Massive issue of Jump this week, with over 300 pages, almost all of which was fantastic. Jump Start continues this week with its third of four new series, Cyborg Roggy. This series depicts a future similar to Hi-Fi Cluster in which people can augment their natural abilities with special powers. The titular cyborg, Roggy, made a promise to someone in his past, and it seems to be what makes him feel obligated to help people, especially when it comes to saving people from people who are abusing their augmented abilities. I really like Yu Miki's style; Roggy and Dog's character designs both stick out without being too ridiculous. I also thought that Roggy felt a lot more raw than the other two entries so far. This is another one where I am going to need more than one chapter to weigh in on its chances. It wasn't obviously awful like some entries in previous Jump Starts, and even though I would like to see more of Roggy and Dog, I am not completely sold on the premise, and the art isn't stellar enough to make it a shoe-in either.
Meanwhile, Black Clover had its second chapter, and this series has to be the favorite for serialization. The art is detailed, and Tabata is really good at putting Asta in quick little situations that elicit laughter. Black Clover has the best sense of humor so far, without constantly shoving the same joke in your face. Further, Tabata proved this chapter that he was capable of introducing a cast of characters that I would want to know more about. I am still worried about the fact that this series is shooting right down the middle thematically: we have got a mystery involving the devil just waiting to rear its head, an underdog character who lacks the abilities of his taller, more skilled, more well-liked rival, and the main character is a complete doofus. But, I will confess to wanting to know what happens with this series next week and, at this point, there's no question that Clover has made a stronger showing than Kagamigami.
Bleach, which I have followed the most sporadically of the big Shonen series of the past decade, got a gasp out of me with its chapter ending this week, so I can't imagine what regular readers must have thought. I know the series has been a mess for quite awhile now, but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy how epic things are getting, even if it is approaching ridiculousness.
One Piece, Food Wars, Toriko, Academia, and One-Punch Man were all great this week too, so this was one of my favorite all-around issue of Jump in the last few months.
Score: 5/5
Weekly Shonen Jump #13 Writers: Various Artist: Various Publisher: Viz Media Release Date: 2/23/15 Format: Digital Anthology