The Luffy vs. Cracker fight takes a step back from being the star attraction to being the B story, as Sanji continues to interact with his family. I had an issue with how the anime decided to interpret the length of their fight last week, when they transitioned the fight into the daytime, but seeing Luffy then deflate from his use of Fourth Gear and struggle to hold himself up in his paralyzed state, knowing that his fight isn't nearly close to over, does a good job conveying that sense of exhaustion anyway. There's going to be a lot of Vinsmoke content in the coming episodes, and Luffy will have to survive long enough for that part to resolve itself, even though his biggest power-up has worn off.
We're not speeding things along any time soon, but thankfully they're killing time this week with some re-animated flashbacks to Sanji's history with Zeff, instead of continuing to take half a chapter's worth of content and spreading it all out over twenty minutes. At least this way, people can skip this part of the episode if the Zeff story is still fresh in their memory or revisit it if it's still a favorite. It's another one of those cases where the newer animation style just can't sell that original griminess, offering a version that feels lacking in physical detail. I even went back to the old version to compare, and while the drawings are still technically similar, the soul is unquestionably different.
Outside of the flashback (which is roughly half the episode), Sanji continues to deal with his family. One of the more exciting moments comes when Niji tries to kick Sanji but has to stop himself, yet there's still an explosion of wind that erupts. The follow-through of the feint feels massive, and we get a sense of how strong Niji is compared to Sanji. This comes as a result of Sanji being friendly to Cosette and eating the food Niji threw on the ground. It's a nice callback to when we first met Sanji and learned how sincere he was about his "never waste food" attitude.
There's a very small amount of new story content in this episode, mostly the continuing Cracker fight and learning what Sanji's father thinks of a man like Zeff stuffing unhelpful values into his son, since Judge has always been about whatever makes the strongest soldier above all else. Animation-wise, it's acceptable, but the moment-to-moment scene direction is far more cohesive than it was last week, although there's a much smaller variety of stuff happening here.
The pacing remains between a rock and a hard place since Toei's probably waiting for Whole Cake Island to end in the manga before they can reliably plan for the next filler arc. Their choices are to either stretch things out uncomfortably or continue doing this re-animated flashback thing, which is tricky in its own right because this arc has a plethora of new Sanji-related flashbacks already, and they're all being told out of order. It's a lose-lose scenario.
The benefit of being committed to such a simple setup is that the story knows exactly what it needs to do to invoke the maximum emotional response for this type of story.― I Want You To Make Me Beautiful is a simple story that does everything it sets out to do. At its heart, it's a straightforward story about moving on from the pain of a bad breakup and reinventing yourself into something better. Th...
Masaaki Mizunaka, KENN, Daiki Yamashita, Maria Naganawa, more join cast― The staff for the anime of Kaoru Shinozaki's Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-level Spells (Hazure Waku no "Jōtai Ijō Skill" de Saikyō ni Natta Ore ga Subete wo Jūrin Suru made) light novel series revealed on Sunday the anime's ending theme song's title and artist, additional cast member...
Laid-Back Camp narrowly claims the top spot this week, but Delicious in Dungeon is having none of that and bumps it down in the cumulative. Find out where your favorites rank this week!― 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 ...
Goodbye, Lara follows reborn mermaid, Ninja Skooler features ninja school― Kinema Citrus announced at its panel during this year's Anime Central event on Saturday that it is producing two new anime titled Goodbye, Lara (Sayonara Lara) and Ninja Skooler. Takushi Koide is directing the Goodbye, Lara anime with character designs by Shiori Tani. The anime is based on a concept by Kinema Citrus, and it t...
2019-20 anime was itself a follow-up to first 2013-16 Ace of Diamond anime― Production on a sequel to the 2019-2020 television anime of Yūji Terajima's Ace of Diamond Act II (Daiya no A Act II) manga has been green-lit. Terajima drew an illustration to commemorate the news: Terajima's original Ace of Diamond baseball manga inspired a television anime that premiered in 2013, and Crunchyroll streamed ...
Honestly, you're getting a solid collection of character art with some disposable comic stories where you might get to enjoy some out-of-context obscure CAPCOM cameos.― As a lifelong fan of Street Fighter, it's easy to get excited about the potential of seeing my favorite fighters doing stuff in different mediums. The flip side is that Udon Entertainment's hold on the comic treatment of the characte...
The cast of the Demon Slayer stage play gave a memorable performance during the Japan Day Parade.― The Demon Slayer franchise continues to prove itself as an absolute powerhouse for fans worldwide. The hit manga by Koyoharu Gotouge has been adapted into multiple mediums, including anime, light novels, video games, and a stage play that has been running since 2020. Cast members of the stage play app...
2-hour programming block airs on Fridays starting on May 31― Adult Swim's Toonami programming block announced on Friday that it is creating a new block called Toonami Rewind that is dedicated to running anime, or versions of the series, that aired on the original Toonami prior to its 2012 revival. Toonami Rewind will air on Fridays starting on May 31 at 5:00 p.m. EDT, and it will feature Sailor Moo...
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,...