WSR 2-20-17

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.

One Piece is on break this week

The next Jump Star is Poro’s Demon Diary by Hitsuji Gondaira. The prince of the demon world, Poro, doesn’t’ want to participate in the battle royale to get to the top, but he’s so strong, no one can beat him. Enamored with the human world, he goes there to get away from it all and finds a new friend, starting a new life in spite of demons pursuing him.

2 series ended this issue of Weekly Shounen Jump: Ibitsu no Amalgam/Amalgam of Distortion and Demon’s Plan. Both dark themed series that had compelling premises, but execution apparently fell flat for the Japanese audience. Released about 6 weeks apart, but ending the same issue means Demon’s Plan especially fell flat, Ibitsu no Amalgam ending at 18 chapters, while Demon’s Plan ended at 12

Black Clover and Boku no Hero Academia had some rushing happen with the authors, so some portions will be unfinished in appearances, which will be fixed in the volume releases

Black Clover 99

 The Witch Queen chooses Noelle to be the first victim of Asta, but as he moves to bear the blade down on her, he holds himself back with his other arm, unaffected in some way by the Blood Magic.

Vanessa pleads with her mother to let the others go, that she will stay here and never leave, but the Witch Queen says she cannot afford to allow the possibility of the others planning something, so she will kill them here.

She tells Vanessa that her fighting against the Witch Queen’s decisions only led to this outcome, her friends about to be killed.

We see a flashback with Vanessa begging her mother to let her go, that the Thread Magic isn’t as powerful as she says. But the Witch Queen insists that the prophecy about her changing destiny with her magic holds and that her decision will not be opposed. 

Vanessa thinks to herself she cannot fight this fate, but an explosion blasts a hole in a wall of the room, Yami appearing before her.

He asks her why she’s here, Vanessa explaining her plight. Yami says that he can’t stand destiny and he’d fight against it. As he leaves, Vanessa asks him what she should do, Yami retorting that it’s her decision to make.

Vanessa steels herself and follows Yami, remembering all the fun memories she had with the Black Bulls.

She tells the Witch Queen that they’re her true family, not her, someone who would just use her as a tool.

With Noelle about to be killed, Vanessa wonders how she can fight this fate. But suddenly, her grimoire activates and a new spell manifests with her strong will to fight what seems inevitable.

Her threads manifest what seems to be a cat, the chapter ending as the Witch Queen says that this is the Red String of Fate. 

Boku no Hero Academia 128

 Deku’s acrobatics around the room make Night Eye comment that he’s just ripping off Gran Torino and notes that Deku’s analysis falls flat, since as long as he meets the basic conditions of his Quirk, within 1 hour, he can see everything someone does.

Night Eye states that 2 minutes into the future, Deku will have failed, saying that Deku has been unable to follow All Might’s teachings to the fullest, especially that which says a Hero must act with purpose and never doubt themselves.

Deku says All Might recognized him and said he could become the top Hero, throwing a bookcase at Night Eye, thinking that his Quirk only analyzes his future motions, not those of things other than him.

But even as it seems that Deku might have the chance to acquire the stamp, Night Eye dodges, since Deku was his focus and the predicted movements didn’t change.

With the 3 minutes up, Night Eye still thinks Deku was an insufficient inheritor of One For All.

However, Deku points out that he nearly stepped on the 10 year anniversary All Might poster, Night Eye astonished that Deku kept that in might even while bouncing around like Gran Torino.

As Mirio and Bubble Girl step in, Night Eye says that Deku did pass in spite of failing the test, because he never said he wouldn’t hire him if he didn’t pass. In fact, he had decided to hire Deku from learning that he was coming but he still refuses to acknowledge him.

From here, the true trial begins, Deku’s test in the field directly, fighting against Night Eye’s insistence that Mirio should’ve been the successor and All Might’s will that Deku acquires One For all.

The next day, Mirio and Deku split off as a pair, Night Eye and Bubble Girl going separately for patrolling and surveillance, since the agency is in the middle of an investigation regarding the Eight Precepts of Death (the group Overhaul is a leader in)

In spite of their being associated with an old yakuza group, they don’t have any direct evidence of criminal activity, so Night Eye and his agency are seeking proof to demonstrate that they have evil intent.

As Deku and Mirio are going through the city, a girl running away from a pursuer bumps into Deku.

The chapter ends as we see it’s Overhaul, asking the girl, Eri, to come back.

Seven Deadly Sins 207

Galan tells Fraudrin they have to retreat, Fraudrin recognizing the new forms as those of the Indura, beasts only found in the Demon World that are so dangerous they’re seen as nuisances even by their masters.

For them to have done this suggests that the Four Archangels are not to be underestimated.

But we also see that even Rueduciel can hardly fight back against the newfound power Derriere and Monspiet have acquired, Sariel and Tarmiel both being held down and assaulted by Monspiet while Derriere unleashes attacks that wipe out swathes of the landscape.

Meliodas’ group finds Elizabeth, Meliodas ignoring the damage to himself by pushing through the barrier surrounding her.

She apologizes for not knowing the Archangels’ plan, but Meliodas says she has nothing to be sorry about. 

But Elizabeth still insists that Meliodas will not be hurt on her account, flying ahead of the others.

The chapter ends as Rueduciel prepares to fight seriously against the Indura, but Elizabeth intervenes, saying she will stop this.

Magi 338

Judar, in spite of his apparent victory over Sinbad, sees a giant form of the 7 Dungeon Conqueror.

The Dark Magi rants at Sinbad, saying that this fight in Baal means nothing with regards to when Sindria first fell or Sinbad’s feelings about bringing everything back to the Rukh.

But Sinbad retorts that Judar’s way of thinking, that Judar will take on the role of thinking about irrational fate and whether to fight or surrender and Aladdin, Hakuryuu and Alibaba have the role of going ahead, is something that Sinbad wouldn’t have thought of, so he acknowledges that Judar has conquered the 1st dungeon’s challenge.

Aladdin and the others see Baal fall, Arba explaining that he convinced Sinbad.

Hakuryuu inquires about Sinbad’s one regret, Aladdin saying that it has to do with Sinbad thinking he cannot be wrong, that he became so powerful by his own machinations.

But Hakuryuu doesn’t understand, thinking Aladdin’s being a bit pretentious in his explanation. Arba tries to placate them both, saying that Hakuryuu’s had difficulty making friends, so he might not understand Sinbad’s thought process.

The group arrives at the 2nd dungeon, Valefor, seeing the Eight Generals fighting against a giant monster, that the 15 year old Sinbad calls destiny.

He explains that he was challenging dungeons at this time and sought to make a trading company with his allies to found a country in the future. But destiny, which he blames Solomon for, put many difficulties in their path, even on people who did no wrongs.

The question he poses is what should one distrust and what should one trust in this world?

Sinbad uses the Djinn Equip of Valefor, seen for the first time by Alibaba.

Hakuryuu says that he’ll face this Djinn that is concerned with doubt and suspicion, drawing an analogue to his own character in the last arc, distrusting others and learning to open up again. The chapter ends on this conflict that will begin next time

Fairy Tail 522-523

Zeref comments on how Deliora, a demon he created, killed Gray’s parents, and how Gray’s mentor, Ur, sacrificed herself to stop it, so he understands how Gray could hate him fiercely.

Gray wonders why he knows so much about people that don’t interest him, the Dark Mage saying it’s simple common sense to have information about your enemy, commenting on Lucy, Happy, Erza, Wendy and Gajeel all being major players in this conflict

Zeref states simply that he desires Mavis’ magic, nothing else. Gray asks why he would want such a thing with his army and immortality, Zeref explaining that he intends to destroy Acnologia, asking if Gray would cooperate with him, hinting that his ambitions go further than such a thing

We shift over to Gildartz fighting August, managing to slice him into tiny cubes, but August is seemingly unaffected as he comments that Gildartz’s magic is interesting, but that he cannot defeat August.

Cana throws her hand in the ring, attacking August as well, August intrigued that she reveals she and Gildartz are father and daughter.

Back with Gray and Zeref, Gray is in shock at what Zeref has told him about his true plans, something even the Spriggan 12 don’t know. And he has been told this because Zeref thinks Gray will be dead before he can tell Natsu and the others.

Gray thinks he can defeat Zeref, but Zeref retorts that even if he could do that, it would mean the end of Natsu, being connected to Zeref as END

But Gray doesn’t care, thinking that Natsu being END is moot, since Natsu is still his friend and that won’t change.

Zeref says that either way, Gray will lose Natsu, but Gray says there’s a way to defeat him without killing him

Gray initiates the Iced Shell magic of Ur, but takes it a step further, adding the Lost attribute, Zeref in shock at this.

The chapter ends as Gray explains that he’ll erase himself from everyone’s memories and convert all that energy from his existence into magical power.

The next chapter begins as Zeref wonders where Gray could’ve learned such magic, Gray saying that it was when he was working in Avatar. The power of magic enhanced with the Lost attribute is enhanced hundreds of times.

Zeref thinks Gray is wasting his time, because eventually the ice will melt or the spell will be reversed and all that will have been accomplished is Gray staving off the inevitable to stop him and wipe his own existence away in the process.

Gray doesn’t care, saying that this is best for everyone, since Fairy Tail will have won the day.

But he sees Ur as he begins to faint and Natsu holds him back as he snaps back to reality, the spell stopped.

Natsu tells his friend that he can’t think of dying, that they’re friends and even if Gray tried to kill him in the past, they’re still comrades, family through their bond of the magic guild.

Zeref brings up how it doesn’t matter what happens, Natsu will perish in either outcome. But Natsu retorts that such a destiny is something he’ll burn away.

But Zeref counters that fate and destiny are things you cannot fight, as he is well aware from being unable to fight his curse of Ankselam from 400 years ago.

We shift over to Erza and Wendy, the Wind Dragon Slayer wondering if she could’ve done something to save Makarov, Erza saying he had resolved himself to be a sacrifice for his family.

But suddenly an explosion bursts forth near them, the chapter ending as we see that Acnologia has finally arrived on the scene, bringing things to a future climax of the series with the major players all coming together.

WSR 2-13-17

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.

 

 U19, the next Jump Start in the lineup, is by Yuuji Kimura, who’s done some oneshots before, such as Garden, a post apocalyptic series featuring a deadly plant and Peach Pluck, which involves Momotarou’s descendant fighting ogres from the island that his ancestor fought

In a dystopian society where adults have taken over Japanese education policy, they’ve implemented a stringent standard where students are ranked based on performance and this determines their employment future. Our main character, Kudo, is considered D rank, the lowest possible and his childhood friend Akari is his only bastion to keep him inspired to fight against the injustices. But after a genetic screening, Akari is transferred to a new school and Kudo seems to be awakening the rumored Libido power, a special ability connected to the Garage Kids, who serve as a revolution against the Grown Up Party’s oppression.

Straighten Up, a series that started a bit after Black Clover, has ended, though I’m hoping it’s on good terms, rather than being cancelled due to lack of popularity. It’s the first series that ended in 2017, and will probably be around 9-10 volumes total.

If you haven’t read it, the basic premise is our main character wants to assert himself more, so he thinks joining the dance club at his high school is the best way and he learns how much work is put into the world of competitive dance. Cast is unique and slowly expands rather than being piled on, so you get the feeling of each person being important and fleshed out

~~~~Night Eye allows Deku a chance to join if he can take the stamp from him to mark the forms needed, but his Foresight Quirk allows him to avoid Deku’s attacks. Deku pushes himself more, not wanting to be outdone by Night Eye’s expectations of Mirio being superior to take on All Might’s legacy.

~~~Nami and the others move to where she thinks Luffy and Sanji may be, the Vinsmokes go to sleep thinking they have everything under control and Sanji tells Luffy he can’t go back because of Zeff, his betrayal of Luffy’s trust and that he doesn’t want to see his family die. But Luffy punches him, demanding the truth as Sanji says he just can’t bring himself to abandon people who are going to get killed, Luffy saying they’ll crash the wedding together.

~~~Ladros’ personality has changed after the magic stone on his head was shattered, but as Asta moves to try and help the others, the Witch Queen appears and uses her Blood Magic to manipulate him and immobilize the others, taking over Asta to use his antimagic power for her own agenda

~~~Fairy Tail starts to fight back, even showing compassion for some of their enemies who demand they kill them. August prepares to destroy the area, but Gildartz clashes and holds the Wizard King off.  And as Natsu and Lucy are heading to Zeref, Grey is already there, ready to try and stop the Dark Mage in spite of still being heavily injured

~~~Rueduciel pushes the Ten Commandments back, Monspiet and Derriere utilizing a ritual to unlock their Indra forms, the true manifestation of their evil. Meanwhile, Merascylla has infiltrated with Gowther, but Nerobasta thinks that the Ten Commandments have no chance against the strongest of the Archangels, Rueduciel.

~~~Judar defeats Sinbad’s first conviction, saying that one shouldn’t linger on what could be in an alternate life, but accept what fate has given you and fight against it for your own self and desires.

Black Clover 98

Ladros’ magic power is completely drained, begging Asta to kill him as his demonic form stands over him, his own wizened body unable to fight back.

But Asta just tells him to apologize to the people he hurt and help them, not wanting to kill him.

Ladros’ personality has drastically changed, the magic stone on his forehead shattered in their final clash, which stopped the control of his mind, his head feeling clearer.

He thinks Asta is impressive for advancing with the help of his friends rather than using them as tools to a selfish end.

Asta reverts back to his normal form, confused at the state of things. As he demands Mars or someone heal the people, the Witch Queen appears.

She comments that it was an impressive battle, but she refuses to heal anyone but Asta, using her blood magic to initiate a spell to begin an execution of everyone else.

Her blood magic allows her to manipulate Asta’s blood, controlling him like a puppet.

The chapter ends as she reveals that she will use him as her knight, commanding him to slaughter the others.

Boku no Hero Academia 127

Night Eye notes how Deku’s face is off in the proportions for All Might’s wrinkles above his eye, but Deku explains that the face was meant to be funny, reflecting an incident where All Might saved a student with a Quirk that could alter liquids, the drowning student changing the river into vinegar, which stung the #1 Hero’s eyes.

All Might’s sidekick knows of the occurrence, but thinks it isn’t that important. Deku insists that it had a particular impact on him with the joke afterward about helping make All Might look 10 years younger.

Night Eye inquires further about Deku’s intent to intern with him and emphasizes that it will be harsh. But Deku has resolved himself to work harder than everyone else to meet up to All Might’s standards.

But Night Eye says he won’t stamp the form required, still skeptical as to what Deku can contribute to his agency versus what the agency gives to Deku. All Might gave society hope and made Villains tremble in fear, making things better for everyone

So as an exception to his usual rule, Night Eye says he’ll let Deku intern under him if he can take the stamp from him and stamp the form in 3 minutes.

Mirio thinks this might be near impossible with Sir’s Quirk, Deku rushing at Night Eye, who effortlessly dodges the assault, even explaining it as it happens, revealing that his Quirk is Foresight.

Deku can’t even seem to overwhelm him with speed of attacks, Night Eye avoiding him for a minute with no difficulty.

Sir then comments on how even if Deku has the power, his demeanor and general attitude are mediocre, insufficient for succeeding All Might. In fact, he thinks Mirio should’ve been the successor, Deku realizing that Mirio was a candidate in the past, confused as to why All Might didn’t tell him.

The chapter ends as Deku amps up One For All’s power and bounces around the room, increasing his speed as he says he will definitely take that stamp back and show Night Eye why All Might chose him.

Seven Deadly Sins 206

As Nerobasta takes Gowther to the gate, she speaks highly of Rueduciel, seen as the strongest amongst the Archangels and having abandoned his friends and family for this purpose of destroying the Demon Clan and taking Britannia for themselves.

Gowther says he knows of such a person as well and as they arrive, Nerobasta comments on how ugly the gate to the Heavens is, revealing that she is Merascylla, disguised as the Goddess clan angel

She explains the situation to Gowther, though the Commandment of Selflessness reads her mind to quicken things. With Rueduciel coming, the Commandments are at a severe disadvantage.

We see Tarmiel knocking away Galan and Derriere with his two other heads and then attacking with a massive ball of Ark energy.

Monspiet manages to blast through all three of the heads, but Sariel slashes him into pieces in return.

Derriere tries to attack, but her punch doesn’t seem to even reach, pulverized by Sariel’s power. But with the remaining bone shard of her severed arm, she stabs Sariel in the eye.

And Galan, in spite of the Ark orb’s power, manages to wrestle it and throw the attack at Sariel as he’s powered himself up with Critical Over.

But Galan is blasted by multiple lasers from Rueduciel, who also does serious damage to Monspiet and Derriere

Nerobasta herself appears before Merascylla and Gowther, having broken out of his illusion in the meantime.

She comments on how Rueduciel is so powerful that he corners the beasts they regard the Demon Clan as and reduces them to nothing.

But Merascylla responds that they’re not typical beasts, as we see Monspiet and Derriere tear out their 6 hearts and offer them in a ritual, transforming into what are called Indura, the ultimate form of evil

Rueduciel seems to not regard their new appearances as much, but we see Derriere rush at the Archangel and punch him in the face as the chapter concludes, showing they have grown stronger.

Magi 337

Aladdin’s somewhat worried about Judar, but the others say they need to press on.

Sinbad of the dungeon of Baal asks Judar the same question he did before: should one submit to irrational fate or fight against it?

Judar and Sinbad’s powers seem to be at a standstill, but Sinbad, in response to being told he acts like a child shows Judar when he was given a vision of his past by Aladdin with Solomon’s Wisdom.

The Magi of Kou thinks that if Al Thamen hadn’t kidnapped him, he could’ve been like Aladdin, had a life with freedom to choose his King.

Suddenly, Gyokuen appears before him and his younger self says to kill her, since she was the cause of his being twisted to what he is now.

Judar kills the manifestation, Sinbad thinking he’s no better.

But Judar responds that his way of life is to destroy anything that gets in his way, including fate.

With Ice Magic, Judar freezes Sinbad and chops off his head, disabling him as he continues to explain.

He thinks Sinbad hated himself and the fate he was given, wanting to be born in a prosperous village or even as royalty.

But Judar thinks you should be thankful with the life you have, take the cards you’ve been dealt and continue on with life, fighting for your own desires as they both did, just with different mindsets

The chapter ends as Judar says Sinbad should live his life to the fullest rather than wondering what a different life could’ve been like, defeating the first dungeon.

One Piece 856

 The mirrors can’t find Sanji, Nami thinking she knows where he and Luffy might be, the place where Luffy promised to wait for Sanji.

Jinbe comments that the wedding ceremony is going to be extremely dangerous for Sanji.

He also brings up Pekoms, who was saved from near doom when he was thrown off a cliff into shark infested waters by Bege.

Meanwhile, we see Bobbin, who appears to have been shot, some nearby soldiers thinking they heard a gun go off.

We shift to the Vinsmokes drinking, surpassing human limits and making the serving women fall over from being so intoxicated. They thank Sanji for being such a boon to them in spite of his status as a failure in Judge’s eyes.

As the Vinsmokes go to sleep, Mont D’or arranges for soldiers to keep tabs on them until tomorrow’s ceremony.

Back with Sanji and Luffy, Sanji offers his captain the food, commenting that it got rained on and beaten up after the dog tried to get it.

But Luffy eats it heartily and says it’s delicious.

Sanji refuses to go with Luffy, saying that he betrayed his crew by attacking his captain, he can’t leave Zeff and the Baratie crew to be killed by the Vinsmokes if things go south with Big Mom’s assassination plan and he doesn’t want to leave behind his blood family in spite of thinking they’re scum.

But Luffy just punches him, demanding that he tell him the truth. Sanji then breaks down, saying that he wants to go back to the Straw Hats, but he can’t bring himself to sentence his family to death, even if they called him a failure.

The chapter ends as Luffy agrees, thinking Sanji’s just that compassionate, saying he’ll help Sanji crash the wedding.

One Piece is on break next week

Fairy Tail 521

Fairy Tail mobilizes, using the advantage of being in their home town to fight back against the enemy forces. Laxus tells Makarov to wait, that he will take him back to their guild to bury him when all this is over.

Mirajane barely manages to defeat Jacob, who lost again because he was fighting a voluptuous woman and was so prudish he closed his eyes the entire fight.

Elfman and Lisanna have beaten Azir, though he still wants to fight. His grandfather, a character we briefly saw when Makarov first entered Alvareth, says they should withdraw, that there have been too many losses already.

But Elfman and Lisanna say that all wars suffer losses, Alvareth losing sight of that with all their victories, not realizing the risks involved if they were to be defeated.

Azir’s grandfather offers his own life in exchange for Azir’s safety, but Elfman and Lisanna say they didn’t intend to kill them, revealing that they’re family as well, their bond by blood rather than the bond all their guildmates share.

Natsu and Lucy wonder where the others that were with them are, Brandish and Dimaria appearing, Dimaria shrunken with Brandish’s magic. Brandish leaves, saying she’ll remain neutral in this conflict for now.

As Evergreen, Juvia, Charle and Porylusca catch up with Natsu and Lucy, the Flame Dragon Slayer asks where Gray is.

The area starts to shake as we see August, still standing and readying an attack that will destroy everything in the area, not even distinguishing between friend and foe

Suddenly, Gildartz comes in from above, clashing with the Wizard King, saying that he’ll handle him.

Natsu and Lucy head to where Zeref is, Natsu confident he knows where Gray is

The chapter ends as we see Gray, barely able to stand, confronting Zeref, who says he’s disappointed, since this is the most painful thing that could happen to Natsu: his best friend dying, Natsu deducing that Gray is heading to the guild, where Zeref is.