The All About Manga Thread

Another week, another Jump manga review.

Bleach - Wowzers. The first half of this issue is just like the last 4 or 5 issues. But then we get a speech by Nell and we're all treated to some heavy lisping. Tho ath I continue thith review, I'll type in the thame lithp that the retardth that tranthlated thith crap made me read. It'th not cute and ath I'm thure you're realizing, it'th quite annoying. The lithp heavy thpeech leadth Orihime to cheer on Ichigo. She does and he gainth the thtrength to win. Prethumably. Le thigh.

1.5/10 Lithping Nellth.

Naruto - Art is a bang. I think everyone saw this ending coming. Deidara blows himself up in an attempt to kill Sasuke. Oddly enough there's an aside where he apologizes to Tobi for blowing himself up. Didn't he hate Tobi? Whatevers. How will Sasuke escape? How will Tobi deal with the grief of losing Deidara-sama for real this time? Will we ever see Naruto again in this title that bears his name? Tune in next week. Same Nin-time, same nin-manga.

7.5/10 Dead Deidaras

One Piece - Once again, One Piece rules the school. Luffy and Sanji's respective fights start. Luffy takes on the shadowmaster. I'm not gonna lie, so far his powers seem kinda lame for the big boss, but I'm sure in the next issue he'll reveal some hidden strength and make this fight a lot tougher for Mugiwara. Sanji takes on the invisible lion-man. There are some funny moments when both of these lovesick wierdos take turns mistaking Nami for a Goddess, an Angel, and a nymph. Then the lion insults Sanji by saying his Zombie is weak and insists he gives Nami back. Sanji, of course, goes nuts and beats the hell out of lion boy. Again, I'm sure we haven't seen the extent of this guys powers.

8/10 Exploding Sanjis
 
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A little late this week, but the jump mangas are up.

Bleach - Begins with the continuation of the meaningless stupid fighting that I've been *****ing about for weeks. Then it takes a time out to actually do some plot development!!! I'm absolutely shocked. We get a look at Grimmjow's past, which isn't terribly interesting, but hell anything better than the unending fight. Then his past is interrupted to go back to the fight where we learn that Grimmjow's been holding back this whole time. Oh joy of joys. Get prepared for another 6 weeks of Ichigo and Grimmjow firing energy blasts at each other. Still, they actually did attempt to tell a story this time around so...

3.5/10 - Feline Grimmjows

Naruto - This week Naruto rocked the house. There was some serious plot development and it was all good. Sasuke survives Deidara's final bang in a surprising and clever way. Tobi doesn't make an appearence. The Akatsuki assume they both died and actually seem bothered by their comrades deaths for the first time yet. We finally see the face and get the name of the Akatsuki leader and we even see the mysterious female member for the first time, just in time to learn he isn't the one pulling the strings. Someone else is behind all this, but once again we find the big bad shrouded in shadow. Naruto and the others see the explosion, so there might be a meeting next week. Great stuff.

9.5/10 Pierced Peins

One Piece - Another solid issue from One Piece. This week is mostly about Sanji's big fight with the invisible lion. And the fight seems to still be one sided in Sanji's favor. We learn the true origin of the lion's ability to blast things from a distance which I must admit I didn't see coming (and that makes me feel really dumb). In a funny scene, we also learn that the lion stole one of Sanji's dreams before they ever met. The fight continues and Sanji is severely hindered by having to protect Nami and he gets stabbed in the back (literally) before he regains the upper hand. Then we switch over to Usopp's great Emo battle of extreme emoness which has become a chase with much less emo orientation. Zombies continue to hate fire and Usopp gets a big surprise on the last page. Good, but not as good as Naruto this week.

8.5/10 - Pervy Sanjis
 
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Huh Bleach actually did a decent job with explaining Grimmjow's past, a nice surprise if nothing else. Naruto and OP delivered as usual.

Recently I've been checking out a few other manga's, Fairy Tail is one that I've started to get into even though it shares a lot of similarities with One Piece (which isn't necessarily a bad thing) it's still entertaining. Basically replace pirates with mages, and you get the general idea, but there's enough key differences and the recent plot twist was really good.

I also tried to read Claymore but couldn't get past the first couple of chapters with it's uninteresting characters and lack of story direction.
 
Huh Bleach actually did a decent job with explaining Grimmjow's past, a nice surprise if nothing else. Naruto and OP delivered as usual.
Indeed.
Recently I've been checking out a few other manga's, Fairy Tail is one that I've started to get into even though it shares a lot of similarities with One Piece (which isn't necessarily a bad thing) it's still entertaining. Basically replace pirates with mages, and you get the general idea, but there's enough key differences and the recent plot twist was really good.
I read the first chapter and I did a double take at how much it's like One Piece. But that's a good thing. When I have some more time I'd like to get caught up on this.
I also tried to read Claymore but couldn't get past the first couple of chapters with it's uninteresting characters and lack of story direction.
I haven't read Claymore, but I just started Ares a little while ago. It's got potential, but they don't seem to be doing much with the characters yet. Don't know if I'll keep reading it.
 
One Piece - Another solid issue from One Piece. This week is mostly about Sanji's big fight with the invisible lion. And the fight seems to still be one sided in Sanji's favor. We learn the true origin of the lion's ability to blast things from a distance which I must admit I didn't see coming (and that makes me feel really dumb). In a funny scene, we also learn that the lion stole one of Sanji's dreams before they ever met. The fight continues and Sanji is severely hindered by having to protect Nami and he gets stabbed in the back (literally) before he regains the upper hand. Then we switch over to Usopp's great Emo battle of extreme emoness which has become a chase with much less emo orientation. Zombies continue to hate fire and Usopp gets a big surprise on the last page. Good, but not as good as Naruto this week.

8.5/10 - Pervy Sanjis

What was the surprise?
 
Tried out some new mangas over at my beloved onemanga.com.

Here are the preliminary reviews.

UnbalanceX2 - Silly high school drama about a kid who has a crush on his teacher. But his class president has a crush on him and his best friend has a crush on her. It goes in circles for a while, periodically introducing new characters who are quickly abandoned after they've served their purpose. No real deep plot points worth mentioning. It is what it is, if you've ever wondered what a Dawson's Creek or One Tree Hill would be like as a manga - this is what you've been looking for. Also, it's Korean. And apparently Korean isn't read backwards, which threw me at first. I likes my manga backwards dammit!

The Meloncholy of Suzumiya Haruhi - This is really good. It's about a guy who meets a strange girl who he finds himself mysteriously drawn to. Now I know that this is the same plot you've read in just about every manga ever made, but this one is different. She introduces herself on the first day and demands that any aliens, time-travellers, and supernatural creatures come to meet her. She then proceeds to reject any advances made by 'normal people' and she starts a club with our young hero (against his will) devoted to finding mysterious things. I really don't know what else to say without spoiling it though. It starts off pretty slow and I was going to drop it after about the 5th or 6th chapter, but then there is a surprising revelation that hooked me.

Hot Gimmick - A young girl's younger sister thinks she's pregnant from an encounter with one of her boyfriends (she'll be appearing next week on Maury), so she sends her sister to buy a pregnancy test. Which ends poorly when her father's boss' son finds out about it. He tells her he'll keep the secret if she becomes his slave. When I read the synopsis it sounded like a quirky comedy, but it's another drama. The plotting is fairly childish and gimmicky. And every man in the series seems to be trying to get into the main characters pants, including her brother. Don't waste your time on this one.

Ares - I'm still fairly early on in this series. Two teenage boys in an alternate universe answer a call for mercenary work. They go and join up. A lot of fighting happens. That's pretty much the extent of the plot thus far. The more I read this, the more it seems like Berzerk for kids. I don't know if I'll continue with this one or not. Oh, and this is another left to right manga. MAKE UP YOUR MINDS!!!
 
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The Meloncholy of Suzumiya Haruhi - This is really good. It's about a guy who meets a strange girl who he finds himself mysteriously drawn to. Now I know that this is the same plot you've read in just about every manga ever made, but this one is different. She introduces herself on the first day and demands that any aliens, time-travellers, and supernatural creatures come to meet her. She then proceeds to reject any advances made by 'normal people' and she starts a club with our young hero (against his will) devoted to finding mysterious things. I really don't know what else to say without spoiling it though. It starts off pretty slow and I was going to drop it after about the 5th or 6th chapter, but then there is a surprising revelation that hooked me.

Hmm, I'll try this.

Hot Gimmick - A young girl's younger sister thinks she's pregnant from an encounter with one of her boyfriends (she'll be appearing next week on Maury), so she sends her sister to buy a pregnancy test. Which ends poorly when her father's boss' son finds out about it. He tells her he'll keep the secret if she becomes his slave. When I read the synopsis it sounded like a quirky comedy, but it's another drama. The plotting is fairly childish and gimmicky. And every man in the series seems to be trying to get into the main characters pants, including her brother. Don't waste your time on this one.

I almost started this one, but then I saw that it was tagged as a shoujo (girl) comic.

I've been reading Black God (which is by Koreans but is read right to left). It's not bad, it starts off on a fairly promising premise with a story about dopplegangers and a demigod like race, but it turns into a basic fighting manga which kinda sucks. However, the characters are fairly likable, the art is good, the fight scenes can be pretty brutal, and there's a decent amount of mystery to the plot. Overall a B grade.
 
The Jump mangas are in. Which means it's once again time for...

McCheese's Weekly Jump Manga Review.
Warning: May contain McCheese bashing Bleach because Bleach is teh suxxors of late.

Warning... again: Contains major and kickass spoilers for Naruto. Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled, fool.​

Bleach - Well for the second week in a row they actually tried to tell a story in Bleach. And for the second week in a row it was bland and uninteresting. But hey, anything to escape from the mindless violence with a complete lack of plot advancement this series has been infamous for of late right? Well, no. There was plenty of that. And a speech that sounded very familiar about saving his friends and returning to Earth. Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, during the Sereitei arc, back when this series was good. Plus points for realizing what made this series popular in the first place, minus points for directly copying this speech and the overall plot to this arc from an earlier arc in the series. In the end, Ichigo charges in to do battle with Grimmjow again. Whoopdeefriggendo.

2.5/10 Cannabal Grimmjows

Naruto - Naruto knocks this one out of the ****ing park. Ok, sure the first 16 pages barely do anything, but when you end the way this one ended you can afford to waste 16 pages. But let's review those pages first for the hell of it. Itachi is sulking in the rain post "Your brother is dead.", Kisame call him on it, but Itachi says he knows his brother is alive. Duh. Ubermensch. Speaking of the Ubermensch, he brakes up a fight between his minions before taking a nap. Naruto and the gang stand in Deidara's crator, but the dogs can't find a trail for Sasuke. Luckily Kiba's nose is now better than a nindog's nose. Naruto gets all excited. Whatever. NOW COMES THE GOOD PART. We go to the artist formerly known as the Akatsuki leader, Pein (spelled Pain this time), who is taking orders from the newly revealed REAL Akatsuki leader. Then they reveal the leader's face, or lack thereof. It's Tobi!!! Now this would have been a big enough surprise to go out on, but then they show he does indeed have the sharingan in his one eye. The return of Obito has been glorious and funny. These combined reveals made scream out "NO ****ING WAY!!!", but thankfully I was alone so I didn't have to explain why a manga would make me yell like that.

10/10 Tobi, er Obito... Terrific Tobitos

One Piece - A fairly entertaining issue. Which is a big compliment considering the entire issue is about Usopp, who I have always believed worked only in small doses. Still this one is funny and entertaining, even if the translation I read was really bad. Seriously, I had to read some parts 3 times to figure out what they were trying to say. Anyway, Usopp discovers that his attacks go right through Perona. But she seems unable to attack him as well. Well that goes out the crapper when she reveals her small exploding ghosts attack (I don't remember what the real name was). Anyway she gains the upper hand and her pet teddy bear thing attacks Usopp. Things look bad until the sudden return of a great gimmick. I could almost hear the theme music playing. Usopp figures out Perona's game and finds how she suddenly became incorporeal. Next week should be good.

7.5/10 Sudden Sogekings
 
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Jump Mangas are in early this week. Which means it's time for the glorious return of...

McCheese's Weekly Jump Manga Review
Warning: May contain a good review for Bleach.​

Bleach - If you've read the warning you are no doubt terrified. I know this seems strange and unnatural, but if you think back really hard I think you'll remember that this series used to be good occasionally. Anyway the issue starts with Ichigo stabbing Grimmjow. Grimmjow falls. Pretty standard fair for this series of late, what's strange is that he doesn't get back up. Ichigo picks up Inoue and carries her, but implies that she's heavy so Nell hits him in the nads. Then when they reach the ground Grimmjow comes up from behind them. Just as I was bracing myself for another start to this ridiculous fight he gets cleaved in half (maybe, I don't know) by one of the other arrancar. This issue was slightly above average. The conversation between Ichigo and Inoue was moderately entertaining and the thought of never seeing Grimmjow's face again makes me feel all warm inside. Celebrate now Bleach fans, who knows when an issue this good will come again.

6.5/10 Grimmjow Corpses

Naruto - The issue starts with Karin running an errand and planning to get Sasuke alone. Things don't work out that way as she senses Naruto's group approach. She reports to the ubermensch and they decide to bug out. They use Sasuke's old clothes to throw Kiba off. He tells the group that Sasuke's scent is taking off in a bunch of different directions. Naruto uses shadow clones to follow them. He finds Itachi instead. End issue. Nothing really happened here. I miss last issue...

6/10 Creepy Karins

One Piece - Usopp's fight comes to an exciting-ish conclusion. He makes good use of his silly projectiles and uses an impact dial for the first time since his fight with Luffy. In the end he wins in true Usopp fashion with a giant mallet. Then we switch over to the conclusion of Zoro's fight. What's that you say? How can they show the end when we haven't seen the beginning? Well then we get a a little caption box that takes us 5 minutes into the past. Zoro fights the zombie, but it all feels kind of anti-climactic since we already know how it ends. Or do we...

7/10 Ridiculous Weapons
 
Bleach - Just as I was bracing myself for another start to this ridiculous fight he gets cleaved in half (maybe, I don't know) by one of the other arrancar. This issue was slightly above average. The conversation between Ichigo and Inoue was moderately entertaining and the thought of never seeing Grimmjow's face again makes me feel all warm inside. Celebrate now Bleach fans, who knows when an issue this good will come again.

6.5/10 Grimmjow Corpses

I thought he got cleaved in half too, hopefully the other Arrancar eats him.

Naruto - The issue starts with Karin running an errand and planning to get Sasuke alone. Things don't work out that way as she senses Naruto's group approach. She reports to the ubermensch and they decide to bug out. They use Sasuke's old clothes to throw Kiba off. He tells the group that Sasuke's scent is taking off in a bunch of different directions. Naruto uses shadow clones to follow them. He finds Itachi instead. End issue. Nothing really happened here. I miss last issue...

6/10 Creepy Karins

It was okay, though personally I hate Itachi.
 
Okay, I see your problem with Naruto, but if there was a fight in every issue, and no development of plot, it would become like Bleach

Just saying
 
New chapter of Hellsing is out. It's Seras vs. the badass werewolf Nazi Captain, the last panel took me by surprise.

Okay, I see your problem with Naruto, but if there was a fight in every issue, and no development of plot, it would become like Bleach

Just saying

True.
 

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