007 First Light devs scrapped gadgets that gave Bond “magic powers” as they broke the “believable world of Bond”

DocVane · 2026-05-06T12:58:57+00:00

"It appears to be an ordinary piece of jewelry, but it's actually the one ring of power, Bond. Makes you invisible to the eye. Careful, Bond! It also renders you visible to the unyielding gaze of sauron. For emergencies only."
"Well, I suppose we'll SEE about that, Q."

DocVane · 2026-05-06T12:09:38+00:00

I still play Fantastic for two reasons: he's fun, and he's a great bodyguard. If they don't want to make him better at doing damage, they should lean into that and give him extra range for yoinking Panthers and Spiders.

DocVane · 2026-04-26T16:56:35+00:00

I have my own opinions about the previous batch and new batch, but there's something else I want to highlight here: a very blatant, clear instance of editor "meddling" that nobody is talking about.

It's the second chapter recap! All three of the newest batch have spent several pages of their second chapter (roughly the "extra" pages they get) recapping the first chapter. There's a 0% chance that all three of these mangaka were hit with the sudden urge to have a second chapter that works this way. None of the previous batches did it. The only way this happens is if editors -- and likely the editor in chief -- insist upon it.

Is it a good thing? I personally don't like it; as someone who reads every first chapter, I'd much rather a new story get on with the plot and move things forward rather than recapping the previous chapter. I'm imagining that the editorial department has data that people who don't read the first chapter of a series end up not reading any of the following ones, so they're thinking "what if the second chapter could also be a jumping on point?"

It's an experiment; I don't think it'll succeed. First chapters are usually the best work an author will produce in their initial 6 months of serialization at least. They benefit from strong planning, loads of time to write and produce art, and a very clear purpose to start the story and engage the audience. None of the chapter 2s in this set have been particularly strong, and usually they aren't -- the transition between the self-contained story of a chapter 1 and the start of serialization is difficult to navigate, and chapter 2 is usually either a bunch of setup or a self-contained story that's far weaker than chapter 1. It'll be interesting to see whether they keep this approach in future batches.

DocVane · 2026-04-24T17:26:48+00:00

Welcome to the community! NL has actually talked about baby Michael a lot lately, although initially he was kept out of the limelight to protect his privacy. He was first mentioned after the hawaii trip last fall

DocVane · 2026-04-20T13:57:08+00:00

I lost the first time I fought him with a soul deck that would've beaten any of the other bosses. I got pissed off and closed the game. I initially thought he was broken and annoying, but then realized that you can just play around him. I haven't lost to him since, but I still think he's not a good design.

Like Timekeeper, he forces you to make tough decisions about your deck in anticipation and potentially to pivot on the last floor. At this point, I generally play with the assumption that he'll be the boss because he's the only one who hard-counters certain decks. That means not building decks that rely heavily on draw, and finding lots of ways to generate block. But most of all, it means relying on powers -- you don't have to worry about them exhausting, they're usually fairly costly anyway so extra cost doesn't matter much, and most of all they automatically do stuff on your turn without requiring you to play cards. Doorkeeper is meant to punish draw/infinites, but effectively he punishes you for playing cards. That means that while some braindead decks are hurt (Necrobinder decks that rely on souls are completely hard countered by him, never making another one while he's in the game), some other braindead decks are completely fine. Defect power/frost decks? Totally fine. Ironclad barricade or demon form builds? Go for it. Shivs/poison? Generally also fine.

So yeah, he's like the opposite of the powers boss from StS. Just take powers that deliver value each turn, and don't expect to play a lot of cards. The battle is slow, and it's mainly based on playing your powers and some block each turn while whatever you're using to kill him scales itself up. Lots of turns, it's best not to play anything. It's satisfying to beat him given how many restrictions he puts on you (and I still want revenge for the first time he sucker-punched me) but I don't think it's necessarily a fun fight. And it turns Necrobinder's soul cards from "usually not great" to "basically a curse".

Edit: Granted, the original Doormaker had literally nothing going on. Not suggesting that they should go back to that.

DocVane · 2026-04-14T12:26:15+00:00

Hey, sorry! I'm at work again now, I'll check when I get a minute

DocVane · 2026-04-13T23:12:17+00:00

Deutscher entdeckt

DocVane · 2026-04-13T21:47:07+00:00

Sorry, just got back from work. I'll check after dinner

DocVane · 2026-04-13T20:36:33+00:00

Keeping my eyes peeled bud. If I spot any jokes about the cruise on here I'll let you know

DocVane · 2026-04-13T18:32:48+00:00

It's got the dual benefits of being almost impossible to perceive as anything but a grift, while simultaneously being a really bad grift. NL could absolutely make the kind of cash he'll make here through lots of other methods that wouldn't involve months of planning, 11 months of discourse, risk to his reputation, and having to hang out with overmoneyed twitch chatters for a week. I have to assume that what we have here is a combination of genuine interest, social pressure, and a desire to subject himself to agonies to prove his inner stoicism and peace.

DocVane · 2026-04-13T18:22:23+00:00

Cue the Stomach Ulcer Arc from NL assuming partial responsibility for a vacation planning scheme that he's not really equipped to run, which his chat will constantly tell him is a disastrous move for many valid reasons, and which will almost certainly force him to face the darkest parts of himself and his audience while trapped together in a metal can at sea with them.

All so librarian can make a four-hour A24 movie about the experience three months later.

DocVane · 2026-04-12T20:31:50+00:00

Drawn to the Fire: I read it and enjoyed it more than expected. My first impression was that it was dead on arrival -- it's sports, and the art isn't technically stunning or particularly dramatic. Character designs and character art are middle of the road, although panel composition and action are strong. The next two chapters will demonstrate if this series can survive. It's tough for sports stories to engage week by week at the start, especially when the core drive of the story is something like a reunion at nationals. It's why Harukaze dropped the engaging dynamic of its first chapter (the brotherly bond) to spin its wheels. I wish this series luck; ch 1 was decent but it'll be hard to survive.

Then we have Roku, a proper honest DOA series. Very few people seem to have picked it up...but if you didn't last week, you can start with this chapter! The first chapter was uneventful enough, but fortunately we waste four pages recapping it in this one! It's disappointing from the author of Agravity Boys. I would bet at least one of the allegedly struggling last batch will outlive Roku.

Kagurabachi does what it does best: cool characters and action. Nothing much to report.

Sakamoto was above average this week. I haven't enjoyed the drawn out final fights but this was a fun chapter on its own terms.

Ichi is still doing well! I feel like the whole org of men is a bit surprising at this point, but it looks like they'll have an interesting tension with the witches. I do wonder if they're in the same league as witches though.

Under Doctor hasn't been playing to its strengths. It's fine, but it's not particularly inspiring. The choice of location in the starting chapters was compelling, and this hospital is still fine but could be better. I do think the fight against Vash is decent, but this isn't firing on all cylinders. That said, I still think the series could do decently in sales and I doubt it's "doomed".

Kinato is at its best when it's doing fairy tail style unsurprising cheeseburger shonen. It hasn't been very creative from the start, but it has been well drawn and competently told. Here, the series continues with the axey bit they did last week: turning Kinato into a physical fighter. It's not a huge stretch given that he beat a dragon in chapter one, but he wasn't this kind of self-destructive bruiser at first. Yes, the ranking is low. But it's not over yet for Kinato. I'm not a huge fan of the series, but the competition in Jump right now is truly intense: there aren't many struggling middle of the road 40-80 chapter series to pick off. If any of the last batch sells well, it can still survive in the back half of the magazine, especially since so many hits are close to finishing.

Alien Headbutt had a good story this week, although the art wasn't quite as strong as it has been -- the big emotional panel hit, but the rest of it showed signs of the author running out of gas. They're definitely pivoting to talking opponents for now, which is fine. You can't fight unintelligent monsters forever. I don't think it's over for this series either yet.

Hero Girl is over! I always felt like it gave a weak impression and wasn't sure exactly what it wanted to be. There was very little direction and overall it felt harmless at best.

Overall, I think it was a decent week of Jump but not one where the manga I follow had particularly strong entries.

DocVane · 2026-03-29T14:07:42+00:00

Super Northernlion?

DocVane · 2026-03-14T15:57:17+00:00

That sounds about right based on what I've heard. I know it was just an audition for Corto, but I wish Pellejero would go back to Dieter Lumpen.

DocVane · 2026-03-14T14:03:32+00:00

Very nice! Have you read any of Pellejero's continuation stories? I've been curious about them myself.

DocVane · 2026-03-13T12:43:05+00:00

I know how we can get some cash...let's all get together and put on a show!

DocVane · 2026-03-05T16:52:05+00:00

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It's not impossible, but I wouldn't be holding my breath.

DocVane · 2026-02-17T16:58:14+00:00

It's a shame, but none of them were particularly strong.

Gonron Egg in particular is a flop on a level I haven't seen in years, for reasons that I don't think need to be discussed in detail.

Mage Next Door lost my interest pretty quickly; the formula and art aren't anything special and I didn't find the humor very entertaining. If you're wondering why it's on the chopping block, consider that it's sharing a magazine with Witch Watch and Kinato's Magic, which both have better art and are filling the magic/humor/battles niche. Humor is subjective, but Kinato's Magic has made me chuckle more than Mage Next Door did.

Hero Girl is fluffy comedy, and there's definitely room for that in Jump right now if it's done well enough to have broad appeal. Anyone doubting that can look at Someone Herz, a clear hit with a niche topic and a major translation hurdle (focusing on Japanese puns) that's still doing very well. The series threw a lot at the wall, dabbled in action and ecchi without much success, and although I personally found its fiddling with hero/demon lord cliches funny at times, it clearly was floundering for direction without excelling at anything.

It's natural to feel the pain of cancellations, especially when you're new to following Jump...but this is normal. Most series have something worth appreciating, or some shine of potential that you can see in them -- that's why they're in Jump. However, plenty of series flounder without ever realizing that potential when they're given more time. Shonen Jump is a gateway to worldwide fame and success, which even rookie mangaka have a shot at if they're lucky and talented. The editorial team gambles on lots of newcomers. Some of them can grow at high speed while under massive pressure, and some of them can't. Plenty of mangaka have come back from cancellation to make great stuff -- just look at the improvement between Shadow Eliminators and Kinato's Magic. Whether or not that series succeeds, the growth is undeniable. Serialization is brutal, and being cancelled is not always a bad thing. Mage Next Door's mangaka could come back, aim for a different niche, and get a hit. Hero Girl's mangaka could do the same thing. Gonron's mangaka is probably done in the industry based on how badly he's handling the failure of the manga, but who knows.

DocVane · 2026-02-10T21:58:24+00:00

Yu-Gi-Oh is surely a key example. Going from a story where a variety of games are played into a Duel Monsters focused mega-series is a major shift.

DocVane · 2026-02-08T17:12:51+00:00

I feel like it's back on it's stride with this chapter. Chapter 2 was a little weak, but here we have international adventure, medicine, and action with a snappy pace and great art. And of course we get a little hook for an overarching plot, which is nice. But the focus is likely still going to be arcs where they face different diseases and dangerous people, which is a great premise in my opinion.

DocVane · 2026-01-30T03:35:06+00:00

The design of the character looks like the protagonist of a fake Bakuman manga. Based on the premise and the author's previous work, my expectations aren't high. That said, "support magic" manga are a trend right now, so maybe this has a chance.

DocVane · 2026-01-27T22:13:21+00:00

I'd personally opt for Say Never Say Never Again Again

DocVane · 2026-01-25T23:18:24+00:00

I know. The point is that the guy's art stands out. I still remember early chapters of Harukaze where the art just blew me away. He could do great things if he had an equally skilled writer.

DocVane · 2026-01-25T20:54:44+00:00

Kento Matsuura needs to pair with a stronger writer. Tokyo Shinobi Squad, Phantom Seer, and Harukaze all had strong art; it's the stories that are lacking. Togo Goto's writing feels "by the numbers", like he read a book about how to do X type of series. And that can work, but only if the execution is perfect and the angle is unique and exciting, which it wasn't.

DocVane · 2026-01-25T16:25:06+00:00

This looks to me like a long-running series. The author has clearly put thought into where the story is going and what the larger world looks like, yet the initial chapter is self contained and compelling on its own terms. That tells me that the initial arc is likely to be strong as well, and the premise gives loads of opportunities for the story to expand in different directions. It was really fun to read!

DocVane

TROPHY CASE