to see how much weight this chapter will carry down the line, even if it doesn't feel that impactful now

7. Animal Signal ch.1 (NEW, Liked): In a world where people are born with exaggerated versions of animal traits, Anima, a special unit has been formed to deal with Anima-related crimes known as Anima Control. AC officer Kokone uses her bat Anima to read minds and find culprits, but finds herself wasting her time limit listening to her new partner Tsubasa spouting off animal facts...which actually turns out to be useful for finding and stopping an arsonist at the zoo!

The gags were quite cute, and I'm a sucker for anything that teaches me fun animal trivia! It reminded me a lot of Heaven's Design Team, which I've actually fallen quite far behind on, I gotta catch up sometime... A few things hold this intro back for me, though. For one, Kokone being a bat isn't communicated very well in her design - I saw it once they said it, but I thought for sure those were supposed to be elephant ears Second, the connection between animals and Anima is pretty loose - the frog guy predicting the weather is one thing, they demonstrate how frogs literally do that, but the tuna guy having FIRE powers? That's a ludicrous stretch. It's inventive and I don't hate it, but I don't think it's something even a biologist would reasonably be able to intuit Third, and most importantly, the conflict of this chapter resolves with *zero input* from the main characters. Sure, they *found* the arsonist, but what did they actually *do* to stop him? Tsubasa realized it was going to rain and that he didn't need to do anything at all! I guess you could argue that by doing nothing he prevented himself and Kokone from getting hurt, but that's not a very impressive first battle, so I hope that further ones will let the cast take a more active approach that makes them seem less like they're just getting lucky I'm looking forward to reading more of this, it's just not exactly the strongest first impression

6. Ichi the Witch ch.85 (-4, Liked): Chun deduces that Fujimine's toxin actively inserts Fujimine into her target's memories as someone wildly important to them, then leaves them with no memory of what they did under its influence...which is why Chun doesn't remember killing all of his friends. Prepared to go down swinging, Chun is suddenly saved by the appearance of Tricaputo, who washes away Fujimine's poison

Aha, so it IS Unchaste!!! Though I am disappointed to learn that the target forgets about it, cus that makes Chun's hatred way less compelling to me. Hating the person who killed your friends is one thing, but hating the person who *made you* kill your friends absolutely makes his extreme approach seem a lot more reasonable, so losing that angle is a bit disappointing I did like the advice he got from his mentor though: "you can lose, and you can run away, but don't ever let the fire inside you go out." It's resonant with the theme of hunting and Minakata's return to finish what his predecessor started, but whereas someone like Minakata is *motivated* by the hunt, Chun is almost *cursed* by it. He *has* to come back and finish it, he *has* to get back up when he's knocked down. It's not a choice, it's his duty, and it's the only thing that matters. That's a major lesson that Ichi needs to learn, that it *is* okay to give up on something that doesn't stand to give anything back to you. His life shouldn't be the payment for a good hunt, and neither should anyone else's

5. Blue Box ch.245 (=, Liked): As Taiki presses on against Yusa, all of his friends and loved ones reflect on the impact he's had on their lives, and in turn, he can feel their support pushing him towards victory

...This feels like a finale. If Taiki beats Yusa, what even is there left to do? Does he have any known rivals at Nationals? Or was just getting to Nationals really the true goal all along? I really like the emotions here, but it all just made me realize that I can't see the road ahead anymore even a little bit

4. Drawn to the Fire ch.8 (=, Liked): Realizing that they only beat Murakumo because they weren't up against the starters in the first half, Kuchikusa decides to put more effort into recruitment. Keiki learns that his old captain, Higurashi, is also attending Kuchikusa and tries to recruit him, but when Higurashi refuses, Keiki taunts him by blaming him for their losses back in middle school

I don't particularly like Higurashi off the bat, but I do really like the opportunity to see Keiki's meaner side. He clearly doesn't actually blame Higurashi, we know that much from chapter 1, but seeing him psych himself up to be a manipulative jerk is both super funny and incredibly endearing. We could easily have learned later that he was just goading him on, but laying it on so thick up front helps connect it to the greater themes of trust and lies without ambiguity

3. Hima-Ten! ch.93 (+9, Hated): Himari admits that she has a crush on Tenichi because of all that he's ever done for her, and wishes that he'll make his own crush as happy as he made her. The two part, neither letting the other see them cry

;^; Ah, the third-act breakup...so this is going to weigh on Tenichi's mind to the point that Honoka can see it and actively pushes him to resolve this tension, regardless of whether it means she'll win in the end or not... But Honoka stepping aside the way Himari is right now wouldn't be any more fair to either of them than the current situation is, and it would become a vicious cycle of "you promised you wouldn't give up on my behalf" oscillating back and forth between the two of them, so there's really only one reasonable way to solve this, Ono... Regardless of where it goes, the emotions on display here really resonated with me, and I genuinely want things to work out where the entire cast can be happy

2. Akane-banashi ch.209 (+5, Loved): Kaisei's God of Death takes the form of a sort of sequel, instead focusing on the debtor's son, but for however well he performs it, the audience still can only see Akane's interpretation. Remembering his mother's words from when he was a child, Kaisei ceases trying to project his God of Death onto the audience, and instead conveys his own childhood through the debtor's son

That summary was so hard to write without just using it to explain the symbolism. Where in the last chapter the focus was on the meaning of the name Kaisei, carrying Issho's expectations that he would become the frontrunner of the Rakugo world, this one contrasts it with his birth name, Haru, carrying his mother's faith that he could overcome any challenge he would face Both use springtime as a motif, but where "Kaisei" illustrates one flower coming out ahead of all others, "Haru" illustrates a butterfly struggling and surviving turbulent conditions against all odds. One insists that he must be the best, a lofty goal that puts everyone else beneath him, while the other is encouragement, a well-wish to see him find happiness with his own strength. The end is the same, but the means and values differ...just like how one tells the story of God of Death

1. Someone Hertz ch.36 (=, Loved): Thanks to the radio he purchased with Kurage, Mimei's feed has less lag than others, allowing him to submit faster than Reiji, who has similar material. Following Kurage's advice not to overthink things, Mimei's rapid-fire submissions win him the Rookie Round!