WSR 12-9-13

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.

Seems like Fairy Tail’s scanlation is late, so I’ll catch up with it next week. Btw, next week may have very little manga, since many magazines do a double issue. Then again, with how I update and where my sources are, we may get one next week or the week after, even though it’ll probably be absent in normal serialization in Japan and America, so it’ll be a bit uncertain until the middle of next week.

Magi 207

Hassan explains to Alibaba that Cassim’s body isn’t at this grave, since the Kou Empire took it. The other Fog Troupe members just decided the place would serve as a memorial.  Some are in Hassan’s position, while others have advanced their social rank slightly. Hassan admits it’s better than it was before, but he still won’t become part of the Kou Empire. He misses the time when they worked under Cassim and Alibaba. It was tough, but they had inspiration, they had goals, they had hopes and dreams. Now he’s stuck conforming to a rigid system, feeling trapped, knowing he could fight for Balbadd. Alibaba asks whether he intends to start a rebellion, but Hassan says he can’t, since he and Zaynab are expecting another child.

Alibaba leaves for his lodgings, remembering what things were like back in the past, his own family life, imperfect as it was. The streets and alleyways are all gone, replaced by the strict and repetitive appearance that the new Balbadd has, redone by the Kou Empire

The next day, as Alibaba and company are heading to where Kouen is, a child was run over by a wagon. Alibaba starts to help him with magoi manipulation. But someone notes that the child is just a slave, elaborating the system we heard about from Hassan. Brown clothes are slaves, below the green clothes, who are former Balbadd citizens. The Kou Empire has legalized slavery, troublingly enough. It’s justified to the Kou conquerors because they are a foundation to the civilization. Soldiers disperse the crowd by threatening to revoke their privileges through taking away their tax “points” and rations, the people moving away in fear.

Alibaba thinks to himself that this is hardly different than how it was before: some people living better because others are treated like animals.The chapter ends as he meets up with Kouen before they leave for the summit

World Trigger 42

Replica explains that the “countries” of the Neighbor world function more like planets or stars, since the “borders” are areas of darkness. They don’t quite revolve around Earth, but their orbits do coincide with Earth’s location, so the plan is to find the “planet state” that is closest to intercepting Earth. The diagram Border has is incomplete, so Replica supplements it, expanding it greatly; nearly triple the original size.

Replica narrows it down to 4 nations that are approaching: a marine nation, a tundra like area, a nation where they ride Trion mounts, and the largest Neighbor military power, called the Holy Land. But Replica explains that there are nations that don’t have a set orbit, so they could attack unexpectedly.

Osamu asks if Jin’s Side Effect can predict who it is, but Jin explains that he can’t know the future of someone he doesn’t know, so all he can predict is that something will happen. Kido says they’ll presume for the moment that either Kion, the tundra nation or Aftokrator, the major military power of the Neighborhood, will attack. They want to know the strategies and general powers they possess, but most importantly, how many Black Triggers they possess. Replica says it might’ve changed since 7 years ago, when the maps were put together, but Kion had 6, but Aftokrator had over double that at 13.

They don’t have to worry much, since Black Triggers are rare and are mostly used for defensive purposes, not offensive attacks on Earth. So mostly, they’ll be dealing with Trion soldiers that can be mass produced and shipped in a portable form, so the ships sent to invade won’t consume much Trion. Osamu was summoned because he’s faced both the scouts and the bombers and Yuma is providing the info as a Neighbor soldier.

Elsewhere Chika is encouraging a lower ranked trainee who thinks they couldn’t make B rank, explaining that snipers get better the more they practice.

Osamu and Yuma are approached by Shinoda, who compliments Yuma especially, commenting that the map was worth 30 Border missions to the Neighbor world.  Shinoda also explains he knew Yuma’s father, so he’s happy that his son is helping them. Kido knew Yugo the longest and Shinoda says that he might be willing to promote Yuma to A rank. I imagine Yuma will wait until Osamu and Chika become A rank as well, trusting in their talent.

The chapter ends as Jin meets up with Miwa and asks a favor of him, which we’re left wondering what it is.

Bleach 561

Kensei recovers from the attack last chapter and rockets towards Mask de Masculine, but he’s too fast and kicks Kensei, headbutting him. But Kensei counterattacks, seemingly doing some damage. But James’ cheers power up Mask further and he elbows Kensei on the ground, finishing him off with a knee attack, concluding that he doesn’t need to continue.

However, James is now cut in half by Rose, enraging Mask. Rose doesn’t care much, knowing he had to take the opening Kensei gave him. He unleashes his Bankai, explaining that it’s a group of dancers, their payment Mask’s life as they begin their first attack.

The group surrounds Rose, engulfing him in what appears to be water and then lighting him on fire, suggesting it was actually oil. But then Rose explains that they’re illusions of fire and water, able to affect his mind. His Zanpakutou controls sound and using the reverberations, he creates the influence on his mind.

The final dance is meant to kill, but Mask de Masculine plugs his ears. Rose is shocked to see that Mask has destroyed his own eardrums, nullifying Rose’s Bankai power. Mask shoots a star shaped beam through Rose, defeating him. Rose tries to get back up and as Mask fires a second beam to finish him off but it’s deflected by Renji who appears in a new form as the chapter ends.

Naruto 658

The majority of the Ninja Alliance retreats, leaving the Bijuu and Gaara to confront Madara. Madara moves to attack, Gaara and Shukaku counterattack with a barrage of sand bullets. Madara shrugs it off, but Gaara reveals that he’s manipulating the sand in the wounds to freeze him in place. Matatabi smacks Madara down, the other Bijuu following suit in bouncing him around like a pinball. It looks like Gaara has succeeded in sealing Madara, but Madara unleashes Perfect Susanoo to break out.

Naruto and Killerbee attack Madara’s new form, keeping him occupied. All the Bijuu attack Madara with their tails, seemingly dealing a strong blow, but he manages to escape almost unscathed, merely losing one of his arms. Zetsu appears, giving Madara Obito’s eye and one of his arms, Madara fixing his injuries and gaining one of his eyes, increasing the potential power he has as the chapter ends.

It occurs to me that Madara somehow used Perfect Susanoo without either of his eyes and that might seem to be a contradiction. I’m guessing that Madara doesn’t need the eye to perform it or it wasn’t Susanoo, but something resulting from Hashirama’s sage chakra. Fans have observed that one doesn’t have to have the eye activated to use this technique, so in that case, it means that Susanoo is innate to the user, even if they don’t have their Mangekyou Sharingan anymore, unlike Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi

One Piece 731

We return to Bellamy and Dellinger’s fight, interrupted by Bartolomeo, who’s protecting Bellamy from further attacks by Dellinger. Turns out Dellinger was ordered by Diamante to go protect the factory with Lao G, so he gives up and leaves, vowing revenge against Bartolomeo. Bellamy is still in shock that Doflamingo ordered his death, remembering what he said when they agreed on him becoming a member of the family if he killed Luffy.

Bartolomeo moves to help him, but he pushes him away, saying he doesn’t want to live anymore. He’s also confused as to why Bartolomeo’s being so nice to him, since they were fighting in the ring a while ago, but Bartolomeo responds that since they fought in the ring, they’re like friends now and he won’t let his friends die.

Back at the Flower Fields, Rebecca’s father explains their plan, going to the underground factory through a tunnel that the Tontatta dug over a year, destroy the equipment and take Doflamingo from power. He admits that this plan depends on defeating the Hobi Hobi user, who turned everyone into toys, nullifying their ability. With that, the sheer chaos that will ensue makes the plan a gambit as to what will happen and how the enemy will react.

Usopp inquires about the user of the Hobi Hobi fruit, and the soldier explains that she’s under Trebol, codename Sugar. She looks young, but it’s because she stopped aging when she ate her Devil Fruit.  The group is inspired, Usopp encouraging them, Franky changing his hairstyle

Luffy, still looking for an exit, meets up with Bellamy and Bartolomeo, the latter of which nearly faints at Luffy’s proximity. Bellamy explains that there isn’t really an exit, since the fighters aren’t intended to leave. Luffy inquires whether he knows an exit, Bellamy saying that he’s leaving. So by coincidence, Luffy would find the exit: but Bellamy emphasizes that he won’t betray Doflamingo, even after he had him targeted for assassination.

Bartolomeo reminds Luffy that the Mera Mera Fruit is still up for grabs, but Luffy insists his friends are more important than losing the fruit. Bartolomeo then offers to get it and give it to Luffy, since he respects him so much. But someone appears, saying that they can’t let Luffy have the Mera Mera fruit.

Back at the arena, Rebecca’s joined forces with another gladiator’s group and they’re defeating more and more opponents. Rebecca is respected enough to have others help her, though I wonder if they’re going to throw the match for her or not

Bartolomeo is furious at the person who’s trying to stop Luffy, who is stunned to see them, taking up an entire page with his face. Luffy is overly emotional because he’s inspired to protect his friends, though who it is isn’t clear until a bit later. The group moves out, disguised as toys by hiding inside various corpses of animals: a fish, a cat and a frog.

A member of the Revolutionary Army contacts someone, who asks them to keep in touch about the situation underground. The chapter ends as Luffy seems to imply that he met someone who he thought was dead. The most likely candidate, with the context of the chapter, is Sabo, since he’s theorized to be associated with the Revolutionaries. We know Ace and Whitebeard are confirmed dead, especially with the emphasis on their graves, so Sabo is the logical conclusion, particularly because we see 3 sake cups, symbolizing the bond between the three of them. We never saw Sabo die, it was just an explosion and Dragon supposedly picked him up, so the pieces are all coming together.

Toriko 261

Ootake is looking over Komatsu from the end of last chapter, but collapses, Komatsu helping him. He explains about Neo’s headhunting talent from the other organizations, implying that he was targeted, but he’s more loyal to the Bishokukai. Ootake starts to writhe in pain from his injuries, Komatsu going to get ingredients. This confuses Ootake, since he shouldn’t know where they are, but Komatsu explains that he hears the ingredients’ voices.

He prepares something simple, but Ootake accepts it, knowing that most of the good ingredients were taken away already. Komatsu asks why Ootake didn’t accept Neo’s offer, Take explaining that he hasn’t absorbed anything from the Bishokukai. Komatsu flashes back to when himself, Take and Ume were all still low level chefs, seeking to be accepted by a high class restaurant. He tells Take that he remembers his dream and that they wanted to make the best food they could, even if they only had cheap ingredients. Ootake hardly remembers saying that. He says that dream was more of a stepping stone, always moving to higher and higher ambitions. He used everything as a means to that end, even his past of being an orphan, which he later states was also what Komatsu and Ume were.

But an incident changed him: a mass food poisoning at the orphanage Komatsu grew up in. The quality of the ingredients and the lack of skill to detoxify the ingredients frustrated him further. His past was something that he only felt shame at, leaving it behind so he could seek further dreams and greater goals. He realized that the orphans still looked up to him even though he didn’t even glance in their direction, respecting him for what he was to them: a senpai. They even brought up one of his first times in a newspaper, being torn down by a food critic. He felt like he was shameful to them for not being a great chef like he aspired to be and that they looked up to him as. So he abandoned any reservations, doing everything he could to be the best, so that those kids that no longer lived could still be proud of him in the afterlife. It’s the reason he started his Fairy Tale Cooking restaurant, themed indirectly after the orphanage, called the Fairy Tale Palace.

Ootake knows that, while he doesn’t have any more stepping stones, he still has to do his best to gain as much info from the Bishokukai before moving on. He notes that Midora never had that attitude to want to please the customer, to prepare the most delicious food for them and as he says this, Midora appears, the chapter ending as he tells Take to summon the other chefs.