MSR August 2023

 

 

 

If you enjoy this monthly blog, I also put out bi-weekly animated film reviews among other content. Check out my Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/kyoukasuigetsu) and Ko-Fi (https://ko-fi.com/kyoukasuigetsu) to support my endeavors. Any contribution is appreciated, even sharing to friends.

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: Scanlations and official sources both have a place in the community, but buy official manga volumes to support the author. If you can, also subscribe to Crunchyroll and/or Shonen Jump through Viz Media to read chapters nearly simultaneous with Japan. Most, if not all, of the series covered can be found through legal means, so please encourage the industry that gives us what we love

 

World Trigger’s on break this month, might get 2 chapters next month

 

Shonen Jump and all main shounen magazines will take a break on Obon this month, so 1 less chapter, hopefully nothing ends in the magazines

 

Black Clover is moving to Jump GIGA, which is a quarterly magazine, so we’ll have less of it, but possibly longer chapters as a trade off.

 

World Trigger 236

 

 

 

Ice Head Gill 7-9

 

Sana’s assistance with the relic keeps the lich prince on the defensive and Gill uses the cover of the forest and a new technique to cut the monster down.  Leraje reveals Dreki was possessed by his father, the true king and leader of the liches, though elsewhere, we see that Dreki is hanging onto life so he won’t be possessed fully

 

 

 

We get a brief explanation about the relics, used in a war against the 4 gods in the prior Ragnarok. The liches revive, but are stopped by Greatest, the head of another order of knights in the kingdom, much like Gill’s father. But it seems Sana is being targeted, Greatest recognizing Gill’s axe as his fathers’

 

Greatest takes Gill and Rani to the royal capital and we learn Greatest, respecting Dreki, decides to not kill them as per the king’s order. He actually wants to recruit them as his servants, to address crime within the kingdom. And we hear from Gill that Greatest knows that the king has been framing Dreki for the lich attacks, Gill demanding he get an order to kill his father after defeating a soldier who attempted to strike him

 

 

Nue’s Onmyouji 13-15

 

Nue explains how Gakuro was already primed to unlock his Hollow Weapon’s power, it just required a deep desire to complete the process. But we see Shiroha is still being abused by her family and Gakuro is unable to face the aura of fear she emanates. Nue is confident she can teach him a new tactic and the day of the duel arrives as the opponents square off

 

 

 

Gakuro is advised to wait until Shiroha unleashes sigils to summon her shikigami and then destroy them, but after a struggle, he has the opportunity, but hesitates, letting Shiroha release the Sharp Eyed Crows

 

In spite of Shiroha beating Gakuro down, he eventually realizes how arrogant he was to think he could just save her, utilizing his Hollow Weapon’s power to absorb shadows, still strong enough to break the barrier as he prepares to conclude the battle

 

 

Fabricant 100 33-35

 

No. 100 and No. 99 continue to fight, No. 1 revealing the ice powers are from pseudomonas syringae, a bacteria that can make water freeze at higher temperatures, spreading even through the air.  After No. 100 is pinned by the ice, Ashibi is enraged, setting his hand on fire to attack No. 99

 

 

 

With the flames and some clever use of thermodynamics, Ashibi manages to eliminate No. 99, but finds that his healing ability has weakened, linked to actual science regarding cell division limit. And No. 100 leaves him behind, possibly seeing no more value to his body

 

After approaching No. 99, No. 100 reveals what she learned in the journal Mortsafe gave her. The doctor was actually a scientist involved in creating weapons of war and grew fond of a group of people on an island he hid out on. After they were killed in an air raid, he sought to ensure they wouldn’t die again, taking their corpses and beginning his experiments for the ideal human

 

 

 

 

4 Knights of the Apocalypse 115-118

 

The group learns they’re already on Behemoth’s back, Lancelot sensing the Chaos Knights and the Albion attacking physically to smack them. They manage to avoid the first attack and the Purgatory Beast is sent to attack, Percival commanding the Albion in the Demon language to fire blasts of Hellfire at it. The Arakdo still fights, Lancelot unleashing a powerful attack to eliminate it, everyone confronting Mortlach as the Albion falls over

 

The Chaos Knights reveal they not only have demons hostage in Mortlach’s holy barrier, but also Gawain, who says they should give up. But Percival and the others approach the Chaos Knights, Percival’s power, explained in a mindscape as his Life Spirit nature, not even technically human, just possessing a human form. The miasma starts to overwhelm the Chaos Knights, Mortlach using a magic cube that imprisons the demons and Gawain

 

As the Behemoth rises, Percival’s origin is elaborated on more, his true nature a spirit that possessed the human baby known as Percival, eventually forgetting his spiritual origin. Percival doesn’t believe the explanation, but calms the Behemoth’s spirits, part of the whole he himself came from, awakening afterwards as everyone sees the beast stilled

 

 

 

The door to Camelot opens, Tomintoul attacking with a katana, Lancelot fighting back to let the others help Gawain. But Lancelot’s knocked away, Percival accepting Mortlach’s challenge of a duel even when Rosebank protests, thinking they could negotiate

 

 

 

 

My Hero Academia 396-398

 

All Might faces off against All For One in his full armor suit support item Hercules, the specs and abilities allowing him to pose at least a threat to the villain in occupying him, even if it is likely All Might will perish ultimately

 

 

 

The fight between All Might and All For One continues, the villain insisting he doesn’t need to take much time to defeat his rival, but his attention fixated regardless

 

All Might remembers when he met Nana, vowing to become a symbol of peace to inspire people in dark times. In the present, after unleashing Ashido’s acid, All For One appears to be weakened by All Might’s attack, the fight continuing

 

 

 

One Piece 1089-1090

 

A massive earthquake shakes the world, even raising the sea level by a meter. Meanwhile at Egghead, the siege continues as the 5 Elders speak to York, who negotiates them into keeping Egghead stable. Though it turns out the Straw Hats have her captured and she’s trying to save her own skin, the Straw Hats intending to use her so they can escape

 

 

 

Luffy tries to bluff the Five Elders, but we see there are only a few things they want: the engine for the Mother Flame, York, and the Punk Records brain. The Seraphim have been imprisoned in Bubble Balls, meant to restrict Devil Fruit users. The Straw Hats head out, planning to go to Elbaph next and Kizaru infiltrates with his Devil Fruit powers, clashing with Sentomaru, who intends to hold him off

 

 

Black Clover 367-368

 

We learn the Witch Queen is not likely to survive after using most of her magic to stabilize and heal the injured Black Bulls, Dorothy accepting the offer to take her place. And Asta, applying the principle that his anti magic can be imbued as a property in objects, uses it to empower the Black Bulls with antimagic to fight alongside him

 

 

 

As the battles are not looking good in the Clover Kingdom, Asta’s group arrives, offering support, like Nacht and Ichika assisting Yami against Morgen, who has both Light and Dark Magic

 

MSR July 2023

 

MSR July 2023

 

 

 

 

 

If you enjoy this monthly blog, I also put out bi-weekly animated film reviews among other content. Check out my Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/kyoukasuigetsu) and Ko-Fi (https://ko-fi.com/kyoukasuigetsu) to support my endeavors. Any contribution is appreciated, even sharing to friends.

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: Scanlations and official sources both have a place in the community, but buy official manga volumes to support the authors. If you can, also subscribe to Crunchyroll and/or Shonen Jump through Viz Media to read chapters nearly simultaneous with Japan. Most, if not all, of the series covered can be found through legal means, so please encourage the industry that gives us what we love

 

Mashle concluded this month after around 4 years running. And it coincides almost with the end of the first anime season concluding recently as well. 

 

 

 

 

World Trigger 235

 

The squads discuss the outcome with regards to point leads, Mizukami overall at the top, while Ninomiya and Murakami’s squads are much lower overall due to the battle sim performance. Kodera’s squad even has been aiming for a more long game success with the delegated and universal assignments and Kuruma has his eye on the actual battle portions coming up, Ema tries to confront Ninomiya on how callous he’s been, especially to former teammate Hatohara, Ninomiya revealing she didn’t leave Border, she was taken to the Neighborhood

 

 

 

 

Ice Head Gill 1-6

 

Gill’s father is framed for betraying the kingdom he serves, the boy shipwrecked on an island run by his aunt Mela. While Gill is put upon by Mela, she trusts his strength with an axe and he faces a lich that possesses one of the villagers, slicing off the host’s head and leaving to seek more answers about the prophecy

 

After travelling for a few days, Gill meets Rud, who was betrothed to Alison, her little sister Heidi worried when she starts behaving oddly, taking men into the forest. It turns out she’s been possessed by a lich, allied with another lich who possesses the mens’ bodies, needing replacements every so often. Gill manages to beat them, seeing the tragedy of the lich and how the body’s memories mix in, Alison surviving in some way. Rud gives Gill’s boat runners, the boy heading by land to the royal capital

 

At a town a few days from the capital, Gill meets Sana, who’s friendly at first, but hides a dark past, his clan labeled as criminal after a member attempted to assassinate the king. Gill relates to this infamous reputation and intervenes to help, but Sana still insists on stealing Gill’s father’s journal, to try and provide for his family that he hopes will arrive eventually. He falls down a chasm, Gill jumping after

 

After seeing the criminal that Sana helped before, now being chastised by his older brother after being beaten by Gill, we shift back to Gill and Sana getting out of the river. Sana brings up Dreki and how he’s a hero to the Rani clan, but Gill insists his father didn’t kill the prince. The older brother, Ulfgard, attacks, revealed to be blind as a punishment by Dreki in lieu of execution. Gill intervenes, saying he’ll show how his father’s strength is greater than Ulfgard’s bloodlust

 

Ulfgard reveals even stronger boomerang blades and unleashes 4 in a pattern that Gill can barely dodge. But in spite of the disadvantage of being surrounded, Gil makes an opportunity and cuts Ulfgard deeply. Before he can mount a counterattack, a lich impales the “Blood Chaser”, a horde of others showing up

 

 

The liches have infighting briefly, the leader Leraje claiming he will kill all the false king’s descendants. Gill is pushed back by the lich’s strength, especially as it uses 8 blades rather than the 4 Ulfgard could. Sana plans to leave as Gill distracts them, but after fleeing, he actually uses his bow to fire what appear to be magical arrows at the other liches to support Gill

 

 

 

Nue’s Onmyouji 8-12

 

We learn Shiroha’s weapon from before is called a Hollow Weapon, specific to exorcists or spirits. And as the two pursue Nue and Gakuro, she says he should be ready to eventually fight opponents this strong. But for now, she unleashes Zenoblade, potentially Gakuro’s weapon, in its full power, defeating them, though Kyokotsu is revealed as a clone and Nue disables Shiroha’s weapon, Zenri, offering a chance to redeem herself

 

The offer of a contract comes with a provision to beat Gakuro in a match 10 days from now. Meanwhile, Kazusa has a mission at the beach that she wants the others to join her for, Gakuro and Shiroha going to a café together with a coupon Nue gave them. Shiroha warns Gakuro to not trust Nue, but he says that she believes in him, so he’ll do the same, the coupon used when Shiroha gives Gakuro a kiss on the cheek (minor detail), the two considering whether they should go to the beach

 

At the beach, Kasuza and Shiroha are wearing swimsuits and 3 other exorcists, Machida, Koga and Tsujita, also arrive to help in swimsuits, making Gakuro awkward due to past trauma at being teased for accidentally seeming “perverted” in 5th grade. Shiroha helps him confront the trauma and they begin a competition against the other 3, Kazusa on duty elsewhere.

 

The competition seems to be close, but in Shiroha and Gakuro’s advantage. But things shift badly when Machida’s group draws the spirits with a tool and powerful conglomerations form. Shiroha defeats them after Gakuro breaks through the wall. Afterwards, it seems Tsujita might be developing feelings for Gakuro and Shiroha still is unsure about her feelings in general, very distant from even coworkers

 

We see Shiroha growing a friendship with Gakuro, but she’s punished harshly by her family head, left with injuries bandaged up the next day. And Gakuro, having trained hard under Nue, unlocks his Hollow Weapon’s true power

 

 

 

Fabricant 100 28-32

 

The Ayako found by Kugui is the fake, assisted by the Fabricant that was enabling them to imitate people. Ashibi uses his blood to verify Ayako is the real one and they meet up with Kugui, actually the Fabricant in disguise, Ayako verifying it, but hesitating before she attacks, stabbed by the fake Kugui

 

Ayako remembers how her and Kugui’s master died by a Fabricant attack, his self sacrificing nature rubbing off on her, realized too late as she lay dying. The Fabricant turns into Ashibi and their ally creates a distraction so No. 100 can’t be sure who is who, but she attacks regardless because the real Ashibi can regenerate. Ayako observes how No. 100 really only cares about herself as she fights without any restraint, a tactic No. 100 developed so she doesn’t have to ever feel pain again

 

No. 100 manages to kill No. 78, the Fabricant able to imitate people with specialized skin, but her master flees, taking advantage of specialized eyes and the house of mirrors to keep Kugui on the defensive, who avoided a vital wound. Ayako, with Ashibi’s help, arrives, directing her brother to land a finishing blow, even if it means she’s likely to die with her own wounds

 

Ayako perishes, happy to reconcile in some way with her brother, while No. 100 realizes that only humans sacrifice themselves for others, unlike Fabricants. And No. 1 reconstitutes No. 99 with a new body, ready to face Ashibi with No. 99 granted ice powers now

 

HQ tells Ashibi they can’t afford to send reinforcements, preferring to deal with the Fabricants attacking in droves at the main location. Ashibi and No. 100 are attacked by No. 99, his new form still humanoid, but lacking most of their reason, No. 1 thinking it must be because unlike other Fabricants, this was the first that No. 1 made himself. And Ashibi says this disregard for human life won’t stand

 

 

 

4 Knights of the Apocalypse 111-114

 

Tristan and the demon, Schwarz, fight, though the sheer power of the latter defeats even the Nephilim’s mixed heritage and skills. Meanwhile, Anne deduces more about her power, even testing it on Donny bragging about his training. Percival’s training is the most difficult, beaten bloody by Lancelot, yet concerned about Anne, clearly flustered at his selflessness. The first day concludes, 6 days left

Schwarz mobilizes the demons to tell the denizens of Percival’s return and their inspiration seems to power Percival’s magic (a theme we saw before, empowered by faith from his friends). It forms a facsimile of Percival, with much greater strength, telling the original he’s a piece of a Great One

 

After seeing that Chion’s 4 elemental spirits are shaking in fear at something, seemingly Percival when they first met, we’re left still wondering as Percival’s “clone” fights Lancelot, beating Pellegarde, level 3 and then challenging Ironside, level 4, Percival’s true power suggested to be far greater in what he can utilize.

 

The flaming rain concludes and Percival’s group heads out to the Behemoth on an Albion golem. Meanwhile the Camelot knights are right behind them, preparing to attack once they reach the Behemoth through the miasma cloud

 

 

My Hero Academia 393-395

 

Himiko remembers how she and Shigaraki both decided they didn’t want villain aliases like everyone else, preferring to live as themselves. In the present, Himiko still thinks this can only end with one side winning. Ochako persists, saying that she can at least admire Himiko’s passion, pushing forward as her Quirk evolves, allowing her to enact Zero Gravity on even bodies that come into contact

 

Uraraka opens up to Himiko, letting her express her feelings and they form a bond, both appreciating traits in each other, Twice’s Quirk disappearing as the time limit runs out

 

With Ochako losing lots of blood, Himiko turns into Ochako and donates as much blood as she can, seemingly dying, but happy to have realized her faults in the end, a way to make amends

 

 

 

One Piece 1087-1088

 

Garp’s fight with Blackbeard’s crew continues, impaled by Shiryu, but still fighting back. Even Kuzan, previously an apprentice to Garp when he was much younger, clashes fists, Garp seemingly dealt a solid blow. And Avalo, with his Isle Isle Fruit, moves a giant hand to smash the nearby boat, Garp confident things will turn out alright somehow

 

 

 

Garp smashes Avalo with a massive punch, giving Koby the opportunity to attack the hand, his own training such that he’s gotten much stronger himself as the others escape while Garp is likely held prisoner

 

 

 

Black Clover 364-366

 

The Black Bulls make a desperate effort to protect the Gate of Destiny’s formation, using every trick they can, but Grey and Gauche are critically wounded and the last ones standing are only assisted by Secre’s Sealing Magic, barely able to fight, but persisting for Asta’s sake

 

 

 

Asta arrives just as Damnatio has gotten to the gate, actually possessing Atmosphere Magic from Baal, gifted by Lucius to him as a high ranking Paladin, which lets him devastate the remaining Black Bulls

 

 

Arriving with Ichika as well, Asta confronts Damnatio and seemingly takes him down in one Zetten strike, even the Atmosphere magic not affecting him