Here we are with a new edition of the JUMP-IN, but this time with a little bit of a twist. Heading into this week, I found that we had chapters coming out Sunday and Friday of this week, which meant that I could actually see where some stories were going with their narrative directions.
For example, while I still felt that MASHLE was still one of the weaker chapters this week, I can see what Hajime Komoto is going for as the series is seemingly going into its final arc. I still feel that introducing new siblings after Domina diminishes his impact in the story, which makes his sacrifice less effective, but at least Komoto is still going forward with an ending.
The same could be said for the likes of Earthchild and Ayashimon, as both chapters flowed very naturally into each other and added to their respective narratives. Seeing Reisuke’s challenges in handling Mamoru’s psychic powers and seeing Maruo and Ten’s fights reaching their climax made for some really strong competition in this week's JUMP-IN.
This system also helped boost some series up a little higher than I expected as well, primarily highlighting how individual chapters can increase in quality week to week. The best example of this had to be Witch Watch and Protect Me, Shugomaru!, as their more recent chapters outshined the work presented just 5 days prior. In fact, Witch Watch honestly would've made the top 5 with the content from chapter 54, but the painfully unfunny comedy (intentional or otherwise) of chapter 53 made for an unenjoyable reading experience, causing Kenta Shirohara’s series to miss the top ten.
Even with this new format, I feel like I was able to find the 5 best stories going on in Weekly Shonen Jump, both in Sunday and Friday’s chapters, and there is no better way to start than with assassin action…
5. Sakamoto Days Has Fun With a Game of Tumultuous Tail-Tag (Sakamoto Days Ch. 62 & 63)
So following up the absolute chaos of literally fighting and falling out of a plane can be a little bit difficult to follow up, but Sakamoto Days still managed to earn a place in the top five. This time we follow Sakamoto and Shin into the final stage of the exam, with chapter 62 setting things up and introducing more examinees, including the psychotic schoolgirl assassin Toramaru, who seems to be a Sakamoto super fan.
This is a case that if we were going off last Sunday’s chapter, I probably wouldn’t have placed Sakamoto Days in this spot, but with the context of the chapters that just dropped it really adds to the narrative in a great way. The comedic exchanges that Shen has with the incompetent examiners gives a good amount of levity and the new characters, specifically Toramaru, are given a chance to shine. Her absolute decimation of the other teams in the game gives this new section the shot of action to keep the hype going.
It's actually the team element of the game that adds the best addition to this section as Sakamoto and Shin are on opposing teams. With his protege wanting to prove himself in this battle, it's actually pretty amazing to see our favorite portly purveyor of violence and snacks get so down when he is told not to help.
Suzuki has done a great job in presenting Sakamoto as this stoic ex-killer that, when he usually thinks about Shin, tends to comedically find ways to want to kill him. This adds another layer to our hero while making for a hilarious series of comedic pages, further bolstered by Sakamoto and Akira’s more relaxed approach to the exam in making food and shelter and upsetting their teammate.
While this pair of chapters can’t compare to recent battle heavy sections, they do add a great deal of comedy and character growth to some of my favorite characters in the magazine. Now with Sakamoto and Akira almost facing certain doom, and Shin in Toramaru’s cross hairs, I can’t wait to see what this series brings me next.
4. Undead Unluck Starts Andy’s Battle for Survival Against Seal (Undead Unluck Ch. 102 & 103)
Now it's time to ramp up the action, albeit only a little bit, as we see what God finally has in store for our favorite Undead hero. I want to start off by highlighting one of the best aspects of Yoshifumi Tozuka that I have yet to acknowledge, that being their character designs, and specifically for the UMA’s. Each one of these massive monsters has always been a feast for the eyes in terms of detail and creativity, but I think that the newest big bad in the regulation that is Seal takes the cake. They are present to be more on par with the size of an average human, with more effeminate features and a body simply made up of rolls of paper, giving them a mummy-like design.
Seal’s design is easy to understand, ties into their ability to seal enemies within their body, and still has an intimidating presence due to Tozuka’s build up of the character. We see this agent of God not only take out the massive UMA’s in an instant, but show off that they can use the powers those monsters actually have once sealed, all in incredibly composed panels.
It reminds of the design aesthetic of Akira Toriyama, with the idea that less is more, albeit with a few more frills to Seals design to set them apart. I would even argue that they make for an interesting antagonist then UnRuin, given that chapter 102 is used perfectly for setting up the entire character along with such a great design.
That’s only one half of the story though, as chapter 103 is where things start increasing the hype. The action just keeps ramping up, with Andy having even more crazy techniques to add to his spectacle of severed limbs. Launching his entire arms and legs like missiles and pressurizing his blood in a blade similar to a water jet cutter are just a part of the insanity, and each time they are stopped by Seal’s seemingly endless move-pool of copied abilities. It is fights like these that has given Undead Unluck the staying power it has had within the magazine.
We also see the Regulation’s God complex, or at least their agent of God complex, adding a sense of unhinged mania to the character. Seeing them mercilessly stomping face in due to a shot to their pride gives just adds to the villains demented personality. Now that Andy’s new tag-along Lucy has been sealed by this malicious opponent, the next chapter should bring the fight to an even stronger emotional level.
3. My Hero Academia Finally Shows Us Shigaraki’s Strength and Toga’s Terror (My Hero Academia Ch. 347 & 348)
We’re still on the action kick and this time with someone with a more obsessive personality than Undead Unluck’s newest baddie. Before that though, we have to start by highlighting the insane scale of Shigaraki’s powers on display, or rather the lack thereof. With the ability to seemingly multiply and manifest multiple hands for himself, Shigaraki takes the center stage in chapter 347, and we see Horikoshi ridiculously masterful artwork on display. Any fan of this series knows of his affinity for hands, and seeing the immense detail on the numerous fingers from the wrinkles on knuckles to chips and cracks in fingernails adds to the horrifying display.
They also present a much bigger issue, as Monoma’s can only copy one quirk at a time, meaning if he were trying to transport Midoriya to the main battlefield, Shigaraki could use his Decay to eradicate every hero there. Knowing that Midoriya has to find some way up to the sky fortress is harrowing enough, but that is the least of his worries as we head into the next chapter.
Our damned nerd of a hero is stuck with the most uncomfortable love confession this week, as Himiko Toga blocks his escape. Finally revealing her sadistic sense of desire for Midoriya, Toga is the core focus of chapter 348, and it is some of the most exciting setup for the series yet.
While we get some wild and frenetic action as she darts through our newest battleground and stealthily sneak through the waves of water, we see Midoriya rejecting Toga’s desire to become Deku while using his admiration for All Might as a parallel. This shows us how much the young man has grown in realizing the hero he needs to become, even if he still gets beet red at the idea of a love confession from this psychotic sailor scout. The other side of the narrative comes from Ochaco’s and Tsuyu’s roles in the chapter, with the former trying to connect with Toga and talk to the now heartbroken and isolated villain, and the latter promptly kicking her away before she killed Ochaco.
Knowing that the coming weeks present an intense race against the clock for Deku is great, but the fact that I can look forward to the final showdown between Ochaco and Toga in the coming weeks has me insanely hyped. I can only hope that Horikoshi gives this fight the level of action and emotional weight that it deserves.
2. Blue Box Has Hina and Chinatsu Use Some Intense Plays Off The Court (Blue Box Ch. 44 & 45)
We finally take a brief break from the fights, but we still keep the heat going in what has become one of my favorite series lately. With last week's intense parallel of Hina’s confession and Chinatsu loss at nationals, I didn’t know what to expect, but I was not expecting what came in chapter 44. I speculated that Hina would probably not fully confess to Taiki and that Miura would play up a mystery element, and it turned out I was way off base, and I could not be happier. Hina has always been this more outspoken personality with the way she messes with Taiki and to see her lay her love out on the table fits her character so well.
It also helps that her teasing of Taiki in these chapters is played with the open knowledge of her attraction to him, and seeing our lovesick badminton boy getting so flustered is great for the Hina fans out there. Taiki is already a living ball of awkwardness when it comes to being around Chinatsu, and seeing these thoughts of Hina creeping into his mind adds the kind of emotional drama a romance story needs and then some. This hits even harder for Chinatsu, who overhears a conversation later on and learns about the confession, seemingly another loss for her.
I love the fact that Miura is looking to share this side of Chinatsu in recent chapters, calling back to her feelings of Taiki being revealed during the summer festival. Knowing she's developed feelings for Taiki, but has seemingly stepped aside for the more proactive Hina, makes the revelation even more heartbreaking. Then in a spectacular twist to keep me and other readers counting the seconds till next Sunday, Chinatsu finally goes on the offensive by asking Taiki to go somewhere with her at the end of chapter 45. Brought on by her mom’s advice to find someone to turn to, seeing our female lead finally take a more proactive approach is as gratifying and suspenseful as any end of chapter battle setup.
Blue Box just keeps being this spectacular surprise every single week for me. Each chapter is so fulfilling to read and yet I can’t help but want more from this spectacular story. Knowing that the dynamic between our love triangle is drastically shifting with Hina’s feelings out in the open and Chinatsu potentially doing the same in the coming chapters could lead to some of the best romantic storytelling to date. In fact, this sports romance would have easily made the number one spot for a second week in a row, if not for a stellar presence from a star mangaka.
1. Jujutsu Kaisen Shows Why Gege Akutani is a Star in Shonen Jump (Jujutsu Kaisen Ch. 178)
You are reading the title correctly. With just one chapter this week, Jujutsu Kaisen has taken my number one spot. One of the core reasons for that actually ties into the fact we only got one chapter this week, as Gege Akutani found himself battling a case of hay fever that delayed this chapter. Given how many health problems Akutani has experienced last year and how it delayed his work process for over a month, I will admit I was concerned for the chapter's quality. I can gladly say that once again I was dead wrong as we get some of the best action so far in an already stellar arc.
It’s weirdly fitting that we finally see Rika fighting alongside Yuta again, given the recent release of Jujutsu Kaisen 0 in theaters, but even without that brand synergy this fight goes to a whole new level. Yuta makes our third copycat fighter this week, as it's revealed he can copy other cursed techniques, but I think it is the most effective here. Seeing him use cursed speech to disorient Takoko and then he and Rika pummel her with a barrage of fists is intensely satisfying. His later use of bat-like shikigami to add additional cutting damage shows just how multifaceted he is
Then you add Ryu’s powerful pompadour energy cannon into the mix and you get just enough chaos to make this three way dance ramp up in all the right ways. In any other series I would find such a wild brawl difficult to follow, but Akutani somehow found a way to make it so much fun to read while maintaining a clear sense of flow with his awesome sense for action.
I also have to reiterate the fact that he was able to present such a spectacular chapter while recovering from debilitating hay fever, showing me just how committed he is to his craft. While I would want any artist to take their time to recover, knowing someone is so devoted to their work really shows why Gege Akutani and Jujutsu Kaisen are becoming a pillar for both Weekly Shonen Jump and Shueisha as a whole. Knowing that this fight is reaching its insane climax with the first ever three-way domain expansion next week, we may very well see this action packed staple back in this very spot.
We now reach the end of our review/recap, and I can tell you now that this was definitely one of the more challenging JUMP-IN’s to date. It was still a lot of fun to do, but having to base the scores on two chapters and understanding having to judge on each chapter's personal qualities and how they potentially connect added a whole new layer. Not to mention it doubled my already limited reading time, with my main job and my family life, but it still made for an interesting experience.
With that said, here is this week’s rankings and I will see you guys next time for your standard single chapter review content!
| 6. Mission: Yozakura Family (Ch. 121 & 122) | 11 Akane-banashi (Ch. 5 & 6) |
2. Blue Box (Ch. 44 & 45) | 7. The Elusive Samurai (Ch. 54 & 55) | 12. Witch Watch (Ch. 53 & 54) |
3. My Hero Academia (Ch. 347 & 348) | 8. Ayashimon (Ch. 15 & 16) | 13. MASHLE (Ch. 100 &101) |
4. Undead Unluck (Ch. 102 & 103) | 9. PPPPPP (Ch. 24 & 25) | 14. Doron Dororon (Ch. 14 & 15) |
5. Sakamoto Days (Ch. 62 & 63) | 10. Earthchild (Ch. 4 & 5) | 15. Protect Me, Shugomaru! (Ch. 15 & 16) |
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