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, Matt and Darcy check in with “One Piece” and “The Promised Neverland.” If you have any thoughts on these titles, or “Seraph at the End,” “Boruto,” “Dr. Stone,” “We Never Learn,” “Alice and Taiyo,” “Black Clover,” “Food Wars,” “Blue Exorcist,” or “Seiji Tanaka,” let us know in the comments!
The Promised Neverland Chapter 94
Written by Kaiu Shirai
Illustrated by Posuka Demizu
Reviewed by Matt Lune
The battle with Leuvis is finally over, but the escapees of Goldy Pond aren’t out of the woods yet. No less Emma, the lead character of “The Promised Neverland,” who sustained serious injuries in the final moments of the fight. The opening few pages of this chapter expand upon the death of Leuvis – seen last week – this time from the point of view of the “Nameless Geezer,” (credited as such in the recap page) whose history with the Demon king stretches back further than anyone else present.
Stretching over the last nine chapters or so, this fight against Leuvis – undoubtedly the biggest threat the kids have faced so far – has allowed artist Posuka Demizu to pull out all of the stops when it comes to controlling the scale and pacing of an extended fight sequence. The double-page spread that runs across pages two and three has an almost panoramic effect at its center, one that fully captures the extremely slowed down final moment of Leuvis’s life that Demizu is capturing. By removing speed and motion lines from the art, and drawing each bullet that surrounds the demon in crisp detail, it gives the feeling that this scene is frozen in time, giving Kaiu Shirai’s script the time to fully explore the scene.
Similarly, when Leuvis falls on page five, it happens off-panel (literally. As the demon falls to his death he collapses out of the panel and off the page entirely). In his place is a fractured montage of images, depicting the demon’s life flashing before his eyes. Some of the scenes are of things or characters we have seen, but for the most part, each small panel is a tantalizing glimpse of a story untold, a clever tease of the as-yet-unrevealed history of this world.
While it would have been good to take a moment to breathe and feel some sense of closure to the epic sequence that’s taken over two months of real time to tell, the cast of “The Promised Neverland” – mainly Ray and the “Nameless Geezer” – barely have time to regroup and gather their wounded before coming face-to-face with the bitter realization that their escape from Goldy Pond has only just begun. That’s the beauty of this series, though: for all of its deft techniques at slowing down moments and stretching out scenes in order to squeeze every moment of drama out, “The Promised Neverland” is a fast-paced, forever changing Manga, always with a new threat to replace the last.
Final Verdict: 7.8 – No time to rest. As the shadow of Leuvis fades, the children of Goldy Pond face the reality of their desperate situation.
One Piece – Chapter 910: Onward To Wano
Written and Illustrated by Eiichiro Oda
Review by Darcy Forrester
With this chapter, Oda moves the narrative focus once again. In recent weeks we’ve seen: pre-Reverie meetings with numerous established characters, the beginning of the Reverie itself, the meeting of Marco and Nekomamushi, the current state of the other Straw Hat Pirates who were already in Wano, and now it shifts to Straw Hat Luffy and the rest of his crew. While it’s always nice to see this series’ wonderful protagonist, I must say that I wish we’d got a little more of both the Reverie and of Zoro and co. prior to this move. However, now that we’re here, I’m fully interested in seeing the entry to Wano through the eyes of these characters. After all, adventure sits at the core of this behemoth, so getting to revisit that feeling at certain points is hugely enjoyable for me.
Continued belowAs for the chapter itself, it begins with Luffy and friends receiving news of the Reverie, as they sit on-board the Sunny. There is plenty of classic “One Piece” humour and faces on display here, while Oda briefly recaps the reintroduction of several characters because of the Reverie. While most of this scene is minor, there are two parts that are worth noticing. The first is that Sanji and Chopper’s antics appear to stop Nami from reading the full story in the paper regarding Kaido and Big Mom, and the second is that Luffy’s transponder snail does not appear to be working.
Beyond the humour and set-up for the rest of this chapter, one thing that should be noted is certainly Oda’s art. While I know it may be hard for some to look beyond Nami’s wonderful new outfit, the non-character art this week is truly phenomenal. With the crashing waves, imposing waterfall and capsized boat on the beach, Oda’s drawing capabilities are truly on display here. Alongside his panelling, many of the pages within this chapter manage to relay a cohesive and dynamic journey, from the moment the koi fish appear. The difficulty of entering Wano is without question, having read this chapter, and I would have to assume that is primarily what Oda wanted his readers to glean from this week’s content.
What this leads to though, is another separation. Having survived the treacherous waters, we see the Sunny safe but capsized, although only Luffy appears to be present at the crash site. While the question of where the Straw Hats ended up is an interesting, as is the origin of the two animals that appear to Luffy after he comes to, I should clarify that separating the primary cast upon arrival in a new destination does feel a little tired at this point. However, before I condemn this decision entirely, I do intend on seeing just where Oda takes this exactly. Because after all, execution is the most important thing, and Oda has undoubtedly shown time and again just how capable he is, so he is definitely deserving of my patience for now.
Final Verdict: 7.0 – A good setup for the entry to Wano, through the eyes of Luffy. While I would have liked to spend more time with either the Reverie, or with Zoro’s subsection of the crew who were already in Wano, I’m still interested to see just what happens to Luffy here. I do hope this separation of the crew is a temporary one though, as that device is starting to feel a little overused.
