dr. b

The boys of summer are back! Jays won the home opener yesterday in walk-off fashion. I would have liked to see them put a few more runs on the board, but a W is a W. Gausman pitched really well. The was he was using and controlling his splitter was excellent. When he can locate the fastball and the splitter is working correctly, he makes hitters look silly. Especially younger guys like in the A's lineup. 11 strikeouts. Okamoto had a great first game as a big leaguer as well. Couple of hits, a walk, scored the winning run. And he looked solid at 3B as well. When he came over, there were bigger questions about the defense at 3B than his ability to hit. He doesn't have to be a Gold Glover, but he does need to at least play sound defense at 3B, and in Spring he looked better than expected. That's nice. If they need to play him more at 1B or DH then there will be a problem.

Yikes! Hata is a bit of a sick fucker

Yep, I'm current with Spy x Fam. It went through a bit of a lull a few months back where I wasn't super duper enjoying it, but it's back in a better groove now. I love the bad guys' reason for hijacking the TV station Off the top of my head, here the list of series I'm current with for weekly / bi-weekly stuff... Sakamoto Days: Still very good Akane-banashi: Also still very good! Very hyped for the God of Death showdown Someone Hertz: Easily my favourite of the newer stuff on Jump Witch Watch: The Bone Crisis chapters have been full of action and excitement The Mage Next Door: It's just OK, not sure how much longer it will last Gonron Egg: I've continued to enjoy it despite the abrupt time skip; I assume it's almost done Hima-Ten!: Starting to lose its lustre, but I still like all the characters. It might be creeping towards an ending but I can't quite tell Dandadan: It's getting old for me but I keep reading it. I guess this is the new Chainsaw Man for me Dogsred: Still a big fan of this one! Choujin X: Just started what feels like a fairly big new story arc, so I guess it's got a while to go yet. I'd still recommend it And I'm about 20 chapters away from being current on Ichi the Witch. It's a hoot! I also binge read all 60-something chapters of You and I are Polar Opposites after I got into the anime, and it's a great choice. Not the best ending, but it didn't ruin it for me by any means. I also follow a couple of monthly titles (Seraph of the End, Blue Exorcist, and Gokurakugai). Seraph and Blue Exorcist are both in theory nearing the end of the stories (IMO) but considering how the authors are slowly drawing things out they could be running several more months yet. I'm in it for the long haul!

I am also expecting it to end within a few more weeks. It's really hard for me to imagine an outcome where this can continue into a much longer running story. Although there have already been some very unpredictable twists and turns to the story, so you never know. Seems unlikely anyhow. I agree that the bones they found, even if they are that of the previous ghostwriter, can and probably will be explained in a way that doesn't make him a murderer. And it's all connected to his lady friend. Like, he feels compelled to keep putting out manga she likes to keep her spirits up while she deals with her illness? Something like that.

Totally agree re: Elusive Samurai! I still think about the story quite a lot. There was a lot of substance and depth to it. Lots of fun and interesting characters. And it had a pretty darn satisfying ending. It really makes me appreciate an author when they can give a good ending to a series. It's not such an easy thing to do. There are lots of examples out there of manga that started out great, had a really solid run like 80% of the way, but the ending is a botch job. I don't collect a lot of books, but I am very tempted to buy all volumes of Elusive Samurai. I will definitely read it again. There is a small part of me that's tempted to re-read all of Part 2 of Chainsaw Man, to hopefully make better sense of it all. But I'm gonna hold off for a little while. I don't think reading it over again will improve my feelings about the ending. But it should at least make the whole story feel a bit more coherent. I agree it's easier to digest when you binge read a bunch of chapters in quick succession. How much longer do you figure Kurumizawa's Folly will run for? Now that it has escalated to this point, I'm not sure where else the story can go It's been exciting, that's for sure!

In a vacuum, the last chapter of Chainsaw Man wasn’t bad. But what a mess of an ending overall

There is only one episode left of Golden Kamuy and it feels like there are still several plot lines left to resolve. How is it all going to fit? I wonder if it will be an extra long final episode, or (worse) end in a cliff hanger and then finally end in a special or movie to be released later.

Witch Watch # 241 This chapter got me hyped! No more sneaking around. The squad is going to fight back and hold things down until Morihito can get back in action 😤

K, so I posted this after reading Chainsaw Man # 230 a couple weeks ago. I just read today's new chapter -- # 231 -- and I have no idea how we got here And apparently the next chapter (coming 3/24) will be the final chapter..! Thank goodness. I'm gonna have to read a plot summary and analysis afterwards to make sense of this In other news, I started on Ichi the Witch and it's a guaranteed winner after just a few chapters. Ichi is a fun character and this feels like it's going to be a good story. Ichi the character reminds me a lot of Goku. Energetic, curious, fun, goofy at times and then deadly serious when he needs to be. I can't recall seeing any anime announcements yet for Ichi, but it seems to have already become a popular manga, and I think a well-made anime could make it really blow up in popularity.

JJK Modulo ended today. Phew. Out of 25 chapters, there were probably 5-10 really good ones. Mostly tedious otherwise IMHO. It was cool to see Kugisaki finally make an appearance at the end though Witch Watch # 239 Fuckin’ right Moi 😤 Feels like Gonron Egg and/or The Mage Next Door might be done in a few more weeks. We’ll see. With JJK Modulo over, I’m going to start catching up on Ichi the Witch. It seems to be very popular. Hoping it’s a good one. I still miss Elusive Samurai

Chainsaw Man seems like such a waste of time these days. I read the new chapter every week but I will need to read a plot summary when it finally finishes to make sense of what's been going on

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