#nue's exorcist

[demifiendrsa]

Weekly Shonen Jump 2025 issue #4/5 cover

[raamitsu]

WSJ AUTHORS' COMMENT IN REGARDS OF THE END OF JUJUTSU KAISEN'S SERIALIZATION ⭐

#Thank you, Gege Akutami. Most importantly, thank you again for creating Gojo Satoru.

[rennebright]

鵺さん by リブユウキ [Twitter/X] ※Illustration shared with permission from the artist. If you like this artwork please support the artist by visiting the source.

[arkus-rhapsode]

Are We Returning To 2000s Era Shonen Anime/Manga (A Discussion)

So this is going to be way more of a thinkpiece than I usually do for this blog, but recent trends in the space and niche that I devote a lot of time to, Anime/Manga, have been showing themselves that got me thinking. This is not meant to be a serious sociology case study taken as fact, it's going to be more a theory based on observations of the community that I, like many others, devote a lot of time into than a full on claim, but I do want to ask, is the anime and manga community is experiencing a resurgence in 2000s era shonen manga?

Background

Now let me get this out of the way, there is bias in these observations as I am a western anime fan, but also a North American anime fan. Meaning my gateway and gauges of pop culture are mostly determined by the history of my area of the world’s relationship with anime. From the OVAs of 80s hyper violent and hyper sexual sci fi that you had to purchase from the backs of video rental stores, to the Toonami era of 90s and early 00s programming block the centred around action anime and cartoons, the 4kids era of mass market japanese animated kids shows that were really just giant commercials with some of the earliest memetics in western sphere, and the explosion of shonen battle series in the western sphere in the mid to late 2000s marked by the rise of the colloquially named “Big 3” of shonen jump. I understand that continents like South America or Europe may have undergone a different exposure to the Japanese medium, but as I am going in with some bias in this observation, I would like to make it clear on where the formula is coming from. I also would like to lay down a certain clarification before making this, when discussing the topic of nostalgia I think a lot of people have forgotten what it actually means. If we go by the Cambridge dictionary definition, Nostalgia is “a feeling of pleasure and also slight sadness when you think about things that happened in the past.” This is often invoked when talking about pop culture because people from say 20 years ago don’t seem to enjoy or relate to the interests of today. The belief is that nostalgia is generational ergo if you grew up in the 80s you’re likely wishing to recapture the feelings of childhood that you associate with those trends from 20 years ago. In fact, most revaluation in media has often been catalyzed by a difference of those who grew up in an era rebuffing the opinions of those who didn’t. 

There is the well known “20 Year Rule” regarding pop culture nostalgia. That every decade it longs for what was popular 20 years ago. Probably no better example than “That 70s show” being popular in the late 90s, the return of many beloved 80s-90s franchises like “Ghostbusters” returning in the 2010s as well as series like “Stranger Things” that wrapped itself up in 80s aesthetics. DC's New 52 relaunch that seemed to bring back trends from 90s era comics.

Now it goes without saying that the 20 year rule isn’t a “real” rule, rather an observation that certain trends make a return to popularity because the ones who grew up with a certain media will be the ones who add to the discourse when they come of age and will be the ones having a chance to create consumable art for the masses and that may just be revivals of once popular IP. This isn’t necessarily wrong in regards to nostalgia, but I do believe that one doesn’t need to have been born in a certain era to be nostalgic for something when we discuss pop culture. Pop culture is really just trends and preferences that become en vogue and people can acquire a taste at any given time. Sometimes it can be due to those who grew up with something now having the chance to create and drawing upon their own childhoods, sometimes it's just due to not being exposed, other times it can be a certain feeling of disillusionment of the now, and seeking something that peaks your interest, and even sometimes it can be major corporations or networks looking for things with existing audiences to draw upon that actually expand the audience. In fact one of the most prominent Netflix adaptations of the 2020s has been live Action Avatar the Last Airbender and One Piece, both shows that got their start on American televisions in 2004 and 2005. One of the biggest animated shows right now is Invincible, based on a comic book from 2003

So I want to stress this is not necessarily about how if you grew up with the original Mobile Suit Gundam show you are being replaced by the kids who were watching GetBackers. And or if you are a fan of shows that came out in the 2000s you yourself were born in the 2000s.

But what was the landscape of the English speaking anime community like back in the 2000s? Well let me paint a portrait for you.

What was the 2000s like for anime fans?

The term I used, “shonen boom period”, is somewhat mythologized in the western anime sphere. There was a glut of high profile shonen anime running around the same time that most people identified with this time period and was arguably when we saw the most influx of people getting into the hobby. One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach served as big series known for their massively large casts, MCs with a level of attitude, some of the most hype centric power supernatural/extraordinary power systems, and certain brand of “Japanese-y” humor. We can’t deny that it wasn’t just these series however, as series like Fullmetal Alchemist became many people’s introduction to more narratively intricate series interspersed with a somewhat gothic action style. The gothic and somewhat edgy Death Note became many fans' first ever “battle series that’s not a battle series” that also incorporated many biblical and gothic horror elements into its presentation. And things like Code Geass also incorporated this combination of hyper stylized cat and mouse with ornate and gothic aesthetics and fighting robots. 

Series like Ouran Highschool Host Club and and Haruhi Suzumiya were basically gateways to the more hyper extraordinary slice of life series that didn’t shy away from fanservice and loud comedy. With ecchi like Rosario + Vampire taking it to an even greater extreme. For people willing to go even deeper, series like Fairy Tail began to pop up and share a distinct similar flavor to series like One Piece and Naruto which arguably started the popular conception of it coming from the same magazine as the latter. That’s not also discounting the amount of holdovers from the 90s like Dragon Ball z, Trigun, and Yu Yu Hakusho, which also had an edge towards fantastical combat and comedic oriented series.

All of this is to generally illustrate the media diet of what an average anime fan was expected to have some level of access to. As this was far before the eras of Funimation or Hulu having online services. Not a homogenized spread by any means, and im certain plenty of readers could name more underground or smaller series like Mushishi or Elphen Lied, but generally the popular mainstream you could tell that there was a consistent theme of long form media with a very loud, very flashy, and very action oriented type of series. Which I think is fair to say had skewed some people’s perception. And while I cannot claim with utter certainty that Japan was the same in this regard, you can look at magazines like Shonen Jump and notice a somewhat synchronistic trend. With series like Hitman Reborn, Gintama, D. Gray Man, Eyeshield 21, Bobobobo, etc.making a clear marcation of what was commercially successful at the time. Even series not inside the magazine but had smaller nicher, Tokyo-pop-esque series like Rave Master, Flame of Recca, Air Gear, History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi, Soul Eater, etc all had a similarity to the shonen jump magazine. To the point it was not uncommon to see so many jump characters in a collage and one from shonen sunday or shonen magazine in there as if this was all coming from the same place.

Changing Landscape

Now with the advantages of the modern internet, we have the ability to actually keep up with the jump magazine in real time as opposed to the common practice of relying on scanlation site and fansubs that were often devoted to the most popular works. But with simultaneous publication and services like Crunchyroll, being able to access a wider variety of shows and series that we may or may not have access to. I believe that the 2010s in the english speaking fanbase was the decade we saw a somewhat expansionism of what people perceived as anime. Anime could be One Piece and Naruto, but it could also be Erased, it could be the Promised Neverland, Attack on Titan, K-On, Haikuu, and Durarara. With the representatives of the 90s no longer being holdovers in syndication like dragon ball but rather full on revivals of the likes of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and Hunter x Hunter. 

All of these could be "shonen" but also other genres like Seinin, Josei, and Shojo all had their own varying layers of what they could be in their demographic

The mood of what was popular was also changing, not just in the fact that more flavors of anime and manga were becoming mainstream, but new works from shonen jump showed a rise in almost subversive series like My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer that seemed to consciously deviate or place new spins from traditional tropes of the 2000s characters, and we saw works that were derivative of previous serious like Black Clover drawing upon Naruto the same way it was known that Naruto had drawn upon Dragon Ball before them. Series like The Promised Neverland and Doctor Stone offered up more dramatic series that still infused a certain energy of the shonen genre. 

And of course the series like Attack Titan whose much more darker and gorey storytelling seemed to have become one of if not the biggest hit of the generation with a well regarded adaptation, but something that had felt so removed from what were once contemporaries like the then ending Bleach or Naruto. We can also note that the late 2010s saw the rise of series like Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen that began a trend of popular urban fantasy stories. Where fantastical concepts were now in contemporary Japan and the stories that focused on concepts like self identity and the harshness of maturing were juxtaposed to the real world inhabited by monsters. 

It seemed many tropes of the previous decade were still alive in the rise of Isekai anime. Which was particularly the only popular outlet for fantasy stories with an action orientation. But these almost felt disconnected from the wider world of manga as things like heavy harem action series had actually decreased in mags like shonen jump. There was also new tropes being established in this subgenre that became unique popularizations of tropes all on their own, such as the overpowered protagonist whose power everyone believes is weak. But many of these were based on light novels, a form of media that only in the last few years western readers are having official access to and not simply scans found on the internet.

We in North America truly have gone from anime being a niche that was primarily accessible through dedicated TV blocks like Toonami, to a full blown cultural relevance shift.

We also need to talk about this era in its perception of the past also shifted. The 90s and the early 00s often blend together as classics of the anime community. Somewhat encased in amber. However, there is no denying that “feels like a 2000s series” had become a bit of a shorthand for very goofy, Very horny, very action heavy series. Series like Fire Force and and Undead Unluck had their show what more problematic elements be equated to the problematic trends of the past that people just accepted as “a part of the medium.” But lets keep in mind, this is not really describing a time, more a trend. Superficial elements that invoke similar feelings of the past. 

Speaking of anime fans…

Fan Culture

So while I wanted to paint a picture of creatively the landscape has changed, there’s no denying that in the age of internet accessibility, the anime fan community has also changed. It is much much easier now to get in contact with people who are anime fans now than it was to rely on word of mouth like it was back in the day. I can still distinctly remember my anime club which wasn’t even really a club devoted to anime but rather other geek stuff like D&D and TCGs. Our hobbies just happened to have similar overlap.

Now though, anime fan culture is much more relevant and thriving. Going from just posting weekly reviews, to long retrospectives, comedy videos, abridged series, clickbait articles, fan theories, and podcasts. However, I think a defining feature of fans of the 2000s era of anime that were at their most prominent was hype culture. 

Due to many of the biggest anime series at the time being released weekly and focusing on action, many many many discussion boards and videos were often about staying in this cycle of wanting to see what happens next and the action made people very excited to see just how characters were going to win fights or even if they’d have fights at all. 

I want to make it clear that this type of activity doesn’t belong to a certain era, but you can see it shaped by the 2000s era. Especially when discussing “what is the next big 3.” As if it were a true position and title, rather than a moment in time where there were just three very distinct shonen series in the fanbase.This doesn’t necessarily have a “negative” effect on the discussion of anime/manga but you can see that certain genres lend themselves to hyping fans up more and more. 

Someone isn’t reading the most recent chapter of a romance like Blue Box with the same level of anticipation of who will face who like it was One Piece. But there have certainly been series that try.

The Present

Now we reach the 2020s and this decade is still young, so it is hard to say what the future will hold for certainty, but we can look at the last four years and notice some significant waves being made recently in Shonen Jump alone. I already spoke of Undead Unluck, a series that almost wears it would now be considered retro inspirations on its sleeve. With an opening chapter that establishes an MC that seems motivated by a sexual joke, A power system follows a verbal naming gimmick, and a loose enough world that allows for characters of varying aesthetics and to be incorporated into groups. With groups of these powerful characters splitting up to face each other and use their ridiculous power to the extreme. Even in the series' own meta arc about creating manga, the in-universe analogy for Undead Unluck’s manga is commented on as feeling retro. There is no doubt the biggest viral hit of the decade so far has gone to Kagurabachi, a manga about sword fighting and magical crime lords that seems almost indulgent in its stylistic slicing and or dicing of baddies. Its memetic success was primarily due to a somewhat sincere and somewhat ironic belief that it would be the “next big thing” as it promised to be a stylized action series. Another surprise viral success has been the manga Nue’s Exorcist which sees another supernatural swordfighter boy harness the powers of his sexy spirit lady while getting into harem shenanigans that echo a particular form of ecchi of anime’s past that had actually been somewhat absent in the past decade in jump. Both of these series have a somewhat noticeable similarities to Bleach, a long running shonen action series that has seen its own revival in the last few years of writing this with the long awaited adaptation of the final arc of the bleach anime. 

While the other members of the “big 3” never truly went away and became almost inter-generational, Bleach truly did feel like a “come back” as it was absent for so long. And unlike Hunter x Hunter and Jojo which were never really popular in the west and even their older anime are more regarded as anime deep lore. Bleach was one of the most popular series in the west at the time to never receive a conclusion animated. 

Speaking of anime of the 2000s Trigun Stampede was a reimagining of the original late 90s show. This errs a bit similar to Hunter x Hunter’s style of revival, but also seems uniquely its own in actually trying to find a balance between the original series but adding in things cut from its original late 90s early 2000s counterpart. 

And now we must examine other shonen magazines. Series like Gachiakuta created by a former assistant of Okubo, the creator of Soul Eater, carries with it much of the similar energies of that series. Its also noticeable as being a truly dark fantasy series. Not an urban fantasy, but rather a completely new world that had a very grunge and dirty world building. And then there is Daemons of the Shadow Realm, a series by Fullmetal Alchemist creator Hiromu Arakawa. This series is also set in modern day japan with supernatural elements, however Arakawa’s style of writing is practically unchanged from her time on FMA. With an emphasis on action, intricate mysteries, and character building comedy with her trademark over exaggerated blocky style. There is of course Hiro Mashima who has started another new series, Dead Rock, and his style has also not changed that much. Then there is just flat out sequels to 2000s series like Gamaran Shura.

This to me shows that we are  seeing a bit of a combination of people who are now entering the workforce inspired by creators of the past, but also that creators of the past still exist 20 years later and are still making content that hasn’t really undergone significant change. 

Of course, we can’t also forget the implementation of the Manga Plus/J plus service which has opened up a very interesting ground for creators to have some of the most creatively out there series than what you may have expected from the shonen jump brand. I genuinely don’t think series like Make the Exorcist Fall in Love or Fire Punch would’ve ever been acceptable in the pages of a weekly shonen series. However one series in particular does feel like it could've and boy its been quite the success. Kaiju no 8.

Kaiju no 8 almost feels as though it is the AoT of a new generation with the amount of anticipation this one series has as well as the similarities between the series superficial elements. However, I'd say the key distinction between the two has been the tone. AoT took a dark and practically dour tone on its titan infested world. With an MC declaring war on all of his enemies. The pain was realistic, with human bodies being brittle and vulnerable. And the belief that just because you were a good person you weren't going to make it out alive. Kaiju no 8 instead opts for a more action oriented tone. Down playing the bleak realism for more "Hell yeah!" moments. With super science weapons that feel more akin to a tokusatsu show and fights and battles between humans an kanji the feel like the Dragon Ball style wrestling matches of old.

And of course, that’s not to say Jump hasn’t continued with series that feel more modern like the realistic and mellow romance of Blue Box or the dramatic coming of age story of Akane-Banashi. 

But the presence of these series has caused somewhat of a friction with the popular conception of the magazine. Its safe to say that while “shonen” tends to think of action male oriented series, it can really just mean works aimed more at adolescents. But I think many tend to associate this familiar feeling of “what is shonen” with their popular introduction of the magazine. With a saturation of action and brash comedy series. This is further complicated by the fact many action series in jump are actually ending over the last decade. With new ones not popping up to replace them as frequently and series like One Piece and MHA and Black Clover basically stretching out across an entire decade or longer. In fact, I don’t think it's unreasonable to believe that the hype for something like Kagurabachi was in part a belief that it signaled a return of a type of familiar series and genre that had been missing. Or at the very least, looked to fill an inevitable gap the magazine was obviously going to be facing. Followed by the other commercial success of Nue’s Exorcist, we are likely to see these series last for a long time. At the time of this writing, Tokyo Revenger’s author Ken Wakui has released Astro Royale, a series that feels very similar to his previous work yet infused with this almost GetBackers flavor.

So that leaves us with the question at the start, are we seeing a rise in 2000s nostalgia in anime and manga?

Conclusion

So I'm sorry if I disappoint, but the best I can say is, I’m not certain. I do believe that from my observation I think it is reasonable to say that we are seeing a rise in creators in the shonen space being ones inspired by series from 20 years ago. However, I think we are also seeing creators who are from that time period also returning to write how they have always written. 

On the consumer side, I think we can see that fans of anime and manga have changed in the sense their tastes can now be shaped by a much larger catalog of series at their disposal. But in the case of shonen, I think we are simply seeing those who likely got their start in anime at around the 2000s resonating with newer series drawing upon those series, but also with younger fans now likely to grow up with the tail end of what was popular in the 2010s now being influenced by the 2020s. I also believe that one of the defining features of the anime community in the last decade is hype culture. And currently we are seeing a rise in series that actually feel more catered to hype, be it a revival of a series they liked or predicting what will be the next success. 

All and all, this piece was trying to tunnel on the shonen demographic in general, which is more likely than not going to have similar traits relative to itself. I do see us as a community endorsing trends of the past and there’s an excitement for these things to “come back” even if they may or may not have left. If you liked this please drop a like or reblog because I may do more of these think pieces in the future.

[tokiro07]

Toki Reads Shonen Jump 2024, Issue #51

HxH: A Kakin soldier, Borksen, is captured by the Heil-Ly; Morena tries to recruit Borksen through a complicated and clearly rigged card game. Welcome back, Cipher Academy.

Yozakura: Tsubomi tells the twins how they can save Kyoichiro from sacrificing himself; the key is Rei's heart, which is only present because Hifumi previously spared Nii; Momo and Taiyo are freed of Asa's control. Hifumi's kindness is retroactively proven to be objectively correct, trumping any strategy or logic from the rest of the cast

Undead Unluck: Fuuko activates Remember, successfully upgrading the entire cast and allowing Julia to steamroll all of the Master Rules. Seems rushed at first, until you realize that Soul still hasn't been dealt with, and Julia just taught him a new facet to his Rule...

Roboco: Roboco writes her own relationship chart and can't help but ship herself with JJK's Gojo and Blue Box's Taiki. Watching Roboco fall into her delusions in real time is certainly a ride, and I'm really hoping that this chapter spawns a new meme template

Sakamoto: Tenkyu pulls off some sick tricks with his bow; Atari saves Shin with one of the most romantic displays of fate I've seen in Jump outside of UU. After all of that, it's going to be so funny when it turns out that Heisuke is her soulmate

EluSam: Kojiro's cousin, Kojiro, arrives to aid the team, but Uesugi sends Nagao to aid Sadamune. It looks like we're going to wrap up Kojiro's character arc soon, since his family and nemesis are converging

Witch Watch: The flashback continues and we see the rivalry between Moi and Kanshi's dads forming. All of the comments are suspicious of the kappa guy, Taiga, but I don't remember enough of the story so far to understand why

Blue Box: Chinatsu comes clean to her dad about her relationship with Taiki, and he tries to take her way; to compromise and make things easier on Chinatsu, Taiki volunteers to live with her dad in her stead. Chad move, honestly, props to you kid

Akane-Banashi: Issho and Shiguma approach Kiroku Kashiwaya to become his apprentices, but are initially turned away until they make amends with the soba shop owner; they learn of Kiroku's past in the army. I don't fully understand what made Kiroku accept them, but I was certainly touched by their apology scene

Kill Blue: The Butler/Maid Cafe uses underhanded tactics, selling idol merch, wearing cat-ears and sending scummy dudes to harass Noren; Noren awakens a femdom fetish in said dudes. We have yet to establish any real stakes aside from pride in this battle, but at least it's funny

Nue: Gakuro is revealed to have done some extra training off-screen with Hakutaku and manages to beat Rido with his new move, Massacre Gear. Not only is that a bad name for a move inspired by Gakuro's friendships, I truly don't understand what it does or how he acquired it; the presentation of events is sloppy, and the exposition of the power system is coming at an odd time

Kagurabachi: Billy Samura explains his motives to Uruha, claiming that he's going to use the Hishaku to eliminate the Swordbearers and then personally wipe out the less experienced Hishaku once they have the Enchanted Blades; Uruha understands his reasoning, but opposes his methods; as Uruha is killed, Hakuri manages to summon Chihiro. Compelling, but Samura seems kind of shortsighted here, since his plan is to ALLOW THE HISHAKU TO HAVE THE BLADES! They will definitely hurt more innocents before he gets to them!

Chojo: Kirara challenges Lily at the arcade and loses at everything, but they form a friendly rivalry. Every comment I saw agreed they should kiss.

Astro Royale: Kinpa takes a page out of MHA and realizes her invisibility can be used to refract light into a laser. I like that she was able to find an alternate use for her Astro, but it felt really sporadic; at least it suggests that other Astros can be upgraded too

Kiyoshi: On the brink of despair, Kiyoshi remembers Yamada's advice to breathe through his fears and gains the upper hand against Asuta. This definitely looks like an axe, but Asuta could escape OR it could turn out he's not the strongest enemy available afterall

Hima-Ten: On the bus to the school trip, Tenichi and Honoka lose at bingo and are forced to sing bad karaoke, but get to go to a coveted date spot as a consolation prize; Himari gives out lip balm that brings good luck in love, but ends up with one left over for herself. I appreciate that we're not dancing around Honoka's feelings, but if Himari is going to be competition, I wish someone would tell her that

Ichi: Shirabedonna suggests revealing Ichi to the world, but the Silver Snow Witch, Togeice, counters that Ichi needs to be taught proper manners first; Shirabedonna proposes that Togeice and Ichi compete to see who can capture a mushroom Magik first. Most of the comments seem to expect Ichi to lose to force a school arc, but I'm expecting this to show off Ichi's style a bit more

Shinobi Undercover: Hachikuma is revealed to fight with strings; Aoi is weirdly calm and keeps talking about fun upcoming events until she gets knocked out; Yodaka manages to take her back, and the fight intensifies. I assume that Aoi's positivity is her coping mechanism for losing her family, and she's not actually as calm as she appears to be

Hakutaku: Hikuma and Noto convince Zenji to help them make their next game; two months later, Noto very creepily convinces a bunch of kids to download what turns out to be an AR game. Wasn't this...supposed to be about dodgeball...?

Syd Craft: A master detective turns out to just be a savant at observation who just wants to know love; despite constantly finding out his love interests are murderers, Syd never realizes that his plucky assistant, Elio, is actually a girl in disguise or that his rival inspector, Souffle, is actually his childhood friend, both of whom are in love with him. Love the premise on its face, but right away it's another harem manga with no clear leading heroine, so time will tell if it's me or Tsutsui who truly Never Learns

Of everything this week, I'd say that Sakamoto Days was actually my favorite; Tenkyu's bow stunts were very cool, and Atari invoking impossible probability to make a gun out of scrap metal is a fun image that will stick with me for a while

UU would have been my favorite if not for the character moments it unfortunately skims over, most notably Tatiana and Billy's reunion. I still have faith that Tozuka is building up to something great, but that moment at least has been lost

Syd Craft's introduction is a lot of fun, I just hope that Tsutsui actually goes the poly route this time, or at least includes one if he does the multi-ending trick again

Supposedly next week or the week after we're going to be seeing a manga by ONE, Bug Ego, moving in from Young Jump; I don't know if it's going to start over or just pick up where it left off, or even if this is only a temporary move, but I'm worried about whether it will necessitate that something else gets the boot. At the moment it's looking like Kiyoshi, but I really hope not

[wickedsick]

Sakamoto Days wins "most insane bullshit"

Kagurabachi wins "best tragic moment"

Ichi The Witch wins "best chibi"

Mf looks like Cousin Itt

Hunter X Hunter wins the "brain blast" award

I'm already forgetting the rules of this card game and I think that's intentional

Blue Box wins "zaniest scheme"

Akane-Banashi wins "best montage"

This definitely feels like an axe, unfortunately

Nue's Exorcist wins "obligatory horny award"

Elusive Samurai wins "most normalized absurdity"

And Yozakura Family wins "best creep spread"

Continued in reblog

[aawmanga0009]

[sakamoto-days]

Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #42 Cover and Color Pages!

[saiyef]

[iamzeon]

Nue no Onmyouji

[tina-chou-17]

Blue Exorcist saison 3

Bonjour et bonsoir à tous, je viens pour vous annoncer que des images officielles du très attendu retour de Blue Exorcist sont sorties: Suivez le lien 【图片】「青之驱魔师」动画第3季PV 24年1月放送【蓝色的除魔师吧】_百度贴吧 (baidu.com)

Sa sortie est prévu pour le 24 janvier prochain, alors soyons tous au rendez-vous et espérons que Kaze ou Crunchyroll soit également au rendez-vous pour une vf^^

[demifiendrsa]

Official English translated author comments featured in Weekly Shonen Jump 2024 issue #36/37

Sakamoto Days chapter 177 - Yuto Suzuki

My Hero Academia chapter 430 [END] - Kohei Horikoshi

Kagurabachi chapter 44 - Takeru Hokazono

Me & Roboco chapter 196 - Shuhei Miyazaki

One Piece chapter 1122 - Eiichiro Oda

The Elusive Samurai chapter 167 - Yusei Matsui

Akane-banashi chapter 121 - Yuki Suenaga

Blue Box chapter 160 - Kouji Miura

Jujutsu Kaisen chapter 265 - Gege Akutami

Hima-Ten! chapter 5 - Genki Ono

Witch Watch chapter 166 - Kenta Shinohara

Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi chapter 7 - Shoichi Usui

Undead Unluck chapter 217 - Yoshifumi Tozuka

Mission: Yozakura Family chapter 237 - Hitsuji Gondaira

Nue’s Exorcist chapter 61 - Kota Kawae

Super Psychic Policeman Chojo chapter 25 - Shun Numa

Astro Royale chapter 16 - Ken Wakui

Kill Blue chapter 64 - Tadatoshi Fujimaki

Psych House chapter 13 - Omusuke Kobayashi

Kyokuto Necromance chapter 15 - Fusai Naba

Yokai Buster Murakami chapter 8 - Daiki Ihara

[raamitsu]

HERE ARE THE REST OF THE MANGAKA COMMENTS IN WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP #17.

[studentofetherium]

at this point, i'm cheering for Nue's Exorcist to keep going, not because i think it's a good series, but instead because i want it to get an anime so more people will draw fanart of the girls

[mangaiswild]

[tokiro07]

Toki Reads Shonen Jump 2025, Issue #3

Yozakura: Kyoichiro uses his True Blooming to save Taiyo; the family forgives Taiyo for hiding his suicide plan from them, but they tease and tickle him as punishment. This is the kind of scene where Yozakura is at its strongest, when the whole family is together, I really missed them

Undead Unluck: We see the very beginning of the Earth and learn that Sun and Luna were once defeated by...something, either other Gods or a previous creation of theirs; the Union all shout out for Fuuko's attention to show how much they love her, charging up The Heart with memories to unleash the Greatest Stroke of Unluck. UU is the Friendship Manga of All Time

Roboco: The city is attacked by a Giant Roboco from Outer Space!...or...Mutated by Radiation!...or Flushed Down the Toilet...?! It occurs to me that Roboco is soon to be the oldest running manga in Jump after One Piece, and no shade, but I don't think I care for that

Sakamoto: Shin learns that he can overclock his brain to slow down his perception of time and defeats Tenkyu; dismayed at the realization that after everything, he still has no qualms with killing, Shin mourns his failure to live as a normal, good person and prepares to finish off Tenkyu, only to be stopped by Sakamoto. Absolutely fascinating breakdown of Shin's character, I'm so much more invested in him now

EluSam: Tokiyuki shares a drink with Sadamune and admits he thinks of him as a father, though this upsets Sadamune specifically because everyone that Tokiyuki calls family has a tendency to die. It seems like a bit of a weird turn to call them a father-son duo, but this was definitely an endearing chapter

Witch Watch: Kokuryo fails to summon Jura in the gacha, but does manage to roll Jeanne Alter; naturally, she immediately turns on him. An odd twist, but damn if Jeanne isn't one of the coolest things in this whole manga to date

Blue Box: Prior to her final match with Yumeka, Chinatsu gets introspective about the gap between her own self-image and how others perceive her, and how that same concept can be applied to others. I've never been super invested in Chinatsu, but if I ever reread or watch the anime, this chapter will surely put her entire character into perspective

Akane: Kiroku founds his new school, taking the name of a Rakugoka abandoned by time; Shiguma embraces the opportunity for a new life, but Issho continues to blame himself for what the three of them lost. Issho's regrets and resentment are likely the reason why Shiguma was the one to inherit their master's name; looking back on the Mass Expulsion, it seems that Issho may have grown to become exactly what he always hated in an attempt to find redemption

Kill Blue: During the closing celebration of the festival, the stage nearly collapses and kills everyone present, but Juzo saves the day with a piece of burnt bread, a bomb and well-placed gunshots; someone from Juzo's past appears. No one heard those gunshots, huh? And are we supposed to know this guy? This just feels like an awkward transition into the next phase

Nue: Nue heals Gakuro before proceeding to sick Moroyoki on him to keep him from pursuing Shiroha; Gakuro wins because of his ability to grow stronger for his friends, and this interference is revealed to have been a test. That's...what the whole thing about Massacre Gear or whatever was about though...I guess having him surpass Moroyoki was good, but this feels like a waste of a chapter where we learn basically nothing; at least the image of the light shining through after Gakuro's shadows dissipate was cool

Kagurabachi: knowing that the Hishaku are definitely going to try to weasel out of their deal with Samura, Chihiro and the Masumi decide to bring Tatiana Samura's secret daughter under their care. Wild prediction - Samura's going to die and she's going to take Tobimune

Chojo: Chojo splits himself into his good and evil side, and his evil side proceeds to manipulate all of the women in his life into doing his work and giving him money. While a funny chapter, the good side had almost no focus or dialogue when I think there were definitely jokes to be derived from him

Astro Royale: a friend from Hibaru's school, Hiyohiko, asks for help saving his sister from one of the Yotsurugi siblings, Shikaba; this turns out to be a fake using his name for clout. Shikaba's got an interesting design, and looks to have a cool power; definitely the character I've liked most so far, but that's honestly not saying a lot

Kiyoshi: Kiyoshi plays ping pong to learn how to control his Precept Power; Nehan and Jack Joe ask Tsurugi for help with their training. Kiyoshi having extremely high output but terrible fuel efficiency is an elegant way to justify the need for him to train, and the ping pong method is pretty fun

Hima-Ten: The class goes on a haunted walk, and naturally Tenichi gets paired with Himari; Himari trips, and when Tenichi tries to catch her, he lands on top of her and accidentally gets kissed. How the hell did you idiots manage that one?

Ichi: the mysterious white-haired monk turns out to be not only a Magik, but the so-called "God Magik," a greater threat than even Uroro. I've been waiting for an antagonist to be introduced, and a "God Magik" seems like a great long-term goal to work towards, though chapter 15 seems a tad early to be introducing them

Shinobi: the Operator tries to use the class camping trip to set up Yodaka and Mukai; on the second haunted walk of the week, the pair get attacked by yet another ninja. I know I said I'd rather they stay friends, but they had a surprising amount of chemistry in this chapter

Hakutaku: Hikuma's dire need to take a horrendous piss nearly ruins Noto's elevator pitch plan, but fortunately he meet-cutes genius game developer Akamine. The brief snippets of Tidio show off the artist's design sense, which unfortunately they haven't really gotten to explore very much with this premise as of yet; if this series gets to continue, I think this would be the best way to find its niche

Syd Craft: Syd and Elio find themselves in the house of a leg-themed serial killer; Elio somehow thwarts the killer by misreading Syd's attempts to protect her as seduction. This is the first chapter that doesn't introduce a new concept or explore anything we didn't already know, so I've realized I'm probably not going to like subsequent chapters as much as the first handful; I have also realized that aside from polyamory, my greatest hope for this series is for Elio to have a trans awakening and start writing BL, forcing Syd to go into a Gay Panic

Ruri: the sports festival begins and all of the side characters establish their own dynamics and rivalries. I won't lie, I don't know a single one of these characters; I attribute that to the hiatus and my own bad memory, but at the very least it was a cute chapter

Top 3 of the Week:

Undead Unluck, to no one's surprise

Ichi the Witch for giving its first major antagonist such an impactful introduction

Sakamoto Days for one of the most fascinating takes on the "no-kill rule" I've ever seen in fiction

I'm so glad Ichi finally made it into my top 3, it was weirdly shaking my confidence in how much I liked it that Syd kept beating it. It feels like all is right with the world now