One Piece Episode 1059 maintains the various plots and setups from the previous week with solid energy but not much substance to work with.
Onigashima continues to fall, Yamato keeps running, and Zoro continues to fight King.
While that summary might be a bit reductive, it's not entirely unfair. But there isn't that much more happening this week, which is a shame. In the past, I have defended the "connective tissue" episodes of Wano that help keep us up to speed with all the various happenings in this arc. The problem is that there have been so many at this point that even the expected, necessary pauses to give events the appropriate time to breathe end up compounding on one another until the arc just starts to feel truly endless.
There are many little moments in the episode, but none have a significant impact. Yamato runs, Momonosuke makes clouds appear, C0 agents show up, and Apoo does some jabbering, among other things. There are too many side events to be satisfying individually. It's like a sampler platter of dishes you've already had in previous samplers.
The Zoro versus King fight is the main draw of the episode and stronger overall. There are a few big strikes delivered and excellent effects, particularly on Zoro's attacks. There are some great lighting effects on King as well, though he doesn't shine quite as much as he did in the previous episode with the head attack. However, much of the runtime is dedicated to flashbacks for Zoro, which is where the episode (and the manga) stumbles somewhat. While Zoro is a compelling present-tense and future-tense character, he doesn't have a rich backstory or deep emotional wells to pull from. The flashbacks to his youth didn't do much for me the first time around, and on rewatch, they have the same level of impact. It's nice to see the modern Toei team take on the bit where Zoro purchases the sword, but it's also hard not to compare the modern style to the prior one and feel like something has been lost along the way.
Don't get me wrong, though. While the modern production is terrific, and hits more consistent highs for longer stretches, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that the older style could sell certain moments and character expressions in a way the modern style is too clean to express. East Blue Zoro looked like the gremlin who would buy a sword you told him was cursed and throw it in the air while risking his arm. Modern Zoro doesn't have the same chaotic goblin energy, so the modern style ends up looking worse by comparison.
This week, it's hot monster mommies and less hot AI-generated light novels.― I Support Falin's Crimes We've long joked on the podcast about the quality of light novel writing, but the news is out that the developers of the RyokoAI project have scraped Shosetsuka ni Narou...are fully machine-generated LNs in our future? Plus: Things get gorier in Kaiju No. 8, the world of yatagarasu politics unfolds...
Each story is like a dark portal into a realm of human sexuality that society usually sweeps under the rug, but I can't look away.― Nude Model delivers on the promise of its lurid title. This manga, consisting of three equally intense short stories, is charged with eroticism and danger, with epiphanies lurking around every corner. Created by Tsubasa Yamaguchi, Nude Model is nothing like her most wel...
Find out about the young star who set the internet aflame and walked away with two medals. Plus: Thousand-Year Door updates, a new HunterxHunter game, and Miku!― Welcome back, folks! As is my wont, I'd like to plug my El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron HD Remaster that went up earlier this week... but I've also got the disappointing news that Megaton Musashi W: Wired finally released in the US la...
Daisuke 'Dice' Tsutsumi shares what it was like to leave Pixar and how his studio will never shy away from honesty in their work, even when honesty isn't pretty.― Director Daisuke "Dice" Tsutsumi contributed to films like Toy Story 3 and Monsters University while simultaneously crafting what became his Academy Award-nominated animated short film, The Dam Keeper. His latest short film, Bottle George,...
Mimori intends to continue voice roles, singing career― Voice actress and singer Suzuko Mimori announced on her Twitter account on Thursday that she is moving to the United States this summer. She acknowledges that the move will mean that her voice work will not necessarily stay the same as before, but that she will strive to continue performing her roles to the best off her ability. She also added ...
Chris and Nick put on their headphones and dust off their vinyl records for a look at this season's guitar-strumming, mic-swinging girl groups.― Chris and Nick put on their headphones and dust off their vinyl records for a look at this season's guitar-strumming, mic-swinging girl groups. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News...
I cannot imagine how Square Enix could top themselves after this.― Final Fantasy VII Rebirth initially launched on the last day of February, and if you look at the date of this review's publication, you will immediately be able to discern one thing about this second entry of the FF7 Remake series: It is gargantuan. The first game got plenty of praise (and plenty of flak) for taking the relatively sh...
Anime's first season premiered in 2018― The official website for Kakuriyo -Bed & Breakfast for Spirits-, the television anime of writer Midori Yūma and illustrator Laruha's Kakuriyo Yadomeshi (Afterlife Inn Cooking) light novel series, announced that the series will have a second season in fall 2025, and revealed a teaser visual on Wednesday. The novels' 2023 manga adaptation artist Tsugaru Toba als...
The Manga Guide library expands with six more series, including Trinity Seven -Revision-, Watch Dogs Tokyo, Fed Up With Being the Spoiled Queen's Genius Butler,, and more!― Welcome to Anime News Network's Spring 2024 Manga Guide! You may have seen one of our seasonal Anime Preview Guides, where a team of critics writes up each new anime television premiere as it airs at the beginning of a season. N...
With a new Nintendo Switch port available, even more gamers can experience Enoch's transcendental adventure across the world. How does it fare on Nintendo's portable device?― El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron was a curious game when it released in 2011. The world wasn't quite ready for it then, but time (and a PC port) helped people accept it. With a new Nintendo Switch port available, even more...
Manhwa is starting to find its footing in American comic book sphere, but it's not just another version of "manga." Find out what makes Korean comics unique.― The door to English-translated manga opened in the 1980s, and despite some fits and starts, essentially never looked back. Manhwa, or Korean comics, have had a much more troubled journey to popular visibility in English. Around 2006, manhwa be...
The new anime series is far more forthright about the idol and seiyū industry, from maintaining relevance on social media to subsisting on substandard wages.― The new anime series is far more forthright about the idol and seiyū industry, from maintaining relevance on social media to subsisting on substandard wages. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are...
Ultimately, my biggest problem with Shaman King Flowers is that it mostly just feels like a set-up to a much larger story that has yet to actually happen.― [Warning, this review will contain major spoilers for the ending of Shaman King (2021)] If there's one thing that can be counted on with battle shonen properties, it's that any of them that go on long enough will inevitably get some sequel series...