Jump is on a roll right now. I'm not really into Seraph of the End, but they're on the cover this week and lead off the proceedings of this nearly 300 page issue with what I can only assume is a pretty pivotal story chapter. I like the unique apocalyptic feel of the manga, but have been frustrated in the past by the slow manner in which it executes its spaced out chapters. Settings in this series often feel way too claustrophobic for me, and I often miss the creepy but intriguing grandeur that the story opens on.
Oda continues to pile on absolutely everything he can as readers are left to continue guessing which members of the crew are going to save Sanji, which are staying on Zou, and whether or not they're even really going to split up, as a new situation is threatening to cause yet another conflict on the island. I feel like we have already been on Zou for awhile, but I know that Oda's poor health has spaced out the chapters slightly more than we are used to being spoiled with week in and week out. The detail on the new character designs and locales has been a pleasure, and I certainly wouldn't mind if the rescue of Sanji was put off a little longer.
Something dumb is probably going to happen in Bleach pretty soon, and a more charming kind of dumb manifests itself in Food Wars as Soma is pretty much one step away from a real high stakes Shokugeki with another member of the council.
Academia is still in the midst of another set of excellent chapters. Horikoshi's layouts have gotten harsh and angular to represent the stressful situation the students are being put in, as the sort of dense designs he uses on his characters continue to set his manga apart from anything else in Jump. Seriously, everything this guy draws is just so dense I have no idea how he gets this much done every single week.
Black Clover is on a streak that is almost equally impressive. Tabata's style is more reserved than Horikoshi, except when there's action: then, Tabata matches Horikoshi's hyper-detailed, kinetic character style blow-for-blow. Watching Asta's sword style develop in the heat of battle as a major villain is explored is a big moment for this series, and one that is laying the groundwork for two big parts of its identity going forward. The main plot of Black Clover is probably one of its weakest points, so the quality of a major villain and the development of Asta's abilities are perhaps the two most important things to keep this title buoyed in the reader surveys.
Blue Exorcist has a weird little side-story going on that I'm not sure how to feel about just yet, but it was way more interesting than every previous chapter since the last major arc, so I can't really complain.
Score: 5/5
Weekly Shonen Jump #10 Writers: Various Artists: Various Publisher: Viz Media Price: $0.99 Format: Digital Website
Bleach continues its weird limp to the finish. As much as I am absolutely in love with the visuals now that Kubo is drawing like he has nothing to lose, and the past two big fights have been really great character explorations, the general arc the story is following is pretty silly. To be honest, I'd rather the core group of Ichigo and the others, including Uryu, would just go away again because of how interesting all of the side fights have been recently.
Food Wars has hinted that Soma's father is more important to the plot that has ever really been let on. Given his relationship with Aizan, the full details of which have yet to be revealed, it looks like the master plan of this series actually hinges on Soma's father, and is an underlying theme that has been building to this very story arc since day one. The fact that this much shonen-level epicness and forethought has been packed into a goddamn cooking manga continues to impress me.
Visually, this was the strongest chapter of Jump in a long time. Not only were Murata and Oda in full form, but Kubo (as has been usual lately), Tabata, and Horikoshi all had thrilling chapters of their stories this week.
The first half of the book is spent with Midoriya and the other students going through All Might’s first training class in which they’re broken off into teams and one side is the hero and the other side is the villain. Here we get to see the student’s powers and this plays into the second story. We also see Midoriya beat his rival who is still a little super villainous if you ask me. This could go the way of Xavier and Magneto or they could just be two heroes that never get along. I’m hoping for the former myself.
As good as the anime looked, it can’t touch the level of quality the manga has. Yusuke Murata and his two supporting art members bring a level of detail that is just incredible. But it’s not just the detail though I have a hard time finding any other art in the entire comic/manga industry that’s as good. There is impressive storytelling as well. One-Punch aka Saitama is often drawn with less detail. It’s humorous, but then when even that style is changed and changed again you realize that Murata’s style is so impressive and so adaptive that he can really do any style of manga he wants. The fact that he chooses to put so much detail on every page, but then restrain that same style for Saitama is incredible. The balance and the patience that must take is something I will never know and that few readers will likely appreciate.
"WOO!" That was my reaction in reading the last page of 
The most successful Jump Start this year, by very very far, was 
