We've been introduced to a fair number of characters and subplots since stepping foot in the land of Wano, but we've merely witnessed the tip of the iceberg. One of the common trends I've liked about the anime lately is how it will make minor tweaks to better prepare the audience for what's to come, like how this week's episode directly names Shutenmaru, a man that Kiku appears to have some familiarity with. It's a very small difference from the source material (which simply refers to Shutenmaru's band of thieves as a group) but it's nice to know they're thinking about to keep the absurd amount of information as clear as possible. Shutenmaru now has a chance to exist faintly in the audience's mind before his proper introduction.
There isn't a ton of new material for us to chew in this week aside from the introduction of another side villain—Speed, a horse-woman who's got a fun gag about having 350 degree vision—and a brief demonstration of the farms that produce clean food and water for the shogun. We're taking the absurdity of Wano as a setting to some fun places, with giant sumo wrestlers getting tossed across town and eccentric dancing firefighters appearing to stifle the fires that set the streets ablaze as a result. “How dare you destroy my house with a sumo wrestler” is a phrase that can be uttered so casually in a few countries.
I appreciate that our heroes are finally getting themselves tangled up with Holdem in person after all this time, because he's easily my favorite of the Bakura Town villains. There's a good balance of silliness and theatrics as Holdem looks down on the crowds from the rooftops, performing herculean feats of strength and finally giving Luffy the fight he's been looking for. I was getting tired of having to constantly cut back to the same repetitive scene of Holdem trying to pull dumplings out of Otama's cheeks with pliers, so any change of pace, even a slight one, is welcome. The pins have been set up with the supporting cast constantly urging Luffy to keep a low profile, so obviously we have to start a ruckus in spite of that, and now a bunch of big names like Hawkins and Law are beginning to arrive just in time to see their well-kept plans go up in flames.
Most of what I've been saying for the past few months still holds true. My opinion of this stretch of the story in the manga is already fairly precarious since we're delving into a corridor of the plot that's disproportionately busy for such a small piece of the arc. The series isn't trying to trick us into thinking that this is some crazy unprecedented escalation of events, but it does want to set up a lot of stuff that's going to be important later, and it hopes to be entertaining in the meantime. In the best circumstances, the slow-motion nature of the adaptation is great for unloading some of the denseness of the story, but sequences that only offer mild excitement end up having to repeat themselves too much.
At least we seem to finally be reaching the climax of the Bakura Town arc soon, so hopefully the pay-off is pretty interesting.
Steve and Chris compare some of the highs and lows of an anime studio change-up, from Attack on Titan and One-Punch Man to Spice and Wolf.― Steve and Chris compare some of the highs and lows of an anime studio change-up, from Attack on Titan and One-Punch Man to Spice and Wolf. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.S...
You've probably read some version of this story before, but I doubt that you've ever seen it be this adorable.― You've probably read some version of this story before, but I doubt that you've ever seen it be this adorable. You and I Are Polar Opposites is based on the tried-and-true formula of a thousand romantic comedies: Suzuki is a popular girl, and Tani is the class nerd. She's bright and perky,...
Crunchyroll to stream upcoming anime― Aniplex and Crunchyroll announced on Wednesday that the late manga creator Hisaya Nakajo's Hana-Kimi manga is inspiring an anime. In addition, Crunchyroll announced that it will stream the anime when it premieres in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, the CIS, and India. The announcement did not reveal the deb...
James and Lynzee look into Hideaki Anno's latest hint that there might be more Evangelion after the last movie and news on the Lord of the Rings anime film!― Could There Be More Evangelion on the Horizon? James and Lynzee look into Hideaki Anno's latest hint that there might be more Evangelion after the last movie and news on the Lord of the Rings anime film! Plus, we catch up with Kafka and the Ka...
Grant Jones dives into the wild world of giant monsters and how Kaiju No. 8 builds on their legacy.― Kaiju No. 8 is a series that wears its influences on its sleeves. As the first word in its title suggests, it comes from a long line of works in the kaiju genre, using giant monsters and burning skylines as a backdrop to tell stories. While many likely know kaiju in a passing sense, it may help to h...
This steamy manga's appeal is going to depend on how much you can stomach a female protagonist who kicks off the romance by assaulting her former fiance.― This is a tricky one. Before You Discard Me, I Shall Have My Way with You is, to all appearances, a story that opens with a sexual assault. Agnès has been betrothed to Crown Prince Lucilleur since childhood, and she's been in love with him just as...
Showrunner/executive producer Mattson Tomlin writes story, Masashi Kudo directs at Production I.G― Netflix revealed on Wednesday Skydance Animation and Production I.G's Terminator Zero, the anime series based on the Terminator film franchise, which will premiere worldwide on the service on August 29. Netflix also revealed "first look photos" of the series: IMG terminator1.png
Image courtesy of Netfl...
Japanese studio to handle production slated for broadcast, streaming globally― Kadokawa and Singaporean game developer and publisher Garena announced on Monday that they are co-producing an anime adaptation of Garena's Garena Free Fire battle royale shooting game, with a Japanese studio handling the animation. Kadokawa's Kadokawa Qingyu subsidiary is the production manager. The anime is planned to b...
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...
Campaign to fund home care nurse as Lillis fights cancer― A GoFundMe campaign launched on Monday for voice actress Rachael Lillis to help fund a home care nurse. The campaign revealed that Lillis has been diagnosed with breast cancer that has spread to her spine, thus leaving her barely able to walk. The campaign noted that Lillis has been in a nursing home in Los Angeles since late January to recei...
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 ...