NerdSmoothie

[nerdsmoothie]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue 36 2026 NerdSmoothie Review

This week’s Weekly Shonen Jump was ok. Many series felt like they were still just doing their thing with not much to note. Many chaps were fine or good but not too notably better than their usual fare so it was hard to get a top 3 and runner up. That being said, that which did hit and rise above did so very well!

My Top 3:

Shinobi Undercover

Ichi the Witch

Hal Formula

Runner Ups:

Drawn to the Fire

Opinions About Individual Series and Their Chapters in Alphabetical Order

Cannon Master 8 - Sadly this chapter felt hard to read. I could understand some of the action but a lot felt close but still out of reach to follow. I do enjoy the constant creativity though in the tornado walls and Ur's laser being used to propel rather than just pure offense. I'm intrigued by Ur's ties to the demons since they recognized him. I theorized he was an experimental Regilith previously but maybe he's some special Demon attuned or part Regilith. Sort of like this series' play on Newtypes. 

Class 2-B Hero Destroyerz 16 - I'm glad the nerdy guy Prof seems to be sticking around! This and last chap did a great job at endearing him to me. It's also nice some things are left as lingering plot threads like the nullified guy and whoever made the barriers. But the actual meat of this chap was ok. Sort of funny but nothing stands out aside from this needs to be biweekly because man is Sorashi struggling. Lots of blank backgrounds and a few rough panels. Overall, this chap has me happy for what's to come.

Drawn to the Fire 17 - Such a great chap going into Hiraie and Natsu's background. Natsu's struggles as an average above everyone else was well written. It didn't come off arrogant. Rather someone with a love that wasn't challenged and empathetic to those he inadvertently hurt. The confession from Hiraie and Keiki's just at the end were both great.

Hal Formula 9 - I LOVE the racing strategy on showcase here. Suzukaze's reckless turns working best on cold tires meaning he has bet on a good start to overcome the consistency of his rival Hinokura. Hinokura being the lagging tail of Milliepiedi Jr causing him to have excellent blocking skills is a really good wrinkle. I think it can lead to some awesome character writing we saw a bit in this chap. 

Ichi the Witch 94 - We get a lot of fun character moments and intricacies of their new setting as Amadoro’s break-in starts relatively lax. Ichi’s hunting instincts picking up on the Invisibility Majik (who I can’t help but think will be a cool Chekov’s gun later for whoever acquires it) was really awesome. It allowed us to see Ichi viewed from the other side. The ending with Ichi grabbing onto the Invisibility Majik as Hakai claps into him was epic. Doubly so for Gokuraku coming in clutch to save him and stomping Hakari.

Roku's House of Oddities 18 - Another great chap! Seeing the science club react to each of the curses was funny, especially Altra's lol. Sachiko's immediate change to extreme introvert was funny too. Just a great chapter or people reacting to the curses and the curses reacting back. 

Sakamoto Days 271 - So now Uzaki has all his personalities' powers at once. Welp. I mean I'm glad they're doing all this at the finale to go out with a big bang. I'm ok with some over the top BS, even for SakaDays standards, because it's the finale. But it still feels a bit much. Maybe if these twists were given more time than the next chapter giving us another twist about Uzuki it would land better. But it's finishing up so he only has so many chaps left. The fight again feels lacking for SakaDays like a lot of these latter fights have been. The sword through the log flume's splash was cool though.

Shinobi Undercover 93 - A jam packed chapter! Op gets a moment with Yodaka that was sweet. Yodaka's symbiote, I mean black mud, looks to be sticking around in a cool way. It's like a little mini Yodaka and I think it's both something valuable from how he got it and meaningfully allows him to get stronger without breaking that he lacks a Kekkai. Prior to this chapter I was bummed that Kawasemi was fighting Kijibato rather than Yodaka. But this episode has me really looking forward to it. They have a good teacher-student deal and it allows Yodaka to do a fun empathetic challenge of trying to not kill his hypnotized student enemies.

Someone Hertz  45 - A solid chapter. The romance element is only bubbling more and more to the surface with Mimei worrying she's got a new rival and Kurage's message at the end of Mimei being special to her. Hateful Eight's message to see your own worth and effort over focusing on points or trophies was nice.

Under Doctor 28 - A solid ending to though a tad rushed. I feel like the final deadly surgery could've been expanded more but oh well. I hope the trend of these more than two chapters arcs continue! 

Witch Watch  258 - This chap mostly is setting up the fight and scenario with Moi and crew being heavy on the backhand. It's a fine action but really nothing to elaborate on. What's there speaks for itself. 

[nerdsmoothie]

Recommendations From Iwamoto-Senpai Episode 6 NerdSmoothie Review

It seems at first to continue the trend of Iwamoto going on investigations but now with the British witches staying around as antagonists. But then it becomes only about the Witch fight which gives us some worldbuilding and fine new characters. Overall its fine if a lot of set up and has some rough framing at times.

We get a lot of villains here. Crystal is very much a battle action's girlie girl character but her brattiness works well here. Igni has a fun personality and interesting powers. The thorn guy didn't do enough for me to really get an opinion on.

We also have Sazame stepping up near the end. I'm excited to see Iwamoto's squad continue to get growth since these sort of pretty boy fighting over pretty boy series live or die by their groups.

Haramachi felt poorly used here. I get they want to play up his tactician element but so often he just explained what was already on screen.

The ending has me intrigued. It seems to imply the angel guy orchestrated or somewhat knew the witches would be there. Maybe the series will continue to go into how much Iwamoto struggles to fight for his sake versus his country's or boss's sake.

[nerdsmoothie]

Mebius Dust Episode 5 NerdSmoothie Review

This was a real blunder of an episode. It’s a shame as this episode tried to focus on a different POV character.

Our new POV character is Stella. Sadly they have her in a dour mood so it ends up being very similar to Araki's lens from the last few eps. Her POV is mostly in the ruminating and the characters growth, if you can call it that, and both were bad this episode. 

We get a lot of ruminating on living with Dust again. I appreciate the wrinkle of not relying on Dust through the Girl who literally has to rely on it to live wanting things like that not to exist. But honestly the whole researching about living with Dust angle is probably the least interesting thing in this series by far which is a bit impressive.  

The treasure hunting game against February was the longest one so far and boring as usual. It's impressive how the studio has a series with few battle scenes and didn't channel the usual treatment those get towards the games. Instead the games feel like an excuse to get a bunch of mediocre passable, and most importantly affordable, generic animations of walk and run cycles with a few bits added on. Suzuki has a bit of a character exploration here I guess? It's an attempt but it says nothing. She's called “useful” by the end but she's been on the team group for awhile and no one's called her that so like her feelings of being useless don't feel true in the narrative. 

The mystery is paced the worst here. The series loves waiting until the end to give anything but it's only 15 seconds. Someone's parents died and has a sister. Probably Araki and the ghost girl (who's maybe a boy). Their emotions may have set off the disaster. Shocker. Thanks for giving me a terrible 22 minutes of viewing to get that. :/

[nerdsmoothie]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue 35 2026 NerdSmoothie Review

This week’s Weekly Shonen Jump felt pretty normal with all series just doing their thing and less standout chapters from specific series. Good thing I enjoy a lot of series in this mag then haha! Once again a lot of my top 3 are from series that I feel have been running hot lately than my staple favorites (tho 2 of those did make the list). 

My Top 3:

Cannon Master 

Under Doctor

Ichi the Witch

Runner Ups:

Witch Watch

Drawn to the Fire

Opinions About Individual Series and Their Chapters in Alphabetical Order

Cannon Master 7 - Super great fight chapter with wonderful paneling and choreo as usual for this series! And it's a mecha manga?! Maybe the Itano Circus reference in chap 1 or 2 was a hint lol. For some reason I didn't expect the demons to be mecha pilots for the Regiliths. The Regiliths empowering the demons is a nice touch. Battle manga like this usually end up with more human foes but having the Regiliths as amplifiers keep them in the story long term. I do hope the team comes back later though so its not just Bharat and Ur again.  

Class 2-B Hero Destroyerz 15 - An ok chapter that explores the Lord of the Floes situation that can develop in their scenario. It's mostly to endear you to the nerds and explain the situation. I'm sort of looking forward to how this is resolved as the running a society angle is a neat part of this series. But I fear it'll be another hijinks action 2 or 3 chapter arc letdown. 

Drawn to the Fire 16 - Hiraie's deal seems to be how boring it was to play with someone of such a higher level that everything relied on Natsu. But Keiki ends up playing into the expectations of relying on their ace Natsu by the end. It's a neat idea and I hope this leads to more of Keiki's team getting developed as they rely less on Natsu. Overall the series has been hitting its stride a bit as of late. I hope it keeps it up.

Hal Formula 8 - Hinokura's qualifier was a lot more by the books and methodical. It works well to show his personality and a key part of racing in consistency and arcs. But it ends up a bit more plain as well because of it. I think the one spread was solid but the art takes a bit of a back seat this chapter. I'm excited for the actual race as these philosophies and ways of driving are one thing in isolation but probably a lot more dynamic and interesting when you're on a track with other cars in your way.   

Ichi the Witch 93 - This series is so great at not wasting a scene. What could've been a brief page or two is instead a nice chapter full of info and a character moments between Amadoro and Kumugi. Amadoro continues to show her noble side in her thanking Kumugi and Kumugi gets established as someone who has an impact but is relatively weak (something all the harping on continues to make me believe will have her acquire Hakari). As a bit of a theory, I'd like to imagine Fujimine stopped Amadora from trying to acquire Hakari because she's trying to keep him in the blue. Hakari seems to view witches as harsh owners to majiks so maybe his acquisition goal is to just promise to treat him or other majiks well? Or seeing a witch that treats their majik kinder or has willing majiks would break that world view and cause the Seven Stars to be down a major player if his view was broken or brought into question. 

Roku's House of Oddities 17- Very heavy on the emotion with little or no humor. It's ok but I wish the series gave more time to develop something before its emotional moments so that they hit harder.

Sakamoto Days 270 - I think I could've done without an explanation for how he got Sakamoto's personality. Saying he's had since the start of the manga just begs the question as to why he never had the personality come up in other fights. Just let him tap into old Sakamoto without saying he's had it forever. Anywho, the fight is ok. It's a bit imaginative but with less dynamism than earlier SakaDays. Everyone coming together is sort of neat but also sort of eh. I think it depends on how well it's executed with the coming chaps.

Shinobi Undercover 92 - An ok chapter. It mostly just sets up where everyone is and who is dealing with who. I didn't expect Yodaka to deal with the regular brainwashed people and his mentor to deal with the main threat but I think it's going for a zombie survival vibe that I'm looking forward to.

Someone Hertz 44 - Another typical (read: good) chap. The joke that Kurage's weirdness ended up being some of the local urban legends was endearing and funny. 

Under Doctor 27 - Another wonderful chapter though is this it? The ending makes it unclear but I hope there's more. It's cathartic as a viewer to see Haiji get respected after being blown off a bit. But the series makes it clear the other doctor has ethical reasons and in a real situation cant put stock into a supernatural deal like Haiji has. It blends real medical sense with the supernatural medical seen in the series super well and makes you love the initially antagonistic doctor more by the end.  

Witch Watch 257 - Solid setup chap for the final battle. I didn't expect it to go off the boat but I enjoyed it. Seeing it from regular people's POV really gave it a disaster movie vibe that I think works.

[nerdsmoothie]

Recommendations From Iwamoto-Senpai Episode 5 NerdSmoothie Review

A fitting end to the first real battle of the series with ok ideas constrained by the lackluster animation and composition with some odd CGI stuff. It's definitely become a bishonen fighting other bishonen show with an emphasis on pretty frames. It introduces some neat stuff about the nations that control all these sides as well setting up the stage for something larger as we get out what may be the intro and set up portion of the series.

Neptune Watergun is such an on the nose name it wraps back to being great. I hope he comes back as he could be a great foil to Iwamoto. Both want to take in super powered people but Neptune sees them by their powers and military use whereas Iwamoto sees them as people and not by their powers. It's a common enough foil but if they get on a large enough scale to nations’ military might I think it can be a standout. It looks to be developing that sort of “we're doing this for us but the powers that be are also wanting this for separate reasons” with the witches vs 100 demons and Britain v Japan so I’m hoping it pulls it off well though I’m fearful it won’t. 

The fight itself was ok. I'm glad it wasn't kept in one area but moved to the other room with bloody roses since it made it a bit more interesting. I think it devolving as trump cards like Amaba's hair and demonic personality change and Iwamoto's blue fire phoenix could have given it a nice hectic vibe but the presentation made it feel a lot more standard.

Some of the fight also ends up hard to read with the dark reds on the blood and Amaba's hair muddling with the line work. Iwamoto's fires get some special CGI effect but it clashes with the more regular line work and presentation the series as a whole maintains.

[nerdsmoothie]

Mebius Dust Episode 4 NerdSmoothie Review

At this point the format and issues of this series have just entangled itself into a real mess. Everything feels slow and it feels like only a third of the episode moves the plot or matters (once again heavily loaded onto the end). 

The start is a major buzzkill. The first quarter is just the kids ruminating and discussing the ramifications of the portable dust machine that isn't anywhere close to being made. It tries to have some poignancy but it falls super flat and feels boring. 

This episode we get the Red Team named Hirou with a half followed animal motif. They're fun and theatrical which is nice and adds energy this show can need. But by the end it seems like they won't matter because it looks to be developing into the Araki and the ghost girl show. 

The actual sport of ball rolling was pretty lackluster. Some of the shots were awkwardly put together or lacked oomph. Not to mention that rolling a ball makes it feel like the well has run dry 4 episodes in.

It sucks mostly because once again the more interesting part is kept at the end. Araki's powers are developing (or maybe he's just pushing himself more) causing him to be commanding. This creates a rift between him and his team. Inevitably this ties into the ghost girl's plan for him as he runs into her. But if that's the interesting part just get to it quicker. This show loves a good last minute twist but it drags everything to make one.

I think there is a glimpse of something here but Araki's motivations are just so off. Sure Akira was struggling to feel useful but the development here is way too sudden. By the end he's gone off the fucking deep end. I think you can have characters who fail or make bad choices even with a strong support group but it doesn't feel like that's the angle. It feels like he's supposed to be fairly understandable if a bit intense. Not a crazy switch up like we get. 

The ending reveal of the angel imagery was just egregious. It's just so on the nose and feels like we've lost the plot. I'm assuming we're gearing to the real “meat” of the series now with maybe less sports and more of whatever is happening with Araki's demon stuff and the ghost girl's angel stuff which I hope means the episodes get more focused and improved. But they probably won't.

[nerdsmoothie]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue 35 2026 NerdSmoothie Review

Hey hey y'all. Another week another review of WSJ. Feel free to heart if you like anything or comment your own opinions: agreements, disagreements, little thoughts, or anything else :P

This week’s Weekly Shonen Jump was super strong! All of the series had great chapters so putting together a top three and two runner ups was tricky. But I mean, if the biggest complaint is “too much good stuff” is it really a complaint lol. Really any of the top 3 could’ve swapped between themselves or the runner ups as the quality was so consistent and great between all series. Once again though the new series are really endearing themselves to me as they’ve been getting into their strides and the placements (and individual reviews) reflect that.

My Top 3:

Hal Formula

Under Doctor

Witch Watch

Runner Ups:

Shinobi Undercover

Roku’s House of Oddities  

Opinions About Individual Series and Their Chapters in Alphabetical Order

Cannon Master 6 - A solid establishing chapter for the next plot beat. I'm glad Rhuga is staying along. He's got this nice lone wolf energy and his cheetah aesthetic is cool. Judging by the pointy ears I'm assuming that the person being chained up isn't the minister but the demon in charge as a trick?

Class 2-B Hero Destroyerz 14 - This was an ok comedic chapter. Nothing too crazy. The idea of the traditional Demon King acting the way they do because of a disease is funny. But the joke felt a bit forced by the time they both got it. I think the ending is supposed to be sweet and show some growth for the Demon King but it didn't catch me.  

Drawn to the Fire 15 - This and last match has me more hopeful for this series. I’m really enjoying Hiraie as an antagonist so far. He’s got a pretty similar gimmick on the field to Mizuhara with him seeing these advanced plays and executing them along with a killer three pointer. I’m interested to see him continue to be this enigmatic antagonist! I know this isn’t exactly a new development but it’s interesting to see Mizuhara be characterized more smug and cocky. He’s pretty calm and mild-mannered at the start but ever since he had to be cocky to bring his ex-teammate to the team they’re having him be more cocky. I think it works well because it is a nice fit as this story has gone a lot more traditionally spokan than the initial softer approach of the oneshot and early chapters. I think his previous personality worked better there. I hope all this effort and improvement continues and isn't too late to impact sales.

Hal Formula 7 - A super strong chapter that gives the most significant turn of the race the page space it deserves. Some sports series really struggle to sell its sport to outsiders but this has done it excellently. It's interesting that we have a new rival so soon as well in Aka Shiromiya. I'm interested to see how his envy in no longer being watched by Kyogoku will manifest.  

Ichi the Witch 92 - Hakari poses an interesting dilemma. His methods for fixing that wrong are bad, but it is an interesting dilemma about the relationship of some witches and majiks. The cut from him saying no witch will acquire him to Kumugi has me thinking and hoping she somehow acquires him lol. It seems other picked up on that too haha. I'm glad it's not just the Ichi crew but Amadoro and that other person too. I enjoy series that rotate an extra character or two each arc. 

Roku's House of Oddities 16 - Another amazing chapter. I'm glad for the worldbuilding we get in that curses can be ended through salvation or exorcism. Of course Roku's is salvation with the cozy vibe the manga's been setting up. The comedy of the total flop monk was funny especially that he didn't know it and was super full of it the whole time. 

Sakamoto Days 269 - Shin's moment with Nagumo and Sakamoto was sweet. As a development / last hurrah I think Uzuki getting back up and taking on Sakamoto's personality is cool. But boy do I hope this doesn't mean Sakamoto “lives on.” Please just let them die bro. I mean, it's already odd Uzuki survived it unless they pull the whole “reversed organs” thing again and say his carotid are on the other side. The climactic fight feels especially fatalistic so far probably since its ending soon and trying to get out in a certain amount of chapters to not extend to a weird volume page length. But I've enjoyed it.

Shinobi Undercover 91 - Comedic first half into an action packed second half. I was a little surprised the action came in. I guess I was sort of expecting a short comedic arc. But instead we're making it a longer one. The comedy of the vying fan clubs was funny and the evil ninjas coming back with some info on whatever is happening with the Uzen's mud and blood was really nice. Uzen's mud being like a little symbiote on Yodaka was really neat. I’m still holding hope that Uzen is secretly alive somehow. The idea of primal blood impacting regular people has me interested in what the villain group’s final plans are. Maybe it’s to give everyone super powers?

Someone Hertz 43 - Another fine breezy chapter. I’m glad we got to see the two work off of some other characters here. That little intro art of Kurage shooting beams was cute and funny haha. 

Under Doctor 26 - Dang what a great chapter. Exciting and fun to learn about crisis procedures with triage. The doctor who was rude to Haiji makes sense. I guess he's just a cynical guy haha. I'm glad we got Ishiguro from chap 1 back too! The chapter says Part 1, are we finally getting a storyline that goes past 2 chaps? Yay! 

Witch Watch 256 - A quick end to the flashback but so good! The twist that Rosamund wasn't a witch makes sense. Roswitha and Alexandros being two secret witches in love is sweet and their split is tragic. I don't know if it endears me enough to the forest witch as intended but as a backstory it gives a lot of needed insight into him. 

[nerdsmoothie]

Mebius Dust Episode 3 NerdSmoothie Review

Well this was another passable episode. The action of this episode was nice enough and I appreciate the larger mysteries we're developing with Araki's weird connection to the giant floating crystal and Kurusu's enigmatic attempt at being a guiding hand. The twist of Kurusu being the leader of Diavolic was nice as its gives this sinister and Machiavellian hand to her trying to develop Araki. As before though the episode has some real lulls. I feel like most are really here for the mystery and that's mostly reserved for the end and is nice if little considering a whole episode went by for it. The ending is nice but everything else was so-so with the downtime heavy first third and dodgeball middle third.

In some ways I appreciate the slower pace of this series. Its got a big cast and giving so much down time and character moments let's us get into the cast without them just getting thrown willy nilly into the plot. I also think for the younger demographic its going for it let's them really get that “cool older kids hanging out” vibe. But man can this show meander or just linger on a scene or bit a bit too long. It doesn't help its in big chunks where more stuff happens and then big lulls like the first 7 or so minutes.

Diavolic (or Diavolic Ghost going by the mid-episode break image and promotional website) gets their proper introduction here. They're a more antagonistic force that I appreciate. Everyone's very cooperative and relatively friendly so having some characters that are more mean is nice. Though some of their powers I still have a hard handle on like the love girl. I think she makes thongs “attract” to her like a magnet? I have no clue and the promotional website is no help.

I think a lot of people will enjoy the scenes with the mysterious floating girl Kurusu. Someone on MAL theorized shes personified dust or something which I can see. She reminds me a bit of the cat girl from Porject K: Elusive, mysterious, and definitely connected to some larger world building mystery. My guess is she's somehow connected to the large ass crystal over the city and shes pushing Araki for something evil goal. Especially with the lines about watching him for forever and knowing him more than anyone else. Maybe the crystal is a giant alien object and she's the spirit/AI residing within it? And the rams are tech meant to evolve humanity or create its end? Whatever her end goal is I bet she's fucking pissed the dust is just being used to play magic kids sports lol.

I'm glad shadow boxing is also popular in Japan lol. Didn't consider it would be called something else like "Look this way" though. That's on me haha.

[nerdsmoothie]

Recommendations From Iwamoto-Senpai Episode 4 NerdSmoothie Review

This episode gave a nice ending to the prior episode's storyline and an interesting start to a new one that goes for a far more battle action route. Its also begun to lean more into pretty boys fighting pretty boys with the boisterous rose guy and the slick new villain at the end.

I found the end to the mysterious factory storyline was really solid. It does a good job of humanizing Iwamoto and showing his intentions. He's in the military and working for them but only to further his care and interest in his fellow X-Men, uh I mean super powered individuals. Iwamoto's intentions had been felt a bit prior to this but it's really solidified here when he goes over the top when figuring out they possible have been killing multiple people with regenerative abilities. Previously I complained that in-universe it seemed that the military never cared for people with powers. I guess I was wrong on the creator glazing over that which I'm glad for. It just happens that this takes place at the beginning of the military realizing that super powered individuals can have a military use. 

The new storyline is a lot more action forward. The action is passable with some uninspired framing and non exciting animation. But it's held up a lot by the vibe, interesting scenario, and nice dialogue in its writing and voice acting. Pretty boys fighting with flowers everywhere and an over-the-top basara-inspired (at least I think) villain has enough spectacle itself to go through the meh action work but those line deliveries from the villain were super strong. It'll be interesting to see the empathetic core the series has so far with Iwamoto's world view clash with this far more evil group. I'm glad the series is giving more characters to tag along Iwamoto too as Amaba and Haramichi create a nice lively back-and-forth duo.

[nerdsmoothie]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue 34 Review

Hey! I've been posting a top 3 plus two runners ups to Twitter forever. But I’ve been fiending to write larger opinions about each series so here I am. Feel free to dive around in some total rando's opinions about the series he reads lol. If you liked this please heart it so I know I’m not wasting my time haha.

This week’s Weekly Shonen Jump felt a bit odd. A bunch of chapters were fine and nice even. But it was hard to give any a clear top 3. I ended up giving it basically to standout chapters of new series that really grew on me. Of course the staples were doing fine this week but nothing ground-breaking so they didn’t really place.

My Top 3:

Hal Formula 

Under Doctor

Cannon Master

Runner Ups

Witch Watch

Roku’s House of Oddities

Opinions About Individual Series in Alphabetical Order

Cannon Master 5 - I was looking forward to this chapter a lot and it did well. Previous chapters had a lot of large fights so seeing on a more intimate and smaller scale had me interested to see if the artist could handle it. And boy did he! The fighting was tight, quick, and content packed. You can tell what people were doing or their intentions without the need for exposition. It  was just a great fight scene that perfectly scratches what I’m looking for. I haven’t felt this excited for a battle shonen’s fight and choreo since SakaDays in its peak. As a bit of a nitpick though, the power system's naming is a bit clunky to me. I think it's meant to be methodical in a “type of power” and then “specific spell” sort of way. But it just ends up wordy and confusing to me more often than not. Especially when the powers we've seen so far are pretty flexible so it just feels like they're using their powers rather than a specific named technique. 

Class 2-B Hero Destroyerz 13 - The stance of Class 2B fending off heroes without killing them because they're “normal high schoolers” was endearing to me. It looks Sorachi wants to humanize them as just regular people a bit more now that we're past the introductory chapters and I think that angle works well. Unfortunately the rest of this chapter was a bit lacking. The Demon King tripping (great running gag), losing her memories, and helping the heroes was a bit funny. But by the end it was just a bit of a slog. It was a mix of showing off the powers and being comedic that didn't blend well that well for me as it continued on. I was looking forward to how they'll deal with adventurers seriously and instead we got a very comedic start to that plot point which was a turn I didn't enjoy as much.

Drawn to the Fire 14 - Last week I gave this a runner up due to the nice character exploration. It's a shame we didn't get a bit more from the losing team as they were a highlight for me. The moment with Gomi, the former teammate, was nice and showed the sorta broken ties and awkwardness they had from their fall out. But it doesn't last long as the chapter moves into previewing the Eiten team and their three pointer beast Hotaru Hiraie. The basketball action is a bit hard to follow but it was mostly highlights so it's gonna be a bit all over the place. He seems like a fine enough character. He's got a fair amount of charisma that makes his narcissistic trope work. I'm interested in this whole storyline angle. Maybe he sees the sport as just a story of the people or “preordained” like an already written story? Who knows yet but it's a nice little thing to build interest for the next chapter.

Hal Formula 6 - I love the race strategy here. This chapter covers just the start of the 20 minute qualifier to get placement for the actual race. But the story doesn't blow it off. Instead it introduces the strategies of each major turn in the race. A fair amount of this chapter is explained both verbally and nonverbally. It explains itself well without over-explaining by letting the art show it off too. You can really feel the speed of the car and the race and the choices of when to get in close or zoom out really help readers not get lost during the lap. It's just great! I am curious if drifting will be good for these solo qualifying times but less so in a packed race and if they'll be addressed later.

Ichi the Witch 91 - Amadoro had been pretty flat and nonexistent character-wose prior to this chapter so I'm glad we're getting her fleshed out here. Her retributive angle here is nice. Of course it's also exciting to get to see a new Seven Stars in the witch-hating Hakari who I think has material-based powers? Like they can change things on a molecular level. That or just magic energy itself. His dynamic with Fujimine is pretty funny as he just flat out goes against the cutesy charm she lays on so thickly. 

Roku's House of Oddities 15 - This was a fun little chapter focused on Kabaneji. The chapter wasn't anything particularly special. But the comedy was still on point watching Kabaneji struggle to find a job because he's too menacing. I'm glad we got a bit of a callback to a previous chapter too. It's not necessary but it's a nice little nod that's appreciated.

Sakamoto Days 268 - Well, I guess that's that. For the ultimate fight it was over pretty quick. The who's who disguise thing was a bit confusing and fight-wise this one felt a lot more mean-spiritied and less creative. You can feel the series ending soon. I'm interested in what'll happen now that Nagumo is the only survivor of this battle. Sakamoto wanted to change the world for the better and Slur's final words punctuated that Nagumo was more stuck in the past. I'm curious how that'll play out with Nagumo (and likely Shin) playing out Sakamoto's posthumous dream. Also man was the art rough. Give this guy a week-long break. I don't care if it's ending soon. Look at the roughness here. Man needs a break. 

Shinobi Undercover 90 - This was a sweet little chapter showing Nozuki and Aoi's little conundrum at a school festival. I think the intercom's inclusion made this better than a run-of-the-mill festival chapter. The adopted Dad watching over them adds a real challenge to the otherwise episodic nature of this and Nozuki's mentor savoring the chaos was funny. 

Someone Hertz 42 - Another solid chapter as usual. Kurage dragging Miei around was funny. Seeing the kooky actions and jokes she made to get the things she needed was funny and nice too. I enjoyed the second half a lot too with Miei hiding him to keep him around. It’s sweet in that little “Kurage doesn’t verbalize her feelings but you can tell she cares” way. And boy has the shipping only increased lately as MonMid’s announcer mirrors Mimei’s actions but for love when he was a high schooler.

Under Doctor 25 - I can only say that this manga has a deep appreciation for the medical field and public sector jobs so much. Shuli’s operation and fear had a sweet plainness and honesty to it. It was nice to see Haiji still extend decency to the goofy bad guys as well at the end. I’m glad Shuli kept the bullet as a necklace too. It’s a sweet little memento and showcase of his growth as becoming a doctor in his own right. 

Witch Watch 255 - Medieval Sket Dance FTW. The start to this flashback was really nice. The wordplay of Ros With A and Alex And Ros is smart. I'm curious to see how Rose becomes Hrosvitha considering she's the one with powers and not Vitha.

[nerdsmoothie]

Recommendations From Iwamoto-Senpai Ep3 Review

I’m convinced this is not going to be a “pretty boys fighting other pretty boys” series like I thought it would be. Or at least not entirely a battle action of that kind. Instead it's a quiet mystery of the week. I thought the mysteries were initially to set up the world and initial scenario but instead the anime has kept that vibe. I'm also convinced this series will struggle with world building. It seems to do what it wants at the moment without fully thinking about it. I know it's only three episodes in but still. There is some real fucking weird world building. A middle schooler running the “super powered soldier” brigade of a military training school is wild. Even wilder that he's essentially a basic soldier and no one seems to see how super powered soldiers can be of use. The world building seems to exist for whatever current mystery or drama is happening rather than a mystery or drama existing in a world if that makes sense. The first mystery/drama of the week was nothing special. I'm glad we get to see some nuance in not everyone getting picked up by Iwamoto and people with special powers hiding it for fear of military use. It wasn't anywhere near as emotional as it wanted to be with its burning cocoon sporting out fireflies. But it was ok if bland. The second mystery on the other hand had more going on. Iwamoto's sidekick for this mystery has a fair amount of charisma and bounces off of the serious Iwamoto really well. The mystery itself is a lot more interesting too.

[nerdsmoothie]

Elusive Samurai Season 2 Ep1 Thoughts

Reintroducing the cast, introducing the Kanto Hisashiban, and planting the seeds of Takuaji's defection for his own regime! A wonderfully paced and balanced episode that bundles a few key important chapters altogether very well. This is a big pivot in the history that EluSam covers and the episode does well at showcasing it.

I've read the entire manga on Manga+ as well as reading each volume as VIZ releases them so my opinions here might be a bit different from anime onlys. 

The ep starts by covering the Sea Bream chap which worked really well as a reintroduction to the cast for the wait between seasons. It also reminds viewers of Tokiyuki's loss well with the quick flashback which iirc is an anime addition that I love. As per usual with more comedic chapters the animation was choppy at points. Well, choppy compared to both its higher budget moments. This still has a noticeable amount of time being animated as well as newer anime in general having less stills than 00s and pre-2000 anime. But it kept its budget well and knew when to animate more and when to let the voice acting and situational comedy do the heavy lifting. It had a great raucous energy to it I really enjoyed. Overall I don't really care that much about budget and animation quality. It's clear the budget seems a bit smaller. But I think the direction, both from the manga itself as well as the choices done for its animated adaptation with impeccable framing and compositional choices, keeps it vibrant and interesting regardless of any budget-saving measures. EluSam gets pretty combat heavy for here on out so I'm sure its trying to conserve to keep relatively good quality throughout than blow it all on its first episode back.

I'm a big fan of the Kanto Hisashiban in EluSam so I'm so happy their introduction is done pretty well here. Compared to the manga I feel like it really pushes how much younger they are compared to the Hojo with their boy band-y vibe with great voice acting choices and the “trendy and fresh” music in the background. Takuaji's rise in power and eventual defection is built in well too with his moment with the imprisoned heir. 

I really enjoy the inclusion of live action elements though I'm sure it’ll put off others. The series as a whole as it really focuses on the humans behind history and their struggles, triumphs, and influence on history partially possible through being born and doing certain actions at a certain time period. I think having more real-life elements can drive the “these are humans hear their tale” vibe EluSam develops as it continues in the manga (especially near its end and the recent extra chapter released in WSJ). 

Overall it adapts its chapters from the manga well and with its own flairs that develop the story and vibe excellently. 

[nerdsmoothie]

Mebius Dust Ep 2 Thoughts

Overall episode 2 of Mebius Dust feels a lot like episode 1 just with less exposition allowing for more of the sports. I can see why the initial pitch for this won the Kids/Game category. Every match feels like two kids saying "Yeah! And then my super cool power does this" to each other. Its endearing and can inspire what ones own cool robot body part super power would be. Each match does well enough of being its own thing to not get boring which I appreciate. After ep1 I thought it would be only capture the flag so I'm glad its not. It balances that with the laid-back kids hanging around side of it as well as the larger mystery slowly developing in the back. Mebius Dust feels like it has all the fundamentals but it's just not terribly exciting. Everything has this laidback lethargy to it. Everything is just a bit too slow or reserved. I think it's meant to be have this slow-paced feel to it but it almost feels a bit sapping.

This also reminds me of the Jump+ manga Vibration Man where both feel heavily inspired like MHA. Though its weaker here whereas Vibration Man felt like someones OCs in legally distinct MHA AU.

I wish the world building was a bit more clear on some things. With the giant crystal giving people powers, the weird demon arm our emo MC got for a split second in ep 1, and the occasional sad/emotional shots and composition in the OP and ED I'm assuming this will eventually take a turn. But the world feels a bit underbaked. Like, our super powered athletes here are apparently doing this all illegally, because they use their powers too strongly, and yet they post and are pretty public about these games that must take awhile to set up. And people watch them but never figure out how to get there in person when it should he easy considering prep tome and them being confined to a city. Which makes it confusing how the government is so inept at tackling this issue. I get the hare-brained scientist kid is giving a pass now but prior to this how did they get away with all this?

Speaking of Dr. Yuda, the hare-brained scientist kid, he is the best part. I wish they did something more with them as I feel like if they lean into his craziness a bit more it could be even better. The Mebius Dust mystery is great as well though I'm sure that'll be reserved for the final arc to truly be delved into.

The ending felt goofy. I get they're the evil team or whatever but they came off a bit cheesy. The series does too good at portraying them as their age that the edginess comes off goofy and super chuuni.

[nerdsmoothie]

New Blog!

Hello! I'm making a blog on here to post some longer opinions about my hobbies than I can on Twitter. Feel free to read these as they come out and comment. I'm always down to talk about stuff lol. I really enjoy manga and graphic novels and I think that'll be the main thing I post about. Anywho... I'll probs start on Sunday with the new issue of WSJ!