Welcome to This Week in Shonen Jump, our weekly check in on Viz’s various Shonen Jump series. Viz has recently changed their release format, but our format will mostly remain the same. We will still review the newest chapters of two titles a week, now with even more options at our disposal. The big change for our readers is that, even without a Shonen Jump subscription, you can read these most recent chapters for free at Viz.com or using their app.
This week, Robbie and Ken check in with “One Piece: Boichi Covers Zolo vs Mihawk” and “Black Clover.” If you have thoughts on these or any other current Shonen Jump titles, please let us know in the comments!
One Piece: Boichi Covers Zolo vs Mihawk
Written by Eiichiro Oda
Illustrated by Bichi
Reviewed by Robbie Pleasant
What we have here is a rare treat – while it’s not uncommon for artists to draw characters from other manga in their styles as tributes to a series, full chapters are harder to come by. But in this case, we get Boichi, the artist behind “Dr. Stone,” covering an early but intensely epic chapter of “One Piece.”
So what makes this chapter so important that it’s worth redrawing? First, the chapter marks several important points in the series. The introduction of Mihawk served to show just how powerful characters can get in “One Piece,” as he fights off Zoro’s attacks with just a knife (I know the manga is calling him “Zolo” in this chapter, but he’s always been Zoro as long as I’ve read it, so that’s what I’ll continue to refer to him as).
More than that, it’s the first crushing defeat any of our main characters have faced. Up until this point, we’ve seen the heroes in dire straits and temporarily troubled, but never beaten as soundly as Zoro is in this chapter. While it would not be the last, it showed us as readers that our heroes are still unprepared for just how powerful others out there can be.
As such, it’s an intensely emotional moment in the series. There’s tension in Zoro’s battle as we see just how outmatched he truly is, terror in his defeat that makes readers fear for his life, and the sheer emotion the characters express knowing they can only watch until it’s over, followed by Luffy’s enraged attack on Mihawk.
Additionally, seeing Mihawk in action sets up some details that we don’t learn about until much, much later on. For instance, Mihawk’s ability to predict and dodge the attacks from Zoro and Luffy may have seemed like just his training and skill at first, but now we know about Prediction Haki and how it can help users dodge attacks without even looking.
But while a lot of these aspects are more evident in retrospect, what makes this tribute worth reviewing is Boichi’s artwork. While I’ve often praised his illustrations in “Dr. Stone,” seeing him bring another manga to life in his own style highlights just how talented he is.
While Eiichiro Oda’s character designs remain intact in many ways, like the size of characters’ heads and eyes (although Nami’s eyes are a little enlarged to match Boichi’s style of drawing girls), Boichi adds shading and detailing to everyone that makes them pop off the page. The expressions they’re given are beyond powerful, with every drop of sweat or tensed muscle serving a dramatic purpose. Each panel is overflowing with detail, from Mihawk’s rippling abs to the folding patterns on Zoro’s katana.
Then we get to the action. While the original chapter was plenty intense on its own, Boichi manages to add a new sense of fluidity to the battle. Graceful action lines let us follow every motion of the swords in swing, accompanied by glistening blades and impact effects that make each move intense.
Boichi must have had plenty of time to work on this chapter, because the sheer detail and clean, beautiful artwork on display here does not happen overnight. The most impactful moments, like Mihawk drawing his large black sword or Zoro standing with his arms outstretched to accept his defeat, are given such loving attention that the power of the scene comes through like a gum-gum pistol to the face.
Continued belowI could keep going about what makes this chapter important to “One Piece,” and the sheer superb quality of Boichi’s art, but I think the point has been made quite clear. What we have here is one of the top manga artists covering one of the greatest chapters of THE most popular manga in Japan, and the result is beyond any expectations.
Final Verdict: 10.0 – You want a perfect example of how good manga can be? Look no further. Action, emotion, drama, and brilliantly detailed artwork remind us of everything amazing about manga.
Black Clover Ch. 213
Written & Illustrated by Yuki Tabata
Reviewed by Ken Godberson III
The last several chapters of “Black Clover” have been a tense time, with Chapter 213 bringing us to a culmination of the story arc dealing with the Elves that is simultaneously awesome, heartwarming and leaving seeds and questions as the story moves forward. At its core, this chapter is cleaning up, freeing the Elf-Possessed humans who are still wreaking havoc across the Kingdom. But from an emotional level, it is the Elven leaders coming to terms with moving on, their spirits finally free to move on to the next world.
It’s not just the Elves that have their own emotional reckoning here. This chapter also calls up a great deal of William’s emotional baggage and what is to come with him. A combination of his World Tree magic, Asta’s anti-magic and aid from the departing Licht helps free the citizens of the Clover Kingdom, with everyone thinking it was the Golden Dawn Captain that saved them, despite the fact that William was one of the big reasons this happened in the first place. It’s going to be interesting moving forward where Tabata goes with this character and, more specifically, how willing people both within and without the universe will be to forgive him.
Tabata’s artwork has always been the stronger aspect of “Black Clover”, especially big moments, and this chapter allows for it. The double-page spread of Asta and William’s combined spell is a wonderfully detailed thing as well as the resulting expulsion of the Elven spirits from the citizenry’s bodies is a haunting thing, these spirits fading away with looks of content and respite. The final scene between Licht and Asta serves as a visual passing of the torch, signifying not only the passing of the Elf Tribe, but also the series itself moving on.
“Black Clover” has had a fair share of criticism over it’s 200+ chapters for being derivative. I myself have accused it of that as well at times. However, this saga that Tabata has weaved with the Elves and the Clover Kingdom has left the series in a place that it can stand on it’s own. Now all that is to be asked is how Tabata is going to follow up on this. The bits and pieces that remain, including Asta and Yuno’s origins, are going to need to ferment into something all its own to perhaps remove the stigma this series has had.
Final Verdict: 7.3- Tabata brings the arc of Licht and the Elves to an emotional conclusion.
