Boss Kyoshiro has arrived and attacked the Beast Pirates vessel. The reason is that he is secretly none other than Denjiro in disguise, and he reveals his true identity to Kinemon and the others. In a continued string of good fortune, even more reinforcements arrive for our heroes in the form of 1200 additional samurai and their craft. Everyone is shocked by this turn of events, given that no one had arrived thus far and Orochi had used his many resources to attack the ships at port and destroy bridges. The arriving samurai explain that they actually understood Kinemon's secret message hidden in the writing of the coded note - they were to go to another port entirely! Kinemon is roundly congratulated by everyone for his brilliant foresight and planning.
...which he clearly did not do. Kinemon is reluctant to say anything, but the other Red Scabbards know he made a mistake and that it was a stroke of luck that things turned out this way. Still, better to be lucky than good, and now the assault on Onigashima and the Fire Festival has a fighting chance. Sadly, there is still great danger in this moment as Kanjuro is attempting to escape with Momonosuke as his hostage. Kawamatsu tries to stop him, but Kanjuro manages to break away using a meticulously drawn bird. It turns out that the “drawings dissolving in water” aspect was yet another layer to his ruse, and much to everyone's amazement he flies away as the to be continued card flashes.
Another perfectly solid episode for the Wano arc. After the visual tour de force of last week's entry with Luffy, Law, and Kid attacking the Beast Pirates ship, I expected we'd have something of a “breather” episode this week. By and large this was nowhere near that energy but I can't hold that against the Toei team, I'd rest on my laurels a bit too after all that. Still, the episode was more than appealing visually and had a few brilliant touches I thought. A particularly nice bit of framing was when Ashura was about to cry and he leaned his head down, allowing for a single raindrop to fall off the edge of his hat right where his eye/tear would normally be.
In terms of the content, this is one of the more hilarious and memey moments in Wano. Kinemon's “excellent plan” being a giant goof-up is a hilarious character beat, and his glum face replete with runny nose has to be one of the more enduring images of this arc (and that is saying something). I loved the build up to it as well, with all the visual explainers for the linguistic fun at play and thought the anime did a great job selling the scene. The Akazya Nine ribbing him over it was great too. Even after all the Wano we've seen and all these great moments, it's amazing to think that there is still more to come.
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...