The battle of the serious and the silly continues with One Piece 1074, with the same high-quality results that Toei has been turning in, week after week.
I assume at some point, I will have to write a review that has more to discuss other than “Omg, One Piece is good”, but the Toei team certainly is not making it easy. Luffy and Kaido's fight on the roof of Onigashima puts on full displays of the creativity and vibrancy that they have made commonplace in the Wano arc. Watching these two god-like combatants move rubberbands (ha!) between blink-and-you'll-miss-it high-speed fluidity and full-stop body blows whose gravitas shakes the bones of the earth. It's quite spectacular. Again, I find myself asking if I should be able to watch this for free and not, I don't know, paying the full price for a movie ticket. The craft and care taken to render this fight is just outrageously good.
Even beyond the technical acumen of the team, their creativity has to be commended as well. A large portion of the fighting in 1074 revolves around Luffy manipulating lightning. I love how there were times it is rendered thick and branching like the roots of a great tree, while at other times, Luffy is pulling it taut and pinging between these great strands of light at high speed. It is a visual and conceptual spectacle, a delight for the senses, and a uniquely engaging high-fantasy combat. I know the arc has taken a long time, and this fight in particular is longer than some entire anime series, but I find myself wishing it could just keep going and not have to end.
What's also interesting to note is the new opening and ending sequence pairing. They are quite lovely as they exhibit a very soft style with light linework, reminiscent of things like the Baron Omatsuri film. I find it odd that we have new… well… anything this late into the arc, especially given how Wano-centric all the imagery is. I feel like the prior opening - PAINT - had a rather long run, and at this point, I just assumed it would last until the end of the arc. I wonder how many episodes we can expect for this one, given how close Wano's finale is (or at least appears to be).
Train to the End of the World and Voice Actor Radio are getting a lot of love these last few weeks! Discover which other series stand out in 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...
Crystal Kay previously sang themes for 2004's Fullmetal Alchemist and Nodame Cantabile― Recently, Anime News Network was able to sit down with singer-songwriter Crystal Kay and talk about not only her involvement with anime over the years but also what it was like to grow up in Japan as the child of a Korean-Japanese mother and an African-American father. Anime fans likely know of Crystal Kay throug...
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2nd part opens in Japanese theaters on June 7― The staff for the four-part Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture (originally titled Gode Geass: Z of the Recapture, or Dakkan no Zetto) anime project revealed a trailer and a visual on Saturday for the second part in the project. The below video previews MIYAVI's opening theme song "Running In My Head." The anime's first part premiered in Japan on Friday. ...
James and Lynzee discuss the latest episode of Yatagarsu. Plus, GoHands keeps making anime, and we don't know WHY.― Yatagarasu Gets Violent! James and Lynzee discuss the latest episode of Yatagarsu, in which Wakamiya plays his hand to find out the truth behind his older brother's scheming to obtain the throne. Plus, GoHands keeps making anime, and we don't know WHY; Hunter x Hunter manga is on its ...
Making a sequel to Code Geass is a daunting task. But with its fantastic main character and a story that doesn't undercut what came before, Rozé of the Recapture is on the right track.― Making a sequel to Code Geass—especially one set close to the end of the series—is a daunting task. Any story that involves an ongoing war massively undercuts both the finale of the original anime and the sacrifices ...
The Switch sequel console is finally happening! The details are scarce, but you can find out more in this week's column. Also: an interview with El Shaddai's Sawaki Takeyasu, Microsoft layoffs, and more.― Welcome back, folks! What a wild week this has been for the gaming industry. We'll go further into it, but jeez. This past week also saw the disappearance of Capcom's Dark Void and Dark Void Zero. ...
The Code Geass creator discusses his new project with Web3 company Azuki, Enter the Garden, and his hope that this new path could help the medium evolve.― Los Angeles-based Web3 anime-styled brand Azuki and advertising conglomerate Dentsu debuted the first nine-minute episode of their joint anime endeavor, Enter the Garden, on April 30. The episode, which has already racked up a quarter of a million...