Once again I find myself in awe of the craft on display. Every time I begin to wonder, “Is there too much Wano?” and the fatigue starts to set in, the material comes back around with a home run installment. It's incredible to think about how much is coming to a head in this arc. The story of the land of Wano, and particularly the Akazaya Nine, has really come to define post-timeskip One Piece.
We see the emotional crux of so much coming to fruition. You can almost see the layers of setup like geological strata, going back in time from newly introduced characters (Kiku, Denjiro, Kanjuro, Ashura, Kawamatsu), to those from the recent past (Raizo, Dogstorm, Cat Viper), to those introduced nearly a decade ago in the manga (Kinemon). The Akazaya Nine are as integrated into the specific island of Wano and present-tense concerns as they are connected with the broader world and the long history of injustice in the setting.
The Kiku and Kanjuro fight is a real highlight. The framing of the battle as a climactic battle in a stage play, mirroring Kanjuro's figurative and literal performances as well as the theatrical framing of the arc more broadly, is just terrific. Kiku having to, in her own words, slice up her own heart until there is No Mercy left for the Kanjuro she had known since childhood was powerful stuff. The shot of the horizontal red slash cutting through Kiku's inner child until she disintegrated – wow. Amazing stuff, and in weekly television no less.
In truth, this is another one of those episodes where it feels you can pull any sequence and talk about its visual flourishes at length. The Dutch angle POV on Kaido beheading Orochi, the shattered screen of Onigashima when Kaido is pontificating, the combative blue and red screen slashes throughout – it's all gorgeous stuff. And the wide range of hues in each scene helps underscore the grand existential forces at play, from the terrifying yellow smog of Big Mom's arrival to the sickening green of Orochi's greed to the black and white fading to crimson of Kanjuro's grand finale. The Toei team has yet again outdone themselves and taken what was already some of the strongest material in the manga and elevated it substantially.
Nick and Steve look back on director Tsutomu Mizushima's work so far, from his latest Train to the End of the World to Shirobako, Girls und Panzer, and more.― Nick and Steve look back on director Tsutomu Mizushima's work so far, from his latest Train to the End of the World to Shirobako, Girls und Panzer, and more. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are...
i☆Ris the Movie -Full Energy!!- is a movie best described as having big Saturday morning cartoon energy when it comes to its catchy high notes and off-key attempt at deeper storytelling.― Admittedly, when I walked into Anime Central to review i☆Ris the Movie -Full Energy!!-, I envisioned the film as the typical fare of idol dancing via 3D models in dizzyingly pastel-rich environments with little to ...
Come celebrate the 25th anniversary of One Piece with this special orchestra concert!― Come celebrate the 25th anniversary of One Piece with this special orchestra concert! The most memorable moments of the beloved TV series will be projected on a giant screen to the sound of a 50-musician orchestra! In only a few weeks, the ONE PIECE Music Symphony 25 th Anniversary Tour will premiere in the US on...
Manga's final chapter scheduled for June 26― This year's 25th issue of Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine announced on Wednesday that Hiro Mashima's Edens Zero manga will end five chapters. The magazine's 30th issue will publish the manga's final chapter on June 26. The manga entered its final arc in December 2022. Mashima (Fairy Tail, Rave Master) launched the manga in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in June...
Narrative dissonance aside, the heart of My Oni Girl still shines through its jumbled ending: that folks should speak their minds even when it hurts.― Upon first glance, My Oni Girl has all the hallmarks of a Studio Ghibli-inspired romp. You've got a globe-trodding adventure with odd-couple protagonists, a myriad of wonderfully drawn vistas, titular mouthwatering glamour shots of Japanese delicacies...
Ahead of the Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction TV anime premiere, Rebecca Silverman looks at its creator's stark, and sometimes depressing, manga work.― Inio Asano may be one of the creators whose works don't allow for middle-ground opinions. There's something in the reactions to his work that smacks of “love it or hate it,” with readers either fully embracing his dark, psychological style of s...
Furuya acknowledged threatening to hurt fan in argument, causing her to have abortion― On his X (formerly Twitter) account on Wednesday, voice actor Tōru Furuya acknowledged a recent report by the Weekly Bunshun magazine regarding an affair he had with a fan. Weekly Bunshun interviewed him for the article. Furuya admitted that he had been in a relationship with a female fan for four and a half years...
Manga about half human, half chimpanzee boy launched in 2020― TOHO Animation announced on Wednesday that Shun Umezawa's The Darwin Incident (Darwin Jihen manga will get a television anime adaptation. A new official Twitter account opened and unveiled a teaser visual: Original creator Umezawa shared an illustration to commemorate the announcement: TOHO Animation had teased on its X (formerly Twitter)...
The book feels like a deliberate combo of SAO, Log Horizon, and Suppose a Kid From the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town, and that works better than you might expect.― If this story feels familiar, that's on purpose. In their afterword, author Nagawasabi64 says that they've noticed that the "trapped in a VRMMORPG" genre made popular by SAO has fallen out of favor, which made them want to ...
There's no question that Go! Go! Loser Ranger! is a dark deconstruction of Super Sentai/Power Rangers in anime form—but is that all it is? Chris and Lucas dive in to find out.― There's no question that Go! Go! Loser Ranger! is a dark deconstruction of Super Sentai/Power Rangers in anime form—but is that all it is? Chris and Lucas dive in to find out. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by ...
Umezu voiced Diamante in One Piece, Ian Vashti in Gundam 00 2nd Season― Voice talent company 81 Produce announced on Tuesday that voice actor Hideyuki Umezu died on May 17 due to interstitial pneumonia. He was 68. A funeral ceremony was held by relatives. Umezu was born on July 24, 1955 in Aichi Prefecture. Umezu voiced the characters of Diamante in One Piece, Ian Vashti in Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Sec...
This is a good series to check out if you like more bite with your vampire romances.― Going into Bloody Sweet, I expected to find a fluffy rom-com about a girl and the vampire she accidentally gets attached to. Instead, I found a story about a bullied high school girl whose bullies are smart enough to evade all of the checks and balances the school has put in place. When Naerim accidentally awakens ...
In our brand-new column, Lynzee Loveridge comes clean about her backlog, starting with one of the most popular anime ever. Use this space here for critical finger-wagging and exclamations of disbelief.― I have a secret. A no-good, embarrassing, shame-inducing secret. I'm the executive editor at Anime News Network but there are, in fact, anime I have not watched. Not just forgettable mid-tier season...
Chiu shares how she brought the SEA simulcast service to the forefront after founding it at 17 years old.― Over the past six years, many streaming and simulcast services have catered to otaku in Asia, offering simulcasts of seasonal anime and theatrical anime screenings. One such service is Ani-One Asia, a Hong Kong-based Medialink Group brand that offers a competitive lineup of simulcasts every se...