dr. b

I watched the first two episodes of You and I are Polar Opposites last night. It's a winner in my books. Fun cast of characters, nice art style. A good time. I noticed the whole manga is on Jump (65 chapters) so I read a bit of it this morning. The first two episodes were a pretty faithful adaptation of the manga. I will try to resist the urge to just binge read the manga... but after having watched a bit of the anime and read a bit of the manga, I like manga art just a bit better.

Kagurabachi # 112 This chapter is officially the end of Part # 1 of the story. Looks like there won't be a break before we jump right in to Part # 2. The last several chapters were really good. I am hyped. Sakamoto Days # 248 Nothing super specific to mention about Sakamoto. I'm just really enjoying all the fights that are happening concurrently right now in the story. Awesome stuff. Akane-banashi # 194 The God of Death showdown is about to happen! Akane seems to have once again figured out some new way to achieve a higher level of performance. Will it work??? Gotta figure this will play out over several chapters. I'm looking forward to it. Witch Watch # 236 Kanshi is in a bit of a tight spot here..! I'm rooting for the guy. He's been training and I think/hope he's about to do something special. Gonron Egg is probably over in another few weeks (or less?) based on how rapidly it's advancing in the last couple chapters. I guess it's just not becoming a fan favourite and Jump isn't giving the author much rope. Oh well. I haven't tried out the recent new ones Under Doctor, Kinato's Magic, or Alien Headbutt yet. With Elusive Samurai done, I'll probably start on Ichi the Witch next. It seems to be well liked. Hopefully it's a good story. Assuming Gonron gets axed soon, maybe I will take a look at another new one as well.

Agreed re: Hell's Paradise! (And Yuzuriha ) I am definitely planning to pick up the manga wherever the anime leaves off at the end of this season. I'm assuming there is quite a lot left to happen with this raid on Horai before whatever comes next. Hopefully the anime can finish this story arc. Given the long gap between the first and second season, it will probably be a while before see a potential third season (assuming there is one at all). I've been watching Frieren weekly but I get what you mean. I was really late to the party on the first season and binged like 20 episodes to get caught up on it. It was really fun being able to string them together like that. Thanks for the tip re: You and I are Polar Opposites. That one came up on my radar when I was reading up on stuff before the winter season. I was planning to give it a look but then I straight up forgot about it Added it to my watch list on Crunchy and I will check out the first episode one night this week. Skip and Loafer is so good by the way. It ranks quite high for me. Check it out when you get a chance! I got caught up on Golden Kamuy super fast. The most recent episodes have been fascinating (what actually went down with Wilk and the Ainu that were killed, how he became Nopperabo). I think there are only seven episodes left. I am super curious to see how the story wraps up.

Elusive Samurai # 238 (Finale) God damn, what a strong finish. I have no nits to pick. Not let down by anything. The extra history lesson about the later Hojo, closure on Mima, Shizuka, Ayako, Genba, and Natsu, beautiful colour cover pages, the call back to Tokiyuki telling everyone to have fun The last few pages showing the squad in Hell was a great way to end it. Demon come this way Also mega lol at the standards for getting into Heaven. Everyone goes to Hell. I am on board with that concept Looking back at early pages in this thread, I started reading Elusive Samurai in May 2021. It launched in Jump in January 2021. There would have only been ~20 chapters released when I jumped on the bandwagon. Time flies..! It’s a bit sad to not have this to look forward to every Sunday… but I’d rather be left wanting more than to get tired of something. So this is the better outcome. What an awesome story.

Elusive Samurai # 237 (Epilogue Part 1 of 2) Goddamn I love this series. I guess it's over next week? Genba is a real one I'm glad Tadafuyu didn't have to die. It's a bit disappointing that Takauji seemingly didn't die in battle... but if that's how it actually went down in the history books then there's not much the author can do about that. This chapter seems to have wrapped up the history/facts-based part of the story, so I guess the final chapter will allow the author to take some creative liberties and hopefully end the manga on a fun note. It better get some sweet colour pages.

Happy b-day Tassi!

The Mets have been very aggressive as well, so you never know what might happen in the NL. They could just be the usual LOLMets, maybe start the season well and then collapse. But there's a chance they will actually be a good team this year. The Cubs might be a feisty team again this season too. The NL obviously seems to be LA's to lose, but they could under-perform and/or suffer injuries as well. Gotta play the games.

I'm enjoying Hell's Paradise as well. Pretty much forgot most details from the first season since it's been so long, so I had to read a plot summary to remember who all the supporting characters were and what they're all about... I think the next few episodes are going to be action packed.

Never mind, I got mixed up and thought the whole thing was CGI... Started watching last night on Crunchyroll when I couldn't sleep. Enjoying it so far. Agreed on the bear CGI though

Maybe I'll just read the manga

Yeah, Yamamoto was almost untouchable in the NLCS and World Series. Blake Snell also pitched really well up until the WS, but the Jays got to him pretty quickly in Game #1. I had hoped they would do a bit more damage against Yamamoto. To be fair, the Jays' hitters did create some run scoring opportunities against him... but they couldn't come through with the clutch hit with guys on base. When it really counted, Yamamoto made his pitches. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap. 2025 was a magical season for Jays fans. Thiiiiiiiiis close to another WS banner

He's the Phils' bench coach now, so if it was his fault then the Jays are golden this summer!

Ma! I still haven't touched Golden Kamuy, manga or anime. Not really sure why. Should I get into it?

Elusive Samurai # 236 Tokiyuki and the boys went down in a blaze of glory Page 15 man... Ahh... That was fun! What a way to go. I rather like Tokiyuki's approach to life. If you had fun at the end of the day, despite whatever challenges you had to deal with - and his life was full of them! - then it's a win. The end of Tokiyuki's life was very moving for me. I still love this series. I'm not getting even a tiny bit tired of it. So I wish it could continue, but obviously we're very near the end here. I guess we get at least one more chapter summarizing the final years of Takauji's life. I hope we also get a glimpse of what happens with Shizuku, Ayako, and Mima. Sakamoto Days # 246 After the last chapters, I wasn't expecting to switch back to what Nagumo is doing. I kinda forgot he was still in action TBH But this was a good one anyways. Fun action. Akane-banashi # 192 Akane is once again up against a big challenge. Will she pull a rabbit out of her hat and find a way to make her God of Death stand up against Kaisei's...? Kagurabachi # 110 The battle that's been on-going over the last few chapters has been absolutely epic. I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for next week's chapter! You've gotta check this one out eventually if you haven't given it a try yet. The story gets a bit convoluted in places, at least I felt that way reading week-to-week, but it might flow a bit better when you can read a bunch of chapters at once. JJK Modulo # 20 It's slowly starting to win me over... The last few chapters have been legit good. And now Itadori has made an appearance

I never gave Otr of the Flame a try. Kinda assumed it wouldn't last. I just looked it up in the Jump app and apparently chapter # 34 (just a couple weeks ago) was the final chapter. So, if I'm ever bored, I guess I might as well zip through it. Wouldn't take long to read 34 chapters. Of the other new-ish ones that I never tried out, Ichi the Witch seems to be doing well (67 chapters and counting, and seems to be popular). Shinobi Undercover and Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi are also in the 60-70 chapter ballpark so there must be something good about them. I think I'd rather wait for some of these to finish, and then check them out and binge-read them if they're good enough. I highly recommend Someone Hertz if you haven't started on it yet. It's very good IMHO. Also, are you caught up on Witch Watch? It's starting to get really exciting again. Higher stakes than collecting butterflies.