#ODA AND THE FANS MAKE A LOT OF JOKES ABOUT LUFFYS RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD BUT I THINK ITS BEAUTIFUL

[darthchic]

Character War: Zoro vs Sanji

Trying to put my own bias aside, and because I’m bored here in quarantine, I was thinking about how I could fairly break down parts of Zoro and Sanji’s characters and compare them. I want to see if I can analytically decide which character is more well realised or well written (just because there’s always that rivalry between both the characters and the fans, you often can’t help but ask yourself these kinds of questions).

EDIT: OH, and SPOILERS if you wish to read this and are not up to date

If the question was “Who’s the more popular character?” though, Zoro wins hands down, no contest.

 So, I broke the two characters down into categories:

–    Design

–    Fighting Style

–    Fights/Achievements

–    Coolness

–    Backstory

–    Gag

–    Development

 Design: Neither Zoro or Sanji have designs that particularly stand out to me, not within their own universe or in anime in general. Seriously, think of some crazy-ass looking characters you've seen in other anime and Zoro and Sanji simply pale in comparison. Heck, they pale in comparison to some of their fellow crewmates (Usopp, Chopper, Franky, Brook etc.) and over time their designs have probably been... how to put this... made more attractive as time goes on? Cause you know, you gotta let the female fans have some eye candy too. And with attractiveness tends to come more “normalness” (not a word but whatever) cause you can't go too crazy with the overall design in case it becomes off-putting. The only thing that really stands out for Zoro and Sanji respectively is hair colour and eyebrows.

–    Still if I had to declare one of them the winner... I'd have to say Sanji, just for his more 'unique' eyebrows. We've seen plenty of anime/manga featuring characters with hair colours that match every colour in the rainbow, so it's commonplace for someone to have green or pink hair and no-one really bats an eye. Peculiar eyebrows however are less common, although not rare (as far as I can tell), but for anime fans, it's something I think people still instantly notice more so than a character's hair colour. So.... point to SANJI! But barely, and it’s not much of a win.

 Sanji 1/0 Zoro

 Fighting Style: Again, neither a sword fighting style or kicking fight style is exactly uncommon, but I am edging towards Sanji's fighting style and I'll try to justify why, even if it is due to my own personal preferences. To me, sword fighting is often the go-to 'bad-ass' method of fighting, cause, come on, SWORDS ARE COOL (can't help but think about the overwhelming popularity of Pokemon Sword vs Pokemon Shield for example). Sword fights/fighters are iconic and that’s the issue at times for me because I feel like I've seen enough sword fights at this point, and not just in anime. So, while they're fun, their overexposure makes me appreciate something different a lot more.

–    To me, Sanji's style has a bit more 'kick' to it (oh yes!) and his reasons for using a kicking style are a bit more unique and interesting as well (being that he’s a cook and can’t damage his hands, the tools to his craft). His style is fun to watch, requires a bit more imagination when designing his moves, but it also has a strange kind of elegance to it which I appreciate. Not that sword fighting can't look elegant (Hello, ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’), but I love that people often joke that some shots of Sanji make it look like he could be a dancer which I find amusing, because it’s true. Plus, I admire the fact that he's the only Straw-hat that fights without either a magic power/devil fruit or a literal weapon (though he has now grown accustomed to the raid suit, so…). But, for the majority of the story so far, the dude has just used his legs and that’s it. And is the 3rd (or fourth if you count Jinbei now) most powerful member of the crew, and still impressively strong overall amongst a massive cast of crazy powerful characters. Also, dude can fly. Actually fly. He can fight in the skies, sing “Walking in the Air” and it would not seem completely ridiculous. So, people reading this may not agree, but, point to SANJI!

Sanji 2/0 Zoro

 Fights/Achievements: I feel that most fans prefer Zoro's fights as he tends to take on the second strongest villains of each arc (with Luffy obviously taking on the strongest), which is automatic epicness. I know some fans even argue that Zoro would have no problems taking on the strongest villains in Luffy's place anyway, though I would disagree simply due to the fact that if Luffy were weaker/equal in strength to Zoro then why would he even be captain? The guy who's gonna be the Pirate King can hardly be weaker than one of his own crewmates, it ain't right!

–    Anyway, Zoro's battles tend to be straight-up badass one-on-one feats of strength, while Sanji's can be a mix of badass and sometimes plain goofy (thinking of Sanji vs Mr. 2 here or Sanji vs Wanze). And I do think Oda makes it clear that Zoro is the more powerful of the two, making his wins a lot more impressive, awe-inspiring, and show how physically far he’ll go in order to succeed (man should really have no blood left in his body). For me personally though, I often found many of Zoro’s fights a bit dull, like his fight with Mr. 1 for e.g. (ha, ironic), and when I watch his big battle with Kaku, while I like Kaku as a character, I had a hard time taking the image of Zoro fighting a sword-wielding Giraffe seriously. Sanji fighting a wolf with a moustache often looks goofy as well, but at least wolves come across as a bit more threatening (unless you have been on a scary Safari tour o__O…).

–    Alas, I would give Zoro the point for fights simply because I know how much the fandom appreciates them and the effort he puts in, BUT.... as for achievements... Maybe I'm being sneaky with this, but for me, while Sanji's fights maybe aren't considered as iconic as Zoro's, his actions towards helping the crew solidified Sanji's usefulness to the crew as not only a fighter but a tactician, and without him at a certain point, there wouldn't be any epic Zoro fights to appreciate. Sanji's rescue of the crew in Alabasta was pretty damn awesome, the fact they wouldn't have even reached Alabasta in the first place if Sanji hadn't gotten a hold of the Alabasta eternal log pose is hilarious, his saving of Usopp and Nami in Skypeia, his enabling of the Merry to escape without being blown to smithereens in the Enies Lobby arc, it's all just undeniably awesome. And to me, just as equally iconic and important as Zoro's fights, sooooo... I'm calling it a TIE!

 Sanji 3/1 Zoro

 Coolness: HAHA! Ok, come on, I love Sanji, but Oda's portrayal of him can get a bit ridiculous at times and sometimes rob him of his dignity, whereas with Zoro, Oda really doesn't humiliate him that much. He's usually always cool and epic and never seems to leave a negative impression in the eyes of fans. So, no question about it, point to ZORO!

 Sanji 3/2 Zoro

 Backstory: Ok, maybe it's just me, but I don't think many are gonna argue that Sanji has the better backstory? There's just more of it, it's better fleshed out, it establishes his character relationships and motives far better, it's just... better? Zoro's backstory perhaps is still to be further developed, but as it stands...

–    Zoro = Wants to become the greatest swordsman because of a promise he made to his dead rival/childhood friend. Nice, but doesn’t feel very original or special. Where did he come from before all that? Where/who is Zoro's family? Why did he want to be a swordsman in the first place? Cause it's cool? It just leaves me feeling annoyed because there’s these gaps and things left unanswered within his story and I can't tell if Oda's even going to give us any answers! But with a possibility that Zoro is from Wano, maybe something is eventually going to be explained? Still, I feel like Oda needs to be careful he doesn't make a repetitive tragic backstory, cause I worry that at some point he's going to run out of ideas on how to make each new backstory more uniquely depressing than the last, to the point where it's gonna be a 'been there, done that' kind of deal. Or maybe he’ll actually reveal that Zoro has a DUN-DUN-DUN living mother. I mean, that’s rarely done in this series, so that would be pretty shocking.

–    Sanji = Born as a quadruplet (still so weird to me) to a royal family, kind mother but douche-bag father. Mother dies saving Sanji's humanity because said douche-bag father violated mother and children by tampering with them before birth in order to make his children into sociopathic weapons. Sanji grew up emotionally and physically abused by father and brothers because he had kindness and compassion, and the abuse got so bad that he was even locked in a jail cell with an iron mask on his face because his father was ashamed of his existence. Mother, of course, dies, leaving Sanji with only an older sister to turn to, who could only be nice to him in secret and laugh at him in public. He decided to become a chef during imprisonment due to his mother giving him the only praise he had ever received and he enjoyed making her happy. Finally escapes douche-bag family thanks to decent sister freeing him, but only after promising to never admit he was related to his douche-bag father, further destroying him emotionally. Next, the ship he worked on was destroyed in a tidal wave, killing all his friends at the time, and left him alone on a rock with little food and a pirate who recently kicked the crap out of him. Went months without food only to find out that the pirate he hated had given him all the food, forcing him to cannibalize himself to survive. And all this happened before he was just 10 years old. So, from then on Sanji grew up with a fixed dedication/appreciation for food, but a clearly messed up self-image due to years of abuse and being told he was a failure by his biological father. Not to mention the man who saved his life, while a good man at heart, kinda has a messed up moral compass of his own, and kinda f**ked up Sanji's head in his own way (seriously, Sanji can't bring himself to hit a woman to save his own life cause he can't bear disappointing/disobeying Zeff, the man who actually loved him like a son? Jeez).

–    For real, Sanji's story is a doozy, and Zoro's just doesn't compare (at least not at the moment). Sorry, but clear point goes to SANJI!

 Sanji 4/2 Zoro

 Gag: Possibly debatable again, but I honestly do prefer (and the fandom majority seem to prefer) Zoro's whole getting lost gag to Sanji being a looney tunes pervert (some of the faces Oda draws, I swear!) I don't mind anime perverts so long as they have some substance to their character, but Oda places ‘Pervert Sanji’ in some situations where you're left screaming, “NOW'S NOT THE TIME DAMMIT!” Some moments can be thrown off kilter by the perverseness and/or fanservice to the point where you're just left face-palming. Arguably, the same can be said for Zoro, especially with his wandering off and getting lost in Wano right before Luffy faced off against Kaido (not that Zoro could do much about that anyway if he hadn't gotten lost), but just how easily he gets lost is so ridiculous that it veers right around from being annoying and returns straight back to being hilarious because of how mind-boggling it is. xD So, point to ZZZZZORO!

 Sanji 4/3 Zoro

  Development: Once again, another debatable one. Too debatable! There's no way around it; some may say Sanji's ‘self-rediscovery’ arc in Whole Cake Island made him the better developed character (or didn’t develop him at all) and some will say that Zoro's “Nothing happened” moment is the pinnacle of character development in One Piece, and to me, too much of it comes down to preference and I find it hard to justify why one is potentially better developed than the other. Especially when there could still be further development for them to come. So.... yeah, another TIE!

 Sanji 5/4 Zoro

So, there it is, I killed some great time in quarantine with this(!) Maybe there’s more ‘categories’ I could have added, but with what I came up with, I really did try not to be bias here. I do think it’s important to have a character that can hit ‘all the beats’, deliver in terms of action scenes, comedy and the emotional hard-hitting moments too. I can’t help but appreciate the male characters who are more in touch with their emotions and show vulnerability, which is what I appreciate with Sanji, and why I probably don’t connect with Zoro as much as I’d like to?

Going through all of this however has made me think that I'm actually fairer than I thought I was. No? Yes? Close call anyway.

[sanjiafsincedayone]

Luffy – A “Brief” look

Now, I’m going to be posting a series of short discussions on my own personal thoughts about each strawhat. I will start with Luffy and work my way towards Brook. These posts will just explain some of my thoughts regarding each character. The posts will vary in length though, because for some characters I will find more things to talk about.

Luffy – A Brief (yet not so brief) look

Luffy is my third favorite strawhat and in my opinion the perfect main character for One Piece. He’s funny and uniquely written and you can’t help but love his carefree nature. He’s stupid in the most adorable way without it ever feeling old or forced, and I think Oda has done an excellent job with balancing Luffy’s goofiness with seriousness properly showing that Luffy definitely deserves to be the captain.

Much more on Luffy and his relationships with his nakama under the cut.

I think Luffy’s dream and his endless love for adventure makes everyone love him, both fans of the manga and within the manga itself. The way Luffy just lives his life the way he wants while being straightforward about both his likes and dislikes makes him such an honest character and also a character that is very easy to understand. This is one of the main reasons for Luffy being such a good main character, at least that’s how I feel. I’m not saying he doesn’t have complexity at all, but the fact that he is so easy to understand makes him approachable by all types of readers.

Oda has also done so well with how he’s showcased Luffy’s relationships with both his nakama and with characters outside of the crew. In particular (besides with his crew) I liked how Oda portrayed his relationships with Vivi, Jinbei and Law. And his backstory with Shank but in particular with Ace and Sabo makes Luffy such a well-developed character. I love Oda’s story of Ace and Luffy and it had such an emotional impact because we got to know their relationship so well. We understand where Luffy comes from perfectly and can see how a lot of his reactions and actions stem from his past.

My wish is for Oda to keep developing Luffy’s mature side (without letting his natural personality suffer of course) and also for him to showcase more of Luffy’s strong bonds with all of his nakama. In general I think Oda has focused less on the strawhats’ bonding and more on gags after the time-skip, but I also think he’s done this much less with Luffy compared to the rest. But I guess I just want even more development of Luffy’s relationships to his nakama, some more than others. I don’t really have that much to complain about so this is just nit-picking.

Luffy’s relationships with the crew:

Zoro – Zoro and Luffy have a strong bond of trust between each other that I really admire, but Zoro is also there as a support and as someone that can push Luffy in the right direction. It’s really noticeable that Luffy is much younger and less mature than Zoro, but in the end Luffy definitely has what it takes to be a captain that Zoro can respect. I really like their interactions, though I feel like they haven’t really had that many good ones after the time-skip.

However, Zoro’s sacrifice for Luffy in Thriller Bark will forever be one of the greatest scenes and most emotional moments in the manga. Zoro putting Luffy’s dream above his own was a great showcase of Zoro’s belief in Luffy as well as their strong bond. I also think that Zoro understands Luffy pretty well, even though they both definitely view and deal with a lot of things very differently. I also love how Luffy seems to see Zoro as really stupid, and that is such a funny joke when considering Luffy’s character.

Zoro of course also falls victim to a lot of Luffy’s shenanigans and personally one of my favorite gags is Zoro accidentally getting hurt because of Luffy, and then Zoro wanting to kill Luffy because of it. Too bad this hasn’t really happened in a long time. I feel like Oda should take a look back and perhaps remember how funny Zoro and Luffy can be together, because even though I love the strong bond they have I really miss their less serious interactions a lot.

Nami – Luffy is Nami’s saviour and this too is a strong bond built on trust. That is their foundation, but they also see things very differently which causes Nami a lot of worry and trouble. Nami nagging Luffy and trying her best to control him but failing has slowly turned into her just simply giving up in trying to talk her captain out of things. They bicker a lot and despite Luffy being so out of control it’s Nami who seems to be able to at least somewhat keep him from going too far at times. Basically her fists are one of few things that can actually tame Luffy.

I really like their relationship and think that Nami and Luffy together can be pretty funny, but I prefer their serious moments together. Arlong Park and Nami getting saved is the best arc of the East Blue Saga in my opinion. The way Luffy managed to get under Nami’s skin and show her that pirates can be good was such an emotional storyline to follow. I like that Oda keeps showing this even after Arlong Park, instead of just leaving it at that. But sometimes I feel like their bond won’t be able to develop properly because of how very different they are. They pretty much view everything differently, and even though they interact a lot they don’t actually seem to have that many normal conversations, which is a shame. There is so much trust and caring between them, but definitely a lot less of understanding on a general level compared to between Zoro and Luffy for example.

Nami and Luffy have a great bond and many good moments between them, I just wish their dynamics (mostly the gags) wouldn’t feel so repetitive sometimes. But this is actually more of a general problem after the time-skip and doesn’t only apply to Luffy and Nami.

Usopp – Putting Usopp and Luffy together will always be hilarious. But I also love the focus Oda gave these two during Water 7 and Enies Lobby. It’s one of the best mutual developments I’ve seen in the whole manga. Putting a strain on their relationship and showing how their insecurities and stubbornness made them clash but also grow closer was such good writing on Oda’s part. It showed both of theirs weaknesses and flaws, but they also really grew as characters because of their fight.

Usopp almost idolizes Luffy at times, and probably felt very lacking in comparison, but they also have a very easy-going type of relationship. They are like brothers who have tons of fun together and the gags that come out of their differences – aka Usopp being scared vs Luffy being reckless – are some of the best in the manga.

I’m a little bit sad that we haven’t seen that much between them since after Enies Lobby, and I definitely want Oda to write more of the simple moments in between adventures with the crew because I feel like those are the times that Usopp and Luffy’s close bond and love for each other really shows. They’re like best friends and brothers and because Luffy is such a carefree person I think that the worry-wart Usopp can overcome a lot of things just by having Luffy by his side. One of my personal favorite duos in the crew and definitely both a well-developed and fun to watch relationship.

Sanji – Another strong bond and a relationship that also has gotten a lot of development in the recent arc. There is a mutual trust and respect there, but unlike Zoro I’d say that Sanji is quicker to tell Luffy off. He sees Luffy as his captain and looks up to him a lot, but he also seems to be the one in the crew that controls Luffy the most (besides perhaps Nami). I guess I could say that while Luffy is Sanji’s captain, Sanji is Luffy’s boss, does that make any sense? Either way I find the moments of Sanji reprimanding Luffy really funny, but I again really love when they show the trust they have for each other.

I find it so interesting that many of Luffy’s moments with Sanji have been strictly between the two of them. The fact that the Baratie arc and Sanji’s introduction was mostly just between him and Luffy, and now the big scenes in Whole Cake Island between them are also mostly just between them. It makes their development almost seem private, and in a way it is, because Luffy is definitely the person that Sanji has allowed to get the closest to him. They are both dreamers and I think these two in particular have been connected because of their dreams, which is something Oda focused a lot on in the Baratie arc.

In a way Luffy is also Sanji’s saviour and someone I think Sanji feels grateful but also indebted to. Luffy knows Sanji really well and I think the way he more than anything wants Sanji to see his own worth is really great. I also love the fact that Sanji is the one Luffy compliments the most and how well Oda showed in this arc how important Sanji really is to him. It’s a really unique type of bond, and I think Oda has put a lot of thought into their dynamics based on their backgrounds. I love it, and I wouldn’t mind getting even more of it.

Chopper – Luffy’s immediate interest (after deciding not to eat him) in a talking cool transforming reindeer is of course funny, but including Chopper in the crew for me was a really good chance to see Luffy actually acting like an older brother from time to time. The way he manages to get past Choppers protective walls and truly show Chopper that there is a place for him together with the strawhats is probably my favorite introduction arc out of the whole crew.

The two of them having fun together and the way Luffy teases Chopper is really just cute to watch. They share a lot of similarities because of their younger age and fun-loving nature, and also how they both like food and sweets so much. I just kind of wish that they got more development in their relationship. I suppose it’s comfortable the way things are right now, but sadly I have not seen many deep moments between the two of them after Drum Island.

Still, Chopper admires Luffy a lot, and the naive nature of Chopper in combination with Luffy’s unorthodox ways leads to a lot of small but funny gags. Luffy and Chopper are together the clueless combo, and I think those jokes are pretty funny but I really feel like I haven’t seen that many moments between Chopper and Luffy recently, though the Whole Cake Island arc has done a pretty good job of bringing back their interactions. In particular I love the two of them just running off and eating everything, I just feel like I haven’t seen any real moments between them in a long time. They still interact of course, but I feel like it’s a lot less after the time-skip which is a shame.

Robin – Luffy and Robin don’t really interact all that much, but there are plenty of more quiet moments from both of them that show how much they care and treasure each other. They are completely different people, but Robin mostly just find Luffy amusing and is simply happy to be his nakama.

I find Robin’s introduction very interesting, and I love how Luffy completely disregards her wish to die in Arabasta. I don’t think that scene in particular made Robin and Luffy’s bond grow, but rather it was just the start and slowly over time Robin came to think of Luffy as someone important, almost without her realizing it. Her story in Water7 and Enies Lobby is also a great show of Luffy’s character and I think that once again Luffy’s accepting nature and ability to understand others was showcased wonderfully as Robin finally realized she’s also allowed to be happy and there are people she can trust.

But other than that I fail to come up with many things to say about their bond. I know it’s there and I know it’s strong. I loved Robin’s obvious change after Luffy finally got through to her and made her realize her own worth, but because of their lack of interactions we rarely get to actually see it. If we compare it to how Luffy has dealt with Sanji in the current arc the differences are pretty huge and in my opinion the bond between Luffy and Robin lacks a lot of personal bonding. It’s difficult to explain, and of course the dynamics are very different but to some extent I still feel that Robin hasn’t really let Luffy in on a personal level even if the trust, respect and love is all there.

Franky – To Luffy Franky seems to be that cool uncle that is hilarious just being himself. But I also think that out of all of his nakama, Luffy’s relationship with Franky is the least developed. It’s almost odd, because Franky didn’t really have many interactions with Luffy before he joined, and I think that shows. If anything Luffy got a better development with Iceburg and that always struck me as quite odd. Their relationship is of course still good and has definitely grown stronger over time, but initially Luffy and Franky didn’t really get to know each other that intimately before Franky joined.

Their interactions can be quite funny with how Luffy just finds Franky cool and kind of unsuspectingly hilarious sometimes, but I really wish that Oda would put some more focus on developing their bond. It almost feels like it’s a bond that’s just supposed to be there, but we don’t really know how it actually developed except by fighting for the same cause and Franky being moved by Luffy’s dedication to Robin and his crew. I don’t really know what to think, but I really think Oda should at least add a few more meaningful moments between them.

Brook – I love Brook and I love Luffy and these two seem to feel the same way about each other. Meaning that just like me they find each other hilarious. It’s not so much that their interactions are funny as it is how they each find the other one really funny. They think the other one is hilarious and in that way without really interacting much I just think their reactions to each other are funny.

However I still think that there is a profound relationship and mutual understanding between them. Brook really admires Luffy and acknowledge him as his new captain and a true friend who instantly showed Brook he was welcome. Luffy of course is just overjoyed with getting someone as strange as Brook as nakama, but quickly also realizes both Brook’s strength and his kindness.

Both of them also share strong bonds with Laboon which connects them even more, and I also love how Luffy and Brook are both so carefree in certain ways. I feel these two are truly similar in a wear-their-heart-on-their-sleeves kind of way. I also love how we can see Brook’s love for Luffy and how he returned to the strawhats after the time-skip so excitedly despite not having known them for very long. Still, similarly to Franky, sadly Brook has not yet had much opportunity to further develop his bond with Luffy through deeper interactions after his initial introduction.

All in all Luffy has a strong bond and great trust between him and all of his nakama, but because of the story’s structure Oda has definitely focused more on the original five from East Blue. I understand this decision, but I still hope that Oda will use a little less time on gags and fighting and more time for Luffy to deepen his bonds with at least some of his crew-members in future arcs.

I love Luffy a lot and it’s obvious that Oda does too, I think he’s a great main character for a shonen manga and his charm definitely has gotten to me. I could go on, but this is supposed to be brief after all. 

I hope you all enjoyed this little piece on Luffy. Of course this is all based on my own personal opinion, but please feel free to discuss this with me and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading. :)

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 2/13/17

Assassination Classroom, Vol. 14 | By Yusei Matsui | Viz Media – Japan enjoys using abusive parents for the sake of drama, but they sometimes have difficulty following through on this, and a lot of the time the parent is easily forgiven and it’s shown that the right thing to do is really to respect your parents after all. This shouldn’t be surprising, particularly in a Jump title, but Western fans might find Nagisa’s mother’s quick turn to the good fairly unrealistic. And judging by the cliffhanger we see here, we may be about to get the tragic flashback that shows how the school principal ended up being the sort who will literally destroy lives in order to better educate. I betcha two to one he’s easily forgiven as well. Despite this, still very recommended. – Sean Gaffney

Black Clover, Vol. 5 | By Yuki Tabata | Viz Media – After gradual improvements from volume to volume, this one is a bit of a step back, as we resolve one plot a little too easily before moving on to the next. Asta’s kidnapping is taken care of in a perfunctory “I needed a cliffhanger” way, and the villains get away to live to fight another day. The best of them is Sally, a sort of Evil Hange Zoe who is perfectly happy to drain magic permanently from a bunch of kids FOR SCIENCE! Things pick up in the second half, when said young kids are kidnapped in a very pied piper sort of way. Unfortunately, Gauche, another Black Clover member, has a sister complex which is explained and deconstructed, but that doesn’t make him any less irritating. A wildly variable volume. – Sean Gaffney

Fire Force, Vol. 2 | By Atsushi Ohkubo | Kodansha Comics – I’m still somewhat torn about this series. The characters are fun and the premise is good, and any manga series about firefighters is always welcome, even if we need to make them cool supernatural firefighters. That said, the move to Kodansha has overall been a very mixed bag, as this is simply visually less arresting than Soul Eater, though you can see him trying. The fanservice is also greatly amped up, not a surprise given that it’s Shonen Magazine, but something of a surprise after a series that ended with a giant boob joke. I guess he still had more to do. Overall, this is pretty good, and worth investigating further, but I’m not sure Soul Eater fans will be enjoying it as much. – Sean Gaffney

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 16 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | Viz Media – The running gag of the series was that the main heroine was barely in it, but we’re finally starting to see that change with this new volume. Erina was always going to be Best Girl, much to the frustration of some fans, and it was therefore surprising how little she did over the course of the series. Now Daddy Dearest has come home to roost, hijacking the school and impressing his cooking theology on the student body, who I expect will get winnowed down very soon. He’s also shown to have been abusing Erina since she was a child, and his return is very much unwelcome by the now former head of the school, who begs Soma to save his granddaughter. I expect a far more serious arc next. – Sean Gaffney

Kuroko’s Basketball, Vols. 7-8 | By Tadatoshi Fujimaki | VIZ Media – What does any character in a sports manga do after suffering crushing defeat? Try to get stronger, of course. Everyone’s got their own wall to surmount, and Kuroko and Kagami realize they must get stronger independently before they’re able to rely on each other again. Kuroko, in particular, lacks any other skills aside from passing, so it takes him a while to figure out what he needs to do. But, because this is sports manga, he does figure it out. Also figuring things out is Kise, whom we spend a great deal of time with in the second half of the book, as Seirin wraps up their training camp with a trip to watch Kise and Aomine duke it out in the tournament. It’s definitely entertaining, though I can’t help but note some members of the Seirin team get a lot less attention than other guys on other teams. – Michelle Smith

One Piece, Vol. 81 | By Eiichiro Oda | VIZ Media – Man, it is such a relief to finally be done with the Dressrosa arc! In this volume, the two halves of the Straw Hat crew reunite on the island of Zou, populated by talking animal people called minks. I liked the way the story of the conflict there was related after the fact to the new arrivals, including the departure of Sanji, who has taken off on his own to take care of a problem related to his hitherto-unknown past as the son of the leader of an evil army. The problem is, he might end up making an enemy of one emperor of the sea while the Straw Hats have been gearing up for conflict with another. Luffy is far more concerned about losing Sanji as a crewmate, but I really loved the scene of the whole gang back again, debating what to do. And hey, it wasn’t Dressrosa! – Michelle Smith

Say “I Love You,” Vol. 17 | By Kanae Hazuki | Kodansha Comics – All right, Asami’s relationship troubles ended a lot more positively tan I expected, and Mei and Yamato are able to patch things up as well. And we’re even getting the next generation, as the grumpiest cast member, Aiko, is also the first to get pregnant. Given the series ends in the next volume, this is unsurprising. It does mean that the bulk of the dramatic lift is done by Megumi, who remains the one cast member whose life is still unresolved. It’s getting resolution now, but not really in the way that she wants. She and her French boyfriend break up (good, I never liked him), but this means she’s now getting almost no work at all. I doubt the series is going to end darkly, but given the last volume is months away, I worry. – Sean Gaffney

Toriko, Vol. 37 | By Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro | Viz Media – This is Toriko‘s final arc, and it’s the first time that I’ve ended a volume thinking “Thank God this is almost over.” The manga has become tedious, as it’s come to suffer from massive cast expansion at the expense of the regulars (Bleach Syndrome), and we’re getting a bunch of fights which feel like recapitulations of fights we’ve seen done better before. I did enjoy seeing Komatsu bond with a young poor kid who lives with his (as it turn out, missing) mom, but then he disappears so that we can move to another locale for more shonen battle rage. This eventually happens to all Jump series (even One Piece lately with Dressrosa), but it’s a shame to see it happen to Toriko. – Sean Gaffney

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 4 | By Mizuho Kusanagi | VIZ Media – Once again, Yona of the Dawn reminds me of various different shoujo manga, but in a good way. Yona, along with her three male companions, is searching for the other legendary dragon warriors in a very Fushigi Yuugi way, even while she insists (in a very Basara way) that she’s not the incarnation of the Crimson Dragon King. When they do finally track down the Blue Dragon, he’s shunned by the villagers and forced to wear a mask to hide his powerful eyes, and given a sad backstory with an atmosphere that reminded me a bit of Natsume’s Book of Friends. I suppose all these comparisons show that Yona is not exactly the most original story ever conceived, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t extremely enjoyable, and I will always appreciate Yona’s insistence on being able to protect herself. – Michelle Smith

By: Michelle Smith