The climactic battle between Oden's small band and Kaido's forces commences. A thousand beast pirates face off against eleven samurai and the world shakes as their leaders duel. Oden and Kaido trade blows, their mighty attacks ripping apart Wano even as both fight for it as their prize. Oden puts up a valiant effort, as do his followers, but the tide turns when Momo is captured and held at knifepoint. Oden leaps to save his son and is cut down from behind, only to find that the captive was not Momo but Orochi's shapeshifting ally.
In the aftermath of the battle, Oden and his followers are imprisoned. Many others go into hiding as a new era descends on Wano. Eventually, they are to be executed by boiling, and a great pot is made in the flower capital. As Oden goes to be boiled first he puts forth a proposition: let them all go in at once, for the duration of any stipulated time, and free anyone who survives after that time frame.
I don't know how else to say it but One Piece is on a whole other level right now.
Folks I've been shouting One Piece good One Piece good for weeks on end at this point and now I'm here to tell you that, actually, One Piece great. The battle between Oden and Kaido is a visual spectacle of an entirely different breed in an arc that has been nothing but eye candy from the get-go, full of gorgeous, vibrant colors and dynamic motion. After the tracking shot where Oden slid down Kaido's long dragon neck, it took me a few minutes just to get my jaw up off the floor.
Let me try to put things in perspective. I recall seeing the Dragon Ball Super: Broly movie in theaters and being absolutely gobsmacked by the visuals. I was in awe of the energy, creativity, and fidelity I was witnessing. I remember thinking: this is what the Toei team is unable to do week to week because it would be too much effort in too short a timeframe, but wow in a feature film format they can just cut loose. Honestly, the Wano arc has made me… completely re-evaluate that stance. In fact, I recently watched Stampede and while I enjoyed it, I found myself thinking “This is… just what Wano arc looks like every week.” I cannot heap enough praise on the Toei team, and I hope they get the recognition they deserve for what is honestly just a triumph of weekly animation.
Crystal Kay previously sang themes for 2004's Fullmetal Alchemist and Nodame Cantabile― Recently, Anime News Network was able to sit down with singer-songwriter Crystal Kay and talk about not only her involvement with anime over the years but also what it was like to grow up in Japan as the child of a Korean-Japanese mother and an African-American father. Anime fans likely know of Crystal Kay throug...
The plot is excellent in the romance camp. Everything that happens is to get Eui-joon and Gunwoo together, and it works pretty well.― You can read The Dangerous Convenience Store in English two ways. The first is to read it on the manhwa site/app Manta, which has all seventy-five chapters and four bonus stories available. The second is to read Seven Seas' print (or ebook) edition, which, as of this ...
Some older mysteries inch closer to resolution as the true nature of the Abyss slowly comes into view, and long-posed questions start to be answered.― Sometimes, being a fan of Akihito Tsukushi's acclaimed Made in Abyss series means acclimating to suffering. Like many Western devotees, I was introduced to this bizarre, squishy, disturbing world via the 2017 first season of Kinema Citrus' fantastic a...
Anime premieres in 2024― Adult Swim's YouTube channel began streaming a first look video for the Rick and Morty: The Anime series on Saturday. The show will premiere on Adult Swim and Max in 2024, and will also run on Adult Swim Canada. The anime will be an original work, with adapted themes and events from the main Rick and Morty animated series. Takashi Sano (Tower of God) is writing and directing...
As Slam Dunk reached its final stretch, I can see why this series is considered the sports classic that it is today.― This is the largest batch of Slam Dunk episodes that I've reviewed thus far. Originally, I wanted to review the show in more even seasons, but given its overall pacing and release, it wasn't easy to find a moment where it felt right to stop and start again. However, as we approached ...
2nd part opens in Japanese theaters on June 7― The staff for the four-part Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture (originally titled Gode Geass: Z of the Recapture, or Dakkan no Zetto) anime project revealed a trailer and a visual on Saturday for the second part in the project. The below video previews MIYAVI's opening theme song "Running In My Head." The anime's first part premiered in Japan on Friday. ...
James and Lynzee discuss the latest episode of Yatagarsu. Plus, GoHands keeps making anime, and we don't know WHY.― Yatagarasu Gets Violent! James and Lynzee discuss the latest episode of Yatagarsu, in which Wakamiya plays his hand to find out the truth behind his older brother's scheming to obtain the throne. Plus, GoHands keeps making anime, and we don't know WHY; Hunter x Hunter manga is on its ...
Making a sequel to Code Geass is a daunting task. But with its fantastic main character and a story that doesn't undercut what came before, Rozé of the Recapture is on the right track.― Making a sequel to Code Geass—especially one set close to the end of the series—is a daunting task. Any story that involves an ongoing war massively undercuts both the finale of the original anime and the sacrifices ...
The Switch sequel console is finally happening! The details are scarce, but you can find out more in this week's column. Also: an interview with El Shaddai's Sawaki Takeyasu, Microsoft layoffs, and more.― Welcome back, folks! What a wild week this has been for the gaming industry. We'll go further into it, but jeez. This past week also saw the disappearance of Capcom's Dark Void and Dark Void Zero. ...
The Code Geass creator discusses his new project with Web3 company Azuki, Enter the Garden, and his hope that this new path could help the medium evolve.― Los Angeles-based Web3 anime-styled brand Azuki and advertising conglomerate Dentsu debuted the first nine-minute episode of their joint anime endeavor, Enter the Garden, on April 30. The episode, which has already racked up a quarter of a million...