Suggested by Sonic Bahamut is a powerful fighter that took may shots before going down. That said, Trigon is one of the more powerful DC villains and has taken on many opponents in his day as well. He should be able to overwhelm Bahamut with pure power here and also has more long range options. He can dodge Bahamut’s attacks far easier than Bahamut would be able to dodge Trigon’s and that will make a big difference. Trigon wins.
Suggested by Sonic Napalmman has an incredible amount of explosives at his disposal and it shouldn’t be very difficult for him to overwhelm Axl with these attacks at least if they had equal speed. Unfortunately for him Axl is fast enough to dodge these attacks and also has a barrier that can deflect some of these moves. Napalmman is completely reliant on his projectiles so once those are over then it’s game over for him. Axl wins.
Suggested by Destroyer Cream is a very nice character and someone that you never truly forget. She has been through a lot over the years and is now a dependable supporting character but she’s not a true fighter. Anguirus won’t have to worry about the speed difference this time because she doesn’t have many options to damage him with. As a result he can take his time and eventually land the winning blow. Anguirus wins.
Suggested by Destroyer Michelangelo may not seem to be much of a match for a Kaiju at first glance but he has gotten many super powers over the years. He can turn into a dragon and has some good speed of his own. Anguirus won’t be taking this guy down. The instant that Michelangelo got energy based nunchucks it was all over. He will quickly be taking Anguirus down a few spots with his repeated barrage of attacks. There will be no stopping him. Michelangelo wins.
Suggested by Destroyer Anguirus isn’t just any ole Kaiju, he’s one who is great at fighting on the ground. That removes Tunnel Rat’s only possible advantage here. He is going to get absolutely decimated by this Kaiju and won’t be able to do much. He can fire off his guns but all that will do is get the Kaiju angry at him. Anguirus wins.
Suggested by Destroyer Big is a nice Sonic character but he’s not all that fast. I don’t see him really being able to do much here as Anguirus just steps on him. The massive amount of power that is possessed by a Kaiju is absolutely crazy. Big just wouldn’t really have a whole lot of options when dealing with a foe like this. Anguirus may not have great long range options but in this case he wouldn’t even need them. That’s how big the gap in power is here. Anguirus wins.
Suggested by Destroyer Anguirus may get a lot of heat from Kaiju fans because he can never keep up with the big guys but at the end of the day he is still powerful. The Abominable Snowman is beat on size and raw power here without a doubt. He won’t be able to break through Anguirus’ defenses. A single roll attack should end the match real quick and this is why no snowman is taking down a Kaiju. Anguirus wins.
This is a series I was reading for a very long time until it finally finished. The original Kuroko’s Basketball was excellent and I enjoyed the sequel a lot as well. This one’s more of an “Eh” kind of series though. It’s a comedic slice of life title that can be borderline 4 koma at times although usually it’s still traditional. It’s basically about the characters messing around and having fun the whole time. The only catch here of course is that the cast isn’t the most varied in terms of their personalities. They’ve all got their gimmick that is dialed up to 11 for the series but that’s about it.
There isn’t exactly an ongoing story for the series either but I have to say that it’s impressive how the series ran for 10 volumes. That’s surprisingly good and so there are a lot of different stories here. It’s a series that is very easy to just turn your brain off and check out at any time. I would say that is its biggest advantage. None of the stories are going to be bad either. Maybe some of them will be a bit dull but they tend to be very consistent. You watch the characters all overreact to classic situations and there are a whole lot of different scenarios you can put them in.
The artwork isn’t bad. It’s close enough to the original where you can easily recognize all of the characters so there’s no issue there. It’s not quite as high tier as the main series would be but I can’t think of a time off the top of my head where a spinoff beat the main title anyway. Additionally this series is focused more on comedy as it is so that’s where the focus would be anyway. As long as the art is good enough to be clear then I don’t have any issues on that front.
It feels like it can be a bit harder to go in depth about this series as well just because it’s all pretty straight forward. Either you like the anthology type stories contained in the series or you don’t. For my money I just don’t have much of a strong opinion on them one way or the other. They make for a fun enough read as you go through but it’s why the series is right in the middle. I wouldn’t have any reason to read it again but if someone wants more adventures with the Kuroko gang then this is a solid recommendation. They are all still in character after all and this works as a way to see them outside of the matches.
The main series had a good amount of character development either way but this one helps to take a step further by constantly having them hang out outside of the game context. It’s almost like you have a whole series that would usually just be a bunch of bonus chapters. It’s always a pretty interesting way to think about this. I could absolutely picture these chapters just being shown at the back of each volume. It’s almost like how the slime diaries could just be bonus comedy bits at the end of main episodes.
This one has no fanservice issues or any real demerits but at the same time there is also less happening here on a story level. Occasionally you will have a more serious mini arc like one where two of the characters go to an abandoned school to find some basketballs. That worked pretty well in context and was probably one of the more engaging stories. Other times it’s just a matter of finding somebody or getting part time jobs to help grab some money. The stories have a lot of variety in what is happening even if the tone and atmosphere of them are often the same. They make for easy reads but it’s probably not the best series to marathon because then it might get a little repetitive. Of course whenever someone tells you not to marathon something that doesn’t sound good because it will always feel like a bad thing no matter how it is phrased.
Personally what I would have done here would have been to give some kind of central focus that would make all of the stories more interconnected. I think the easiest way to do this would have been some kind of summer camp. So the heroes are all taken somewhere where there is no basketball and then all of the stories happen there. It would take them away from their comfort zone and even if the stories are anthology style, it feels like they are connected because of the new landscape. Of course alternatively you could have some kind of a big overarching plot as well. It’s not like these things are necessary but I do think the series would have stood out more as a result.
Alternately you could have more of the stories taking place at the same time so it all feels like one big adventure. For example you can merge the chapter where the club all gets jobs to raise money with one where the main heroine is trying to convince Kuroko to go out with her with one where there’s a big party going on. Just keep everything going as more of a serialized comedy as opposed to anthology. It’s no secret that I’ve never been a big fan of the anthology format. To me there is no winning there because each story is so short. Either the story is weak and drags the good ones down or it is good and then it ends before you can really enjoy it. By going with these short stories you are effectively always behind the curve and there just isn’t much opportunity to change that.
If you did longer stories that had more of a full continuity to them then the comedy would really have a chance to excel and soar to new heights. That is definitely the best way to go if you ask me. I also think it would make this easier to marathon. You can probably think of many comedy and slice of life titles where you’re eager to see what happens next because there are still dynamics that continue and some kind of goal at the end. This one doesn’t have that which is why it just feels like a bunch of bonus chapters all stuck together.
Additionally because of this the series will try too hard to be funny. Now the link is not necessarily true that being an anthology will have you try to hard but it does make sense to me. Because the stories don’t continue then they have to try and cram all of the random gags in as quickly as possible. Usually this just means repeating the same jokes like Kuroko being invisible. The main series does a better job of the comedy because of this as it gets to make the most of the little moments between games while this one is just trying to throw everything at you all at once. Some jokes may land but more often than not you’ll just keep reading without much of a smile. Fortunately the stories are still interesting enough where you want to get through them even if you aren’t laughing though.
Overall, Kuroko’s Basketball is a solid franchise and it’s always cool to see more installments but this one won’t be moving the needle for you much at all. It’s a series that you will read and then once you put it on the shelf that’s probably the last time you will think about it. There aren’t any deep themes to unpack or serious plots to have fun with. It’s not even super funny so at the end of the day while there are no negative aspects to the series and it is in no way bad….it’s just not going to be keeping up in the end. You should only check this out if you’re a huge fan of the franchise but otherwise you can skip this title.
Overall 5/10
All right so there was recently a 13+ hour stream about the top 30 strongest One Piece characters but no matter how many lists I saw, I didn’t see one that really lined up. They all seemed to fumble the beginning, middle, or end if you ask me. So I figured I’d jump in and just throw my list out there. Keep in mind a few things though. First, I am ranking all of the characters as they are right now so not getting into end of series power ups and such. This is also only including characters who are alive or probably alive. Unless you are confirmed dead then you can be in this list. Also unlike the battles where you have to have feats, I’m going by portrayal and feats in this one. So now lets just dive in here!
30. Sengoku
Sengoku just barely makes the list but I think he works as a solid gatekeeper. His Buddha ability is really quite solid and as a big government fighter he does have a ton of haki. He isn’t fast though so most of the fighters above him would be able to easily exploit that and take him down.
29. Queen
Queen is super durable but a lack of speed is what keeps him fairly low on this list as well. You just can’t hope to succeed too much without a great deal of speed and it’s even the reason why he ended up losing the fight. When you’re getting blitzed on all sides then it is already too late to mount much of a comeback.
28. Shiryu
Shiryu’s sword skills are good and of course he has invisibility too. When you add both of those things together then it is going to be difficult for any opponent to really keep him on the defensive. I need to see more out of him to raise the guy further on the list but I do think that the guy is very promising as a fighter.
27. Raleigh
Raleigh is old and past his prime so he’s lower than he would normally be but the guy was still able to scare Blackbeard. I think that has to count for something. His sword skills also wouldn’t have deteriorated over the years even if his speed did. So this may be a bit of a low spot for him but it’s one that he would be able to defend very well.
26. Garp
Garp is the strongest out of the old man trio without a doubt. He still has a lot of power within his punches and could destroy anyone under him. Speed is what slows him down here as it does for so many other fighters. I don’t think he would be an easy victory for most of the guys above him but they would still conquer the guy.
25. Marco
Marco has incredible healing abilities and fire usage but he’s lacking KO power. The guy can just never put any of his opponents down and that will cost him in the end. You have to be able to put your opponents down or ultimately you will be the one getting pushed back. That’s something I hope to see him improve on in the future.
24. Kid
Kid is clearly meant to be one of the strongest fighters but I just haven’t seen it yet. His metal powers are just way too limited in scope though. He will have a hard time landing blows on any of the stronger fighters or really hurting them to be honest since most of them surpassed metal a long time ago. This is what is going to give him a really hard time.
23. Fujitora
Fujitora may be an admiral but he’s much lower than any of the others. He seems to have more trouble with all of his opponents than he should. Perhaps being blind takes more out of him than he would actually care to admit but he would need a really good powerup to go further up the list.
22. Doflamingo
Doflamingo may be a lower rank than Queen within Kaido’s army but he is certainly more powerful if you ask me. His strings could not be cut by almost the whole One Piece cast in Dressrosa and he was able to last long enough to outlast Luffy’s Gear 4. This guy was an absolute beast in battle.
21. S Hawk
As we near the top 20, S. Hawk is the next gatekeeper. This guy has only just appeared but he already had Blackbeard on the defensive and looked really impressive in his early scenes. I see a ton of potential behind the guy and hopefully he lasts long enough to show us what he can really do. If he gets even one on screen fight I can see him going further up.
20. Dragon
Dragon has yet to do much of anything and is pure hype. Mainly the issue here is that I’m not really sure if he will end up being much of a fighter. He may just be a tactician in the end and I’d say it’s already hinted that Sabo is more powerful. Dragon could surprise me but we’re deep into the story so I have reservations and he could even drop lower.
19. Imu
Then we have Imu who is like the reverse Dragon. He has no feats either although there was one lightning strike which may have been his. I’m very 50/50 on if he will be able to fight or not but if he can fight then this is the minimum on where he should be. I’d love to see him as the final boss in a Kaguya type role but we’ll see if that is in the cards or not for the future.
18. Ulti
Next up is Ulti who was always the best member of the group in Wano. She nearly defeated Luffy straight up and even got back up after a fight with Big Mom. Because the rest of her group was not that impressive I think it lowered her stocks a bit but she was definitely an opponent to be feared without a doubt.
17. Blackbeard
Blackbeard is this low because of his lack of speed. Also he seems to be nervous in every fight that he was in. The guy keeps getting stronger by stealing devil fruits so I could see him doing more of that in the future. That said, right now there are still a number of opponents who would very quickly take him down for the count.
16. Sabo
Sabo is a fire expert who seems to have a lot of potential. I’ve been less impressed with him than most but it is still fair to say that he’s a top fighter. His dragon claw has really dealt a whole lot of damage to his opponents as well. If he just had a slightly stronger variation of that then he could go further up but as it is we’re approaching the halfway point anyway.
15. Lucci
Lucci got a huge boost with his awakening as otherwise I wouldn’t have even put him on the list. With it he was able to hold his own against Gear 5 Luffy so you have to give him a whole lot of props there. His speed and power were already really good so this was finally enough for me to justify moving him up close to the top 10. It was a really impressive showing.
14. Kizaru
Since Kizaru can move at the speed of light he is really high up here. That said, the fighters above him can counter that well enough and keep it moving. It doesn’t help that Kizaru never seems to get a whole lot of respect by his opponents who beat him up anyway. Maybe he will surprise me in the next few chapters if we actually get to see him fight though.
13. Aokiji
Aokiji was able to stalemate Akainu for a while which is a huge feat. It’s safe to say that he should be able to defeat any admiral aside from Akainu. His ice mastery is super impressive and it seems like he may end up being one of the final bosses of the series which will also be a very good look for him.
12. Akainu
Akainu really needs to show me something soon but as the fleet admiral I do think that he should be able to be a top fighter. Fire powers are always really good after all and you don’t get to be the top boss without a whole lot of abilities at your disposal. This is why I have him all the way up here even if his speed could be a little better. Haki + Logia abilities should be a really busted combo.
11. Law
Law may be lacing in physical ability but his devil fruit is so handy that it won’t matter as much as you would expect. He can stab right through his opponents and that would be the end of them. He can teleport thanks to Room and so his range and overall attack power is just absolutely insane. He won’t be taking any Ls below this spot.
10. King
King may not be a Yonkou but he certainly fights like one and would be in my list for the top 10. His sheer durability and power make him too much of a threat not to make it. He is effectively invincible while in his fire mode and the only way for any character to hold their own was for him to scale it back. I do think this invincibility has a limit which the top 9 could crack but he is still tough to stop.
9. Big Mom
Big Mom may have earned the nickname of Big Meme due to being rather unimpressive relative to her station in Wano but at the same time she is still a very powerful fighter. I would expect that she can still defeat anyone under her because of her sheer durability and power. Lacking in speed just won’t be enough to sideline her.
8. Katakuri
Katakuri over Big Mom? Yes I’d definitely say that he has earned it. Big Mom is powerful and she is a huge pirate with dominating strength but she won’t be stopping Katakuri here. He has the edge in speed and seems to have kept up with his training based on Film Red. It’s still tough to see very many fighters passing him in overall stats which is why he will stay up here.
7. Sanji
Sanji may still be behind Zoro in the rankings but he has really proven himself during Wano. His speed and power are still really impressive and I could see him surpassing Yamato at some point. I don’t think we’ve fully seen everything that Sanji can do just yet and in a final battle onslaught I’d like to see him be included with the main cast next time instead of remaining on the side.
6. Yamato
While nobody seems to take Yamato being able to hold off Kaido as seriously as they should, she did still stalemate his hybrid form for some time. That’s not a small feat and she is the most underrated fighter in the series. I definitely see her keeping a spot in the top 10 even when the series has ended. That’s just how powerful she is.
5. Shanks
The Shanks pick scares me a bit because as the series goes on I keep thinking that he might get bumped off screen. If that happens then expect him to sink a whole lot but right now I want to believe in the hype. He has the best haki feat in the whole verse so if he can just build off of that then we should be all set.
4. Zoro
Might be a hot take here but he’s rather close to Luffy in terms of stats. Now that he has awakened his haki abilities there is almost nobody who can catch him. He has been step in step with Luffy for most of the series and that gap has closed up once again. Make no mistake, Luffy would beat Zoro but there are few others who could.
3. Luffy
Part of what helps Luffy is that I don’t think he will get any more power ups in the series. I think he has already reached his pinnacle of strength and can defeat just about anyone right now. I always see him ranked rather low in these lists but he has proven himself time and time again. There’s just no way that Gear 5 is going down to anyone who is not one of the top 2 without some big circumstances in the background.
2. Kaido
Kaido took on pretty much the entire One Piece cast and still nearly won the fight in the end. It’s hard to see just about anyone surpassing him in the end. I just don’t think it’s going to happen and the anime made him even more impressive. This guy is absolutely not someone to underestimate at this point and if he ever returns then the rest of the cast is doomed.
1. Mihawk
Finally in first is Mihawk. There’s not a whole lot more that needs to be said about this guy. He is the world’s strongest swordsman, even more talented than Shanks. His abilities continue to grow further and further so right now I don’t see anyone stopping him. His raw stats are just way too crazy at this point in time but of course part of the trickyness in being so mysterious is that there is always a chance he could turn out to be a dud. Hopefully that is not the case but he seems like the most balanced fighter at the top.
So that’s a wrap! We’ll see if things change in the future but right here right now this is how I’d stack things up. The series has quite a huge cast so it took some time to get this all set but I’d say it came out really great.
Pokemon Journeys was a really ambitious anime that brought a ton of old characters back. It was like a trip down memory lane and really worked well as the final big stop on Ash’s journey. A lot of people who stopped keeping up with the series made sure to come back for this one and you can absolutely understand why. It was such a big deal for Ash to be competing against other champions and the nostalgia was off the charts. This manga series chronicles those adventures to an extent but it’s only 4 volumes long so it ends up being a very abridged version.
The series starts off by introducing us to Ash and Goh (Go, Gou…it’s spelled so many different ways but I’m used to Goh the most so I’ll use that one for this review) as they set off on their journeys. Ash wants to become a Pokemon master, a trainer who is without peer. To this end he is gearing up to enter the World Coronation Series which is a massive tournament with around 1000 trainers. You have to keep winning to rise up the ranks until you are in the top 8. Only at that point are you entered into the bracket segment of the tournament where you will be fighting with other opponents with the highest of stakes.
Meanwhile Goh wants to catch every Pokemon that ever existed. This includes Legendaries and of course it is a very ambitious task. I don’t think anyone has ever caught all of the Pokemon in this world and it’s hard to picture that changing. There are so many hundreds of Pokemon and then a lot of them need to be evolved as well so you will need to spend time to train them up. I’m not sure if Goh has that kind of time although of course it would be great if he could pull this off. The two of them meet up and form a duo as they go along the region and have their big adventures. Will they be able to accomplish their objectives and get along?
Right away you can see how the series is moving at a super high speed though. Some Pokemon captures are basically off screen and I’d say this feels more like a “Best Hits” collection than anything else. It’s sort of like the manga is adapting all of the stories they felt would be the most exciting and that’s absolutely a valid approach but at the same time that also means if you are reading this without watching the show then you won’t get the most impactful experience out of it. It just goes by really quickly the whole time. In some ways it reminded me of the Dinosaur King manga which may feel a bit random but it was also a really quick adventure. That one did have more of a focused plot though because it chose to take a different path than the show.
That probably would have been the best way to go with this one if they knew that the volume count would be limited. Still, it’s always fun to see Ash around which is why I’d say that this series is pretty good. I don’t think you will find it particularly memorable in the end but Pokemon adventures are typically always good by default. You get some fun fights here and Ash is always a solid main character. By this point in the series he is very experienced and has a lot of good tactics. You can count on him to do well with Pikachu and so of course they do tend to shred most of the competition.
Meanwhile for Goh he’s not my favorite character yet but he has potential. Mainly he gets teased a lot by Gary and tends to lose those fights but Ash was also verbally defeated by Gary all the time back in the day. It’s not really something to feel bad about as a result. It’s just how it goes and of course Gary has way more experience on his end than Goh does. I like Goh’s goal of trying to catch all of the Pokemon though. Even if I think he’ll never pull it off, it’s something different than the previous rivals and helps to really switch things up. If he can just be a bit bolder and more ready to fight then that would help him out instead of making excuses that he’s just not used to battling. Nobody’s buying that after all.
The artwork is good but not great. The manga likes to go all in with the facial expressions and it’s clear enough but at times there aren’t a lot of details. To me this looks more like what I would consider a cash-in manga to be. It works out since that’s effectively what this title is but I’d still like to be surprised with something a bit more high end like Pokemon Adventures. The fights are on point though and that’s what counts.
It’s also nice to see Leon a bit even if he only has time for two quick matches. The guy would go on to become one of the strongest of all time after all so you really want to see what he can do early on. I remember when this fight happened in the anime as well. Ash definitely did pretty good all things considered and I like to think that if Pikachu had just a bit more time that he could have pulled out the win. He still has a lot of speed and experience on his side after all. At least it wasn’t a blowout. At this point I just don’t think that any Pokemon can possibly hope to crush Ash like that.
Raihan, Bea, Lance, and other trainers are all around as well. One strong aspect of Pokemon has always been the really solid supporting cast and that doesn’t change here as well. All of these guys are fighters and have made it this far for that reason. Seeing Ash be able to brush shoulders with all of them is great and shows how far he has come. Honestly I wouldn’t have minded if they just cut right to the giant tournament and just adapt every battle. In a way that’s really what put Journeys on the map although I know people enjoy the normal episodes as well. It’s just that the World Coronation Series is too exciting to miss out on and it’s a shame that the manga couldn’t adapt more of it.
Of course Gary also shows up here which is nice. It’s still too bad that he’s not as much of a fighter nowadays since he was so good. I hope he gets a big fight at some point in the future. He has grown up though which is impressive in itself since Ash hasn’t really changed all that much. It does help the theories that someone froze Ash’s time somehow and that would be an intense plot point to explore. As one of the last Ash adventures I suspect this manga will grow even more nostalgic over time.
I feel like almost all of my complements to this series feel like they are back handed ones. It’s just not trying to do anything special or be anything more than a standard Pokemon manga though. It’s going through the motions and that’s really all that you need it to do. It’s a very easy read that you can pick up at any time and just blast through. There aren’t any big character arcs to speak of or any big overarching plot to complete like in Legendz. So that’s also why there isn’t a whole lot to say because it’s just quickly adapting episodes and moving fast. How much you enjoy it will depend on how much you like Pokemon. At the end of the day I do like the series a lot though so even a mini manga like this will be fun for me and I would still recommend it to anyone out there. You can’t really go wrong with more adventures for Ash and Pikachu after all. They’re still the classic Dynamic Duo for a reason.
Overall, Pokemon Journeys is a good manga but one that almost feels like a commercial for the show. If you like this title then you’ll want to go and watch the episodes to see how things end. Of course if you pick up from where this one left off then you will be missing some adventures since the manga does a lot of skipping around. I think the skips make sense to some degree but they could have done it a bit smoother so that it wouldn’t be obvious that something was skipped. For example I don’t think the manga should skip any Pokemon captures or battles that are referenced later on. We get that with one of the rematches here where it’s odd since we didn’t see the original. You’ll have a good time either way though and if you see this on the shelf you may as well pick it up. It’s a nice way to zoom through the early parts of Journeys and then you can jump ahead to the big part of the tournament.
Overall 7/10
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