Two weeks, didn't feel motivated to do one last week due to lack of One Piece.
Claymore 101 - OK, I admit, I am getting really confused by this series. Every month I've managed to forget who's doing what and why and I end up having to go back a few chapters. Not a huge fault, it's just, despite the art being really good and all, I have difficulty remembering which character is which. Oh well, I'm still being entertained. Some pretty dramatic scenes, some good action, Claire's fight is good and suspenseful, the whole "she cannot awaken" thing is pretty neat, etc, etc. My complaints about the author not seeming to have a grasp on the overall progress of the story still stand but I'll reserve my judgment re: that for awhile. 7/10
Fairy Tail 173 - Funny scenes, not sure if I want them to spend more time with the double versions or less, but alternate Natsu I think would probably get pretty old pretty fast. Vehicle magic? Whatever. Oh I guess that's next chapter. Getting out of synch here... Uh, anyways, he seems pretty quick to keep changing around the plotline, which is OK, but I'd like it to all come back together at the end. Otherwise it seems a bit excessive. Whatever. Fun times, I guess. 7/10
Fairy Tail 174 - Alternate Natsu's personality is pretty funny, but I'm glad it isn't going to be used until it's tired. Nice scenes of the city, too. Pretty dramatic finish, but you'll forgive me if I'm not exactly concerned yet, right? Can't really tell if this arc is moving too fast or too slow either, but I don't feel like the pacing is quite right at any rate. So yeah, this chapter was actually pretty nice anyways. The king seems to be a sort of fanatical character, sorta interesting but I had pegged him as like, stereotypical distressed wise man character, which might be more interesting, hard to say. 8/10
Fairy Tail 175 - Ahhh, this is interesting. Happy's shortcomings were pretty interesting, the plot is... well, it's kinda cool and not really that much of a stretch I guess? But geez Gemini has some oddly relevant and specific rules. Whatever. They get captured, the plot changes again, whatever, but the scenes near the end were pretty well done. So yeah, I am intrigued. Nice art all around too. 8/10
Beelzebub 50 - Pretty funny chapter. Setting up a few good plot threads, lots of good gags, and progress with the overarcing plotline of Oda trying get rid of Beel. So, we have: Some demon world stuff, six new enemies, still some stuff with the girl's father, and the whole apprentice plotline. Good. 8/10
Beelzebub 51 - Hmm, I think we're overdue for some action. Still pretty funny chapter I guess. Next chapter will have a fight scene too, which is nice. Still though, I said I wanted school antics, and I got them, and I'm pretty happy but there didn't seem to be a whole lot of development this chapter. 7/10
Bakuman 75 - Some nice pleasant scenes with the newlyweds, looking forward to the chapter with the ceremony, that should be pretty funny. I hope there aren't too many subplots with them having marital spats or whatever, I appreciate nice little scenes of them being happy together but anything else I think would just drag. Dramatic scene with Iwase, ah! But then there's a scene with Hattori to balance it out with some comedy. Good stuff. New assistant is always fun times, foreshadowing future difficulties and successes, yeah, this was a pretty good chapter. 8/10
Bakuman 76 - Trying to come up with a running gag was pretty funny, good awkward humour and such. Eiji on TV was a really nice scene, as was Hattori's meeting over coffee. And the ending! How dramatic! So what will happen?? I don't know, but I'm pretty excited, yup! 9/10
Bleach 393 - OK some kinda badass stuff here, kudos Kubo. I thought he'd forgotten first Captain old man or whatever, but at least he brought him back in a pretty cool way, even if his absence didn't make any goddamn sense. I think there's a good contrast that can be seen here when you compare how Bleach and One Piece are handling their "all out war" arcs. Oda makes an effort to keep all the relevant characters occupying some feasible space, and whenever you're wondering "Hey where's Crocodile?", there's always a decent answer of "He's probably still fighting Mihawk". Whereas here, characters win fights and then... wander off or something... and just watch their comrades die? Where are they? Why aren't they helping? Oh well. That's a major complaint, but it somehow can't dissuade the few awesome scenes in this chapter for being awesome. "I've been waiting the whole fight to set this up?" Lol huh? Well whatever. It was pretty neat regardless, all the way up until Wonderweiss coming back, still fresh from whatever orifice Kubo pulls out plot points that aren't interesting and don't make any sense. 6/10
Bleach 394 - He has scars on his back, he isn't cool!! Regardless, he is actually pretty cool, for a Bleach character these days. Weird stuff going on with Wonderweiss's multiple arms, but at it isn't as stupid as some of the other character designs. Anyways, this chapter is actually kinda neat. The fight scene was more interesting than a typical Bleach one of these days, there's some good art, and not a single page looks like ink has been spilled on it! It's hard to say if it's good, or just good for Bleach, but I'm actually leaning towards the former!! 7/10
Naruto 484 - Oh goddamn it. This is stupid. None of these characters are interesting any more. That fight is stupid. The art just keeps getting worse. The only well drawn things now are the backgrounds. This should be a very pivotal scene, what with all of them together for the first time in years, and yeah, that sort of reunion looks good on paper. It's been sullied with the fact that all these characters are 1-dimensional versions of the actual interesting people they once were. Remember when Naruto was a comedic character, with flaws and ambitions? Remember when Sakura was an interesting portrayal of inner rebellious spirit, the pain of gender expectations and regularly developed and actually did things? Remember when Sasuke was mysterious and a good contrast to Naruto, not the effing main character? It's all so stupid. Argh. It looks like we're moving into the final arc, Kishimoto better have saved up something interesting. 3/10
Naruto 485 - Stop taking this manga so seriously, Kishimoto. You don't have a plot anymore and your characters are laughable. This is supposed to be the big scene of your series, we get it. You haven't really approached it in remotely the right way thus far, but we'd be fine if you just handled it correctly from here on out. Don't screw it up. Just do what you've done for other big fight scenes and it will probably be OK. Don't try to do anything good. You don't seem to be capable of it any more. Argh. I used to like this series. This isn't art. Oda approaches manga like he's just trying to entertain everyone and he ends up making something genuinely meaningful. You're trying to make like, Evangelion meets The Brothers Karamazov with ninjas(?), and it's crap. Just have some fun with it. And try to draw better. Geez. 2/10
One Piece 576 - Once again I swing from full on hate to overwhelming adoration. Franky and Brook build a birdhouse as Robin looks on. Nice. But the chapter itself, oh god. Sometimes I have to step back and objectively look at my life. I'm at a very pivotal time, trying to decide whether or not to stay in my current university program, trying to plan a future career and lifestyle, etc. etc. So why does the death of a fictional character in a comic about pirates grab me in a way that such decisions haven't? Why does this elicit previously unseen emotions? Because Oda is a genius storyteller and he did a really, really good job. Sengoku's increasing rage. The introduction of some new characters that will surely become very interesting and relevant. Whitebeard's final attack. The confrontation between Blackbeard and Whitebeard is just amazing. And the flashback scenes, oh my god! Whitebeard's final proclamation! The description of his death! Young Whitebeard's only dream! Every element, executed flawlessly! Oda introduced Whitebeard with the precedent that he was probably the strongest character shown thus far, and he has truly exceeded all possible hype in regards to him. And, once again, this chapter leaves me in the exciting position of having no idea what could come next. It's too good. Way too good. This is shonen. This is what I read manga for. 10/10
Other stuff - I got the latest One Piece volumes and 20th Century Boys volumes. Plus I got the Pictures for Sad Children book. I finished reading "The Know-It-All", a book about a guy who reads the encyclopedia. I found it pretty entertaining, pretty educational, etc, whatever. Been kicking around an idea for a story that I might start writing. It all has to do with being obsessed lately with this song by Matryoshka (an excellent band) called Tyrant's Miniature Garden. I love the song and the title. I want to write a story with that as the title and maybe theme? I dunno.
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