Weekly Shonen Jump July 10, 2017 Featured Columns 

This Week in Shonen Jump: July 10, 2017

By and | July 12th, 2017
Posted in Columns | % Comments

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, Alice and Jess check in with “Boruto” and “Dr. Stone.” and If you have any thoughts on these titles, or “Seraph at the End,” “One Piece,” “Robot X Laserbeam,” “Black Clover,” “Blue Exorcist,” “My Hero Academia,” “The Promised Neverland,” “We Never Learn,” or “Hunter X Hunter,” let us know in the comments!

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Chapter 14
Created by Masashi Kishimoto
Written by Ukyo Kodachi
Illustrated by Mikio Ikemoto
Reviewed by Alice W. Castle

Somehow, despite being a high schooler in the mid-to-later 2000s, I skipped the almost compulsory “Naruto” phase that all of my friends went through. To this day, most of the series is a blur of strange names for characters and special moves that I only have a vague notion of. So, screw it, I thought and decided to dive feet first into the newest series following Naruto’s weirdly named kid and see what all of the fuss was about.

Immediately, I understood why people love this series. If the rest of “Naruto” is half as good as this single chapter is, I can get behind the hype. This chapter was a solid distillation of the high-octane action, the fantastical storytelling and the earnestness that I’ve come to associate with the series and I was not disappointed. The entire chapter is basically one long fight scene between Boruto and a nightmare scenario of character where Fatman from Metal Gear Sold 2 had a vore fetish.

Outside of the… questionable implications arising from the fact that the chapter revolves around a grown man wanting to eat a child alive, I was impressed by the artwork. The linework is crisp and clean, incredibly detailed in a very stark way thanks to the lack of colour in manga printing. Mikio Ikemoto’s linework is a textbook example of incredible action, clearly laid out and readable, that’s as impressive as anything I’ve read in my relatively short time covering Weekly Shonen Jump.

This is the kind of chapter that’s a perfect distillation of everything the series about. There’s not a whole lot of story, but there is a whole lot of character and you can tell a lot about Boruto by his actions in this chapter. He’s quick thinking, incredibly powerful and not too proud to accept help when he needs it. Who knows, I might just be a late blooming “Naruto” fan because of this.

Final Verdict: 7.8 – An incredibly enjoyable chapter with great action, wonderful artwork and a ton of heart.

Dr. Stone Chapter 18
Written by Riichiro Inagaki
Illustrated by Boichi
Reviewed by Jess Camacho

“Dr. Stone” has recently taken a big jump into building up its world by introducing the twist that the core cast are not the first ones to awake from the worldwide stone slumber. While primitive, they’ve built a village together and in this chapter, one person in particular shows that he’s made scientific strives on his own. Most of this chapter is Senku doing what he does and immediately getting into an altercation with this young man and it makes for a just okay chapter. “Dr. Stone” has some strange dialogue sometimes that reads very abrupt and very basic. This could be something getting lost in translation but often times, these conversations just don’t flow as well as they should. The thing with Senku that continues to bother me is that I still feel like I can’t connect with him on any level. He’s very unlikable which is not the problem here. The problem is that he’s a static character. He’s very black and white and doesn’t show any sign of actually evolving, which is continuously funny since his whole thing is forcing evolution in a primitive society.

Boichi’s art is solid but there are moments where character expressions are a bit too much and borders on scary. They lean in hard on this fight and the reactions from it and it doesn’t quick click the way it should. However, there have been previous chapters where things felt too cold so this is a step in the right direction. There are a few pages right in the middle where Boichi’s art flows really nicely and captures that shonen feel perfectly. Boichi’s background work is also really good and there’s a magical feeling in the sequences featuring a little fun science.

Final Verdict: 5.5 – “Dr. Stone” continues to move along but isn’t quite as good as the concept deserves.


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Alice W. Castle

Sworn to protect a world that hates and fears her, Alice W. Castle is a trans femme writing about comics. All things considered, it’s going surprisingly well. Ask her about the unproduced Superman films of 1990 - 2006. She can be found on various corners of the internet, but most frequently on Twitter: @alicewcastle

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Jess Camacho

Jess is from New Jersey. She loves comic books, pizza, wrestling and the Mets. She can be seen talking comics here and at Geeked Out Nation. Follow her on Twitter @JessCamNJ for the hottest pro wrestling takes.

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