Welcome to the LONG OVERDUE latest installment of SJ Weekly Roundup, a weekly post where I discuss Shonen Jump Magazine's latest and greatest chapters of manga! Well... the chapters I have read at least. The magazine’s lineup has completely changed since I last did a roundup in 2019, and there is an absolute treasure trove of new and exciting series to dive into. That said, I am playing catch-up so my apologies if the next few weekly roundups are a little sparse.
Check out the list below to see what I'm reading/almost caught up on, those series will be added to the roundup rotation soon; I will mainly be sticking to my personal tastes for now, but I would like to expand future posts to include as many currently running series as possible. Please understand that I do not possess superhuman manga-reading abilities, and I am not caught up on every series in Jump. If time allows, I will try to catch up on everything that I can, so I can provide a more thorough roundup for the readers here on my blog (you guys!)
As usual, Shonen Jump offers the oldest and newest 3 chapters of each series on their website completely free of charge, If you would like to read along with me. Without further ado, let's get in to this week's chapters!
CURRENTLY READING:
Witch Watch (Ch. 5/60)
Blue Box (Ch. 13/51)
Me & Roboco (Ch. 7/87)
Ayashimon (Ch. 1/22)
Earthchild (Ch. 2/11)
Sakamoto Days (Ch. 1/69)
Undead Unluck (Ch. 9/109)
One Piece (Ch. 24/1048)
Super Smartphone (NEW SERIES!)
Story by Hiroki Tomisawa
Art by Kentaro Hidano
Chapter 1
Synopsis: Kyu “Q” Sagurada is a brilliant but unmotivated boy who has lost the will to learn about the world after the disappearance of his little brother, Shu. One day he finds a tiny smartphone in his bookbag, with a Google search engine knock-off loaded onto it called Googugu. Upon further investigation, Q discovers that the phone is actually an extremely advanced AI “Super Smartphone” that can search for anything in the world. This includes things on the internet, but offline things as well, such as diary entries and lost coins. Q sees on the local news that a young girl in the area has been kidnapped, and he uses the Super Smartphone to try to find her. The Super Smartphone of course has a few rules and limitations that require Q to think outside the box to track her down, making the task ahead incredibly difficult and obtuse… Will Q be able to crack the case and save her?
My Thoughts: With a premise seemingly pulled straight out of the notebooks of Death Note writer Tsugumi Ohba, This debut chapter had an immediate fan in me. The character designs are a little on the plain side, but Q is quite expressive and has this very steely, focused expression when he’s solving a crime that tells a story of the pain he’s endured since the disappearance of his brother. This is the type of series that lives and dies by the strength of its storytelling, and the first chapter is setting up a very interesting scenario where Q needs to continue searching for things with the Super Smartphone and collecting “points” in order to reveal more info about his brother Shu’s disappearance. What these points are for? Only the Super Smartphone knows, and it’s staying very tight-lipped about them. I’m definitely interested enough to continue reading! Hopefully the next few chapters keep this upward momentum, as it’s always nice to shake up the magazine with titles that don’t fall squarely in the tried-and-true battle manga or gag manga categories.
Akane-Banashi
Story by Yuki Suenaga
Art by Takamasa Moue
Chapter 12
Synopsis: Akane’s guidance counselor, Iwa-sensei, pops into one of her rakugo events after being invited by her childhood-bully-turned-friend Jumbo. Iwa-sensei is worried about Akane’s future after the previous downfall of one of her old students, but upon watching her performance, she is overwhelmingly impressed by Akane’s passion and commitment to rakugo, and decides to support her decision to focus on rakugo instead of going to college.
My Thoughts: Speaking of titles that are shaking up the magazine, Akane-Banashi proudly wears that crown in my opinion. Its current 12 chapters have introduced readers to the fascinating performance art of “rakugo” through the eyes of our bubbly and unshakably determined lead, Akane. As for this chapter, I love seeing how much Jumbo has changed, going from Akane’s bully to her supporter and friend. The respect he has towards her was conveyed wonderfully in this chapter, and it was lovely seeing that same feeling start to develop in Iwa-sensei. I am confident that this series will become a mainstay in the magazine over the coming months, hopefully bringing more readers into the fascinating world of rakugo.
Goodbye, Eri
Story & Art by Tatsuki Fujimoto
One-Shot
Synopsis: 12 year old Yuta is given a smartphone for his birthday, and uses it to make a documentary about his mother for a school project. After a chain of rejection and tragedy brings him to the end of his rope, he befriends a strange girl named Eri who loves watching movies, re-kindling his flame for making a movie of his own. Frankly, I cherish this story so much that I don’t want to spoil it with a more detailed synopsis, but I will instead use this space to recommend giving it a read if my thoughts below compel you to. The whole story is told in 200 pages, making it a very brisk read. Goodbye Eri has been stuck on my mind since it released in April, and I wanted to share my thoughts but didn’t have enough to say about it that hasn’t already been said, and definitely not enough to warrant an entire article, so I thought I would include it as a little bonus here.
My Thoughts: Long story short, this one-shot absolutely broke me. This was my first real dive into the works of Tatsuki Fujimoto other than a few chapters of Chainsaw Man I read back in 2019, and everything about Goodbye, Eri just completely knocked me on my ass and left me with overwhelming optimism towards manga as a medium and what it can be when held in capable hands. Goodbye Eri’s pages are depicted in the style of found footage/handicam films recorded on a phone, with the shaky jitters, rambling thoughts, and brief vignettes reminiscent of this type of recording being brought masterfully from pen to paper by Fujimoto. “You have the power to decide for yourself how you remember someone.” This phrase kept ringing in my head with each turn of the page, driving home themes of loss, grief, fear, and coping that left me in a state of reflection for weeks after reading it, with each subsequent read highlighting different expressions and emotions I hadn’t noticed before. I am eager to read Fujimoto’s other one-shot, “Look Back”, and to finish my current read-through of Chainsaw Man. Needless to say, I would follow this man to the ends of the earth and I can not recommend this one-shot enough, especially as an entry point into Fujimoto’s work.
If any of the series mentioned in this post caught your interest, Shonen Jump offers the first and last 3 chapters of each series on their website, completely free of charge.
-- Stay tuned here at the Jo's Tomorrow blog for future manga roundups and all things Shonen Jump; Happy Reading!--
(DISCLAIMER: This roundup only includes series that I am caught up on, meaning some weekly chapters from the magazine may be omitted. My weekly chapter roundups do not currently include monthly or bi-monthly releases. I will not be covering every currently running series, but I will do my best to keep you up to date with my personal favorites at the very least!)
