You ready for a live concert, baby?! It's time for the Soul King to rock your socks off and lift your spirits!
The past few episodes of One Piece have done a good job filling the runtime with interesting plot progression, though the show still isn't quite ready to pick the pace back up to normal, and slowing back down does hurt after everything was just getting interesting. That said, Brook and Pedro getting an explosive espionage subplot as they complicate the villains' plans is the most inspired thing going on right now. If there's anybody in the story who has a chance to turn things around for our heroes, it's them.
For manga readers, we've had the dawning realization that the heavily marketed Year of Sanji could just as satisfyingly be titled the Year of Brook, because throughout this middle portion of the arc, he's the one earning the most wins for the Straw Hats as he puts his undead life on the line to secure that Poneglyph rubbing from Big Mom. His big attack in this episode, where the embodiment of the Soul King erupts in the form of a big electric ghost, is one of the most memorable looking techniques of the arc.
Sadly, it arrives by way of one of the flattest directed episodes in recent memory. This is the rare example of an episode that stays perfectly on-model and looks pretty decent, but there's no pulse to be found at all. It's incredibly matter-of-fact compared to the usual chaos that the show's production values offer. This would have been an ideal time to continue to push the arc's musical theme, taking a break from the Disney-lite stuff for some good old rock n' roll. Alas, this episode plays it painfully safe.
Elsewhere on Whole Cake Island is the conclusion of the never-ending mirror-world subplot with Carrot and Chopper, meaning the show's going to have to find some other interminable plotline to cut back to whenever it needs to buy a few minutes. The mirror-world stuff, where Carrot and Chopper finally finish off Charlotte Brulee and her crazy animal friends, was getting to be so unbelievably repetitive and boring that I would be more relieved that the subplot has finally ended if I wasn't completely bemused by the fact that it lasted this long to begin with.
It's frustrating to be so happy about where the story is going, with one major subplot ending and another taking the reigns, but get bummed out by the pacing once again. It can't be helped, but this is an arc that I'm falling more in love with as it wraps up in the manga, and the anime version is giving itself way too much room to breathe. The final scene of the episode, where Pudding meets with the imprisoned Luffy and Nami, is a perfect example of how inelegantly the molasses pacing captures the structure of the arc, since it doesn't even get to the part that makes this an important moment of set-up. The manga's pacing, however frustrating you might find it week-to-week, at least does a good job making sure each chapter is a solid beat that moves the story forward. In the anime version, we're not just setting the pins up to knock them down, we're taking a leisurely stroll to the bowling alley first and calling it drama.
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...