Shonen Duet: Naruto GN 67 and One Piece GN 72

Today, I'm tackling two Weekly Shonen Jump titles at the same time: the newest English releases of Naruto and One Piece. 

I would have had Bleach in the mix, but as far as I can tell, volume 62 hasn't been released yet. Which is a shame, as the cover for that book looks great.

Naruto volume 67 by Masashi Kishimoto: Obito has shocked the ninja world by absorbing Ten Tails into himself and transforming into the ultimate jinchuriki. But what is the extent of Obito’s power, and can he even control it? Naruto and Sasuke will have to team up with the revived Hokage to even stand a chance!

This volume is basically more fighting between the allied ninja forces and Obito, who has now become a bigger threat after becoming Ten Tails' schizophrenic jinchuriki and putting his plan of destroying the known world. In response, Naruto and Sasuke and the once dead Hokage make the most unlikely team as they pull out all the stops with improved techniques, pausing occasionally to bicker as they often do.

Book Sprites: Two Shonen, One Reaction

Some times, you have time to write a 1,000+ word review of a single book. Some times, you just don't. For those times, we have Book Sprites, compact book reviews for the discerning reader with no time to lose.

Spoilers for recent events in Naruto and One Piece lay beyond this point!

I've got the newest volumes of Naruto and One Piece, so this post is Shonen Jump heavy. They have two things in common: they're both from long-running shonen series in WSJ and their respective new books are decent but not mind-bendingly fantastic. Although, for two series that have handily passed past fifty volumes and still go on, it's not a bad thing to have less than awesome books.

Naruto volume 66 by Masashi Kishimoto. This volume has the much heralded return of Team Seven: Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. And while the reunion involves a lot of epic moments in ninja technique and really shows the levels that Sakura and Sasuke have reached since the time skip, it lacks a bit of the emotional resonance I was hoping for.

Manga Review: One Piece GN 69

One Piece volume 69
Author: Eiichiro Oda
Viz Media/Shonen Jump
200 pages

S.A.D.: Things are looking grim on Punk Hazard as deadly gas set off by a mad scientist envelops the island. Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hats are on a mission to both take down Caesar Clown and escape to safety before the gas can get them! (Source: Viz Media)

The Punk Hazard story arc could have easily been an all-for-nothing waste of an arc, inconsequential at the end of the day and with no real effect on Luffy and his crew. At this point, such an assessment would be totally wrong! If anything, Punk Hazard - and this volume - may turn out to be one of the more important turning points in the series. And for a manga quickly coming upon the big 7-0 in terms of volumes, the fact that it still has so many twists yet to be pulled shows that Oda knows exactly what he's doing.

Manga Review: One Piece GN 68

One Piece volume 68
Author: Eiichiro Oda
Viz Media/Shonen Jump
192 pages

Pirate Alliance: As the adventures continue on Punk Hazard, Luffy decides to strike up an alliance with Trafalgar Law. But can he convince the rest of the Straw Hats to go along with it? And will this new team be formidable enough to take down Caesar Clown? (Source: Viz Media)

This latest volume of One Piece is all about team work. W-wait, don't click away just yet! It's team work in the sense that a bunch of people who wouldn't normally be caught dead in the same room must now work together if they want to survive the experience. That's exactly what we have when the Straw Hats find themselves in alliance with newly made warlord of the sea, Trafalgar Law, and they all end up having to work with Smoker and Tashigi and their fellow Navy cronies.

The reason for all of this? Caesar Clown, a maniacal morally lacking scientist whose experiments with deadly gases threatens to destroy all life on Punk Hazard once and for all. His gas robe makes him look like the heavily mascara-wearing cousin of a certain smoke monster, and his killer gas makes other One Piece villains look like kindergarten class goons. In other words, Luffy and his crew have their hands full saving Punk Hazard from CC's scientific antics.

Manga Review: One Piece GN 67

One Piece volume 67
Author: Eiichiro Oda
Viz Media/Shonen Jump
219 pages

Cool Fight: Now that they’ve reached the New World, the Straw Hat pirates are up against things they’ve never seen before! Dragons, centaurs and deadly samurai are just the tip of the iceberg compared to the true dangers of Punk Hazard! Can Luffy and his mates uncover the dark secrets of this mysterious island?! (Source: Viz Media)

It's a given that One Piece is a bizarre series. Of the triumvirate of titles that make up Weekly Shonen Jump's main trio, Eiichiro Oda has managed to create the manga which bests both Naruto and Bleach in terms of expansive world-building and strange new civilizations and creatures. Of course, after sixty-plus volumes, Oda has become a master at keeping things fresh and interesting. He pretty much has to in order to keep his loyal and monster-sized following reading and buying every new installment of Luffy's adventures.

This latest story arc, however, really takes the cake. I mean - dragons? Centaurs? Samurai, with or without torsos? Giant kids and talking smoke-liquid people and weather-defying islands - oh shoot, is this an episode of Lost? No, it's still One Piece, and somehow it all makes sense when you read it.

Manga Review: One Piece 62 & 63

One Piece volume 62 & 63

Author: Eiichiro Oda

Viz Media/Shonen Jump

200 pages

Spoiler warning: Review contains spoilers for these two volumes of the One Piece manga, and small spoilers for events leading up to them.

Luffy and the Straw Hat crew board their trusted ship and head under the sea towards Fish-Man Island. However, getting in their way will be fierce pirates, underwater volcanoes, and a humongous sea creature! (Source: Viz Manga)

The Fish-Man Island arc is like a calming, lovely breath of fresh air after the dire blood-soaked events of the war between the World Government and the greatest pirates on the sea. Well, I didn't say it was particularly uneventful, as even under the sea things aren't what they seem. 

But the Straw Hat Gang is back together after a multi-year time skip and once again having oddball adventures in their ship. Oh, and Sanji keeps having noxious nosebleeds that threaten to wipe him out.

Manga Review: One Piece GN 61

One Piece volume 61

Author: Eiichiro Oda

Viz Media/Shonen Jump

200 pages

Spoiler warning: Review contains major spoilers for the Paramount War arc as well as events of volume 61 of One Piece. Read on with caution!

Romance Dawn For The New World: Determined to become stronger and challenge the toughest seas in the world, Luffy and his crew decide to go into training. When they finally reunite years later, they will meet brand new enemies and adventures!

It’s the official start of a new era, a new story arc. This feeling of fresh beginnings is evident in every scene in this latest volume. It’s understandable; consider how the Paramount War arc ended. Several major players dead, our hero in emotional shambles, and our fearless team of Straw Hats disbanded across the globe. The only way to go from there is up.

That is exactly what Eiichiro Oda does with the opening of the New World arc. After issuing his mysterious challenge to the whole world, meant for his beloved nakama, Luffy has reclaimed his purpose and sense of self. He has come back from the brink of despair and loss to become the captain his crew – and the world – needs, if he is to be the king of all pirates. And with his return, the gears of the world of pirates and the Navy and everyone else start turning again. In the words of Doctor Horrible, it’s a brand new day.

Manga Review: Naruto GN 54; Bleach GN 38; One Piece GN 60

It seems like fate (or perhaps hitsuzen) that I should get volumes of the holy trinity of Weekly Shonen Jump titles at the same time, right? So naturally, I’ll review them all in the same post!

Review warning: Post contains spoilers for Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece's latest volumes. Read on with caution!

Naruto volume 54

Author: Masashi Kishimoto

Viz Media/Shonen Jump

192 pages

Viaduct To Peace: Naruto and his team engage in an intense battle with the Akatsuki organization as both sides seek the power to determine the future of their land. Internecine fighting weakens the Akatsuki, but will their dark forces sideline Naruto?

Maybe the previous volume set my expectations too high, but this latest book was only pretty good. Considering how much is going on at this point in the story, however, ‘pretty good’ isn’t good enough. 

For a story that should be going full-steam into an oncoming ninja war, it’s being hampered by a bloated cast and too much going on at once. Kishimoto is having a hell of a time juggling all his characters and plot threads, and it shows.

Manga Review: One Piece GN 59

One Piece volume 59

Author: Eiichiro Oda

Viz Media/Shonen Jump

208 pages

Spoiler warning: Review contains major freaking spoilers for the events of volume 59 of One Piece. Read on with caution – or else!

After risking everything he had to save his brother, Luffy experiences heartbreak as Ace dies in his arms. Whitebeard will make one last stand against the Navy forces but when the epic pirate war finally comes to an end, the entire world will be shaken!

I certainly can't be faulted by thinking that the title of chapter 577, "Outrageous Events One After The Other", is an accidentally apt statement describing the series as whole - not as an insult, per se, but as a reasonable point about the line of events that have led up to this recent arc of the Paramount War, in which pirate and Navy forces clash with unprecedented force as one condemned man's life hangs in the balance. Except that, as those who remember the cliffhanger for the previous volume know, that condemned man's life is no longer in the balance; it has been extinguished, and the shockwaves from his death are what propels the rest of this volume to startling new heights of violence and raw emotion.

Just look at the book's own synopsis for a clue at how important this book is. "The entire world will be shaken"? For once that is the understatement of the century. As this most recent volume of One Piece shows, the entire series will never be the same.