dr. b

@Psycho666Soldier we've been letting this thread collect dust for too long! Slow and steady, I've been chipping away at Undead Unluck. I've ready ~70 chapters now. The first 30 or so chapters were a bit of a tough slog for me, but it had some qualities I liked so I kept with it. Now it's hit a groove and I am enjoying it more. Just finished the showdown with Feng and now they're up against Summer. Shen's story was very touching. It was really nifty how he passed the Untruth ability on to Mui. I have managed to keep current with everything else. There is still some good action in The Elusive Samurai, but the current battle doesn't feel as high-stakes as some of the previous. I hope we move along to the big showdown with Takauji before too much longer. Sakamoto Days and Akane-banashi are still tied for my two favourite series in Jump right now. I am still feeling nervous about Maikeru's situation..! And that whole showdown with Mr. Takamura in Sakamoto was something else. Wild stuff. Kagurabachi is pretty damn cool too. Not sure if you ever gave that one a try..?

The Astros may actually work their way back to .500! The Rangers hit a rough patch. Nice to see Seattle in first place. The Royals have got to be one of the biggest surprises so far this season.

I love Super Mario Land, warts and all. So many fond memories of playing that on my Game Boy. I guess most recently, I played it on the 3DS Virtual Console... so, I guess within about the last 10-ish years? I don't recall feeling like it hadn't aged well at that time. I don't have a Switch Online membership right now to give it another go on the Switch otherwise I'd be playing it right now!

Big things are about to happen in Elusive Samurai! #156 leads into what is going to be a decisive battle. Obviously some major death flags for Akiie… but maybe that’s a red herring? Akane #109 — I’m feeling nervous about Maikeru’s promotion test but I’m hoping he crushes it! Sakamoto #165 — Mr. Takamura is too OP and needs to get nerfed

Yeah dude, those two series are the best thing going on Jump right now! Totally agree re: the art and style of Akane-banashi. Those smiles Sakamoto oozes with a more edgy/gritty kind of style in its own way too. Especially when Takamura shows up.

I really enjoyed that chapter too. Spy x Family does that kind of side-story stuff really well. I felt like this chapter regained some of the charm that the series is so well known for.

Doesn’t matter for the Jays right now if the other team is hot or not. They lose anyways They just lost a series to the Nats Washington was 5-5 in their previous 10 games, but four of those five wins were against the Marlins who are a truly bad team. Basically, Washington is not a great team. They took two of three against Toronto without much trouble though!

The Jays are simply not good enough. I think their window to complete for a World Series with this core group of players has closed. I won’t be surprised if some players are on the move at the deadline. Problem is the theoretically most valuable guys (Vlad and Bo) are both struggling this year. Trade value feels low ATM. Maybe they could cash in on some of their good starting pitchers as well. Blow it up.

I never got round to checking that one out. I don't think I will bother. I'm still enjoying everything that I signed up for this season. Hibike! Euphonium S3 and Kaiju No. 8 are tied for my top spot so far this season. RoOT and Konosuba S3 are fairly close behind them. Bartender and Train to the End of the World are not AOTS material but are both pleasant watches. Train to the End of the World is very kooky.

Also really been enjoying Kagurabachi. It's only up to 31 chapters so far. Still relatively quick and easy to get caught up on.

Action in #164 was awesome. I think Sakamoto Days is the best series going right now, though Akane-banashi is a very close second.

I really love the Konosuba S3 ending tune.

The Astros are real bad to start the season. They really dug themselves a hole to get out of.

Chainsaw Man #163

I decided to start up on Undead Unluck last night. I only made it through the first chapter before I got sleepy. Pretty kooky. Seems like it will be fun. I wonder how many weeks it will take for me to get caught up 200+ chapters!

Sakamoto #163

The last few chapters of Akane-banashi were just fantastic all around. I really liked the flashback panels with Chocho, Taizen, and Akane's dad mixed in throughout her performance. It all just fit and flowed so nicely. I would have been mega bummed out if she didn't get Taizen's recommendation. Spy x Family kind of feels like a story that isn't intended to ever have an ending. Like, there is a story that runs through it and keeps developing, but there is at the same time an episodic nature to each arc as well. I feel like it will eventually just end with Loid, Yor, and Anya still happily in the same situation. The East/West thing is never truly solved--but they don't go to war either--and Loid keeps having to operate as Twilight perpetually. They never learn each other's secrets, etc. There will be ups and downs in terms of how good the story is at any given time. Hopefully it gets its groove back soon.

You still keeping up with stuff in Jump, @Psycho666Soldier ? I am still really enjoying everything that's happening in The Elusive Samurai, Sakamoto Days, and Akane-banashi. They are all really going strong. Elusive Samurai and Sakamoto both feel like they could be slowly nearing the end, but who knows. That could still be weeks and months away. In Elusive Samurai, the Intermission chapters were back around #110 if I remember correctly. I kind of took that to be roughly a halfway point in the story. If you're not up-to-date on Akane-banashi then you gotta get caught up! JJK also seems dangerously close to finally wrapping up the Culling Game arc. I sure hope it's done soon. There has been some fantastic action at times, but it's also been confusing and too long. I would be quite happy if the series wraps after this arc. I feel like I've had my fill. Spy x Family and Chainsaw Man have underwhelmed me a bit in recent weeks. They're not bad, but they're also not living up to my expectations and the high standards that the authors have set for themselves. After watching the Mashle anime over the winter, I picked up the manga where the anime left off. Around chapter #75 IIRC, which meant only ~90 chapters to finish the story. I blitzed through it pretty quickly. It was good in general with some great action moments mixed in. The whole thing is very kooky. And times the kookiness works for me, other times it's just kinda dumb.

I was curious about Loser Ranger... buuuuut it's on Disney+ so that's a bit of an obstacle for me. I am basically Crunchyroll-or-bust, except for the occasional Netflix series. I'm also pretty bummed out that Jellyfish Can't Swim at Night is on HIDIVE and not Crunchy. Fortunately, everything else I was looking forward to is on Crunchy, and--so far so good--I am enjoying everything. RoOT has not been as good as the O.G. OddTaxi, but that's a pretty high bar to try to clear. I still think RoOT is enjoyable. It's an interesting and different spin on OddTaxi. Hibike! Euphonium is probably AOTS for me. Animation is as beautiful as before. I still love the characters. Some of the new first-year characters seem to be fun so far too. I'm so happy this show is back. Train to the End of the World is really quirky and weird. Probably kind of a like-it-or-hate-it kind of show. I am in the LIKE camp. It's only been one episode so far of both Kaiju No. 8 and KonoSuba. Liked what I've seen so far. Bartender is probably the weakest of the bunch for me this season, but I enjoy it for the chill atmosphere and all the booze talk

First episode back of KonoSuba was a barrel of laughs I missed these crazy characters. I enjoyed the first episode of Kaiju No. 8 a lot too. It was a bit more silly than I was expecting (not in a bad way). Definitely looks like a keeper. Then I’ll pick up the manga from wherever the anime ends.

Watched the second episode last night and I’m still enjoying the vibes of this one. Definitely a keeper for me this season.

Seriously, slow starts for both Toronto and Seattle. Fortunately it’s a long season, so they have time to get on track. But for Toronto it just feels like more of 2023. Not fun! Expectations are getting lower…

Hibike! Euphonium is back in my life and I could not be happier Fantastic first episode back. I was smiling ear to ear throughout

The ending of Metallic Rouge was pretty good. Maybe a couple loose ends. But I was happy with it overall. Bones did some great work with this show! The aesthetics and style were fantastic. I will miss seeing and hearing the OP every week It’s a throw-back kind of tune. Definitely heavy inspiration from 80s and 90s music. Naomi = best girl I also checked out the first episode of Bartender: Kami no Glass. It was fun and chill. It is not AOTS material but I think I will enjoy it anyways.