This issue includes chapters for One Piece, Blue Exorcist, Black Clover, World Trigger, My Hero Academia, Toriko, Nisekoi: False Love, Samon the Summoner, Bleach, Food Wars!, and Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign. This issue also includes Naruto being featured for the “Jump Back” initiative, but this time focusing on the first four chapters of Volume 28 (which is set at the end of the two year timeskip).

I’m providing my reactions and impressions for each manga title that appears in the volume. However, be warned that this post may potentially 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.

One Piece CH:802

First, we see Luffy and the others freaking out about huge hail coming down, and coming to the realization that they don’t have a navigator. Oops! Then we meet Edward Weevil, who claims to be the son of Whitebeard, and his mother, who claims to be Whitebeard’s lover. They appear to have just learned about Doflamingo’s defeat. I’m not quite sure how these two fit into the story, but considering I jumped into Weekly Shonen Jump in the middle of the Dressrosa arc last year, that’s not terribly surprising. A new island called Zou is revealed, and it has an… interesting location. It’s going to be interesting to see how Oda pulls off the story line with Zou. I mean, sure, he had a sky island before, but this is something completely different…

Blue Exorcist CH:072

Rin and a couple of the others lament how Bon is now working so hard for Lightning that he can’t help them with their studies. But then they talk about what potential paths they might want to take. The story then returns to Yukio as he continues to try to figure out how he can become stronger. He takes a drastic step to try to awaken his ability, but it looks like it might not work. The chapter ends on a cliffhanger, so we won’t know whether Yukio succeeds or not until next month.

Black Clover CH:032

It looks like Rades is going to be defeated, and an interesting tidbit is revealed about him when his Grimoire is confiscated. But it turns out Rades’ and his group’s real objective was to capture Fergoleon Vermillion, and it appears that plan succeeds. So while it appears to still be a revenge plot, there was more to it than Rades let on in the previous chapter. I don’t know if it’s just me, but this particular story arc just hasn’t been terribly interesting. Oh well. I don’t have much choice but to continue with it until it’s finished.

World Trigger CH:117

It appears that the story is being set up for another Neighbor invasion to potentially take place, and this chapter spends a lot of time focusing on an Emergency Response meeting where Border bigwigs and higher ranking Border agents discuss what could happen and what they’re going to do. Meanwhile, Osamu is coming to a realization as to what he needs to do going forward for the B-Rank Wars. But Yotaro seems to have figured out who Jin was referring to in the previous chapter, and I admit it’s someone I wouldn’t have guessed. It sounds like this person isn’t interested in helping Osamu out, but things could change. And it would be quite an interesting development if they do.

My Hero Academia CH:061

We get to see what the matchups for the upcoming practical exam are, as well as All Might’s flashback concerning some of the decisions made on who to team up. Some time is spent explaining the practical exam before it actually starts. As the exam gets underway, the story jumps around to the various locations just as attacks start happening. But then the focus changes to Midoriya and Bakugo not off to a good start. That’s not surprising, considering that they don’t get along with each other. Their story is just getting going when the chapter ends. Hopefully the next chapter will continue to focus on Midoriya and Bakugo, and not jump around much. Or if it does jump around, that it doesn’t do so as much as One Piece did during the Dressrosa arc.

Toriko CH:341

This chapter introduces us to Acacia’s Demon A. We get to see A going up against Bambina. Then the other members of the Eight Kings and the Full-Course Meal arrive to take on other demons that have appeared in the Gourmet World. Most of the chapter focuses on narration of what’s happening with all of this, with only a minimal amount of action. But right at the end of the chapter, we see Toriko reacting. Overall, this was such an exposition heavy chapter that it was rather boring to read. Hopefully the next chapter will be more exciting.

Nisekoi: False Love CH:188

Raku shares his idea for helping Marika with the others. There’s an argument about some of the particulars, but after that’s worked out, we see that Shinohara has made arrangements for the two who weren’t captured to get inside the castle. Shinohara then lays out the plan for how they’re going to accomplish their goal. This story seems to be building up to something, but I can’t predict if Raku and the others will succeed or not. I’m very curious to see what Komi will do, and I hope it’ll turn out to be interesting and impressive.

Samon the Summoner CH:003

Samon is approached by one of his and Sakura’s classmates, who witnessed Samon summon a demon. This classmate now wants to borrow the power of the demons. Samon happily obliges. It ends up becoming a chaotic story, and Sakura tries her best to save their classmate.

This was probably the best of the three chapters that I read of Samon the Summoner, but I’m still not entirely sold on this series. About the only way I’d be continuing it at this point is if the English Weekly Shonen Jump decided to publish more of it in the future. But to be honest, I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

Bleach CH:645

Kyoraku explains what he does with the Zanpakuto to the Quincy. This is primarily a chapter of exposition, but then action takes place right near the end. But what action did happen was simply there to help illustrate Kyoraku’s explanations. Hopefully this chapter got the exposition out of the way, and that some real action will take place next week.

Food Wars! CH:137

Erina’s father is still acting like such an asshole in this chapter. But we see Hisako, Alice, and some others busting Erina out of her family’s mansion. They succeed, but after realizing they don’t have a plan, decides to go home. But at the end of the chapter, it’s revealed that they’re right behind Polaris Dorm. As I was reading this chapter, I had a feeling that Erina would somehow end up at Polaris. Now the question is, will she try to stay there to defy her father?

Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign CH:038

When Shinoa and the others make it to the rendezvous point, Rika comes running up and blaming her for all the deaths that have occurred because she protected Mika. But as others arrive, arguments begin breaking out. But as the truth about the mission is revealed, tempers flare even more. Shinya Hiragi is bombarded with a ton of questions, which is understandable considering the situation. He makes the decision to abandon the plan and devise a strategy to rescue Guren. We also get to see what’s going on with Guren while he’s in captivity. And something that Guren says right at the end of the chapter seems to pique the vampires’ interest. It looks Guren’s plan might be succeeding, and hopefully we’ll find out in next month’s chapter whether or not it does.

Naruto CH:245

The new “Jump Back” initiative features the first four chapters of Naruto Volume 28, which is set after the two year timeskip that Naruto was away from the village training with Jiraiya. Naruto is being featured again so soon to celebrate Masashi Kishimoto’s appearance at New York Comic Con. This chapter sees Naruto’s return to Konoha and encountering Kakashi and Sakura. The stage is set for the two of them to try to do the bell test with Kakashi again. Basically, this chapter was here to establish Naruto’s return and the fact that he, Sakura, and Kakashi will be on a team as equals rather than as master and student. The next chapter should be more action-oriented with the bell test.

Additional reviews of Weekly Shonen Jump:

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