MSR April 2024

 

 

 

MSR April 2024

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

Mamayuyu ended this month at 29 chapters, which has become the average versus what used to be called the Under 19 club, like Golem Hearts, Demons Plan, etc

 

 

 

Two On Ice also ended, at 28 chapters, an unfortunate victim of many sports series competing for dominance in a post Haikyuu magazine, the major one standing out likely Akane Banashi (the rakugo one) which is rumored to have an anime adaptation greenlit

And Shadow Eliminators concluded at 19 chapters, meaning it likely wasn’t doing well, since that’s a few months earlier than the other 2.

 

 

We have 2 new series in April, plus one more in May, filling in the gaps left by MamaYuyu, Two On Ice and Shadow Eliminators.

 

First is Astro Royale by Ken Wakui (of Tokyo Revengers fame), which focuses on Hibaru Yotsurugi, the only blood son of a recently deceased yakuza boss. The successor is announced, but a faction favoring Shio, the first adopted son, opposes it, while Hibaru and Terasu, the 12th adopted son, seek to carry on their late father’s legacy. And Hibaru, wanting to represent the yakuza spirit, says Terasu was announced as the one to take over while he will be the shield (even though Hibaru was the one set as the new head). When he wishes on a meteor shower, the pendant he holds is granted the power of Astro. He utilizes it to save Terasu, but we see he isn’t the only one given special abilities, great conflict on the horizon 

 

 

 

Kyokutou Necromance (Far East Necromance might’ve been too wordy?) by Fusai Naba of Aliens Area. Our lead, Kaoru, learns about the existence of shiryo, or death spirits, when his grandma is affected physically and he meets Yoji Amane, a friend of his father’s who explains more. When Kaoru stands up against an amalgamation of shiryo, he finds he can harm them due to a ring his father gave him, linked to their family curse. The ring seals a shiryo that can be used to fight other shiryo, the duty of a Necromancer

 

 

Black Clover 370-371

 

As Lucius prepares the massive spell above the Clover Kingdom, the Black Bulls all provide support to ensure Yuno and Asta can take down Lucius’s real body

 

 

 

We shift over to Morris and Mereoleona’s fight, the scientist mocking the lioness in how she’s reached the limits of human capacity while he continues to surpass them with his new magic. But Fuegoleon arrives and Mereoleona gains a new spell, reviving the souls of her fallen teammates, Morris unable to do anything to her body now fully comprised of mana as she destroys him

 

 

Kyokutou Necromance 1-2

 

Kaoru Uno lives with his grandma after losing his parents. But when weird creatures appear on his grandma, Kaoru is drawn into a world his father was connected to, the Necromancers who combat the death spirits, shiryo, with their own sealed shiryo

 

 

 

After leaving the agency of Amane Yoji, a friend of Kaoru’s father, they spot a shiryo. But Kaoru can’t summon the shiryo in his ring, especially since the person threatened by it is a stranger. He remembers how his grandma was willing to sacrifice to have him stay with her after his father’s passing instead of his abusive aunt and uncle and uses that memory to motivate him. The shiryo’s hunger is shown and it consumes the wild shiryo. Afterwards Amane approves Kaoru and they go the Shiryo Sorcery Society to check on their next mission

 

 

 

Dear Anemone 8-11

 

As Ryuchi, who died by the chameleon monster before, awakens to his regenerated form, Minazuki explains she grew up on the Galapagos, a human raised by wolves. Her Adaptor potential activated when she was faced with imminent danger. The mantis humanoid attacks and it seems she might be pinned, but with her enhanced olfactory senses, she notes a moment of weakness and tears his head off, showing her power

 

 

 

Minazuki tricks Kurokawa into thinking she defeated the mantis monster, so her own abilities are still secret. Meanwhile Lobelia reveals she can produce a highly potent toxin, seemingly weakening Anemone and leaving Hachiue severely wounded.  We learn Lobelia made the honey badger and mantis monsters and even reverted Anemone to the flower form. Someone took Anemone away after Lobelia crushed the flower (possibly Hachiue’s friend Yoshio). She moves to take down Anemone, but Hachiue, more linked to Anemone and using more plant powers, shields him

 

Lobelia flees after Hachiue pins her briefly and Minazuki and Kurokawa arrive soon after, The group finds the data, though it being in Japanese confuses them, indicating there’s more behind the scenes regarding the experiments

 

Ryuchi meets back up with the group after Kurokawa hits him, mistakenly thinking he was an attacker. With the data in hand, everyone just has to wait until the ship returns in a month. Hachiue and Ryuchi decide to keep exploring, while the other 2 stay behind. And the boys meet up with Kurage, another member who seemingly died, but now has been revived and likely possesses jellyfish abilities via adaptation

 

 

 

Shadow Eliminators 17-19 [END]

 

While Togami and Nagito defeat Zen’s 2 generals, Aine isn’t so lucky against Zen, his power too much. She tries one more desperate move and it buys enough time for Aoba to appear, having conquered his Kasane and grown much stronger

 

 

 

The fight between Aoba and Zen begins after Aoba eliminates the giant Kasane, then promising to defeat his older brother for all the suffering he caused while he sat by passively. Their clash leads to Zen’s defeat, but Aoba disappears as the skull from the Otherworld takes him away abruptly

 

2 years have passed and the culture festival is in full swing, Asakaze the president of the committee. He intervenes when a lost kid starts to shows signs of a Kasane invasion. Aine lets slip that Kuromori actually is in the Physical World, Aoba telling Asakaze that Zen let the skull take over his body, and we see that he’s still trying to turn everything into Kasane as his plan was before. And the two continue their adventures into the future

 

 

 

 

Nue’s Exorcist 45-48

 

Nue explains that she needs to train Gakuro and through some white lies, pushes Kazusa to ask Gakuro to train together. Shitotsu and Shiroha will also be involved, everyone wanting to get stronger for the upcoming fight

 

 

 

Gakuro’s training is to master Xenoblade, while Shitotsu, Shiroha and Kazusa are all dealing with their own trials under Nue, the living space more a formality for the overall training experience. The standards are difficult, but Gakuro persists, he and Kazusa having awkward interactions, Kazusa seemingly more casual in spite of the prior indications she might have a crush on Gakuro. And Nue plans to go to the Exorcist Bureau, who are concerned about the Level 4 group’s abilities

 

Kazusa is apparently nervous, hiding it well and when Koga, along with Machida and Tsujita in other training areas, is pulled into the process, subtly hinting something about Kazusa’s past. But everyone jumps into their training and we see improvement, Shiroha unlocking more of Kyokotsu’s power. Afterwards Koga tells Gakuro that Kazusa lost a captain she admired in the past (possibly Gakuro’s father?). The next day, Gakuro is tasked with fighting Moroyoki

 

As the training begins, Moroyoki says he’s going to push Gakuro to the brink, since he’s technically still imprisoned and plans to eliminate Gakuro for associating with Nue. But Gakuro’s strength impresses him and they clash their Hollow Weapons to strengthen Gakuro’s , Moroyoki already at the highest stage with Soul Armor. Meanwhile Nue goes to the Exorcist Bureau. Kazusa explains her past to Gakuro, how she was betrothed to the captain mentioned before. He eventually died and she became closed off to making close friends, sharing that with Gakuro leading to them holding hands

 

 

 

4 Knights of the Apocalypse 144-147

 

Nasiens arrives to stop Mertyl, but even after detoxifying him with a needle infused with his magic, the curse or magic still makes him attack Nasiens. King appears to stop his son, realizing he’s being manipulated as Killbeggan and his allies are scared away when Chastiefol’s massive bear form looms over them. And Nasiens, in spite of his broken arm from Mertyl, tries to get up, Percival’s magic appearing above them

 

 

 

Mertyl rages more with Killbeggan’s magic still affecting him, Diane forced to confront him, while Sixtus and King deal with Killbeggan and his minions. King’s Chastiefol allows him to deal with Killbeggan’s magic, still not as powerful as Merlin (ironic since he replaced Merlin in Camelot), Diane ready to endure Mertyl’s anger and Sixtus approaching the minions at the tree

 

Killbeggan tells King the curse on Mertyl is powerful enough only the Drug of Yore can cure it. Meanwhile, Diane takes Mertyl’s rage, while Zena and Zilian, the two giantess daughters, bring Gideon, Diane’s Sacred Treasure. Diane refuses, walking towards Mertyl, eventually embracing her adoptive son. She explains how they were sad about losing their child, but saw the need to care for this child swapped in its place. King even gave Mertyl the drug of Yore, but it didn’t work, unable to transform him. Yet all of Mertyl’s siblings recognize him as their brother regardless

 

In the aftermath, Mertyl’s vulnerability to the Fairy Forest atmosphere resumes, Nasiens and Tioreh unable to get out of King’s Pollen Garden barrier. Sixtus is overpowering his foes, even as they merge. But then he’s injured by the intervention of Worreldane, the White Knight, who impales Sixtus, saying that he also doesn’t like to bully the weak, but will in this case

 

 

 

My Hero Academia 419-421

 

We learn All For One manufactured the situations leading up to Shigaraki’s present situation, particularly that his own innate Quirk was replaced with a modified form of Decay, only meant to create destruction, which would further seed his hatred to take down One For All in the future. Deku is pushed out into the present, losing both his arms in the process. But thankfully others in Class 1-A arrive to help and Aizawa as well via Kurogiri’s portal

 

 

 

Aizawa and Present Mic struggle to get Kurogiri to warp them, apparently winning him over offscreen. They get assistance from other Heroes, dealing with the straggling problems in the process, resuming where we left off at them helping Deku, including Eri’s horn, which restores Deku’s arms

 

The unified front stands against All For One’s assault, Deku still the main target even though he only has embers of One For All at this point. Everyone encourages him to press on