Shonen Jump Alpha Less Spoilers Thread

Barrage looks to be (so far) a fairly typical shonen battle manga, though the main character actually being in charge of a country could provide an interesting dynamic, and it's clear the mangaka already has some plans in place for the Story Arc. On the downside, the setup of the Prince and Pauper plot was really rushed.

As for the Naruto chapter, putting someone in a time loop is an interesting ability, though it's a little unclear if it's all just in Kabuto's head or not.

So, latest chapter:

Naruto: Itachi's jutsu is a little tricky to understand, but one of the kids from Kabuto's orphanage still thinks about him, so dawww.

Bleach: In proud Bleach tradition, 19 pages go by with very little happening.

Barrage: Dropped the secret identity thing; little curious how things might go from here. Also, is that servant girl dead, and was the alien wearing her actual skin? That's kinda morbid for a shonen manga.

No, they didn't kill her. Where did you get that idea?

They showed that servant alone, then she runs into someone in the hallway who we can't identify (we're only shown one of their arms, a bit of their torso, and the back of their head, and those are covered in shadows). She's obviously still herself in this scene, since we see her thought bubble and it's clearly not that of an alien assassin's, and she looks surprised to see whoever it is she's run into.

Next scene she's in is where she's unmasked as an alien in disguise. I thought the implication was that earlier scene was where the switch happened.

edited 12th Jun '12 2:44:48 AM by RavenWilder

Still, you have to remember that this is a shounen manga and that it's not a kill unless (and perhaps not even if it was) explicitly stated.

Presumably most people will still be allowed to think Astro is the original prince. But it was nice of Barrage to go out and find someone more worthy than himself to be King.

Like the Planet of Hats thing going on with the spy.

Toriko: Sure enough, as soon as our heroes learn a new super technique, it turns out the bad guys have an even more powerful new gimmick.

Barrage: Yep, Industria is an entire planet...whose defense force appears to now consist of two people (outside the fairly useless palace guards). No wonder that only 35 miles from the palace is already Crapsack World territory. Oh, and the female servant turns out to be alive and is now in on Astro's identity. (Yay!) Astro's concept of "family" continues to grow.

Naruto: finally back to characters I kind of like.

Kenshin: Okay, introduced Sano in a one-on-one with Kenshin. Next up is the Hypnotic Gaze guy, and I am very much fearing that this means Kaoru sits out the next chapter as a Distressed Damsel.

Nura: Gonna need to rush to get all the fights in.

Toriko: Yeah. Just not feeling it for Master Chin-Chin.

One Piece: Still good, but a blah chapter by comparison.

Bleach: Where is Ishida?

Barrage: It seems more like Industria historically covered the whole planet, but this Warring Planets period means the government doesn't control much beyond their capital. According to Bakuman, the first three chapters of a Shonen Jump manga are what the mangaka submitted to convince the company to publish them; chapter 4 and onwards will be what the mangaka's written after finding out they'll have an ongoing series, so we can probably expect the real plot to start moving ahead then.

Naruto: Seems kinda weird to spend so much time on the Madara vs. Kage fight when Kishimoto's already told us that the Edo Tensei jutsu is going to end any minute now, taking Madara with it. But who knows? Maybe, since he has the Rinnegan, Madara will be able to bring himself back from the dead and escape the Edo Tensei's power.

Bleach: Almost nothing happened here besides showing who's going to be fighting next and telling us their power levels are over 9000. Well, okay, Kira got his harm and half his torso blown off, but since when does that ever kill anyone?

Rurouni Kenshin Restoration: This chapter wasn't all that different from how Sano's introduction went in the original manga, so not as entertaining as the first chapter was, but still good. I'm wondering how long this Compressed Adaptation will continue for, and if Kanryu's gonna get beat up in every chapter.

edited 21st Jun '12 4:05:43 AM by RavenWilder

Barrage: And the ongoing plotline is...fighting their way up the Sorting Algorithm of Evil. I called Astro's spear not working against people who aren't evil, or at least Astro doesn't think are evil. So very glad Astro's orphans weren't fridged. And...will we see the failed shanghai-ing woman join Astro and Tiamat on their quest?

Bleach: Just setting up more battles. Yay.

One Piece: Luffy loves him some Leeroy Jenkins strategy.

Toriko: Just not feeling it for Master Chin's death.

Getting a bit stuffed this week, with Blue Exorcist (pretty good, Zexal (pretty bad) and Takawhachamacallit (standard fighting series).

Interesting to see some newer series I haven't hear much about yet.

And the Naruto special was kinda-predictable but still kinda funny. Has me curious about this movie, at any rate.

Over on Crunchyroll, you can check out the recent episode of "Rock Lee and His Ninja Pals" which has two skits about the new Naruto movie.

The Kenshin chapter was a complete change from the expected, probably just to get the fan-favorite character in without derailing the plot.

It looks like Barrage is tanking in the ratings; no wonder we've suddenly got several monthly series stepping in.

And they're just giving us an extra-length Nura chapter next week instead of skipping. Neat!

This week was an epic *color* chapter of Nura. Pity I feel no attachment to any of the characters, but it was a nice gesture. Next week, a special Chapter Zero for Kenshin!

Barrage: I'm going to be very disappointed if what the villain is saying about Astro is true. It'll go back to In the Blood rather than "anyone can be prince based on merit."

Takawhatever: I have to admit this current villain is very creepy. I suspect that if the story lasts long enough for the love interest to have her power revealed, it'll be one of the really limited/lame ones that comes in handy once.

One Piece: Kind of getting bored with this, want to get on to the one-on-one fight sequences.

Kenshin: "Westerners sometimes change sex indoors." And the doctor's mask is kind of a "plague doctor" reference.

Bleach: At least Kenpachi is reliably awesome.

Naruto: All-talking chapter. "Your Hannibal Lecture tricks are useless against me!"

Barrage: Yes, very disappointed. And editorial calls it an "honor" to flame out so quickly.

Taka: So, basically, our hero's power is hitting things. Man, it's generic.

Bleach, Naruto, One Piece: all pretty much setups for the really awesome stuff happening real soon now.

Zexal: So the Ineffectual Loner is an Anti-Hero (or maybe an Anti-Villain) but the guy he was counting on to become The Hero is now a full-out baddie...brainwashing, or getting really tired of having everyone's hopes pinned to him?

Anyone else still reading this?

Barrage: Girl gets to do something cool! Next chapter will be Astro defeating Black, which will somehow fix things enough.

Bleach: Kenpachi loses! But not on camera, we just see the results. No wonder the rank dropped.

Naruto: Big reveal! Woo!

One Piece: Good stuff, and Clown sure is a monster.

Taka: Moving to the title drop. I dunno, this looks like it's in for a mercy killing.

Toriko: Yeah, shonen over the top menace!

On the one hand, Kenpachi losing at all was unexpected. On the other hand, if he's going to lose, it makes sense it would happen off-screen; the guy runs so heavily on Rule of Cool that it would be hard to make his defeat convincing without feeling like you're taking away part of who the character is.

Cross Manage: Okay, good things: Doraemon reference, a bit of subversion on the pantyshot joke, looks like more than one body type on the lacrosse team, heroine not prone to brutalizing protagonist.

Less good things: Boobgrabbing as humor, heroine is idiot, protagonist has deep manpain, worries that non-cutesy lacrosse team members will be horrible stereotypes rather than full characters.

Interesting things: This is considerably out of the normal range of things Shonen Jump USA goes for.

Cross Manage: Yep, manpain. Hoping the rest of the lacrosse team gets promoted to two-dimensional characters next chapter.

Toriko: Komatsu gets to be really cool and I'm pretty sure this replaces any of his previous Crowning Moments of Awesome. Toriko himself...just needs to catch his breath.

Naruto: More of Tobi's backstory, still a loyal Leaf ninja at this point...

Bleach: After all that buildup of the old guy's ultimate power, the baddie better not no-sell it.

One Piece: I like swords. Also like how the marines are all "this guy wouldn't betray us, therefore this person who looks exactly like him must be a fake." And in their world, this is plausible.

Taka: So we aren't going to see the romantic interest for a few volumes even if this somehow pulls itself off the bottom of the rankings? bzzt.

Zexal: So much waffling for a monthly title. Get on with it.

I like how Cross Manage's protagonist actually went and said "go ahead and tell everyone". Honestly, most of those sorts of threats are just empty threats from people without the guts (or logical reason) to go through with it. >___>

Shonen Jump Alpha is getting simultaneous releases "very soon!"

Hmm. So they'll only be one week behind the scanlators. Wonder if this means a couple of double issues to catch up, or if they'll take advantage of the winter holiday break to make it just one double.

Cross Manage: Indeed, "so yeah, I'm an Accidental Pervert" is less painful than having to put up with constant pestering. Plus once you give in once, the blackmailer will just ask for more and more.

Cross Manage: Our protagonist is developing into a Guile Hero and looks to be heading for The Chessmaster. The angry girl punching him thing is already getting old.

Naruto: Long flashback is long, but now we see how the Tobi disguise came to be.

Bleach: Big awesomeness from the old guy, but it looks like that may not have been the strongest enemy after all.

Taka: Fun all-out brawl, but I;m just not invested in these characters.

Toriko: Now the heroes get back up and start their counter attack. Remember, the next enemy has to be even more terrifyingly powerful.

Naruto: More of Obito's backstory. I'm sure that Kakashi had a very good reason for what seems to be taking place.

Ruroni Kenshin: Okay, now the author's just dragging it out before the next big fight scene.

One Piece: She don't know Luffy too well, do she? He doesn't need to fly to get back in the fight.

Bleach: Called it. El cheapo doppleganger never mentioned until after it no longer matters.

Cross Manage: Sakurai seems more interested in this other girl than in Toyoguchi—he may identify more with her based on his background. That seems like an unfair matchup, team on their first game ever vs. national champs with the best player ever.

Takama-ga-Hara: Wimpy-looking boy is totally lying about his power.

Toriko: Yes, it's the horrific auntie "I'm going to eat you up!" attack.

Blue Exorcist: Our hero's gotten a few victories under his belt, so it's time to slap him down.

Anyone else have comments? Bueller?