Welcome to This Week in Shonen Jump, in which a rotating duo of Multiversity staffers take a look at two stories contained in each installment of Viz Media’s Weekly Shonen Jump. For the uninitiated, Weekly Shonen Jump is an anthology that delivers more than 200 pages of manga of all varieties. We hope that you’ll join us in exploring the world of Weekly Shonen Jump each week. If you are unfamiliar, you can read sample chapters and subscribe at Viz.com.
This week, Jess and Alice check in with “The Promised Neverland” and “One Punch Man.” If you have any thoughts on these titles, or “Shudan,” “One Piece,” “Robot X Laserbeam,” “Serpah at the End,” “Dr. Stone,” “Black Clover,” “We Never Learn,” or “Food Wars,” let us know in the comments!
The Promised Neverland Chapter 42
Written by Kaiu Shirai
Illustrated by Posuka Demizu
Reviewed by Jess Camacho
This chapter of “The Promised Neverland” is a tough one to review because unlike many previous chapters, this one isn’t really designed to stand on its own. With chapter 42, the kids are still on the run but are attacked by some kind of demonic beast. This beast tears through the forest as the kids are forced to split up, in a sense, to survive. As things begin to look dire, Ray takes things into his own hands and leads the beast his way. This chapter moves incredibly quickly and that works against it a bit. I kind of felt like I should have waited to read this and next week’s chapter together. With that said, the characterizations continue to be stellar. Ray here springs into action in a way that makes me like him all the more and I continue to believe in Emma as a real leader.
Demizu’s art is the real highlight of this chapter because as it is all action, their work is what gets the spotlight. Demizu’s action flows so nicely even if the pacing of this chapter is fast. The way this chase plays out is pulled off really well as no character falls to the background. The attention to detail is fantastic and the beast is one of the best creatures I’ve seen in a comic recently. This beast is colossal and actually scary. Add in the fact that it’s hunting children and it becomes even more fearsome. The actions Ray takes and how he approaches the monster is very restrained. I’m used to seeing something bigger from manga but this is trying to hold back and remain true to the ages of these kids. It’s really great work all around.
Final Verdict: 6.7 – Not a terrible chapter but absolutely a part of a bigger fight.
One Punch Man Chapter 70
Written by ONE
Illustrated by Yusuke Murata
Reviewed by Alice W. Castle
“One Punch Man” is perhaps the manga I’ve heard most about in recent years and each time someone’s mentioned it, the level of ridiculousness seems to ramp up. I don’t know particularly what I was expecting from this chapter, but I know it wasn’t this. Most of this chapter is actually fairly slow, in a strange way, seemingly an interlude between major story beats.
Saitama is barely a presence in this chapter, focusing instead on the appearance of a giant monster during the fighting tournament who just so happens to be the tournament’s first champion. Promising the fighters untold power if they join him in becoming a monster, they all proceed to do just that and gain new forms and enhanced powers only for the chapter to with a “Well, come back next time to see Saitama fight them, I guess!”
It’s a strange way to be introduced to the series to be sure, but it also presents a sort of vertical slice of the series’s humour. The writing from ONE, while somewhat repetitive, shows a much more blasé antagonist than these kinds of shonen manga typically introduce. Despite his size and monstrous stature, Goketsu is pretty chill about the whole affair. However, the downside to this, as I’ve said, is a feeling of repetitiveness to the chapter. After Goketsu’s introduction and his short backstory, which are the most interesting parts of the chapter, the rest of the story just shows different fighters gaining new powers from the monsterization process and Goketsu’s laidback reactions to each one.
It also feels like it shortchanges Yusuke Murata’s artwork. There are hints in this chapter of the fantastic, frenetic action that I’ve heard has defined this series, but most of it is just characters standing around and reacting to their new powers. Sure, this chapter is coming off the heels of a major fighting tournament, but it still feels pretty… ordinary to have all of these characters do little more than stand in place for a whole chapter. As I said, Saitama barely factors into the chapter at all.
Final Verdict:: 6.8 – The elements that have made the series a standout read are hinted at in this chapter, but this strange, downtempo interlude perhaps wasn’t the best introduction I could have had.
