Best of February 2025

(As long as it was a comic page/ panel… and was in Shonen Jump)

I aim to do these at least once a month or so (eventually expanding to other publications), I’m actually pretty surprised that there are so many series I enjoy that DIDN’T make this list! In fact, some almost did, but once I’d compiled what I felt were the best, a clear standard started to appear that I didn’t want to dip below. These entries all made me think, or feel something that went beyond the simple experience of turning the page and following along as an audience member.

YOU AND I ARE POLAR OPPOSITES

While I actually find this series to be pretty run of the mill, it has charm in places, and one of those moments comes from cola spilling onto the panel below it. I’m sort of thankful that I do read shonen jump series no matter the story. I would have missed such a charming scene otherwise. Also, I don’t want to be too strong of a deterrent with this series, if you like wholesome romance, it’s doing a fine job, and while it may not be mine, it could very well become favourite for you.

Ichi the Witch

4 pages here, firstly we have these two:

Desscaras after learning that Ichi will die as a result of saving the world, ties up her lifeforce with his so that at the very least they fall together. I love the moment captured right here. Firstly we have Ichi thinking he’s signed a contract to become family, and on the following page we have Desscaras revealing to us and the other witches more in the know, that Desscaras has lied to him about the nature of the contract he just signed. It also makes Desscaras a bit easier to invest in now, as in the story up until this point, she’s not really been given a chance to be anything other than exposition.

In the second example, I love the fact the story is teasing that there could be another male witch in a story where even a single male witch is such a novelty. Also, a really small thing when viewing digitally, but I’m absolutely a fan of the 2 page spread acknowledging where the action will fall once printed into a volume. We do at least know that this individual, as of the following chapter, cannot obtain Majik’s and become a witch, but that hasn’t stopped the story from hinting that we may still get a second male witch in future.

Ruri Dragon

One of the things I want to do a lot of in my own series is feature plenty of scenes like this one where there’s no dialogue. There is the consequence that a reader will traverse the events much faster, but that to me is never a reason to add words where there shouldn’t be. Ruri is half dragon, and while the mechanics of how that could happen boggle the mind, the story is more about the difficulties in navigating teenage life in a school environment not quite built for those that don’t fit the mold. This one page I feel perfectly encapsulates the story's core into one moment.

Sakamoto Days

GET TO THE CHOPPER!! Aaaaand use it to halt a cruise ship on a collision course with a bridge. Sakamoto Days is one of those series that proves that the more classic approach to shonen battles can still be inventive and interesting. While series such as Hunter X Hunter and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure have found that added complexity adds to the wow factor of problem solving in a cool way, Sakamoto days just keeps it simple whilst looking at the world with the mind of an adventurer lost in their imagination. Yanking a helicopter down with the ships anchor and using it as a propeller. Seems like a reasonable solution to me!

Akane Banashi

I don’t think I’ve ever been made to yawn by a comic book before, at least not with the author’s intent. Takamasa Moue constantly handles Yuki Suenaga’s scripts in ways that truly elevate the story. There’s something to be said about the weekly creative process oftentimes benefiting from a two man team. It doesn’t really remove a lot of the crunch culture still involved with jump publication, but I feel it at least helps a series stand out a little better when the workload can breath on both sides a little more.

Dan Da Dan

It’s been what feels like a very long time since the last chapter was released, and we weren’t disappointed when it finally did drop on Monday 24th of Feb!! Yukinobu Tatsu is another modern author that makes incredibly appealing page layouts as a standard that not many others can boast. This two page spread is a prime example of a page turn from the previous leading to pay off, followed underneath by an outcome that maintains all the flow built up, straight into the next page. I’ll probably make a video about stuff like this as I feel like my explanation does it little justice, but there is a lot more going on mechanically with the flow of action than I think most even realise, and that’s what makes it so mind-blowingly awesome!

Show-ha Shoten

From the waves to the practically thunderous black fragments just beyond them bubbling up and rushing forward, we the reader can almost feel the chills/ the rush from the audience reactions in ways that simply depicting laughter could never do. The mix of fish-eye and standard perspective can be a little distracting if looked at in any major detail, but despite this Show-Ha Shoten feels like it’s properly paying off a now 2 year set up with the current arc. Takeshi Obata constantly ramps up the waves throughout chapter 38, and I would genuinely love to see this series receive an anime that can do it all justice in the years to come.

Conclusion

I’m always making notes about the series I read in Jump, but actually having to deliberate on things a little more publicly has forced me to be much more focused with what I latch onto and explore more deeply. What we’ve seen are the kinds of scenes in comics that make me think “I really want to do that!” and I hope that for you it nudged you in the direction of taking some time to look at things like choices of panel and consider the reasons behind each one.