MSR July 2024

 

 

 

MSR July 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 or Shonen Jump and/or Shonen Manga through Viz Media to read chapters virtually 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

 

 

My Hero Academia is nearing its conclusion after slightly over 10 years running (with several breaks near the end due to the author’s health) and it leaves a huge vacuum in the magazine that doesn’t seem like it’ll be filled easily, given the tendency to pick more conventional subjects like exorcism or even just action-adventure with magic or such. We’ll see if something of this caliber will come about again in Jump’s future issues

 

 

 

One more new series (until probably October), Hima-Ten by Genki Ono (previously serializing Full Drive, a ping pong series from 2017). Our lead, Tenichi, cleans houses as a part time job while in high school to support his family, but his newest client also happens to be a teenage celebrity that transferred into his class, Himari, and is actually inept at house-keeping, especially with a huge apartment she’s renting from her aunt.

 

There’s potential here in the sitcom romance aspects rooted in an opposites attract dynamic like this, several series have done well with the premise, though this is shounen, so it’s up to the audience

 

 

 

 

Kyokutou Necromance 11-14

 

Manson and Kyoji head out, accompanied by Terashima, who Mezu trusts to try and keep them on track (though he also seems to give them more leeway with 2 written apologies for future damages). Kaoru meets Ryu, who hands the teen his soul as a bargaining chip, though he pulls it back immediately once Shishi is summoned

 

 

 

Kaoru is told by Ryu that Kyoji is Ryu’s younger brother, and that Ryu, Itsuki’s former partner, is trying to revive Kaoru’s dead mother. And his has 5 shiryo rings, coupled with having Kaoru onboard a boat out in the seas. Kyoji and Manson arrive, along with Terashima, Kyoji shocking the others by saying after this is over he’ll quit being a necromancer (which he only continued to seek revenge for Itsuki)

 

We see Yoji and Manson planning to fight enemy necromancers, which leads to them breaking in with the help of a gigantified Chitari. Ryu explains how his view of the world sees misery as the best way to recognize you’re alive, reflecting his own loss of Kaoru’s mother who he had an unrequited love for. But in spite of Yoji thinking Ryu wants to revive Kaoru’s mother Keiko, it turns out he’s become twisted by losing her and wishes to visit suffering upon the Shiryo Sorcery Society for treating her death with such little sympathy, beginning a flashback that involves the Amane family and research at a facility

 

We learn Ryu and Itsuki, Kaoru’s father, clashed on whether to revive Keiko after she died in an experiment at the Amane facility and Itsuki was killed in a duel with Ryu, who cheated by attacking Itsuki unexpectedly. Yoji clashes with his brother, confident he will win this time in spite of Ryu’s innate talent with necromancy

 

 

 

Nue’s Exorcist 57-60

 

With Wanyudo defeated, we see that he was regarded by his allies as the weakest, unable to regenerate and still suffering a past wound (he had a black mark spreading out from the injury). But in spite of his defeat, he blows himself up, Kazusa narrowly getting away. It seems the mark is fading, but Gakuro manages to calm her down and with a kiss, the shikigami dissipates the bomb seal to not explode, the group now waiting for help, Gakuro encouraging Kazusa to not be scared of losing people anymore

 

 

 

The other Level 4s realize they left too few forces to get Nue’s ritual blade, breaking the hospital barrier to free up members. Meanwhile, Hakutaku faces Shiroha alone while Shitotsu goes ahead to save a student that’s still at the school. Shiroha has amplified her Hollow Weapon, binding the spirit and slamming a massive pile bunker into her. But both release their Hollow Weapons, Shiroha limited to 10 seconds with Kyokotsu’s power at 70%

 

Shiroha and Kyokotsu seem to break Hakutaku’s weapon, but she had half of it stored away, launching an attack that cripples Shiroha. Thankfully, Kyokotsu’s influence on her Hollow Weapon allows Shiroha to awaken a new power and rejuvenate herself to continue fighting

 

Yoriko (the human alias of Hakutaku?) shows how much she’s planned in this fight and we see her discuss the strategy with her students, noting her soft spot for kids. And this appears to show through even when she’s defeated Shiroha with a hidden extra capacity of her Hollow Weapon, the teen still alive out of respect for her strength. And she encounters the ritual blade, Nue seemingly moving forward with her resurrection

 

 

 

4 Knights of the Apocalypse 155-157

 

Percival and Nasiens reunite with Anne and Donny as well as Meliodas and Elizabeth, the situation with the Drug of Yore and Camelot explained. But Worreldane has Elizabeth remember something about someone Merlin mentioned

 

 

Elizabeth and Meliodas discuss the situation and how Merlin appears to still be missing, her powers such that it’d almost be cheating in any conflict. Meanwhile, Percival’s group enjoys the local festival, but nearby Darkmunt is stolen away by Camelot and Percival volunteers to go with his friends, and also promising to find the other prophesied knights again

 

Thetis opens another portal, Percival’s group stuck on a small portion of Camelot. But with his Life Spirit powers, Percival finds the Chaos Hole that leads to where Gawain and the others are. They crash into an orchard, the person managing it learning who they are via Percival’s bluntness. He turns out to be Arthur’s adoptive brother Kay and takes them to where Gawain is, who looks very different now

 

 

My Hero Academia 427-429

 

While a report on Shigaraki proceeds on TV, various perspectives all condemning him as a villain, Deku visits Spinner, who takes Shigaraki’s message with confusion, lashing out at Deku and saying how he saw Shigaraki as a shining light, a hope for change in a world that didn’t accept him. And when he says he’ll write a book telling the story of the League of Villains, Deku suggests he make it a comic. Chisaki reconciles with his boss, who’s made something of a recovery with support items

 

 

 

Bakugou and Todoroki deal with rabid fans, Tenya also chiming in that they need to have their privacy respected at school especially. Class 2-A is helping with reconstruction, thankful citizens offering food and the new Class 1-A wanting to help as well, inspired by their seniors. Meanwhile, Ochako is struggling internally about failing Himiko, Deku arriving to offer moral support

 

Things shift to a child born with an unusual Quirk and abused by his family. Eventually he was freed in the chaos of the battle in central Japan. But we then return to Deku and Ochako’s conversation, both sharing regrets about not being able to help a villain that needed understanding. It seems One For All has “completed”, everyone pooling their efforts reflecting that sentiment. And it manifests with the woman we saw a while ago who hesitated in helping Shigaraki as a child offering a hand to the nameless child, touching his heart with her kindness

MSR June 2024

 

 

 

MSR June 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 or Shonen Jump and/or Shonen Manga through Viz Media to read chapters virtually 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

Green Green Greens concluded this month at 26 chapters, marking the 2nd golf manga to fail after Robot x Laserbeam

 

 

 

And Dear Anemone ended rather abruptly at 17 chapters, which hasn’t happened to a series in a while, probably Time Paradox Ghostwriter or so

 

 

 

 

New series for June, Yokai Buster Murakami by Daiki Ihara (author of Protect Me Shugomaru). Our lead Kuin is tasked with dealing with unleashed yokai, but her friend Murakami is a skeptic and serves to bring up the inconsistencies with yokai, which manages to weaken a kappa to be sealed in a more cutesy form by our reluctant yokai hunter. 

 

 

 

Second is Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi by Shouichi Usui (seemingly brand new with a prior pilot). Another gag series, featuring a prodigy exorcist, Kiyoshi Harai, who appears to bluff his way through taking out evil spirits, actually scared of them in spite of his talent. But he’s encouraged by a demon, seeing Kiyoshi as a son, defeating one of the 13 Demon Lords and still having to deal with the notoriety 

 

 

 

 

 

Kyokutou Necromance 6-10

 

With the shiryo defeated, Kaoru is thanked by the employee who dismissed him as a scammer. Afterwards, they meet Yuko, a friend of Yoji and Itsuki, Kaoru’s father, who explains that the latter fought a prodigy Necromancer called Ryu, injuring Itsuki’s soul which led to his death. And summoning Shishi’s power means the seal that restricted Ryu has also been broken, Yoji planning to call together the Kyoen, who Itsuki led to stop Ryu, while Yuko’s niece Midori is tasked with training Kaoru

 

Midori’s training to help Kaoru get more strength while drawing on Shishi’s power leads him to push himself, which she says is in line with how spiritual powers work. And a shiryo arrives, Midori summoning her shiryo, Kashimashi, to fight it

 

Kaoru watches as Midori faced the wild shiryo, her shiryo appearing to be 4-5 different parts with their own wills, linked to musical themes (staccato, forte). But in spite of its defeat, Midori feels like something’s off and we see Yoji is shown a shiryo soul with Ryu’s handprint on it, which is also on the soul of the shiryo Midori defeated, an imminent danger

 

Midori and Kaoru are attacked by a necromancer, who’s strong enough to dodge with their own shiryo and damage Midori’s shiryo, which pushes Kaoru to unlock his special necromancy with Shishi

 

Ghost Inside, the necromancy Shishi bestowed to Kaoru, shares his senses and strength, letting Kaoru not only block the knife wielding necromancer, but turn the tables and pummel him. Unfortunately, he suffers recoil from the exertion and we learn from Midori that Kaoru was taken away afterwards. Kyoji recruits Manson Soyogi (with an aesthetic definitely influenced by Marilyn Manson) of the Kyoen to find and kill the necromancer

 

 

Dear Anemone 15-17 [END]

 

While Hachiue and Anemone face off against the monstrous rabbit mob, Ryuichi and Kurage briefly talk with Lobelia, who is amazed to learn Ryuichi came back from death after adapting to the lizard DNA. She plans to use horsehair worms to parasitize him and Kurage, whose box jellyfish poison briefly affected Lobelia. And while it seems Yoshio may have appeared to intervene for Hachiue, Ryuichi undergoes a transformation, his adaptor DNA making him more lizard-like in appearance

 

 

 

Ryuichi’s new form allows him to utilize more of the chameleon’s abilities, but when Kurage is directed to attack Lobelia, the flower human unleashes a mass of bugs, only stopped by Minazuki. And after Hachiue and Anemone destroy the rabbit conglomeration, we see Yoshio, who managed to stop Lievre and give them the opening, Hachiue shocked at seeing his friend

 

Everyone else arrives as the fight against Lievre has concluded, Lobelia fighting Anemone while Yoshio acknowledges that Hachiue has gotten stronger, Lobelia defeated. But the situation still isn’t ideal, the food eaten by animals and the data inscrutable, seemingly involving all manner of top secret experiments, the group setting out to explore as the series concludes. This would’ve served way better in Jump+, but theoretically, it was ousted by Wild Strawberry and may not have the chance to continue or even restart there.

 

 

Nue’s Exorcist 52-56

 

As Kazusa shows off her shikigami’s defensive abilities, she has to be saved when the Level 4 nearly blasts her with an explosion, the same spirit that killed Haruhi before. And when he recognizes Gakuro uses Nue’s power, he challenges him to a one on one, with 100 humans in the aboveground hospital as collateral and unleashing his own Hollow Weapon

 

 

 

Gakuro and Wanyudo, the Level 4 spirit, engage in mutual combat while Kazusa, promising she’ll come back to help Gakuro, heads to find the hostages. And while it seems Gakuro has an initial advantage, he’s pushed to unleash a stronger form of Zenoblade called Gram

 

Gakuro’s speed does impress Wanyudo, but the Level 4’s power with the Hollow Weapon is such that Gakuro can barely hold his own against the explosions. We see Kazusa avoid one of the Level 3s guarding the hostage when it explodes, but 3 more are stationed. In spite of that despair, Gakuro refuses to give in and seems to get even more power, to Wanyudo’s shock

 

In spite of Gakuro’s new power, Wanyudo uses his bombs and even increases his speed, still likely holding back. But thankfully Kazusa’s shikigami had smaller parts that protect Gakuro from an explosion and Kazusa comes in, having dealt with the Level 3s offscreen (shooting them into the air with the shikigami’s horns?) and tag teaming Wanyudo with Gakuro

 

Wanyudo reveals Haruhi used a jutsu that negated his regeneration, but in spite of losing his arm from Gakuro and Kazusa’s combined attack, he uses it as a catalyst for a time bomb seal on Kazusa, with a time limit of 10 minutes. The pair combines efforts to slow Wanyudo down, his true skill in speed enhanced by the explosions. And after powering up Zenoblade more, Gakuro, even when it seems he might be down, unleashes Zenodark, a stronger attack

 

 

 

 

 

4 Knights of the Apocalypse 152-154

 

Percival shows his power, not only in having healed everyone, but manifesting a blade of pure magic to deflect Worreldane’s magic and seemingly drain her of life with a similar power that he used against Chion. But it’s said to be more that he killed the human part of Worreldane, only the non human aspect surviving, allowing her to still survive as a wizened crone, disappearing offscreen. King is shown to have recovered, Percival actually restoring Killbeggan to life before he expired, negating the curse

After getting a haircut, Percival prepares to head out with Nasiens, thanking his friend, who he realizes was hesitant about taking baths because of their gender ambiguity. King gives Nasiens a piece of the Spirit Spear, though is shocked when Nasiens says he has no interest in succeeding him in the future as Fairy King, and the others remind him that the Drug of Yore has still been stolen. But the family surviving is seen as more important, Nasiens bidding his new family farewell as he heads out with Percival

 

Arthur chastises Pellegarde and Ironside for their disobedience, showing Worreldane’s corpse and saying they must avoid fighting the Seven Deadly Sins. Surprisingly, she’s not dead, Arthur saying both Worreldane and Beltreipe have become stronger by giving up their humanity (at least mostly), regenerating from their dead state and bringing the Drug of Yore to Arthur. Pellegarde’s betrayal is exposed as well and Arthur offers an ultimatum to leave as a human or become more by suppressing it, both Pellegarde and Ironside agreeing, transformed by Arthur’s Chaos. Though Pellegarde notices a woman (not his wife?) who’s appeared before the group

 

 

My Hero Academia 424-426

 

A week after the battle’s conclusion, the repairs and construction progress with help from other nations. Deku reveals he did pass on the Quirk (to Shigaraki?), All Might saying even if he didn’t save him in the immediate sense, he did reconcile him in the end. Bakugou is still recovering as well, but All Might thanks both of them, Deku speaking about how they still must try to improve the world

 

 

 

The graduation ceremony sees off Mirio and other third years, while Class 1-A proceeds to 2nd years, including Shinsou, who takes Aoyama’s place while the latter goes on sabbatical. And while there’s someone seemingly affected as Tomura was, we see Shoto going to meet with his father and Dabi at a facility

 

The whole Todoroki family meets up with Toya, Endeavor telling him he’s retiring from Hero work. Shoto seems to make a dent in Toya’s personality, even though it also seems like his brother is on death’s door. And the family is struggling to stay together, each with their own issues. Hawks learns Nagant isn’t willing to leave prison yet, wanting to see how society changes with Deku’s inspiration. And Spinner has a visitor while in prison