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, Rowan and Matt check in with “Robot X Laserbeam” and “Dr. Stone.” If you have any thoughts on these titles, or “My Hero Academia,” “One Punch Man,” “Black Clover,” “One Piece,” “Food Wars,” “The Promised Neverland,” or “We Never Learn,” let us know in the comments!
Robot x Laserbeam Chapter 25
Written and Illustrated by Tadatoshi Fujimaki
Reviewed by Matt Lune
Last week’s chapter was the conclusion of the practice match between Robato and his team from the EIAI Academy, and the powerful Tohoku International. It was a thrilling final that ended in a spectacular way, so it sort of predictable that this chapter is a quieter affair. It’s actually quite a short chapter, choosing to take a breather after the rush of action that’s filled this current volume so far.
The frame of Chapter 25 centers around Robo and Tomoya talking after class about the craziness of the match they won. Robo cannot stay awake after giving his every last ounce of strength to the golf match. The story then flashes back to the shared spa all of the competitors took together, where they reflect on their performance, joke around with each other and discuss their future clashes. The chapter ends with Robo surprising Tomoya with a trip to the driving range, where he announces that – contrary to everything he’s thought about himself up until now – golf has become the most exciting thing in his life. This final revelation goes a long way to salvaging a chapter that, for the most part is fairly forgettable.
It’s important to the overall flow of the series that moments like this are allowed to develop. The strength of serialised manga over western comics is the room they have to include smaller character beats and expand on the quieter “moments between moments.” The trouble here is that a lot of the characters are fairly interchangeable: most of them are young men with a drive to succeed, both academically and in golf; most of them think they are the best but recognise the strength and skill of their peers, and most of them have that same way of talking about Robo i.e. bewildered amazement at his skills. For a chapter like this to work better, for the weight of the character development to land, there needs to be a greater diversity amongst the cast, otherwise the investment just isn’t there.
There also needs to be a reason for the characters to keep meeting on the golf course, so to this chapter’s credit, the story is at least advanced in that area. It wouldn’t be very realistic if Robo kept playing if he wasn’t himself invested in the sport. Even if, for some reason, he chose to continue, his apathy would only provide a block to his advancement in skill level, so seeing him admit that he not only cares, but is excited by golf is a good move for the longevity of the series. It was, by far, the most important part of this chapter, but it was rewarding to see nonetheless.
There’s less opportunity for the art to shine in this chapter, due to the lack of action shots, or smart visual metaphors of amazing golf swings (the giant snake that symbolises the Viper Shot is always a particular highlight.) Instead, the most effort that the art puts in is having to creatively use steam to hide the naked forms of the cast, as they dip in and out of the heated pool. There’s the standard shift from white borders to black borders around the panels, as a shorthand to signify that what’s currently happening is taking place in the past, and an interesting half page that adds a grainy effect to the panels to symbolise the memories that Robo is flashing back to at that moment, but otherwise this, like the plot, is fairly standard fare.
Continued belowIt’s difficult to criticise a series for having quieter moments, and in a lot of manga those chapters are not only a welcome relief that serves to enhance the action when it happens, but a chance to develop the characters in fun and engaging ways. In Robot x Laserbeam, however, the characters just aren’t that interesting, and the greatest strength of this series is in its depiction of the golf matches. When a chapter comes along that hardly has any golf in it at all, it can’t help but bring the series a little under par.
Final Verdict:6.9 – After the thrill of previous chapters, this week’s installment feels a little underwhelming.
Dr Stone Chapter 27
Written by Riichiro Inagaki
Illustrated by Boichi
Reviewed by Rowan Grover
The cast of “Dr Stone” has grown exponentially since the series’ inception, and furthermore it’s world has begun to fill bigger and more populated. For myself, this is something of a mixed bag. I was a big fan of the sparse post-apocalyptic world that was found in the early pages of this series, yet from this issue Riichiro Inagaki has moved it into a direction that looks to be more of a pseudo neo-lithic society, where tribes battle and brawl for superiority. It’s still compelling, and I like that Inagaki brings rules that have evolved over the years to Magma’s tribe (i.e. the martial arts tournament), but it’s missing the stark contrast of bleak desolation vs. slapstick humour that the story started off so well with.
That being said, a lot of the character work is really well done here. Inagaki has written Senku as a grand persona, with an almost deity-level of complexity to his motivation. He wishes to further this post-civilization’s scientific advancements at a regulated pace, while also helping the people he wishes deserve it. When he talks about rediscovering glass, it’s with a level of awe and aloofness that you genuinely feel mystified by this ‘new’ element along with Chrome and the others. But something that took me by surprise was how well-written Kohaku is in this chapter. In the martial arts flashback, she’s empowered as the one who takes down the ill-seeking Magma in a Captain America-esque shield bash to the face. Furthermore, she’s almost the valiant knight for her sister, explaining that she’s accompanying the party to try and save her sister’s life. It’s touching and validating to have a female character take up this role, and Inagaki writes her well.
Boichi‘s ever-sleek linework continues to impress in this chapter, and there’s a lot of opportunities he uses to flesh out the world of “Dr Stone”. In the start of the chapter, we get a nearly double page splash of the tournament island which feels appropriately tribal and monolithic. Boichi uses a great birds-eye camera angle to capture all this, almost using a fish-eye technique to accentuate the ring-like nature of the island, yet simultaneously exaggerate how absurdly built it is – a large hut is precariously stationed on the outskirts, after all. Scattered throughout the issue are some placing details that ground you back in the tribal setting. Kohaku approaches Kinro and Ginro as they stand guard with wooden spears atop a rickety, hastily-roped bridge. Magma spitroasts meat on a rocky plain fronting a dark forest. It’s nothing huge, but they work subtly to induce immersion into the reader as they participate.
Emotion is well-conveyed with Boichi’s thickly inked style. In terms of panel composition, a lot of real-estate is given to each character’s heads – not in a way that they’re proportionately larger, but that the camera is more focused on them. This allows for Boichi to play with more emotional subtleties for his characters. This working on a lesser scale is evident after the Kohaku martial arts flashback, when Senku stands pondering the situation of Magma winning. His face is mostly angled, with a smirk, to purvey his cocky nature in deciphering the situation, yet Boichi adds a small detail of sweat and an uncomfortable slant in his brow that indicates his stress at realising what the outcome could be. Another is Kinro’s declaration that Senku is not a bad guy – we get a lower angle on his face, expressing the gravity of the situation, and see how rock solid and unflinching his facial details are, which indicates his sureness of his decision. It’s impressive character work that helps to push along character development and plot.
“Dr Stone” may not be moving in the direction I previously expected to, but it’s not a bad thing. Inagaki and Boichi are surprising me with great character development and world-building that I wouldn’t have expected ten chapters ago, and it’s a great showing of how well paced the book is. There are some tone issues which might be jarring, but overall this feels like a great entry in this series.
Final Score: 7.3 – “Dr Stone” has evolved from dramatic comedy into a well-structured post-apocalyptic tale, that manages to feel fresh amidst the genre’s crowded market.
