Going into a One Piece arc, there are certain things you can expect to happen: You know that there's going to be a flashback, you know that there's going to be a country in need of saving, and lastly you know that Zoro's inevitable fight is going to be rad as hell. Today marks the finale of Zoro and pica's fight, which was one of the confrontations that began way back towards the halfway point of Dressrosa. This is also the finale of all the one-on-one match-ups between the Doflamingo crew and the Colosseum fighters.
When we last left off, pica, in his giant stone titan form, was threatening to squash King Riku and Usopp and all the townsfolk on the plateau with them. Zoro didn't seem to have many options for saving them, but he did decide on “Fly through the sky and chop him up!” What exactly that means, we get to learn today. A few episodes back, Zoro saw the adventurer Orlumbus throw a guy like a bowling ball through the air, and since Zoro is insane, he decided to inquire the man for a similar feat. Yes, this episode is mostly about Zoro flying through the air at top speed because a really strong dude threw him.
This is a really monumental episode because the beat-down that Zoro delivers on pica is jaw-dropping. I spent a long time trying to imagine how this fight would play out, considering it's been a long time since Zoro's had an enemy who's ever gotten so much of a scratch on him. I figured Dressrosa would be the arc where we finally see the limits of Zoro's two years of training, but instead the show decides to run as far away in the opposite direction.
As of the Dressrosa arc, we still have no idea where Zoro's ceiling is. pica's titan form is as huge as can be, and yet Zoro manages to slice his entire body in half, leaving everybody down below speechless. That's not the end, however, as pica's human body is still moving between the stone halves, prompting Zoro to slice the leftovers in half again and again and again, all within the time it takes for gravity to pull him down to earth. pica's room to move gets smaller and smaller with each cut, so he finally decides to show himself, confident that his full body Armament Haki would save him when… Zoro just cuts through that too, winning the fight almost effortlessly.
In theory, there's a lot about this that's amazing. The enormous gap in power between pica and Zoro combined with the physical size of the battle is enough to make your heart explode in excitement, especially considering this win is practically a victory lap for all the Colosseum fighters down below. In practice, though, there are a lot of Toei-isms that dull the blade a little bit.
The entire first half of this episode is pad-central, which makes sense since you wouldn't want to stretch Zoro's mid-air battle out the entire twenty minutes. However, that still leaves the fight to be dragged out a lot more than in the manga, which already displayed the ideal pacing for such a scene.I think this is the kind of episode that you'd want to put your best directors and storyboard artists on. I think the right kind of focus could have really sold this scene in anime form, but instead we got one of first really vanilla episodes we've gotten in a while, production-wise.
That aside, it's still a pretty crazy scenario that doesn't shy away how goofy Zoro looks while flying through the air. The detail of his lips trying to fold back as he flies at top speeds was a nice touch before things get gnarly for the final blow. I'm interested in how an anime-only watcher will respond to this episode, since it is a pretty interesting event, but I can't help but imagine the weak direction failing to inspire the enthusiasm manga readers had a few months back. I've been wrong about that stuff before, though…
I can't recommend the series, nor think that any hypothetical viewer would enjoy it, but it is the kind of trash TV that's rewarding to dissect.― Have you ever wondered what Baki would be like if it had a conservative bent instead of queer undertones? Well, look no further because the answer is Kengan Ashura! While Kengan is trying to convey the same spectacle and white-knuckle action of the long-ru...
Film also available to rent, purchase digitally on several major outlets in N. America― The official X/Twitter account for TOHO's Godzilla franchise announced on Saturday that Takashi Yamazaki's Godzilla Minus One film is streaming worldwide on Netflix. The film is available worldwide, but is currently not available in Japan. Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color, the black-and-white version of the film, w...
One Piece: Heroines novel also licensed― Viz Media revealed its new licenses and new print releases planned for spring 2025 on Friday. Kazuyoshi Seto's Minecraft: The Manga: Announcement: Add this book to your enchantment room! Join Nico on his chance to escape the blocky confines of his home and prove how strong he's become when zombies attack! Minecraft: The Manga, by Kazuyoshi Seto, releases Spri...
Series starring Miku Martineau, Ayo Solanke, more starts production in Toronto― The Hollywood Reporter entertainment news site reported on Thursday that showrunner Simon Barry (Warrior Nun creator) and Boat Rocker Media are producing a live-action series for Netflix titled BET that "is based in part" on writer Homura Kawamoto and artist Tōru Naomura's Kakegurui - Compulsive Gambler manga. The show h...
Jean-Karlo attempts to condense two big video game showcases into a coherent column, from the revamped Silent Hill 2 to the grazing pastures of Story of Seasons.― Welcome back, folks. This is related to a big story for this week, but this past weekend, I listened to Utada Hikaru's re-recording of "Simple And Clean". It's very emotional. Utada Hikaru is a good twenty-plus years older than when she or...
In the Eisner-nominated work, Maki Fujiwara chronicles her daily life with her husband, lionized mangaka Yoshiharu Tsuge. Though deceptively simple at first glance, a foundation of abuse is slowly revealed.― At first blush, Maki Fujiwara's My Picture Diary does what it says on the tin. It tells the story of her daily life as a housewife and mother, spending time with her daily activities, noting the...
Now streaming on Netflix, Tomotaka Shibayama's first feature animation mixes the magical with reality to share a simple but important message.―
Director Tomotaka Shibayama's latest film, My Oni Girl, is an action-adventure drama with elements of a buddy comedy and a relatable coming-of-age story. The film, produced by Studio Colorido, was released in theaters in Japan and on Netflix on May 24, foll...
Miyano, Nukumi play original characters for August 2 film― The official website for My Hero Academia the Movie: You're Next (My Hero Academia: You're Next), the fourth anime film in the My Hero Academia franchise, announced on Friday that the film has cast Mamoru Miyano and Meru Nukumi as original characters. Mamori Miyano as Giulio Gandini, a butler who serves the Scervino family Meru Nukumi as Ann...
Kaiju No. 8 takes the top spot this week while Tonari no Yōkai-san pushes to #3 in the cmulative! Check out 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 are based on how people rated in...
Mospeada is a work very much of its time, riffing on ideas and tropes that were all the rage when it was made, and doesn't do anything exceptional with them.― It can be easy for even longtime fans to forget that alongside Macross, there were two other 80's sci-fi anime that got Frankenstein-ed into what we'd eventually call Robotech. While this isn't the first time one of those series has made it to...
Following the upcoming retro programming block Toonami Rewind, Chris and Lucas look back fondly on the afternoons spent watching Naruto and Sailor Moon.― Following the upcoming retro programming block Toonami Rewind, Chris and Lucas look back fondly on the afternoons spent watching Naruto and Sailor Moon. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the v...
Yeah, yeah, Kaiju No. 8 has all the great action scenes, but Yatagarasu is chewing up the scenery as the royal ladies absolutely lose their minds!?― Why Aren't You Watching This Anime Yet? Yeah, yeah, Kaiju No. 8 has all the great action scenes, but Yatagarasu is chewing up the scenery as the royal ladies absolutely lose their minds!? The ANN After Show streams live on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitte...
Here we have a from-the-ground-up remake, but does this beloved classic still hold up in a modern sense, or is that praise just nostalgia talking?― It's nice when Nintendo surprises us with a remaster or re-release of one of their more difficult-to-obtain games. The original Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for the Nintendo GameCube is a classic for many. However, since the game was never re-rele...
Miles Atherton crunched Netflix's latest numbers for some surprising anime discoveries, from the popularity of My Happy Marriage to the One Piece juggernaut.― Since the advent of streaming, it's been notoriously difficult to gauge how popular a specific anime is with international audiences, both for publishers looking to make informed decisions for a market that generates most of its revenue outsi...