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, Rowan and Kerry check in on “Moriking” and “Our Blood Oath.” If you have thoughts on these or any other current Shonen Jump titles, please let us know in the comments!
Our Blood Oath — Ch. 4
Written and Illustrated by Kazu Kakazu
Reviewed by Kerry Erlanger
Last chapter, we were given our first glimpse at some overarching plot movement in “Our Blood Oath” when it was revealed that Shin’s friend, Izuki, might not be all he seems. That movement continues in chapter 4 alongside more world building, which is the bulk of the story this week.
One of the fun things about this story is how Kazu Kakazu portrays Ko. Despite being the actual vampire of the Hizuki duo, and a powerful one at that, Ko is very much a little brother. He clearly looks up to his older brother, which is an interesting dynamic considering Shin is a “weak” human. I would imagine that a lot of vampires would perceive Shin as useless or at least not worth their time, despite the fact that he’s clearly got a lot of merit to him, battle strength and otherwise. Regardless, it’s cute that Ko generally seems to see him as his cool older brother instead of through the lens of their vampire/human differences.
Another way that Ko is a typical kid is he’s always getting himself into mischief. This week, he’s playing with his older brother’s gloves while Shin is out of the house and, of course, breaks them in the process. Shin is pretty chill about it and uses it as a teachable moment in a few ways (what a good big brother!). He recognizes that Ko feels badly about what he’s done and doesn’t chastise him for it. If only we could all be so patient!
Thus far, Kakazu has used Shin teaching Ko as a vehicle for teaching the reader about this world of vampires. Again, it’s a clever way of asserting their younger and older brother roles, but it’s also an interesting choice considering you’d think it’d be the other way around with vampire Ko teaching human Shin. It’s easy to forget that they aren’t equal in this sense.
This week, we find out where and how vampiric tools are made, which is underneath a candy store by a mage-looking girl named Alice who explains the process as if it’s right out of any old RPG. Nothing about this sidequest is particularly surprising or unique. It’s mostly used to tout Ko’s strength based in their blood oath (his blood scythe is pretty cool) and the potential danger that lies ahead. The most exciting thing that happens in this chapter is at the end when, after Alice issues a warning to Shin about his brother’s power, they run into Izuki — serendipitous timing if there ever was. He isn’t alone, either. The woman he’s with introduces herself as Kyoka, Izuka’s “cousin,” which is most definitely a lie. Is she the person Izuka was on the phone with at the end of last chapter, speaking ominously about the Hizuki brothers? Either way she definitely isn’t what she seems, if her interest in Ko is anything to go by. Kakazu makes sure you know this from the get go — her face is too calm, too cool, and the expression she gives Ko is a little too interested. She looks like she’s ready to eat him up. It leaves a lot of questions, which is exactly what’s intended by this little cliffhanger.
Final Verdict: 6.5 — While the world building can feel a bit inconsequential at times, we’re starting to see some interesting developments in “Our Blood Oath” that hints at darker things lurking ahead.
Continued below
Written and Illustrated by Tomohiro Hasegawa
Reviewed by Rowan Grover
“Moriking” continues to celebrate the absurdity of its concept, delivering these Adonis-esque humanoid insects that square off each other, each with bigger egos than the last. This time around, we’re introduced to the Oga Kuwata, the Stag Beetle fighter who believes in the power and beauty of the naked body. Hasegawa plays with the comedy of this concept throughout the series’ regular characters hilariously. When Shota and Shoko’s father goes running at Oga to try and take him down (as any good father spotting a giant naked man with horns at his doorstep should), Oga picks him up with ease and sheds the man’s clothes with his horns, forcing him to assimilate to Oga’s method of beauty. Hasegawa plays with the audience’s reaction to this, making it feel like a comedic event as he’s easily tossed aside, yet clearly displaying some level of shock and horror via Oga’s expression and Shoto’s cry for his father in reaction.
At this stage of the manga, however, what works for me the most is that it’s not just relying on week-to-week slapstick visual comedy to provide entertainment, but also slowly building its core cast through gradual continuity. I love that Moriking shows up partially naked not just to run with Oga’s bit, but also because he was being a local hero to kids as he’s learned in previous chapters. Similarly, having the insects that Moriking has befriended over past chapters show up now to take down Oga’s team of guards is also a great show of group dynamics and careful character building. The final shot of having the local press refer to Oga as a local ‘flasher’ is also a great, light-hearted capstone to the chapter, too!
Hasegawa’s artwork through this series is solid enough to convey the humor of the narrative. Teasing Oga on the first page as this insidious looking silhouette is a great way to build a reader’s expectations and speculations, but then having the guts to immediately display this ominous shadow as a naked-as-heck bad boy the very next page is just great comedic timing on display. Similarly, Hasegawa knows how to pace and control each character’s emotions to give dramatic moments the gravitas they need to succeed. Oga stalks around the pages of this manga with a constant expressionless look, yet when he is grabbed and talked down to by Moriking, he becomes much more instantly worried and tense.
However, Hasegawa falls short at giving this chapter a particularly smooth flow. One of the pitfalls of drawing manga that features impossible jacked characters is that the action can sometimes feel a little stiff. That is absolutely the case in this chapter, where we never get to see the fights choreographed out for us, rather the confrontation immediately followed by the end result. Case in point: when Shota and Shoko’s Dad charges at Oga, the next panel we see is the man basically impaled on Oga’s head with his clothes shredded off, with no direction as to how this happened. Meanwhile, Oga doesn’t appear to have moved from his toy doll-style stance. Considering this is a comedy-first manga, I can see why this might have been pushed to the side in favor of humor, but it just makes the characters visually look lifeless and not as compelling as they could be with the right actions.
“Moriking” delivers great continued storytelling in its latest chapter and some solid laughs, with some good visual pacing to accentuate the comedy in each page. However, it falls short in the action in a big way, which might not be an issue for you if you’re purely looking for narrative humor, but misses the potential that Moriking has inherently by being a comedy/action Shonen hybrid.
Final Score: 6.9 – Still proving to be a solid comedy manga, “Moriking” falls short in delivering action and fluid visual flow.
