It's time to split up and get into place as the Big Mom assassination plot commences. Sanji's heading back to his room so he doesn't raise the enemy's suspicions (though that doesn't stop the incredulous Montd'or from breathing down his neck), and the rest of the crew is off to sneak into the wedding unseen. Luffy has some kind of surprise entrance in mind that he won't even tell his friends about, and it's agreed that Pudding's attempt to shoot Sanji in place of the big kiss will be the official signal to spring into action. Meanwhile, it's Caesar's job to employ his flying ability and use Brulee to escape into the mirror world, which should then connect the Straw Hats back to their ship where they can sail off safe and sound.
Things are still moving slowly as the Straw Hats prepare to disrupt Sanji's wedding, but at long last we've got ourselves an indisputably good-looking episode. I think pacing would be less of an issue for me if the visuals looked this polished on a regular basis. There's an emphasis on detail and atmosphere that I really appreciate. We're getting up in the morning, putting on our Sunday best, and heading out into the bizarre, zany world of Big Mom's domain, and you can really put yourself into that space in a way that you couldn't in the manga. As the citizens of Totto Land buzz and various important figures start to gather for the wedding, things are feeling lively. It's not even that animation-intensive of an episode, but it has just enough little flourishes where it counts.
As for plot progression, things continue to be pretty bare. I think one of the best scenes is a cutaway to the Sun pirates where they think back to an earlier conversation they had with Jimbei. The reason Jimbei couldn't honor Big Mom's terms of separation was because her roulette wheel included numbers that referred to how many loved ones would have to suffer in order for him to leave with dignity. Jimbei couldn't abide this, so he's choosing to betray her dishonorably. His old crew understands this choice, but they fear his over-willingness to sacrifice himself for his Luffy in the fight with Big Mom, a warranted concern considering Jimbei proudly admits this to be the case. If Luffy becomes his new captain, he'd have to put his life on the line for him. "It's just a matter of doing it now or later," he says. It's a cool scene, buttering the audience up for all sorts of ways Jimbei's fate could go from here.
With the story still vaguely gesturing at imminent forward momentum, I feel like I should have enjoyed this episode less than I did, but instead I found it rejuvenating. After finding the past few episodes very stiff, this appropriately feels like waking up refreshed in the morning. It doesn't lend much new to the conversation, but it's a strong episode that leaves me feeling confident that some good stuff is on the horizon from this adaptation. By the end of this episode, the bride and groom are dressed and ready to go, and we continue the trend of leaving the audience in suspense that something might be happening soon. The show is a slow-burn these days, leaning heavily on suspense to keep the viewers engaged, and if that's the way it has to be, this is the kind of episode I'll relish.
Healer Nanna's powers have one very unique caveat: she has to have sex with the person to heal them. See why Rebecca Silverman calls it "a cute story, decently racy, and generally good, fluffy fun."― One of the fun things about Seven Seas' Steamship line of racy manga aimed at a female audience is finding which romance tropes are prevalent in any given release. While every genre has its tropes and s...
What's the perfect recipe for waifu supremacy? Lucas and Nick look at fan-favorites from Yu Yu Hakusho to Spice & Wolf.― What's the perfect recipe for waifu supremacy? Lucas and Nick look at fan-favorites from Yu Yu Hakusho to Spice & Wolf. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.Spoiler Warning for discussion of the s...
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...
The plot is excellent in the romance camp. Everything that happens is to get Eui-joon and Gunwoo together, and it works pretty well.― You can read The Dangerous Convenience Store in English two ways. The first is to read it on the manhwa site/app Manta, which has all seventy-five chapters and four bonus stories available. The second is to read Seven Seas' print (or ebook) edition, which, as of this ...
Some older mysteries inch closer to resolution as the true nature of the Abyss slowly comes into view, and long-posed questions start to be answered.― Sometimes, being a fan of Akihito Tsukushi's acclaimed Made in Abyss series means acclimating to suffering. Like many Western devotees, I was introduced to this bizarre, squishy, disturbing world via the 2017 first season of Kinema Citrus' fantastic a...
60th, final episode of previous anime streamed on YouTube on Friday― The official Twitter account for the anime of Penguin Box's Odekake Kozame (Little Shark's Outings) manga announced on Friday that the manga will get a new anime series. Update: The staff revealed a visual for the new series in a press release on Saturday. The previous anime series debuted on YouTube last August, and its 60th and f...
Recently ended manga follows middle school student living with mysterious bird-looking creature― Shogakukan announced on Friday that Akira Konno's Kujima Utaeba Ie Hororo manga is inspiring an anime. The "bird(?) home comedy" manga's story starts when first-year middle school student Arata Kōda meets a mysterious bird-looking creature named Kujima in autumn. Hungry and craving Japanese food, Kujima ...
As Slam Dunk reached its final stretch, I can see why this series is considered the sports classic that it is today.― This is the largest batch of Slam Dunk episodes that I've reviewed thus far. Originally, I wanted to review the show in more even seasons, but given its overall pacing and release, it wasn't easy to find a moment where it felt right to stop and start again. However, as we approached ...