Cover
Woooooo… a spooky bad guy cover! This cover is one of the darker more foreboding covers we’ve had. Great use of shadows and contrast to make the villain look even scarier.

Bleach
by Tite Kubo
Nice color piece of the Soul Society captains! The series is winding down, so you better enjoy nice art like this while you can! The invasion of the Soul Society has begun! And it’s not looking good for the Soul Reapers! A short chapter, but lots of action!

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan
by Hiroshi Shiibashi
Wow! The evil mastermind behind the purification that threatens the yokai and human world sure knows how to make an entrance! Plus, Night Rikuo learns more about his past through a surprisingly peaceful chat with his mom.

Naruto
by Masashi Kishimoto
Although I’ve greatly enjoyed the battle between Sasuke, Itachi, and Kabuto, it’s nice to get back to the Gokage versus Uchiha Madara fight. Although, the outlook's not good for the Gokage, it’s still amazing to watch them work together. It takes a genius mind to come up with a battle this complex and amazing, and that’s exactly the kind of mind Kishimoto’s got!

Barrage
by Kouhei Horikoshi
Three chapters into this manga, and the main character’s off on a quest! Not a giant save the world one (yet!), more like a low-level RPG video game one. Kill the bandits! The art in this series is really good, especially the character designs. The leader of the bandits looks amazing. Kinda crazy to use such a great design on a minor character, but maybe he comes back—you never know with manga!

One Piece
by Eiichiro Oda
All I can say about this arc is...I can’t wait to read it in graphic novel form! There are benefits to reading manga serialized and reading it in GN form. It’s always nice to get the story faster (serialized), but some story arcs are so crazy it’s a little hard to follow chapter by chapter (this one). And that’s the secret to fully enjoying SJ manga—read it both ways! As for the chapter, all the pieces are coming together, gearing up to what looks like a giant crazy battle!

Toriko
by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro
Toriko’s back on the scene! And with new luxurious sparkly hair! What a dramatic return too, not a minute too late! These new mysterious foes have proven far too strong for the members of the Chowlin Temple. but Toriko’s just eaten a ton of Bubble Fruit and has leveled up considerably! In other words, “It’s on!”

Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration
by Nobuhiro Watsuki
Wowsers, this issue is a fatty! This chapter focuses on one of my favorite Kenshin characters, Sagara Sanosuke! And he makes an amazing entrance! Imma have to come up with a cool saying for the next time I smash through a wall and introduce myself. Great chapter otherwise, and the story is cooking right along. It’s kind of like reading the original on fast-forward. Definitely a new experience for me.

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