This issue includes chapters for One Piece, Naruto, Hunter x Hunter, Nisekoi: False Love, Stealth Symphony, Bleach, One-Punch Man, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal. There’s also an interview with the Japanese editor of the All You Need Is Kill manga.

For the series that carried over from previous issues I’ve read, I tried to put a little more focus in my write-ups about the progression of the story from the previous chapter. I will warn you that these write-ups will more than likely contain spoilers.

Of course, you can always check out Weekly Shonen Jump for yourself by subscribing to the digital publication at VIZManga.com.

One Piece CH:750

This chapter sees four flashpoints trying to reach the palace. Meanwhile. Usopp’s retinue makes its way to the surface. Princess Viola finds the key to Trafalgar Law’s cuffs, and she’s determined to help him since he and the other pirates are destroying the “sham peace” their country has been enjoying. Rebecca insists on taking the key to Law. Luffy gets more action in, and the gladiators starting heading up toward the palace as well.

As with many of the recent chapters, this one has been very action-packed and chaotic. It’s jumping around to several different areas throughout it, and I’m trying to keep straight who’s where and what they’re doing. It’s exciting, but also a little confusing. I suspect that we’re going to be seeing all of the various groups making it to the palace and teaming up together. It’ll be interesting to see if I’m right or not, as well as what exactly will happen once we get to the palace.

Naruto CH:681

In this chapter, Naruto and Sasuke are determined to seal Kaguya away. Kaguya comes up behind them, turns them around to face her, and they can see that she’s crying. Neither Naruto nor Sasuke can move. She begins taking their chakra, and it appears that Kaguya sees her two children when she looks at them. There’s also a big reveal in regards to Black Zetsu. A story is also told about how Kaguya had been sealed away before. At the end of the chapter, though, Naruto is able to free himself and Sasuke…

Overall, this chapter is more of an “info dumping” chapter that finally provides some of the missing pieces that links various things that have been seen throughout the series together, as well as provides more background on the world of the shinobi. There was some action in the chapter, but it was definitely more of an “info dump.” In some respects, though, this is nice, because it helped to slow things down a little bit. Many of the recent chapters have been so action oriented and moving the story along so quickly that it almost felt dizzying at times. I suspect that the next chapter will be picking the action back up a bit. I’m curious to see just how much longer Kishimoto will end up telling the story before he finally has to bring it to an end.

Hunter x Hunter CH:344

In this chapter, Ging and Pariston continue the conversation that began in the previous chapter. Ging says he’ll pay twice what they’re being offered upfront, with only one condition: that Ging is number two. The group considers the offer. Later, Ging meets with the ones who have agreed to join him, and he explains some things about travel and the Dark Continent, as well as about Netero and Beyond’s journeys there. Meanwhile. Kurapika gets a call from the Hunter studying medicine. The Hunter says he’ll be joining the Zodiacs.

Since I’m still a relatively new reader to Hunter x Hunter, there’s still a lot I’m trying to learn and figure out as I read these chapters. However, I can say with a lot of certainty that there was a lot of “info dumping” near the end of the chapter. I didn’t mind, though, since, like I said, I’m still learning and getting used to this series. I’m sure that like with the other series in Weekly Shonen Jump that I jumped into the middle of, I’ll start getting the hang of this one, too.

Nisekoi: False Love CH:127

In this chapter, Shu learns that Raku is alone with Yui in the house because the others who live there have gone on a trip. Shu makes sure to send a message to the other girls in Raku’s harem to let them know, and they all quickly head over to Raku’s house. Yui tells Raku they’ll try to make the best of it with everyone else there. Yui tries to get Raku alone by asking him to help her prepare lunch, and the other girls all volunteer to help. Yui then says she can handle it herself and asks Raku to entertain their guests. After they eat, they play the King Game. Unfortunately, the King Game doesn’t go as well as the various members of the group hope, which causes some humorous moments.

So this chapter brings together Raku, the various girls in his harem, and Shu. Having all the girls there causes a bit of competitiveness between them, especially as they’re playing the King Game. The chapter ends with Yui being the king, and everyone’s waiting with bated breath to see what she commands to be done. While this story arc does progress the competitiveness that began at the end of the previous chapter, it feels like it’s not going to progress the overarching story much.

Stealth Symphony CH:017

In this chapter, Alice learns that Jig hasn’t shown up at the Cyborg Soldier School for a few days. When Alice asks for Raika’s assistance to find Jig, she learns that Raika was caught up in the accident at the police station and is now in intensive care. A couple of people from the Cyborg Soldier School are able to access her device that records the surroundings right before and right after an accident, and they see that Jig is somehow involved. We also see the orphanage director and Slice talking about Jig and learn a little more about what his situation has really been. Dragons begin attacking, and Slice tells Troma that he’s going to kill Alice.

This chapter really starts to provide more background for Jig, and the story seems like it’s starting to make a little more sense. Once the dragons start showing themselves near the end of the chapter, there’s a more dramatic atmosphere to the story. And adding in Slice’s declaration that he’s going to kill Alice only heightens the drama and tension that’s been building over the course of the chapter. I’ve been enjoying this series so far, and I’m looking forward to seeing where the story will go next.

Bleach CH:585

In this chapter, Ichigo learns something about his robe from the Quincy head honcho who suddenly appears on the battlefield. As Ichigo tries going toward the guy, the women who had been fighting with him say that he won’t be able to make it to His Majesty while he’s surrounded by them and the others who have come onto the battlefield. Ichigo has to fight the newcomers, and Renji suddenly appears to give him some help. Right at the end of the chapter, we see there’s more than just Renji there. He’s joined by some of the other Soul Reapers.

This chapter is basically setting the stage for the Soul Reapers to take on some of the Quincies, and for Ichigo to go after their head honcho. I suspect that this fight will end up taking a while, so I imagine that the story arc is nowhere near its end yet. I suspect that Ichigo and the Soul Reapers will come out on top at the end, but the question is how they’ll overcome this obstacle.

One-Punch Man CH:035.2

In this chapter, Saitama and Boros are now in outer space. Saitama launches an attack on Boros, and Boros is impressed. He believes that Saitama is worth defeating. Right at the end of the chapter, Saitama launches a barrage of punches…

Um… wow. This chapter was really short, and really, not much happens in it. Basically, it’s Saitama and Boros meeting face-to-face in outer space, with Saitama launching a couple of attacks on his opponent. So far, during the time I’ve read this series in Weekly Shonen Jump, it feels like the story hardly moves at all. I just keep wondering how much longer the mangaka is going to stretch this story arc out before it’s finally wrapped up. But by the time this story arc comes to an end, am I going to even care anymore?

Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal CH:43

In this chapter, Yagumo and Shark’s duel continues. Yagumo is determined to open the door to the otherworld and destroy the world. We also see a flashback sequence for Akari which gives the background as to how she came to get a hold of the pendant and why she tries to keep Yuma from dueling. Akari contacts Yuma when she sees something unusual happening over the dueling area, and she tells him that she thinks their father is in the Astral World, and everything that their father said when his spirit visited her. People start getting sucked up into the opening to the Astral World. Astral discovers that his real powers are returning. Right at the end, it’s revealed that their world and the Astral World will be pulled into a hole and annihilate each other.

This is one of the first chapters of this series I’ve read in Weekly Shonen Jump that didn’t focus on the battle very much. Instead, it provided some background information and also progressed the overarching story to the next level. At this point, it looks like that Yuma will have to somehow find a way to keep these two worlds from colliding with each other.

All You Need Is Kill Editor Interview

This is an interview with Kouji Yoshida, the editor for the All You Need Is Kill manga. This is basically a reprint of an interview that originally appeared in NEO Magazine. Topics include why the original novel received a manga adaptation, the challenges that the adaptation would bring, what changes needed to be made to adapt the novel into a manga, differences in editing between Weekly Shonen Jump and Weekly Young Jump, what the market is like for this type of sci-fi manga in Japan, whether or not the author of the novel was involved with the manga adaptation, a description of the content in a few sentences, and tackling the challenge of portraying the complex scientific concepts in the manga.

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