Last week began the fight between Luffy and the forces of Big Mom's army, and this week ends it. Even if he were in better shape, it's hard to imagine Luffy was ever much of a match for an Emperor's crew. I'm still not especially hot on the idea of splitting this fight into several episodes, since it works best as a quick decisive blow, but this half of the battle demonstrates a lot of the enemy crew's cool tricks. The flashiest of these is Charlotte Montd'or's book-themed Devil Fruit, where he transports Luffy into a hallucinogenic dream world while the rest of the crew pummels him.
Luffy's determination to stay put as he waits for Sanji to return continues to be the central anchor of this part of the story, because it makes for a definitive loss when he can't hold his grip and passes out to be taken away with Nami, who also puts up a good fight in this episode. While I'm still getting impatient with the anime's current pacing, I found the consequences for our heroes effective. This is a real defeat.
It's appropriate that we're getting more acquainted with Big Mom's lesser-known children at this point, which might be a benefit of the drawn-out pacing. The likes of Montd'or or Galette are not the hot shots of this family (a casual viewer might even forget their names), but the fact that they all have their own unique powers and relationships is important to giving this family dimension. We're about to spend a lot of time with these faces in the crowd, and I'd put them a step above your usual cronies.
The other important piece of this episode comes from a conversation between Sanji and Big Mom herself, where Sanji agrees to cooperate with the wedding and asks that Big Mom let his friends leave the island safely in return. We've seen this situation before—like when Spandam made a similar promise to Robin, and we all know how well villains keep their promises in this series—but it's cool seeing Big Mom be reasonable and accept the deal. She's very upfront about how Luffy's crimes against her family would be unforgivable in any other situation, and she hovers over Sanji looking more like Yubaba from Spirited Away than ever. This is still the point in the story where we're supposed to wonder who the bigger villain is between Big Mom and Judge, and so far Big Mom seems to at least have a nice side of some variety.
We're getting whiffs of the world-building that Whole Cake Island offers, especially as Luffy and Nami get taken prisoner, but so far it's only whiffs. This is another situation where I found the content at hand to be pretty strong, but it sure doesn't give you a lot to talk about as it tiptoes its way through the middle portion of this arc. There are loads of ideas being presented as the lower rungs of Big Mom's army strut their stuff, but at the end of the day it's still a couple pages of manga material being drawn out. The Straw Hats' defeat is at the very least believable, which isn't always the case during mid-arc low points.
Pokémon Horizons continues to display some of the best the franchise offers with great character work, creative setpieces, surprisingly strong direction, and a focus on a plot that continues to feel engaging.― Pokémon Horizons felt like a breath of fresh air as a new mainline Pokémon series. With a more timid and empathic main character and a stronger emphasis on the adventuring aspect of being a Po...
Sony and Square-Enix are both reorganizing, from new CEOs to staff cutbacks. Also, sad news about Penny Blood, more Cotton, and the latest video game news!― Welcome back, folks! You know, it's always nice to discover old stuff from a franchise you love that you didn't know existed. For example, I didn't know that the old Captain N: The Game Master cartoon had an episode that featured the world of Dr...
Ahead of the romance anime's second season, director Takehiro Kubota discusses the choices, the challenges, and balancing the story between the everyday and the supernatural.― My Happy Marriage began its life as a series of novels written by Akumi Agitogi, and it has since been adapted both as manga and, as of July 2023, an anime series simulcast by Netflix. Agitogi's tale, set in a nebulous time t...
Steve and Chris compare some of the highs and lows of an anime studio change-up, from Attack on Titan and One-Punch Man to Spice and Wolf.― Steve and Chris compare some of the highs and lows of an anime studio change-up, from Attack on Titan and One-Punch Man to Spice and Wolf. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.S...
You've probably read some version of this story before, but I doubt that you've ever seen it be this adorable.― You've probably read some version of this story before, but I doubt that you've ever seen it be this adorable. You and I Are Polar Opposites is based on the tried-and-true formula of a thousand romantic comedies: Suzuki is a popular girl, and Tani is the class nerd. She's bright and perky,...
Suzumura to concentrate on recovering from deteriorating health condition― Talent agency Intention announced on Thursday that Kenichi Suzumura will take a break to concentrate on resting due to poor health. The agency stated that Suzumura's health condition continued to deteriorate, and after a diagnosis from the doctor, it was decided that he needs to take a break. The agency stated that it will pr...
Games have both individual, double pack releases― Update: Spike Chunsoft confirmed in a press release on Friday that it is releasing both games and the double pack for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Steam in North America and Europe on May 23 as digital downloads. Source: Press release The PlayStation Store and Nintendo Switch eShop began listing on Thursday the first two visual novels in The Q...
Crunchyroll to stream upcoming anime― Aniplex and Crunchyroll announced on Wednesday that the late manga creator Hisaya Nakajo's Hana-Kimi manga is inspiring an anime. In addition, Crunchyroll announced that it will stream the anime when it premieres in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, the CIS, and India. The announcement did not reveal the deb...
James and Lynzee look into Hideaki Anno's latest hint that there might be more Evangelion after the last movie and news on the Lord of the Rings anime film!― Could There Be More Evangelion on the Horizon? James and Lynzee look into Hideaki Anno's latest hint that there might be more Evangelion after the last movie and news on the Lord of the Rings anime film! Plus, we catch up with Kafka and the Ka...
Grant Jones dives into the wild world of giant monsters and how Kaiju No. 8 builds on their legacy.― Kaiju No. 8 is a series that wears its influences on its sleeves. As the first word in its title suggests, it comes from a long line of works in the kaiju genre, using giant monsters and burning skylines as a backdrop to tell stories. While many likely know kaiju in a passing sense, it may help to h...
This steamy manga's appeal is going to depend on how much you can stomach a female protagonist who kicks off the romance by assaulting her former fiance.― This is a tricky one. Before You Discard Me, I Shall Have My Way with You is, to all appearances, a story that opens with a sexual assault. Agnès has been betrothed to Crown Prince Lucilleur since childhood, and she's been in love with him just as...
Japanese studio to handle production slated for broadcast, streaming globally― Kadokawa and Singaporean game developer and publisher Garena announced on Monday that they are co-producing an anime adaptation of Garena's Garena Free Fire battle royale shooting game, with a Japanese studio handling the animation. Kadokawa's Kadokawa Qingyu subsidiary is the production manager. The anime is planned to b...
Healer Nanna's powers have one very unique caveat: she has to have sex with the person to heal them. See why Rebecca Silverman calls it "a cute story, decently racy, and generally good, fluffy fun."― One of the fun things about Seven Seas' Steamship line of racy manga aimed at a female audience is finding which romance tropes are prevalent in any given release. While every genre has its tropes and s...
What's the perfect recipe for waifu supremacy? Lucas and Nick look at fan-favorites from Yu Yu Hakusho to Spice & Wolf.― What's the perfect recipe for waifu supremacy? Lucas and Nick look at fan-favorites from Yu Yu Hakusho to Spice & Wolf. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.Spoiler Warning for discussion of the s...
Train to the End of the World and Voice Actor Radio are getting a lot of love these last few weeks! Discover which other series stand out in our weekly user rankings!― Let's have a look at what ANN readers consider the best (and worst) of the season,
based on the polls you can find in our Daily Streaming Reviews
and on the Your Score page with the latest simulcasts. Keep in mind that these rankings...