Whether or not you enjoy the chaos of Wano week to week really depends on how much you enjoy the characters who are in the spotlight in each given scene. Given the sheer breadth of the cast, locations, and motivations coalescing in this grand battle, it can be a real crapshoot as to who you'll see on the center stage and whether you'll enjoy it. This week was a good one for myself at least, as it (mostly) highlighted characters I am deeply invested in.
The Big Mom and Marco fight was a bit mixed for me. No offense to the pineapple phoenix lovers out there, but he doesn't do much for me as a character, despite generally being the center of attention whenever he's on-screen. Big Mom is great though, so I'm a big fan of her knocking him around and generally being indestructible. Perospero is similarly kind of meh for me outside of his ridiculous design, but Carrot and Wando going sicko mode (sulong variant) is great. The x-slash across the face was gorgeous, and the Pedro flashback was great for highlighting that even the “minor” grudges at play are a big deal for the cast.
Nami and Usopp also get a brief moment to wrap up their scene with Page One and Ulti. I love Usopp and Nami of course—their goofy sibling antics and Usopp's cartoonish sneaking are terrific—though I find myself waffling on Page One and Ulti. On the one hand, they have really distinctive designs and turn into dinosaurs which is rad. On the other hand, the sibling rivalry and “Ulti whines a lot” shtick wore out its welcome with me fast. Hearing Ulti yell PAY PAY feels like we're just killing time at this point.
Surprising no one, the real treat for me was Yamato and Franky. Yamato has got to be one of the most memorable recent additions to The One Piece cast to my mind, and any Franky time is a good time. Yamato going all fanboy about Franky appearing and then one-shotting a giant on the way out was big Dudes Rock energy. And of course, every action was animated to the nines and punctuated with stellar emotional stakes with the Oden flashbacks. Momo has been mostly miss rater than hit for me, but seeing him managing to shed his fear over his father's death and learn to be inspired by it instead—all via Yamato and Luffy being shining examples to him—has been great character growth.
The struggle to answer what it means to draw defines Look Back, and despite its short runtime, it manages to encapsulate everything that’s both beautiful and ugly about that struggle.― “So why is it that you draw?” That's the question that's pondered at the end of the film and ultimately lies at the heart of Tatsuki Fujimoto's original one-shot manga. It's a question that artists across just about a...
Chris and Coop dig into the awkward animation mess that is Blue Lock's second season and wonder whether or not the industry will manage to change.― Chris and Coop dig into the awkward animation mess that is Blue Lock's second season and wonder whether or not the industry will manage to change. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anim...
Ajichika to illustrate series with composition by Aoi Kujira― This year's 50th issue of Shueisha's Young Jump magazine announced on Thursday that Oshi no Ko writer Aka Akasaka is conceiving the original story for a new manga series launching in the magazine in Spring 2025. Record of Ragnarok artist Ajichika is drawing the series, and Aoi Kujira (Geek Circle Crisis) is composing the series' story. Th...
The K-Comics Guide's second update features action, amnesia, and the inescapable omegaverse. Check it out!― Welcome to Anime News Network's Fall 2024 K-Comics Guide, the companion to our manga guide! Every included manhwa was published in September or October or is an upcoming November release, although some are ongoing titles without a physical release. These have all been put under "November," si...
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake takes an already-seminal title and makes it one of the must-play games of 2024.― Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation is already a seminal title among Japanese RPGs: a pillar of the genre whose influences run wide and deep across Japanese pop culture. Countless games have come in its wake, all inspired by that original game and its many creative decisions. The decis...
The longtime action RPG producer acknowledges the criticism levied against the original FAIRY TAIL game and how this sequel will offer a fundamentally different experience.― Can you name a popular anime that doesn't have a tie-in video game? Sure, there are some rare exceptions, but just about every anime series that's even moderately popular will get the video game treatment sooner or later. Some ...
Steve and Lucas discuss creator Tatsuki Fujimoto and director Kiyotaka Oshiyama's Look Back film in all of its heartbreaking glory.― Steve and Lucas discuss creator Tatsuki Fujimoto and director Kiyotaka Oshiyama's Look Back film in all of its heartbreaking glory. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.Spoiler Warning...
While I enjoyed the action aspects of Birth of Kitaro, I can't say it works that well as an entry point for new fans.― Modern folklore-focused anime and manga owe a huge debt to the work of 1960s manga GeGeGe no Kitaro's artist and writer Shigeru Mizuki. A second world war veteran, the traumatic amputation of his left arm, due to an air raid explosion, never held back his pre-existing artistic ambit...
The series' director and composition writer discuss the difficult aspects of working on an original anime and their feelings on social media.― Where are these drifting jellyfish headed? A jellyfish dives into the big unknown blue and begins to swim! Illustrator Mahiru Kōzuki quit drawing after having her artwork ridiculed. Idol Kano Yamanouchi left her group Sunflower Dolls after causing a scandal....
Jerome discusses the recent "kewpie-fication" of Ranma in MAPPA's animated remake of the classic series.― The internet asks: "Why is the nudity removed from the Ranma 1/2 remake?" [context: it's not censored; the new version doesn't include nipples like the previous version, and Ranma's been kewpie-dolled. Butt cracks were removed in a bath scene, too.”] This wouldn't be an Answerman column if we d...
It may be early days for Pretty Cure, but the bones of what has made it such an enduring franchise are there.― It feels obvious to say this, but Pretty Cure Max Heart, the second series in the franchise and a direct sequel to the first, is still finding its way in the greater scheme of things. While direct sequels aren't unheard of in the franchise (and indeed the fifth season is a direct sequel to ...
dandadan dandadan dandadan DANdadan♫ dandadan♫ dandadan dandadan dandadan DANdadan♫ dandadan♫ dandadan dandadan dandadan danDADAN♫ dandadan♫ DANDADAN DANDADAN DANDADAN!― 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 rankin...
