Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #32 of 2021 is here and features cover and lead colours pages for the series Blue Box. Series also featuring colour pages this week are Neru: Way of the Martial Artist, My Hero Academia and Me & Roboco. Jujutsu Kaisen and One Piece are both absent this week.
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You can also read via the Manga Plus app or website. There’s no paid option, so it’s entirely free with a lot of other series available in their entirety.
Spoilers ahead!
Blue Box Ch. 13 – Cover/Lead Colour Page
Taiki won his match, and now they play up the romantic elements. Hina was cheerful in her interaction with Taiki upon learning of the “date” with Chinatsu, but a passing remark by her club mate certainly planted the seed that she may harbour some feelings towards Taiki. The mental gymnastics over whether it’s a date or a friendly meetup is a fun dynamic to use, we’ve all been there, I’m sure. Of course, Taiki’s nervousness leads to him oversleep but in his rush, he bumps into the stunning dress-wearing Chinatsu. This was a great chapter with a good pace. It left me wanting more!
Dr. Stone Ch. 204
With the dam blasted to cinders, our stone adventures make it to India. After a quick curry, the team set out to revive a maths genius. The journey into space will require precise calculations being off by just a tiny amount can lead to the deaths of everyone on board. Thankfully, Ryusei has someone in mind and after some precursor dialogue about siblings, it turns out they revived Ryusei’s older brother, Sai Nanami. Good chapter overall, but a lot of unrelated dialogue meant the pacing didn’t flow smoothly.
The Elusive Samurai Ch. 24
Yūsei Matsui is playing up the weirdness again. It wouldn’t be so bad if it hit well, but it just plain doesn’t. Assassination Classroom was plenty weird, but it worked well within the setting. That said, there was a scene with ‘The Divine Beasts of Suwa’. Even in a series of numerous weird characters, this was especially emersion breaking. However, the introduction of divine spirits could be a much-welcomed addition to a fairly lacklustre serialisation. But, most likely, it’s just a throwaway scene.
Neru: Way of the Martial Artist Ch. 2 – Colour Page
Strong second chapter. Introducing a school dedicated to the 18 martial arts should add a different dynamic to the usual high school setting. No doubt Neruma will attend this high school after junior high, given his fascination with martial arts. The fight between Neruma and Akebi’s twin brother, Jokuro, was tense. The stipulation of using ‘Real Steel’ proper weapons clearly made the other students nervous, but Neruma jumped in headfirst. If this chapter was a taster of what we can expect from the action in this series, then bring it on!
Mashle: Magic and Muscles Ch. 70
In answer to our question last week, it would appear that ‘Time’ magic is the superior force, in this case at least. That is until Mash muscles in, pun very much intended and shows how this series plays fast and loose with real-world physics.
Undead Unluck Ch. 71
Did Latla’s character design always look this masculine? She looks like Latla, but her design definitely felt off in this chapter. The chapter mostly focused on Fuuko’s search to evolve her unluck to defeat the Uma Spring. Of course, this meant reading through the manga ‘To You, From Me’ the past volumes, of course. It also appears Fuuko’s has come to the realisation that she is in love with Andy. This will no doubt play into the evolution of her unluck power.
My Hero Academia Ch. 319 – Colour Page
As predicted, the students of UA have come to put a stop to Deku. If they don’t stop him, he’ll no doubt continue to shoulder the burden himself and never let himself rest. The disposition between the dark, dirty, rough-looking Deku and clean-cut looking UA students feels like a battle of two eras of My Hero Academia.
The Hunters Guild: Red Hood Ch. 3
The story still hasn’t progressed outside of the initial hamlet. But with two younger and stronger werewolves to deal with, the series is setting out the rules of the world. The werewolves in both design and character have easily been the strongest element of the series. Velou still needs some character building. His primary drive for wanting to rid the world of werewolves is still very basic.
Mission: Yozakura Family Ch. 90
This week’s chapter played up the more silly side of the spy world as Taiyo prepares to take on the silver rank spy exam. The first part of the exam being overseen by a very shy and nervous Shinzo. Not much action or progression on display, as it was a very setup type of chapter.
Black Clover Ch. 299
At only eleven pages, including a double-page spread, this was a short and sweet chapter. Gaja makes his move to stop Lolopechka and unleash his ultimate attack on Megicula. The attack appears successful, but an ominous figure obscured by the smoke looms large over a charred Gaja.
Me & Roboco Ch. 49 – Colour Page
A chapter without the titular Roboco, what a shock as it makes no difference. Instead of a Roboco filled chapter of random nonsense, we learn of Bondo’s befriending of Gorilla and Motsuo. It centred the premise around Gorilla and Motsuo being bullies that no one wants anything to do with. Bondo, being a new transfer student, perceived their bullying as friendship because he’s stupid. They clearly meant this to be a feel-good chapter about friendship and kindness, but it just comes off as simple-minded.
Sakamoto Days Ch. 31
Shin finally meets up with Lu and everyone escapes the lab without incident as the building falls apart around them. It was a fine chapter, but lacked the insane level of action we’ve come to expect. In wrapping up this little laboratory storyline, we’re finally introduced to X who’s clearly going to play a bigger role in the story further down the line.
Highschool Family: Kokosei Kazoku Ch. 46
Nishi invites Ichiro to his house to play video games. Kotaro is invited by his dad and so begins a strange after school hang out. Enjoyable as a character that he is, Ichiro is still a middle-aged man, and that makes for a very awkward scenario when hanging out and doing regular high school age things. Still, the chapter was rather funny and allowed for some father and son bonding that hasn’t really been explored so far.
Magu-Chan: God of Destruction Ch. 51
Anytime Naputaaku has more page-time, we’re in for a better than normal chapter. Naputaaku may be the most normal of the gods of chaos and with that comes some humorous interactions between his fellow gods and the lowly humans. Turns out Naputaaku’s power is very effective against Muscar. Muscar’s arrogance in his power of fate leads him to take Naputaaku lightly, a big mistake.
Ayakashi Triangle (Web-Only, 18+) Ch. 52
Not too unlike the themes in Jujutsu Kaisen, humans give rise to the more powerful curses, or in this case Ayakashi, because of their overwhelming negative energy. It will be interesting to see how the story progresses now that there’s another person in Yayo who can see what’s going on around them.
Witch Watch Ch. 22
The whole “dogs, raindrops and school” has been a prediction that Otogi has taken very seriously from the beginning. With it finally coming to fruition, does this indicate the coming end of the series? The build to this scenario has been haphazard and uninteresting. It would be a surprise if this were allowed to play out for any length of time. Especially given the series’ habit of flip-flopping all over the place.
Candy Flurry (Ame no Furu) Ch. 12
It’s surprising that a series with only twelve chapters under its belt feels like it’s been through so many ups and downs. The series debut wasn’t impressive out of the gate and while the premise was interesting, it took a while for the series to find its feet. Since then, it’s not really moved forward in any meaningful way. The main characters have zero backstories to make them interesting. New characters are introduced and forgotten almost immediately. It’s been a bit of a mess. It’s still early enough in the serialisation to turn things around, but is the writing already on the wall for Candy Flurry.
Let us know in the comments or via social media your thoughts on this week’s Shonen Jump. Be sure to check back in next week for another roundup!
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