WSR 7-22-13

Disclaimer: These aren’t official translations, merely scanlations. Buy localized or original manga to support the author if at all possible. Know the difference between piracy/theft and sharing without personal profit.

I decided to add a new series, though it’s possible it may be cancelled abruptly, unlike the more popular series I cover

World Trigger 23

The main trio of Yuma, Osamu and Chika has aimed to become A rank in the Tamakoma branch of Border, but before that, they have to climb the ranks, starting at C Rank, B Rank their next goal. They’ve decided their roles in terms of their Triggers, but now they’re getting training from A rank Border members, thanks to Jin’s assistance as an S Rank member.

Osamu starts with his mentor, Kyousuke, asking about how the room they’re in is so huge, Kyousuke explaining that they use the Trigger technology to create space, most of it being used for the sniper room Chika’s training in. He emphasizes that Triggers are more than weapons, they’re the basis of the Neighbor civilization.  The training starts, scenes changing to Chika training with Reiji, who gets her started with hitting a motionless target and then has her practice making the shots, saying she should be done in about 2-3 hours.

Yuma is training with Konami and the two of them are bickering as usual. Yuma’s asked to pick a Trigger and he’s worried about being too strong even with a normal Trigger, but Shiori reassures them they’re in a virtual battle room, so it’s simulations of the Trigger power. Yuma says that if she beats him, he’ll respect her, but if he beats her, Konami agrees to call him by his real name. She emphasizes that she’s been in Border longer than Jin, which is impressive, even though Jin has a Black Trigger, so he’s already far stronger in some ways, even if he isn’t as experienced as Konami is.

We return to Osamu, exhausted from his training and Kyousuke a bit skeptical whether Osamu is really B class (he was promoted under pretenses that he had saved people form Neighbors before, so he’s probably still C rank level for the moment) Konami and Yuma return from their training and it’s revealed 9 out of the 10 matches were won by Konami, Yuma only managing to win once, which makes Osamu amazed at how powerful Konami must be, though Yuma isn’t quite used to Border Triggers yet. Osamu and Kyousuke decide to continue training as well.

Back at Chika’s training site, Reiji returns from security, which likely took double the time he told Chika, if not a bit more. He finds her still shooting and she seems to have lost track of time. He’s astonished, thinking she must have a huge amount of Trion to be able to shoot for the better part of the day,

(I know the picture is bad, but I had to splice raws, so deal with it)

The chapter ends with a gate opening, but this time, instead of a Neighbor, a ship appears in the Border Headquarters and the Kido branch administrators of Border come, saying their top teams have arrived.

Not sure what could be coming, but I’d guess it could be S rank teams or other A rank teams. They seem to have come from the Neighbor world, so that’s something as well.

Magi 190

We’re still on Kouen as he is back in Astaroth Djinn Equip, destroying more and more Black Djinn, the others watching agape. Alibaba even thinks Kouen might actually have his mind set on destroying ten thousand of them.

We see Kouen go back to the lava flow and replenish his magoi, Scheherazade amazed at the tactic, while Aladdin says it’s too dangerous, that Kouen keeps putting himself in mortal danger. But Koumei says that’s just how his brother is. Alibaba thinks back to when Kouen used Phenex to heal Kouha and concludes that Kouen must be the kind of person; no matter how much they’re hurt, he’ll help people in trouble. But Koumei responds that it’s not like that. When Kouen has the look on his face of madness, of obsession and fixation on his quest for knowledge, something changes about him. We see Kouen speaking harshly to all the Black Djinn, looking deranged as he tries to finish the battle so he can achieve what he desires. And what he desires is to speak with Aladdin. Kouha agrees with Koumei that publically Kouen cares about the empire, but privately he is a person with a lust for knowledge.

Frustrated with the lack of progress he’s making, Kouen calls Alibaba over, ignoring his own request and just snatching Alibaba up.  Hakuei then says Kouen was thinking things might go out of control if he continues like this, so instead he’s asking for Alibaba’s help, replenishing his magoi as well with the volcano flow, since they use the same type of Djinn. Aladdin is then astonished to see two Extreme Magic being cast at the same time. Even Scheherazade hasn’t seen such a thing and while Hakuei and the others are worried, 

Koumei says they have to keep the Black Djinni away so they can finish their spells, since if the casting circle is damaged, the spell won’t work.

Kouen’s Extreme Magic summons a series of white flaming dragons to surround the black spot, vaporizing the black djinn immediately near the defensive wall. Alibaba then starts his attack, but the wall is seemingly too strong for Alibaba’s still undeveloped powers. Kouen then has Astaroth give his flames to power up Alibaba’s spell and we see its power rapidly increase. Aladdin then notes that this is a principle of magic: if two spells of the same element are cast in quick succession, they are both stronger, which applies to Extreme Magic as well, on a greater scale.

A crack is made in the defensive wall and Kouen chides Alibaba for still being weak, which makes Alibaba put his full power into the magic, releasing the magic completely and causing a huge explosion, seemingly destroying the medium, which would put an end to the major problem of this arc’s climax. The chapter ends here.

This might be the end of the arc, but shounen manga will typically stretch this sort of thing out a bit. We haven’t even seen much more than a simple team up yet. And we still have to resolve Mogamett’s whole situation, even when we have the Black Spot eliminated.

Naruto 640

Last time Naruto and Sasuke were in danger of being skewered by Obito, but Minato was going to try to save them with his Flying Thunder God technique. This chapter, however, he realizes the mark disappeared, so he can’t get to Obito. But Naruto touches both Minato and Sasuke with his Kyuubi tendrils and allows Minato’s technique to teleport them away from Obito’s attack, impressing his father and Sasuke that he remembered that detail.

Obito then moves to attack, but fires an attack that both misses them entirely and damages his own body. Minato then thinks that since Obito isn’t synched with the Juubi, now is the best time to kill him. Minato suggests that Naruto and Sasuke distract him while he prepares his ultimate attack (which we still haven’t seen)

Obito screams at him as he also fights with his human side, remembering Rin and his desire to become Hokage. We see an internal vision where his body is being torn apart by representations of the Juubi, I would presume. And just before he’s about to be completely destroyed, his thoughts of Rin and comraderie with Kakashi and Minato allows him to finally restore control and we see a new form.

He looks a bit like a Buddhist monk, at least with the robes and the shakujou, albeit there’s some horn like growths and such. But I would have to guess that now he’s actually at what could be called the final form, resembling the Sage of the Six Paths a bit.

He cuts through Minato’s kunai and as he attacks with the special black energy, Minato manages to teleport away. But just as he thinks he’s safe, Minato realizes Obito attached a tailed beast bomb to him and it explodes, the chapter ending on this cliffhanger.

Obito seems to have had a slight revelation moment with this sudden focus on his past and then becoming a full powered Jinchuuriki of the Ten Tails. The focus on his Sharingan is interesting, though I don’t know if it will mean anything.

His level of power just jumped, from the Juubi’s raw power, to more concentrated, to full control. I almost think this went a bit fast actually and it could’ve lingered a bit more on this transitional form where Obito was losing control.

How the group is going to avoid this attack is beyond me. I would think Minato is going to use Hiraishin again or one of the other Kages might intervene. Naruto or Sasuke may have some new technique or tactic as well, but the force of this explosion is going to either severely cripple or kill whoever takes that blow in place of the others.

Toriko 243

I was slightly wrong about what happened last time. Jirou didn’t flick the Nitro, he poked it in the forehead.

We see everyone shocked and also Terrycloth and the other pets are moving as well, possibly to support him or maybe to find Toriko and Komatsu.

Jirou talks to Setsuno, who thanks him for saving her, but then his feet are bound by the roots that Teppei used. Teppei being Jirou’s grandson, he shouts at him, enraged that he’s changed sides. The shout is so powerful it impresses even Buranchi, who says no one in his village in Gourmet World can scream like that, calling Jirou one of the three most powerful people in the world (the other two being Ichiryuu and Midora, most likely).

Joa tells Jirou that normally a Nitro could still fight even after having its head blown off, but Jirou used the right balance of power and skill to nullify its movement, specifically with his Knocking skill.

Joa then speaks about how Acacia was afraid of Jirou’s raw power and trained him in knocking to proverbially seal away some of his power. He then asks if Jirou would like to fight one of their members, presumably Neo. Jirou nonchalantly says no by asking whether Joa’s stupid or something, looking very intimidating while doing so.

Jirou then punches the ground, using Grand Knocking, which seemingly stops the earth from moving for a second and freezing pretty much everyone in the area, preventing them from moving, but still able to speak. Zaus is amazed, observing that he pretty much paralyzed everyone on the island. Yuda even suggests he might have frozen everyone in the world, if only for a few moments. Then everyone notices a huge tsunami and tornadoes, all of this likely Jirou’s doing as well.

Joa is quite impressed and Jirou, even stuck as he is (I don’t think he moved from the spot where he was) manages to slash away with a punch to Joa, tearing away his cloak to reveal his face. And it’s actually Frohze, albeit she looks different, almost like a puppet. Not to mention she looks nearly identical to what Setsuno suggested she looked like 200 years ago.

I’m betting this revelation is going to connect with Acacia in some way, not to mention the use of the dark techniques that probably kept Frohze so youthful, using revitalizing knives.

Joa being the main antagonist of Neo makes her the 4th super powerful entity in this series, along with Acacia’s three disciples. Acacia is presumably dead for certain, Frohze having turned to the dark side at some point before faking her death in some way.

Fairy Tail 345

Erza had been turned into a child last time and we get an explanation at the end of the chapter as to how it happened (relatively). She isn’t used to her new form and falls down a hill. There’s also a few jokes about what would happen if it stayed permanent, especially regarding Wendy being taller and Jellal not being a lolicon.

Back at the fight between Fairy Tail and Sylph Labyrinth, Natsu compliments them, especially since they’re non-mages and they retort that they’re one of the best treasure hunter guilds, having won the tournament of the treasure hunter guilds, similar to the Grand Magic Tournament. They’re confident, but they apparently forgot Fairy Tail won the equivalent of the Great Hidden Treasure Tournament that Sylph Labyrinth won.

Gray reveals he stole the Moon Drip and the group passes it around, dodging attacks as they go. Happy, being the derp that he is, misses it and breaks the bottle, spilling it all. It’s revealed that it couldn’t have melted all the ice, but Natsu puts his ear to the ground, saying he heard someone’s voice and goes after it. 

He’s not sure where he’s heard it before, but he does remember it. I’m thinking Minerva, I wasn’t aware Natsu could hear that well, though I think they’ve mentioned it. He says he heard it through the earth, so it’s vibrations at that level.

Sylph Labyrinth follows as well, indicating they may become temporary allies in the future fight, though they’re also targeting Lucy’s keys.

Natsu runs into the guy who was talking to Minerva before and he uses a magic that affects Natsu the same way Erza was, reverting him to a child form. So he’s the likely culprit behind this. The manga calls it Retrogression Magic, which will be the next chapter title.

So the Eternal Flame had virtually nothing to do with the time regression, especially if you consider that any power it had would be sealed away as long as it’s frozen. My theories are usually off the cuff, to be fair, so I wouldn’t take a lot of stock in them to begin with.

We don’t know if there’re other members of Succubus Eye, Minerva’s guild, but Minerva herself will be a challenge even if this new guy is eliminated relatively quickly. Erza was the only one to seemingly stand even a remote chance in the tournament.

Sylph Labyrinth may have resistance to the magic, which would be a nice twist, and they could help, without losing their status as sort of rivals to Fairy Tail.

All in all a good chapter to move things along.

WSR 7-15-13

Disclaimer: These aren’t official translations, merely scanlations. Buy localized or original manga to support the author if at all possible. Know the difference between piracy/theft and sharing without personal profit.

Magi 189

We had the Kou Empire Metal Vessel users reveal Djinn Equip and team up to fight the Black Spot last time and this time we see them trying to attack, particularly Koumei, using a sort of teleportation type magic, seemingly not successful. But he also says his Djinn isn’t meant for combat by comparison. Though he also mentions he’s tired, so that may be a large factor as well. It’s possibly a mixture of both, since some Djinni are more magic users than combatants. Koumei has been depicted as lazy, from what I recall, so that may be more important to remember than what little we know about his Djinn abilities.

Alibaba says they have to target the main body and the try, but it creates a barrier that blocks their attack.

Gyokuen emphasizes the sheer amount of magoi and black rukh encompassed in it, saying a mere 6 Metal Vessel users won’t be able to scratch it, though she conveniently neglects a Magi’s involvement in this battle.

Alibaba says it’s hopeless and they just seem to keep spawning infinitely, but Aladdin says there is a finite limit, since the sphere is still using Magoi to both summon the djinns and manifest the defensive wall. The number of djinns they would have to destroy, however, would be around 10 thousand. Alibaba says it’d be impossible to exhaust its power with their Magoi.

But Kouen attacks, causing a series of explosions and showing off impressive power, blowing away 6 Dark Djinn, returning them to the Black Rukh as well, which means he did immense damage to them. But after the massive explosion that did that, he seems to have gone out of Djinn Equip. Alibaba worries that he’s out of Magoi, but Koumei says he’s merely switching Djinn Equip.

Now using Agares, which takes on a much smaller appearance, as befits the Djinn itself, Kouen drills a hole into the ground with a spinning force and releases lava after an earthquake. Using the fire element magoi from that, he powers up the fire Djinn, Astaroth, he was using before.

Alibaba is astounded at the strategy and the chapter ends focusing on Kouen, called the Flame Emperor in his kingdom.

We now know the relative abilities of all 3 of his Djinni and yet I wonder if he’ll use Phenex in battle for some purpose.

All in all, this promises to be a nice showing of the various Djinn users and even, with some time, more of Aladdin’s magical skills gained from training at Magnostadt.

Naruto 639

We saw the bodies of the First and Second Hokage attacked and I thought they were clones. Turns out I was wrong, they were the original bodies. And they’re technically Edo Tensei, so they will regenerate.

The Second Hokage tells Hiruzen and Minato to jump as he and Hashirama unleash a special technique. Hashirama binds Obito with Wood Release. Tobirama explains that since he invented the Edo Tensei he knows that one can take damage and still analyze a situation as he’s doing now. He then unveils the special talisman art that throws exploding seals that summon more exploding seals in a series of converging explosions. The power is immense, but as expected, Juubi Obito shrugs it off.

Hiruzen then decides to try his own technique, a series of shadow shurikens. Obito starts to use a new technique that generates this black energy that is pushed through a hole in his hand and can be used both offensively and defensively. The new power pretty much makes the Shadow Shuriken barrage ineffective, but the Third analyzes the technique, saying it’s similar to the Third Tsuchikage’s Dust Release technique, but even more complicated. He says it’s powerful, but there’s a limit to the time the transformations can be maintained. As he finishes this thought, the Edo Tensei body is pulverized for the moment by Obito, Sasuke reassuring Naruto along with the Fourth that the Hokage will get back, given enough time.

Hashirama moves to help Minato make an opening so Tobirama and Hiruzen can regenerate, but Madara jumps in to confront Hashirama.

Obito jumps forward to attack, but then his body bulges outwards, indicating that he is still not completely in control of the Juubi, now immobilized by the new bulk. Minato then makes his move to try to finish Obito off with his Spiral Flash Ring Dance Howl, a  technique we literally know nothing about beyond it using his Flying Thunder God seal and a shadow clone, along with multiple kunai..

But Obito still counterattacks with just the lower body, then counterattacking with his arm to strike Minato with the black Jinchuuriki energy attack, but Sasuke blocks it with Susanoo.

Naruto and Minato are kicked away by Obito and Sasuke muses that he will change things, not Naruto, represented by the picture of him, Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi when they were genin, Naruto’s part getting cut

But Obito counters Sasuke’s intense glare with his own and grabs them both, the chapter ending with Minato hoping his Flying Thunder God technique will save the two of them from Obito’s attack.

So Obito isn’t invincible, though his sheer power is definitely going to require some calculated efforts on the part of our fighters, particularly Sasuke and Naruto.

Bleach 546

We had a cliffhanger last chapter with Shunsui telling Ichigo’s human friends (Orihime and Chad aren’t normal humans, that much is clear) that they may have to part with Ichigo. Keigo says he must be joking, but Shunsui says he’s being very serious. Keigo responds that this is just about Ichigo helping Soul Society, which Shunsui says is true. Mizuiro then asks why this is so different. Shunsui explains that Ichigo is in a special place in Soul Society and he may come back with immeasurable power. If it’s enough that it could affect the Human World, they will have to keep him there. Mizuiro observes that this is only a possibility, Shunsui acknowledging that the possibility is very slim. But he said that not telling Ichigo’s friends even the possibility wouldn’t be right. He then gives them Soul Tickets, allowing them to go to Soul Society whenever they want to visit Ichigo. Of course, this also means they could go even if Ichigo wasn’t there, but that’s neither here nor there. He also gave them to Isshin and family. He also says that letting Ichigo rest at home would be the best thing before the big battle starts

Back in Hueco Mundo, Orihime and Chad are still training and Orihime muses about how it’d be better if they could help people without all this fighting. I hope this doesn’t mean Orihime’s lost her resolve to fight. She says they’re helping Arrancar, so there could be another survivor besides Halibel and Grimmjow.

Back at Soul Society, Seireitei disappears, Rukongai still around, and in its place is the Vandenreich’s castle. This has something to do with the same black curtain/shadow that helped the Vandenreich travel easily before, except now on a larger scale.  Uryuu, Juhabach and Haschwalth all appear and we get a recap of the supposed legend behind Juhabach’s appearance. 900 years to regain the king’s body, 90 years for the mind, 9 for the power and then 9 days to take back the world. The chapter ends with the Vandenreich starting their attack, though we only see Uryuu, Haschwalth and Juhabach. I would hope the Stern Ritter are there as well.

The nature of the Schatten Bereich (Shadow Region roughly in German) is subtly explained a bit more. It seems like the Vandenreich are able to use it not only to teleport themselves, but also large masses like the castle. What happened before when Yamamoto died and Soul Society probably lost a few others, like Izuru, makes me curious. There was a time limit to the Schatten Bereich, so it’s possible this invasion may just be another skirmish, not a final battle to end the entire arc on. There’s supposedly been about 5 days since the Vandenreich first appeared and told Yamamoto they would eradicate Soul Society, back in chapter 483, so if we assume the first day was the invasion itself, then it’s been about 4 days. Even given that, I’m not sure Soul Society will be up to snuff, especially if we still don’t know where the captains and lieutenants are. It’s possible that only the central areas of the Seireitei were replaced, which means that the captains are all likely still involved. If the main combatants were moved to the other dimension where the Vandenreich originally were, this would be a massacre of Soul Society, even moreso than before, where thousands perished in the first 12 minutes.

Bleach will be on hiatus for about 5 weeks and return on September 9th to start fresh on what seems to be the second part of this final arc. I’m thinking we still have a few years left, though. This arc took over a year to get to this point. And if it took 5 days over 70+ chapters, 9 days will take almost 3 years.

One Piece 715

Last time we ended on Luffy knocking out Hajruudin, who was apparently considered a good contender. People are understandably frustrated, but we see one of the other major fighters, Ideo, punch him out of the ring with an attack that seems to be like an explosion, though I don’t think it’s Devil Fruit based, unless the Bomb Bomb fruit user from Whiskey Peak (I think) died and someone else found the fruit. For a moment, I thought Ideo was a Long Arm tribe member, but I think his arms would have to be a bit longer. Looks like he has weird shoulder horns or something.

Don Chin Jao and his grandsons are also doing well, using their kenpo and some form of haki or maybe just some mystic martial art technique that makes even weapons and shields useless. I would lean towards Armament Haki, though. Don Chin Jao uses his Conqueror’s Haki, making him one of about…maybe around 10 people in the One Piece universe we know for certain have it, including Luffy, Shanks, Doflamingo and Blackbeard, I think.

But one fighter isn’t affected, along with a few others obviously, Jean Ango, a bandit who steals the various weapons of the fallen fighters, revealing he’s a sniper, throwing them with what I would theorize is a Devil Fruit power.

And finally we see the Funk Brothers, one shorter, the other much bigger. The shorter one has a short fuse, beating the crap out of a guy so bad he’s long since been unconscious, his brother trying to stop him. But he’s knocked out by one of Don Chin Jao’s grandsons and his brother then suddenly seems to take on his smaller sibling’s traits and fights, effectively I might add, with his larger body. He even manages to take an attack imbued with Armament Haki from one of Don Chin Jao’s grandsons, so again, I’m speculating Devil Fruit power involved, as well as some Haki. It’s also possible they’re actually cyborgs or something, since Kerry, the smaller brother, tells Bobby, the bigger one, to put him on, making it seem like they’re equipping or something.

Luffy’s helmet has been stolen by Jean, who notes the rumor about Straw Hat Luffy being in the tournament. Don chin jao rages through the crowd and only 40 gladiators remain as the chapter ends. One Piece is on a hiatus next week too, so we’ll only be cover 4 of the usual 6 series next week, then 5 if things are lucky.

These new gladiators are always fun to speculate on and there’s only one more block after this, which has Cavendish in it. But Block C certainly has a lot of heavy hitters. I’m thinking Ideo might survive a bit longer, though the Fishman Karate Master in Block B lost relatively early himself, so I’m actually putting a bit more money on Jean.

And there’s also the fight between Law, Fujitora and Doflamingo to return to eventually.

The fact that there’s so many potential conflicts to go to makes this both exciting and a bit overwhelming, the one thing I could complain regarding Oda’s style in these arcs, especially recently, though I think this happened even as far back as Thriller Bark or even back in Arlong Park.

Toriko 242

There were hints before that Joa might be Chef God Frohze. This chapter continues that line of thought for a bit. Joa responds to Setsuno’s observation by simply reasserting that it is his, still ambivalent about whether he’s actually Frohze or a disciple, somewhat like Acacia’s three disciples

Joa then uses a powerful technique with his knife that Setsuno manages to deflect with her own knife and a technique translated as Taste Flow. The sheer power of the attack cuts a huge gash in the stadium and even continues out into the sea. Yuda remarks on the appearance of Setsuno’s personal knife, Takitsubo and Joa comments that he didn’t expect her to be able to deflect it so well, saying only Acacia’s three disciples: Ichiryuu, Jirou and Midora, should’ve been able to do something like that

Setsuno responds that she didn’t perfectly defend, slashes appearing on her body. Setsuno asks why Joa’s even here and he responds he’s looking for a certain chef. Setsuno comments that he might need to tone down his attacks, but Joa says the chef didn’t appear to be in the stadium and he’s very precise. He emphasizes this by stabbing into the ground with a dark technique, reviving the Nitro that Zebra demolished a few chapters ago, Zebra noting that they’re even stronger than before.

The Nitro start to attack and Darmala the 14th and Yuda go to help, but Setsuno tells them to stay back and then realizes her feet are bound with the roots, just like Zebra. As the Nitro start to attack, we see a finger move to flick at the Nitro and the resulting action knocks the Nitro’s head clean off. And who should appear now but Jirou hinted at a few chapters back. Now he’s come to intervene and likely force Joa to retreat, if I had to speculate.

Not as much to say on this chapter compared to what I usually do. We got teased again about Joa’s true identity. Setsuno’s weakness shouldn’t surprise people, since it was mentioned back in the Century Soup arc by Alfaro that her Gourmet Cells were weakening, so it’s likely that she is falling behind ever so slightly to other characters. Not saying she’s going to die here, but I wouldn’t put it past Shimabukuro to do something like that to make a point about Joa’s power. He managed to do something that even Zaus, Kousairou and Kuriboh couldn’t do; force her to deflect an attack instead of just taking it like she did with their attacks before. She’s had a lot of her calories stolen too, so she’s not in the best situation to continue fighting for an extended period.

Jirou’s intervention was telegraphed, to be fair, but his entrance was pretty cool. I don’t think we’ve seen an attack so shounen styled in a while: flicking an enemy’s head off is something only a person of Jirou’s level could do. And he’s not even at his full power, since his hair is white and he looks older. Once he uses knocking to get himself back to full strength, who knows what will happen? Though I think there is a limit to how long he can stay in that form.

All in all, this Cooking Fest arc could go on for a bit or it could be winding down to a close pretty soon.

Fairy Tail 344

Last time we ended with Fairy Tail going after a guild of Treasure Hunters, Sylph Labyrinth, who are probably the first non magic users we’ve seen since the Vanish Brothers, which is pretty cool.

The group splits up after being chased a bit by everyone and we see the first member, Rara, use their weapon, a giant gauntlet fist on a staff, using it like a hammer. Natsu tries to attack, but the open fist blocks the fire and then grabs him, throwing the Dragon Slayer away like a bug.

Gray uses his magic to fight, but the next member, Hiroshi, slashes through the ice lances and then reveals the sword he’s using can extend like a chain. The attack just narrowly misses them.

Wendy pushes Lucy out of the way, dodging a shot from a distance. The last member, Drake, is shown to be a sniper. Lucy summons Sagittarius and he fires an arrow at Drake, who destroys it with a bullet, his skill impressing everyone.

Natsu, Gray and Lucy (our main fighters here) realize that these aren’t ordinary fighters, even if they don’t seem to be mages.

Back at the village, Erza notices the giants’ positioning and the fact that they seem to be fighting. She speculates that they were defending the flame and by deductive reasoning, connects back to the location behind the giants, going to the top of a mountain, finding what appears to be the flame. But as she gets closer to the area, she suddenly reverts to a child, ending the chapter on that note

It’s possible the Eternal Flame has some time dilation properties and this may be relevant to the request itself, but we may have to wait, since next chapter will probably focus on the fights against Sylph Labyrinth.

Erza also asks whether it’s possible that such a small amount of Moon Drip could thaw the entire village, which is a good point. Assuming it is, it’s just a matter of getting it from the thieves and then facing Minerva and her new guild. But if it isn’t, it’s still a matter of getting it back and then using it on the Eternal Flame, which make be able to reverse things by its special powers. If it reverses time for Erza to that extent, it could also do the same for the magic, theoretically. Or it may have some other relevance that we don’t know about. Mashima’s the writer, he probably has some plan.

Minerva’s guild is probably a bigger threat than the treasure hunters, though I wouldn’t count these characters out entirely. But it’s fairly common that non magic users don’t last long against mage fighters, especially in Earthland, where magic is freely available, unlike in Edolas, where they had to use magic items.

This arc seems like it might be average, but the very fact that Fairy Tail is fighting non mages for the first time in a while is already a welcome change.

WSR 7-8-13

Disclaimer: These aren’t official translations, merely scanlations. Buy localized or original manga to support the author if at all possible. Know the difference between piracy/theft and sharing without personal profit.

Magi 188

Back in the Kou Empire, Gyokuen is told that their Magi is gone as well as all the metal vessel users, including Hakuryuu for some reason. She brushes it off, saying they should wait eagerly for Il Irah’s return
At Magnostadt, the Black Djinns are still rampaging, the magicians trying to save as many of the citizens as they can. One of the high ranking members is shocked at what has become of their research. And some of the non magic citizens realize how futile even the magicians’ attempts are, sinking into despair themselves.

Scheherazade saves some of the Fifth Level Authorization District citizens and tries to blast away the Black Djinn with her magoi, but it barely works and she’s saved by Alibaba. Alibaba and Aladdin both realize they can’t use their magic readily, since there are non combatants in the area and their magic is either not very delicate or they can’t control it because their staff is broken in Aladdin’s case.

But then Paimon comes in and offers support as well as the other Kou Empire fighters, all getting in attacks and all depicted as a group in a two page spread, which looks pretty awesome.

Kouha is stunned at both Hakuei and Kougyoku’s familiarity with Aladdin and Alibaba, not knowing their background together and Kouen expresses his determination to figure out the truth by eliminating the black spot.

The chapter ends with a visual of the sheer size of the black spot compared to our 7 or so fighters: Aladdin, Alibaba, Kouen, Koumei, Kouha, Kougyoku and Hakuei. Scheherazade could count, as well as Mogamett, assuming he has any sort of resistance to the Black Rukh now.

It seems like Al Sarmen will get involved, though I’m uncertain as to whether Gyokuen will do anything or whether she’ll delegate this to subordinates, sort of like what Ithnan did when they were trying to invade Sindria. Of course, they got destroyed pretty easily, but there weren’t Black Djinni all over the place that time.

I wonder if Kouen will equip another Djinn or stick with Astaroth. A lot of times, it’s based on the situation, if Sinbad’s changes were any indication. Phenex is more healing, so I imagine that won’t be used as a Djinn Equip for battle. Not to mention Kouen would probably look fairly…feminine, though I could see some fangirls loving that.

All in all, potentially new and cool battles in the future. I especially want to see Scheherazade fighting a bit more, maybe Titus will have something to do with it as well, being a portion of Scheherazade and all

Naruto 638

Last time, it was revealed that Obito had become the Ten Tail’s Jinchuriki and now we’re seeing the results of its power bestowed to him.

We shift to other ninja, particularly Sakura and Hinata, who, using her Byakugan, explains what’s happening. Obito is sucked into the body of the Juubi and it reforms itself as the body we saw at the end of last chapter, with more details show, such as intricate markings on his back that remind one of stuff related to the Sage of the Six Paths.

Obito’s absorbing the Ten Tails is relayed to Sakura by Hinata and both she and Sasuke realize that he’s now the Jinchuuriki, even though I think it was told to them fairly clearly before. The sheer amount of chakra is astounding to even Hashirama and Tobirama. I guess only Naruto and Minato explicitly said it and Sasuke didn’t realize it at the time. Sasuke asks Naruto how he realized it and he explains that the seals for Rinne Tensei and the Jinchuuriki process were different, and since he’d seen Rinne Tensei before, he understood what was going on. Not to mention since he’s so connected with all the Tailed Beasts through his dominance of Kurama he saw their chakra flowing into Obito through the Ten Tails.

Killer Bee asks Hachibi whether this is the final form and he replies that it’s close to the final form, but not quite there

Hashirama uses the Myoujinmon seal multiple times, stacking them on each other in a huge display, trying to stop Obito’s movement. But in an instant, the seals are shattered as Obito stands back up, the Kages astounded. He then extends four tentacles and rips open the four walled seal around the Ten Tail’s previous form. Killer Bee is amazed and Gyuuki (Hachibi’s true name, similar to Kyuubi being Kurama) explains that since the power’s more concentrated, it’s able to be used to its full potential.

Minato tries to reason with Obito, but since fusing with the Ten Tails, it seems Obito has lost a great portion of his reasoning, barely recognizing when someone calls his name.

Hashirama admits that Obito is now stronger than he is, the other Kage agreeing and Madara even moving, since he still apparently has a trump card to play in this fight and doesn’t want Obito becoming equivalent to the previous Sage ruining his plans

The chapter ends with Obito piercing through a few of Hashirama and Tobirama’s clones.

I imagine the fight will involve Madara as well as the Kage, though the difference is that with the Kage, they were brought out of the Death God’s stomach, so their chakra is limited, while Madara resisted the ending of Kabuto’s Edo Tensei, so he’s stuck between two worlds and thus has apparently near infinite chakra.
Sasuke’s involvement is the real wild card here, sort of like Madara in a way, ironically.


Bleach 545

We change scenes quite a bit during this chapter. It starts in Karakura Town at the Kurosaki house, where Yuzu is preparing lunch, Isshin is taking care of a patient and Karin’s playing a game. Apparently, Isshin is still using the excuse that Ichigo is at a training camp for his two daughters. Telling them about their mother and all the drama that their brother’s going through would probably be a bit much. Especially for Yuzu, who has the least spirit power compared to her older sister and brother.

Back at the Spirit Palace, Renji and Rukia are training in what is described later as a place with incredibly high spiritual particle density, making their every move much more difficult and serving as a good training point. Rukia gets a call on her spirit cell phone, telling her that Byakuya is awake. And when we see Tenjirou talking to him, he seems to have recovered from nearly being killed. Tenjirou even comments that he’s stayed in that hot spring the longest of anyone, so he was nearly dead for real.

We get an explanation that there is a sequence you go through in the Spirit Palace: first is Tenjirou’s hot springs to rejuvenate you, then Hikifune’s food to restore your spirit power, then Ouetsu to polish your zanpakutou, then Senjumaru to put together a new shihakusho for you (the outfit of the Shinigami), though exactly why is uncertain. Perhaps it’s just to relax you or there may be more to the shihakusho than we know about them, which is very little. Perhaps, like Ichigo’s cloak in bankai, they reflect your spirit level, so getting a new one truly restores your spirit power to its maximum. Or there may be something else special about it, since everyone in the Spirit Palace contributed something of great importance. Tenjirou’s may be twofold: both the healing springs and healing kidou, Ouetsu the asauchi, Hikifune the soul candy, Senjumaru the shihakusho, which leaves the last member, who had been unnamed up to this chapter, unknown as to what he contributed.  Senjumaru speaks in a very cold way, implying she’d do horrible things to Renji’s privates in order to properly measure him, traumatizing him a bit for comedic effect. Rukia’s worried about Byakuya going through it, though I imagine he’d be a bit more compliant, since he’s a proud Kuchiki and all.

We then see the last Royal Guard pop in, Ichibei Hyousube, with a moniker I’m not sure was translated right, Eyeball Monk. A better translation might be Insight Monk, since the kana in the raw can be interpreted as an archaism in Japanese. He talks about how difficult they had it when they first came to his palace and says they should proceed to the inner sanctum.

Shinji tasks Hiyori and the other Visored not at Soul Society with fixing the distortion between the Human World and Soul Society, using something Mayuri sent them.

Ichigo’s friends that are basically normal humans (minus Tatsuki who seems to have spirit potential in particular) wonder where he is and Shunsui meets them, the chapter ending with him telling them that they and Ichigo must part ways.

I wonder what he means, though as the Captain Commander, I imagine he has to make some difficult decisions now, but his friends may insist they’re going to help Ichigo in any way they can. Maybe Tatsuki will get some training, though it seems too little too late for that. I want to go back to Hueco Mundo, really, just to see what’s happening with Kisuke and the others. Here’s hoping.

One Piece 714

Last time, things ended with the conflict between Law, Joker and Fujitora, but this time, we’re focusing on events elsewhere.

Back at the Sunny Go, one of Trebol’s assassins, like Violet, called Jora, is attacking Nami, Brooke and Chopper to capture Momonosuke. She has some sort of Devil Fruit power that causes things to go all Picasso or…surreal art style and she’s already used it on the Straw Hats and company. She proceeds to use it on the ship, even after Nami and the others try to draw her fire to them, not fooled by their tactics. It seems her true intent was to keep them from escaping Dressrosa.

Back at Corrida Colosseum, Ricky is leaving, even though some of the staff want him to receive treatment. He runs into Rebecca, who he seems to know, but he brushes her off, leaving, trying not to linger on whatever connection they have from the past.

Meanwhile, Bellamy is being told by Diamante to assassinate Luffy after the tournament’s over in order to secure his position as an officer in the Donquixote family.  Bellamy seems a bit reluctant, remembering that Luffy encouraged him when he was fighting (even though ultimately he and everyone else lost to Bartolomeo’s Devil Fruit)

Bartolomeo and Cavendish have a bit of a spat about their both wanting to take out Luffy, Bartolomeo saying that he and Luffy go way back, which makes you wonder about more potential backstory of our Barrier Barrier Fruit user.

In the tournament itself, there’s a giant competitor by the name of Hajruudin who’s destroying most of the competition. But then Luffy is seen riding on Brutal Bull, called the grim reaper of the colosseum. Both of them run into and then are squashed by Hajruudin’s giant fists, but Luffy recovers easily and the chapter ends with him punching out the Elbaf native easily.

I’m especially curious about Luffy and Bartolomeo’s backstory, though Luffy probably doesn’t care. Ricky and Rebecca’s backstory seems to imply some sort of familial relationship in the past, which would be a nice heartfelt moment in this arc

How Nami, Brooke and Chopper are going to fight Jora is going to be interesting, since it’s possible they may have to do combat differently with their new forms, kind of like with Nami when she fought Kalifa back in the Enies Lobby arc.

Luffy’s involvement will be important, but the other fighters that may threaten him are only so many: the old giant Don Chin Jao, for example. Most of the others seem forgettable, so that may be the major fight. If anything, it’s the semifinals that will be very important, since that will involve Bartolomeo, Jesus Burgess and probably Cavendish along with Luffy in the fray, though we don’t know if there will be a battle royale between the 4 block winners or some other method, but another battle royale seems likely. Or maybe Luffy will fight Jesus Burgess and then eventually go up against Bartolomeo after he beat Cavendish. I can speculate all I want, but we’ll just have to see.

Toriko 241

Last time we were left teased with the appearance of Dark Chef Joa and Teppei floating on a weird shadow thing. Everyone is shocked at his appearance and then he uses a technique called Taste Scope, observing everyone’s “tastes”, which he interprets through their thoughts, their life energy compared to savoriness, thoughts to flavor. He says there’s a fair amount of good tastes, but the flavors aren’t quite right, and that he might have to change them, like he did with Teppei. This suggests there’s some way to manipulate people through cooking, which gets into the same bizarre territory of Food Honor and the Routines we learned about recently. Teppei and Joa travel to the ground on a Tokage, a weird ingredient monster of Capture Level 295, which was what they were floating on, it seems

Meanwhile, over where Neo’s members are meeting, they wonder why Joa appeared, and then some of the G7, which are fairly high ranking members of IGO, explain that he’s saying goodbye to the human world. They say that with his appearance, everyone else can leave. Ume is shocked, realizing that the IGO is also involved with the Neo group’s conspiracy. At least 2 other high ranking members are involved too, so this is a serious betrayal.

Some of the chefs are stunned that Teppei has changed sides and Zebra even attacks him, but with some rare ingredients, as befits his profession as a Gourmet Revivalist, Teppei blocks the attack and stops Zebra’s movements. The Sound Insulation tree blocks the Voice Missile and Earthquake Resistant Roots bind Zebra. Joa explains that his cooking has changed Teppei into an entirely different human. The scar is the key, apparently, even if it was a delayed effect on Teppei.

A pair of Nitro outside of the stadium recognized Joa’s dangerous aura and attack, but with a mysterious kitchen knife, he attacks them and they seem to become docile and obedient to him. They’re specifically referred to as Red Nitro, so there are reasonably other colors that, by Red being easy to manipulate, are more dangerous. The technique used is called Taste Change. Joa comments that Nitro were apparently originally controlled anyway, giving more backstory on the relation of Nitro to the human world. The ones he fought are probably artificially made, not natural Nitro, like what Toriko saw when he was getting an ingredient a while ago.

Setsuno screams at Joa, asking him where he got that knife and Joa calmly responds, saying it’s been a while.  There are apparently very few people still alive that know of him, which if Setsuno is one of them, along with Zaus and Jirou, there’s maybe 5 or less total, I’d imagine. Ichiryuu probably counts too, though Midora might be just a bit too young.  Joa says that Setsuno shouldn’t interfere anymore or she’ll die. The knife belongs to him, apparently, but Setsuno says he should reveal himself, that the knife, Cinderella, belonged to God Chef Frohze, the partner of Acacia, worshipped as a god in Toriko’s universe.

Is Joa possibly God Chef Frohze? Or someone related to him? Setsuno is old enough to have probably been a contemporary of the chef whose full course includes the ingredient GOD, but I don’t think she was quite on his level 200 years ago. I imagine it could be Frohze or a disciple not mentioned yet that stole the knife after Frohze died, possibly killed by the student.

Fairy Tail 341-343

Last time we ended on Zeref, but now we start with fanservice, the female members of Fairy tail bathing. During this, we’re told that various people are on missions: oddly enough Gray and Natsu, Wendy and Erza and Jet, Droy, Gajille and Pantherlily. A page or so is devoted to a scene where Cana gropes Lucy. There’s also a scene where Corona from Raven Tail appears and we get the impression she might join Fairy Tail, but she bluntly says she doesn’t want to. And she seems to tentacle rape Cana with her hair, which is a bit unsettling.

Lucy meets Wendy and Erza after their mission and they look for Gray and Natsu, who punch Erza as they’re fighting each other (having done it for nearly three days straight) and Erza beats them senseless in return.

Back at the guild, Makarov is given a request by Mirajane that he reveals is from one of the top 4 Wizard Saints, who are supposedly some of the strongest mages in the entire continent. The chapter ends on this, but of course, there’s more chapters this week.

The next chapter starts with the main group: Wendy, Erza, Natsu, Gray and Lucy, along with Happy and Charle, travelling to meet the Wizard Saint they had a request from, Warron Cken. We get a sort of recap about the 10 Wizard Saints, which include Makarov and Jura in their ranks, though most of the others we’ve met have been removed, like Jose and Jellal. The four top ones are called the Kings of Ishgal, an old name for the continent they’re on.

The group finds Warron’s house and we see that he’s an incurable joker. Also, he reveals that just because one is a Wizard Saint doesn’t mean you’re super powerful. He knows almost no offensive magic, there are supposedly greater mages even on the continent that aren’t Wizard Saints (hint, Gildartz) and he says outside of the continent, there are people that far outclass him. The position is based on influence and general magic levels, if I had to guess. He’s retired from being a guild master and is now reforesting the deserts with his magic. During his travels, he came across a village that was frozen, including the item of near religious significance, the Eternal Flame. He says that the villagers, while frozen, are still alive and that their mission is to free them.

Warron gives them transportation in the form of a giant tree that grows and extends all the way to the location. As the group leaves, Warron has a flashback where he, Mavis, Purehito and another person start Fairy Tail, revealing that Warron was part of it at one point.  He even specifies that it’s been 105 years, so Makarov wasn’t even born yet, according to rough chronology. I’m guessing the 4th person is Makarov’s father, but I could be off.

The last chapter has the group enter the village, discover that it’s a village of giants, and try to melt the ice, with no success. Gray says it’s an unfamiliar magic. A group of treasure hunters, a guild of them and non magic users to boot, appear. They seek the Eternal Flame in the village and have a plan to melt it with a liquid form of Moon Drip, a magic used in an older arc. The chapter ends with a mysterious figure talking to Minerva, who’s founded a new guild after leaving Sabretooth. This arc is more like what I enjoyed about Fairy Tail, so here’s hoping it continues.

WSR 7-1-13

Disclaimer: These aren’t official translations, merely scanlations. Buy localized or original manga to support the author if at all possible. Know the difference between piracy/theft and sharing without personal profit.

Magi 187

So last time I predicted a flashback, but Ohtaka delayed it for a while so the final fight could progress, which is fine.

Aladdin summons a few other Djinn, one of them being Leraje, Kouha’s Djinn, but there’s one that’s unfamiliar. It may just be a smaller version of Agares, who I must’ve been mistaken in calling a dragon last week, since he looks more feline than draconic. Amon’s there as well, who we haven’t seen in a while. This is the biggest group of Djinn manifested at once and the fact that only a Magi can do it tips off Kouen that Aladdin is the fourth one which Judal told him about a while ago.

The djinni speak about the danger of the black spot, eliminating everything and leaving a world with nothing in it and a black sun over the remains. Leraje warns Kouen about the risks that the black spot poses, that this world might become like Alma Toran while Astaroth tries to silence her, since it’s supposedly taboo to talk about the other world.

Amon then explains that they have to destroy the medium to prevent the resurrection of Il Irah (Arabic for God of Disease), otherwise called “Father” by Al Sarmen. Evidently he’s a being from another world.

Kouen grabs Aladdin, telling him to reveal everything to him about the other world, which Aladdin reluctantly agrees to, in exchange for Kouen’s forces helping them stop Il Irah’s rebirth into this world. Kouen summons everyone with long range clairvoyance magic that Kouha’s retainers and magicians use. We see Koumei after so long, as well as Kougyoku and Hakuei. Hakuryuu is, as expected, missing, since he’s trying to make the Kou Empire crumble from within.

Everyone does Djinn Equip, which takes up quite a few pages, but the visuals are impressive. And we finally know Koumei’s Djinn, Dantalion, the 71st djinn in the Lesser Key of Solomon virtually all the Djinn’s names are derived from.

The group then moves to confront the black spot, ending the chapter with a sizeable force put together off panel.

I imagine the fight will involve more Dark Djinns being summoned, maybe Al Sarmen members fighting as well. Mogamett will be regretful, since a few chapters ago, Titus seemed to influence him and made him realize that he had been blinded by his frustration that turned into a hatred of the non magic users, the goi, which galvanized his quest to make Magnostadt.

All in all a good battle of Metal Vessel Users against Al Sarmen in any way should be awesome.

Naruto 637

The last chapter ended with Obito being forced to do the Rinne Tensei on Madara, which Madara says is a sort of response to what he thinks Obito planned to do: convince him to help with his plan when he resurrected him. But forcing Obito is his way of accomplishing the goal without involving someone who’d still be alive, since Obito is indicated to be dying.

Hashirama notices this and even realizes the technique Madara is using, so he tells Naruto to stop him, Sasuke and Minato also moving to attack. Hashirama sends some wood clones to hold him off, and Tobirama summons some shadow clones. Madara notices the tactic, saying the Hashirama clones aren’t enough to stop him and Hashirama should know that.

Obito then has a flashback where Kakashi and Rin leave together, Obito alone

Sasuke de-summons Aoda and uses Susanoo to attack Obito, but he manages to deflect the flames with chakra infused rods coming out of him, similar to what Pain used a while ago. It’s hinted that Madara did this instead of Obito, though later revelations suggest otherwise. All the parties are closing in to attack Madara

Back in Obito’s flashback we see Minato recognizing Obito’s romantic interest in Rin, so he encourages him in that and their quest to become Hokage. As the flashback ends we see Minato come up and slash into Obito, blood spraying out.

Minato realizes who Obito is and is shocked that his student survived. It’s revealed that he used Shunshin with the thunder God technique, which enables him to teleport to a specified location; with a clone, no less. He explains that the mark never leaves the target, so it connects back to his previous fight they had the night Naruto was born.

The fight seems over and they say all they have to do is seal Madara and Obito to finish the war. But Obito speaks to Sasuke directly, referring to him as a fellow traitor and revealing that he became the Juubi’s Jinchuuriki. This means he was resisting Madara’s control and most likely performing whatever seals he needed in order to finish the ritual. The Juubi’s body is now being controlled by Obito and his own body has changed greatly. He looks very scaly almost and spikes are coming up as well. The chapter ends on this big revelation, which isn’t completely surprising if you remember a few chapters ago Obito did mention his desire to become the Juubi’s Jinchuuriki. The exact chapter number escapes me.

Whether Madara will still fight is a bit up in the air, but if I were him, I’d take this as an advantage, since he still has remotely infinite chakra as an Edo Tensei resurrected individual. Obito becoming the Ten Tails Jinchuuriki does change things, since this likely gives him a great deal of power, enough to make Madara look insignificant by comparison. The final villain being Obito seems more and more likely now, implying a team up with Naruto and Sasuke, their powers fully unlocked: Naruto’s Nine Tails Chakra and Sasuke’s new Mangekyou Sharingan we saw a while ago.

New threats inspire new techniques, I hope and awesome fights should result

Bleach 544

Previously, Juhabach gave Uryuu the Schrift “A”, same as himself, and now Uryuu questions him about why he chose him as his successor. Juhabach inquires whether it’s really a problem and Uryuu notes that doing what he did, making an unknown person the next in line, creates chaos in his group. Juhabach says that was the point, he didn’t want rank and file sheep in his organization, and that they need a bit of time to adjust.

But he also says that Uryuu’s real purpose has to do with his surviving the Auscherren from a while back that killed all mixed blood Quincy. Apparently this was Juhabach’s plan, in order to establish Uryuu as the Last Quincy (though I wonder if he’s keeping Ryuuken’s existence a secret or merely denouncing him as a corrupt Quincy, which makes a bit more sense, since the Ishida are supposedly pure blooded Quincy, like Masaki’s family). He says that Uryuu has a great power that could even surpass his and insists that he should just follow him, trust him, which Uryuu agrees to.

Meanwhile, Bambietta Basterbine, Stern Ritter “E”, brings a common Soldat to her room for implied sex and cuts him in half. This earns the ire of 4 other female Stern Ritter, much needed in this male dominated organization. They say she always makes a mess of things, asking whether she could just do it outside and a bit of bickering even starts amongst two of them. Bambietta silences them and says she’s worried about the Vandenreich’s future, suggesting a possible revolt of some sorts (though I’ve been wrong before)

Haschwalth goes back to his room and his servant voices her concerns about Uryuu’s selection. He responds that this is a plan that keeps Uryuu unable to do anything, since everyone’s at his throat, threatening him and otherwise keeping him on his toes, not able to do anything but focus on Juhabach’s orders

Back in Hueco Mundo, after a long break from Orihime, Chad, Kisuke, Nel and Grimmjow (hinted at, not explicitly shown), we see Orihime coming to an unknown location. She talks about how this is supposed to be training and meets up with Chad, who says everyone’s gathered, implying that there’s more than just Halibel’s Fraccion and Grimmjow potentially. Kisuke is observing what seems to be Quilge’s Medallion that he used to try to steal Ichigo’s Bankai, noting that everyone else is safe, but that his own observations on the medal will take more time

People have speculated that Kisuke is researching the Bankai stealing methods, which seems the most likely at this point. There’re also rumors that other Espada might come back, like Nnoitra and Stark, both of which would be interesting. There’s also the matter of the contract Kisuke supposedly made with Grimmjow (implied off-screen by him yelling at Ichigo) and its nature. Is Kisuke forming an alliance with the remaining Arrancar, perhaps? I imagine we might stick with this setting, but we might go back to Ichigo and Ouetsu back in Spirit Palace as well. I think we’re remotely done with the Vandenreich for the moment, though who knows how Kubo will play things out.

One Piece 713

Last time, Doflamingo and Isshou, Admiral Fujitora, met with Law, after it was revealed Doflamingo tricked the Straw Hats into thinking he had stepped down from his position of Shichibukai, when in fact he was leading them into a trap.

Law holds back Caesar, saying that he and Joker have to renegotiate. Some of the Marines under Fujitora ask about Caesar Clown being involved with Law, but he responds that if he’s merely a subordinate, he’s free and clear. Apparently it’s only if you’re working as a separate entity that you’re in danger of arrest. Marine laws and loopholes.

Joker compliments Fujitora, noting that he and Ryokugyuu, another Admiral most likely in the absence of Akainu, now Fleet Admiral, and Aokiji, who left, were both recruited during the interim period of the timeskip. And he speaks as if they’re both very powerful, which we already have some indication from prior actions of Isshou

Fujitora notes that he isn’t quite sure, but he thinks Joker might be overstepping his bounds as a Shichibukai, but Joker responds that he’s just speculating. He wonders what they’ll do with Law and Fujitora explains what I was already speculating on: if the Straw Hats are allied with Law, then he’s in trouble, but if they’re his subordinates, working under his authority, he’s exempt from punishment.

Fujitora then says Joker had best be careful how he speaks, because he’s prepared to take them both in if that’s the case. Law panics for a bit, but then decides to outright claim he and the Straw Hats are allies, sealing his fate in terms of a fight with Fujitora. Fujitora says that they might’ve simply revoked his title, but in this case, they might have to eliminate him.

All of a sudden, a meteor comes from the sky, seemingly summoned by Fujitora, though this isn’t certain. All three of the major fighters manage to deflect or otherwise dissipate the meteor, while everyone else runs for cover, the result being only the ground the three are standing on surviving in the meteor’s blast radius. We do get more of a hint that Doflamingo’s powers are Devil Fruit in nature and involving strings, as has been speculated. He makes a net pattern and slices the meteor into tinier pieces, while Fujitora uses a similar application of his still unknown powers from before to destroy the meteor before it hits him. It’s not gravity manipulation, but it’s definitely strong, whatever it is.

Franky’s talking with Sanji about destroying the factory and Sanji notices Luffy in the tournament, which Franky just accepts, since he allowed it. Violet, meanwhile, tells Sanji that the factory they’re looking for is disguised as a toy factory and gives him a map. Sanji offers to save her, telling her where to meet him later. Kinemon appears and defeats the men after Sanji

Back underground, we figure out Usopp lied to the gnomes about his origins, connecting back to a character in the Jaya arc, Montblanc Norland, who apparently met the gnomes a while ago. The gnomes, inspired by his courage, say he should join them in their attack on Doflamingo’s palace, which has Usopp realizing the gravity of the situation all of a sudden.

This arc is promising to be a big battle royale eventually, once the tournament’s over.

Toriko 240

Starjun had a giant arm through his torso last time and we continue from there with him wondering whether this is another image, a result of the Routine. But he realizes it’s quite real and says “they came out”. This is apparently referring to his gourmet Cells, which he thinks on after collapsing and coughing up a great deal of blood. So apparently Toriko has gotten to the point where he can manifest his Gourmet Cells’ power in a physical form. My speculation before wasn’t entirely off then.

Starjun notes that he’s taken too much damage and has to use a dark technique, though what it is isn’t known, since Komatsu comes in. He says they can take him, but they have to let him use a revitalizing knife on Toriko, which Starjun is surprised that he knows the techniques for. We saw Komatsu’s friend Otake use it a while ago as well as Chiru. And using Komatsu’s special Melk knife would probably allow Toriko to survive, even if he’s lost an arm and a leg at this point.

Starjun’s surprise ends quickly as he says the fight is over, probably implying it’s a draw. He insists he has to get back to the stadium, where someone is coming.

Setsuno and many other competitors feel a great amount of power and we see Dark Chef Joa and Teppei floating above the stadium by some unknown means (looks like a black hole or such), which ends the chapter.

Not as much content for discussion this time around, but there is some speculation to be made. Teppei was last seen being healed up by a fellow Gourmet Revivalist and going to look for a Master Revivalist, Mohyan Shaishai, suspected to be the cause of the Four Beast’s return in the last arc. Why he’s with Joa is not certain, but it’s possible he’s being intimidated in some way or even manipulated. A very bizarre possibility is that Joa is actually Master Shaishai. It might make some sense, since he’s supposedly fairly old and he’s likely a contemporary of Setsuno, who won the first Cooking Fest by technicality, since Joa used dark techniques. Joa could be an alias.

The alliance Joa is under is Neo, not the Bishokukai, so his motivations are different than Midora, the leader of Bishokukai. We honestly don’t know much about his plans or even his relative skills, except that he could convince Teppei he had been killed and prepared as a dish by the sheer power of Joa’s Intimidation aura.

I imagine that there could be fights with Neo’s members, or Neo’s involvement will make this fight turn into a draw.

Another interest is Coco’s fate against Grinparch. It’s possible he lost or he faked it to give Grinparch a false sense of security, but seeing that Toriko, our main character, is nearly dead, it wouldn’t surprise me if he lost, just to prove a point that they still need more training.

Setsuno’s fight with Zaus, Kuriboh and Kousairou is also interesting, since even with Setsuno’s great power, she’s probably in some trouble as well. All of these fights are just teasing us, though, since this is more of a skirmish than an actual war. Either way, I eagerly await next week.

Fairy Tail 338-340

For the next two weeks, there will be 3 chapters of Fairy Tail released, which is a plus for Fairy Tail fans, but not so much for me. It feels like Mashima just released a monthly version of Fairy Tail, because these chapters almost blend together.

After all the fighting and the end of the Grand Magic tournament, everyone’s getting ready for a party at the royal palace. Everyone’s having fun and Princess Hisui tells Lucy she knew her father, since his organization was connected to the royal family in some way.

Juvia’s changed her appearance as well, which is treated as a version upgrade; Wendy, Chelia and Mavis have a weird moment with a pudding, Kagura, Milliana and Erza reconcile; Sabertooth comes to reconcile with Natsu, who’s mysteriously not there. Everyone seems to want Yukino to join their guild and they’re silenced by the king appearing, but instead Natsu comes in, having stolen the crown and boasting that he’s the king now.

I like the joke that Yukino and Lisanna are almost the same silver haired little sister character, since Yukino is a little sister to a character people are speculating might be someone we’ve met before

Meanwhile, Jellal and Meredy are looking for Ultear and they meet Doranbolt, who reveals he’s manipulated the memories of the senators so they don’t know that the royal family used dark magic that was related to Zeref. He wants to keep the kingdom in relative stability, since revealing that the rulers were this willing to use corrupt magic would affect the citizens’ trust. Cobra’s revealed to have gone back willingly to prison, also speaking about hearing voices, indicated to be dragons, but he also speaks about the third dark guild, Tartarus, finally moving after years of inactivity.

Jellal and Meredy get a letter from an old lady, who says Ultear told her to give it to them. It details Urtear’s apology and encouragement to them, saying they should take her ideals and continue to fight the good fight. 

Ultear is revealed to be the old woman, since most of her time was taken away, finally feeling at peace after all these years and dying with her conscience clean. Gray realizes who she is as they head back to Magnolia and cries at the realization that both mother and daughter saved his life.

The next chapter starts with the guild arriving back in Magnolia, welcomed with the village celebrating, even rebuilding their guild to its former glory. Natsu also reveals he stole the crown and shows off the winner’s trophy. Gray, meanwhile, is being a bit gloomy because of his realizing Ultear’s death saved everyone, but Juvia makes him realize he has to be strong for everyone

After all this, we see the little black devil thing Obra left behind after Raven Tail lost go back to Zeref and he talks about Mavis, even though he can’t hear or see her, sensing her presence. He reveals his plans to pretty much massacre the world, while Mavis says Fairy Tail will stop him. Zeref speaks as if he will die, so I imagine Acnologia will have something to do with his plan. The chapter ends with Zeref speaking about his and Natsu’s final showdown. I would hope the series isn’t quite planning on a final arc yet, since it’s only 7 years old, but the speech is at least giving that sort of impression.

Don’t think I need to do a recap about which chapters I liked the most, since content is what determines length of the posts, so don’t expect that anymore. Until next time, keep reading.