This issue includes chapters for Food Wars! (which has officially joined the Weekly Shonen Jump lineup), Naruto, World Trigger, One-Punch Man, Bleach, Nisekoi: False Love, Hi-Fi Cluster, and Toriko. In addition, this issue also includes a new title for the “Jump Back” initiative: Naruto. There’s also a thank you section dedicated to Masashi Kishimoto.

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.

I only started reading Weekly Shonen Jump back in late February/early March of 2014, which means there’s a number of series published in the magazine that I jumped in the middle of. Since then, I’ve been able to start reading older chapters of some of the titles, but I haven’t managed to do this for all of the titles yet. Because of this, there may be times I might inadvertently include incorrect information in the write-ups. If you see something in a write-up that’s incorrect due to my having not read earlier chapters of a series, please feel free to leave a comment and let me know. Not only can I correct the incorrect information in the write-up, it will also help provide information for me to have when reading future chapters of a series in Weekly Shonen Jump.

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

Food Wars! CH:093

Food Wars! officially joins Weekly Shonen Jump‘s lineup this week, starting with Chapter 93.

Soma Yukihira, the main character of the series, is the son of a man who runs a small family restaurant in a less savory part of town. Soma wants to surpass his father’s culinary prowess, and he spends time honing his skills. One day, Soma’s father decides to enroll him in a classy culinary school called the Totsuki Saryo Culinary Institute. He has run-ins with Erina Nakiri, the heiress of the school, who has a strong dislike for Soma because of his low-class ways.

At this point in the story, the Fall Classic is taking place, which is a high-stakes tournament that determines the best first-year students at Totsuki Institute. When two competitors tie in the semifinals after Soma secures a place in the finals, it’s decided to have all three of the contestants battle it out for the title.

The theme for the ingredient of the final round is announced: mackerel pike. This turns out to be an ingredient that plays to each of the contestants’ strengths. It’s then announced that the final round will begin in 10 days. Right at the end of the chapter, we see Soma heading out to the market to try to get some pike and cook it.

My first exposure to Food Wars! came from a preview chapter that ran in Weekly Shonen Jump back in March 2014. Admittedly, that first chapter didn’t do very much for me. But now reading this chapter that’s a lot further into the series, I found that the series appears to be a little better than I initially gave it credit for. It’s not a great series, but it’s not bad, either. The main thing is that it’s going to take probably another two or three more chapters until I feel like I have any real understanding of the series.

Naruto CH:698

This chapter opens with Naruto talking to Kurama, who tells Naruto that Sasuke is lost to him, with Naruto retorting that he won’t give up and will succeed in saving Sasuke. After managing to counter Sasuke’s attack, Kurama gives Naruto some advice, as well as what remains of Kurama’s chakra. Sasuke uses Kaguzuchi, while Naruto uses his Rasengan, and the two of them collide with their attacks. This causes an explosion.

We then see Naruto and Sasuke awakening after being unconscious, and it’s revealed that if either one of them moves too much, they’ll bleed out and die. The two of them have a conversation, which leads to Sasuke having an inner monologue about his feelings for Naruto. At the end of the chapter, Sasuke acknowledges Naruto, and it’s revealed exactly how injured the two of them are in the very last panel.

If I hadn’t already known that the series was winding down, this chapter would have clued me into that. But now that Sasuke has acknowledged Naruto, how will this story ultimately end? Also, the injuries that they have… I don’t think that even Sakura, with her knowledge of medical ninjutsu, can do much for that! So what’s going to happen with that, I wonder. That last panel ended up being rather powerful. Unfortunately, I stumbled onto it as a spoiler last week on Twitter, so it didn’t surprise me as much as it would have if I hadn’t seen it. But when I stumbled upon that spoiler, it surprised me then. I can’t believe next week will be the end…

Thank You Masashi Kishimoto

This is a two-page spread of words from various people who have been involved with the English release of the Naruto manga over the years. This time, everyone included had an editing position of some kind.

World Trigger CH:081

Chikako’s cube is found, but Osamu is losing too much blood. A tourniquet is put on Osamu, and he’s taken to the nearby medical center. Meanwhile, there’s still some Neighbors around, and we see Satori appear to help out with them. Arashi-Yama Squad also arrives to help out. Kako and Kuroe from Kako Squad also appear on the scene. We see the Humanoid Neighbors and learn that they had to leave Hyuse behind. However, it’s declared that their original objectives have been met. Back with the humans, it’s revealed that various trainees are now missing.

This chapter takes care of the final clean up and wrapping up of the battle that we’ve been following for the past few months. Thank goodness this battle finally came to an end! I suspect the next chapter will see the characters going through the aftermath of the battle, trying to figure out what’s happened and how they’re going to proceed from this point.

One-Punch Man CH:039

This chapter sees Genos bringing in parts from the defeated G4, and asks Professor Kuseno to use them to help make him stronger. The professor asks to meet Saitama, and also asks Genos if he’s found any leads on the cyborg that destroyed his home. Meanwhile, we see that Sitch has summoned the denizens of the underworld to Hero Association Headquarters. One of the attendees is Sonic, who asks where Saitama is. He says that if Saitama isn’t there, then he’s leaving. Sonic also reveals the information that Sitch was going to tell the crowd before he hands anything out.

The chapter provided me with some background on Genos, since I knew nothing about him before the storyline with King started due to jumping into One-Punch Man quite a ways down the line from the beginning. At least I truly know who he is now, so that should help as I continue reading this series in the future. This chapter is also establishing the next story arc, and with the arrival of Sonic, this could have an interesting turn.

(NOTE: Due to only having started One-Punch Man with Chapter 33 earlier this year, I had originally included incorrect information in this write-up concerning Sonic. The write-up has since been updated to include the correct information. A special thanks to “Payattention” for pointing out the mistakes.)

Bleach CH:603

This chapter sees Etsu and Yhwach facing off against each other. But the scene quickly changes to seeing at least a couple of the female Quincies are still alive. They are approached by Robert Accutrone, who tells them that Yhwach went above without them and declaring that they were deemed unnecessary for the coming battle. A light suddenly comes down and sucks Accutrone away, and part of one of the girls’ wings is also taken away.

It appears that Yhwach is sucking up energy from the Quincies that we saw in this chapter in order to have more when fighting against Squad Zero. But for the most part, not much really seems to happen here. This chapter feels like it’s just setting up for the battle between Yhwach and Squad Zero. Hopefully the next chapter will really get this battle going.

Nisekoi: False Love CH:145

This chapter takes place during the school sports festival. It appears that Chitoge, Raku, and Onodera have ended up on the same team, and Marika and Tsugumi are on the same team. Tsugumi wins the race for their grade. Next, Chitoge and Raku are paired up for the three-legged race. They lead the pack, but then find they have to do a balloon-hug challenge, where they have to squeeze each other and pop a balloon before crossing the finish line. After a bit of a struggle, they manage to pop it. Onodera is then part of the bread-eating contest. Later, Marika tricks Raku into changing into a headband that reads, “I Love Marika” on it. It’s then time for the scavenger hunt. Three of Raku’s potential love interests are involved, and they need to find “that special someone.”

Sigh. It’s another chapter where Shu tries to put Raku in strange situations involving some of his potential love interests. Sometimes, these stories help to provide character development for the characters, but mostly they just feel like a way to kill time and stretch out the story so Komi can avoid progressing the overarching story in order to make the manga last longer. I tend to not enjoy these kinds of chapters when I’m reading Nisekoi: False Love.

Hi-Fi Cluster CH:006-007

Chapter Six sees Heckt activating quite a few abilities at once. By being able to use labels simultaneously, he can take on the industrial machines. It’s powerful, but he can only use it for three minutes at most. We also get information from Kandera on how Heckt joined Special Unit Six. Suddenly, a larger industrial machine appears, and Heckt manages to take it down on his own.

Chapter Seven sees Peta getting a call from Miri telling him to come to Shibuya. Someone on an internet message board announced they would be going on a killing spree here, which sounds a lot like a killing spree that happened four years earlier. Peta is asked to scour the premises to see if he can find the culprit. This chapter also starts letting us see some backstory for Kandera as well. The culprit shows up, and Peta uses his ability to confirm that he has a Hi-Fi label. Kandera comes in and is about to take on the culprit when the chapter ends…

These two chapters conclude one story arc and begin a new one. While we got a brief bit of backstory for Heckt, we got a little more for Kandera during Chapter Seven. I’m appreciating getting these backstories because it’s helping me to start to better understand these characters and why they act the way that they do. I’m looking forward to reading the next chapter, because I suspect there’s going to be more backstory revealed for Kandera during it.

Toriko CH:299

At the beginning of this chapter, Kaka finds a flower called a Sundoriko, and that it’s essential to take with them on their journey since it might save their lives. This flower’s pollen is the cause of many mass extinctions that have taken place in Area 7 in the past. They return to the surface and encounter a monkey who’s supposed to kill them, and Toriko threatens it with the flower’s pollen. But he uses the antidote and sea cucumber to help the monkey regain his fluids and not die. Right at the end of the chapter, Toriko and the others are taken to one of the masters, and Toriko declares that he’s going to break the rules of the continent in half.

This chapter spends a lot of time establishing the Sundoriko and the effects of its pollen. But as Toriko and the others learn more about Area 7 and how it operates, the more Toriko comes to realize that there’s too many rules for the animals who should be wild and free. I thought it was nice to see Toriko take mercy on the monkey that attacked them after the flower shot pollen at it. And it appears the stage has been set for the next conflict to take place in the next chapter of Toriko.

Naruto CH:001

Weekly Shonen Jump begins a second series for its “Jump Back” initiative, and this time the magazine is highlighting the early chapters of Naruto. It was decided to focus on Naruto since the series is concluding next week.

Naruto, the title character of the series, is an orphan who has decided that he will one day become the Hokage (the leader) of the village where he lives. Unfortunately, Naruto isn’t the best of students at the ninja academy, and he’s constantly pulling pranks to force people to pay attention to him. It turns out that, unknown to Naruto, the Fourth Hokage sealed a fox demon that was attacking the village into Naruto when he was a baby. The Hokage died soon after, but he had hoped that the villagers would view Naruto as a hero. Instead, the adults of the village shunned him, hence why Naruto feels such a need to act outrageously in order to get noticed. The Third Hokage, who took the position back after the death of the Fourth Hokage, decreed that disclosure of Naruto’s secret is strictly forbidden under severe penalty. While Naruto’s peers know nothing of his secret, many have picked up their parents’ animosity toward him and perpetuate it.

After Naruto fails to graduate from the ninja academy, he’s tricked by Mizuki, one of the instructors, to steal a sacred scroll. While Naruto has the scroll, he learns a cloning technique that becomes his signature jutsu during the series. Iruka goes to find Naruto, and when he does, Naruto wants to demonstrate that he’s learned how to produce shadow clones that he had been unable to produce before, and also says that it was Mizuki who told him about it. Before they can go any further, Mizuki attacks. During this, Mizuki reveals to Naruto that he has the fox demon sealed inside of him. As Mizuki throws a large shuriken to kill Naruto, Iruka jumps in to protect him. And when it seems that Mizuki is going to kill Iruka, Naruto is able to display his new talent for shadow clones and save the day. At the end of the chapter, Naruto becomes a full-fledged shinobi.

It doesn’t matter how much I watch or read this part of Naruto, it still affects me every time. The opening of Naruto is just so strong, and it’s easy to see why this series ended up becoming as popular as it did. Readers, especially teenagers, can empathize with the alienation and sadness that Naruto goes through. From here, Kishimoto went on to build an incredible world and a diverse cast of characters that fleshed out this world. According to the end of this chapter, Chapter Two will appear in next week’s edition of Weekly Shonen Jump.

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