The Luffy vs. Cracker fight takes a step back from being the star attraction to being the B story, as Sanji continues to interact with his family. I had an issue with how the anime decided to interpret the length of their fight last week, when they transitioned the fight into the daytime, but seeing Luffy then deflate from his use of Fourth Gear and struggle to hold himself up in his paralyzed state, knowing that his fight isn't nearly close to over, does a good job conveying that sense of exhaustion anyway. There's going to be a lot of Vinsmoke content in the coming episodes, and Luffy will have to survive long enough for that part to resolve itself, even though his biggest power-up has worn off.
We're not speeding things along any time soon, but thankfully they're killing time this week with some re-animated flashbacks to Sanji's history with Zeff, instead of continuing to take half a chapter's worth of content and spreading it all out over twenty minutes. At least this way, people can skip this part of the episode if the Zeff story is still fresh in their memory or revisit it if it's still a favorite. It's another one of those cases where the newer animation style just can't sell that original griminess, offering a version that feels lacking in physical detail. I even went back to the old version to compare, and while the drawings are still technically similar, the soul is unquestionably different.
Outside of the flashback (which is roughly half the episode), Sanji continues to deal with his family. One of the more exciting moments comes when Niji tries to kick Sanji but has to stop himself, yet there's still an explosion of wind that erupts. The follow-through of the feint feels massive, and we get a sense of how strong Niji is compared to Sanji. This comes as a result of Sanji being friendly to Cosette and eating the food Niji threw on the ground. It's a nice callback to when we first met Sanji and learned how sincere he was about his "never waste food" attitude.
There's a very small amount of new story content in this episode, mostly the continuing Cracker fight and learning what Sanji's father thinks of a man like Zeff stuffing unhelpful values into his son, since Judge has always been about whatever makes the strongest soldier above all else. Animation-wise, it's acceptable, but the moment-to-moment scene direction is far more cohesive than it was last week, although there's a much smaller variety of stuff happening here.
The pacing remains between a rock and a hard place since Toei's probably waiting for Whole Cake Island to end in the manga before they can reliably plan for the next filler arc. Their choices are to either stretch things out uncomfortably or continue doing this re-animated flashback thing, which is tricky in its own right because this arc has a plethora of new Sanji-related flashbacks already, and they're all being told out of order. It's a lose-lose scenario.
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...
Anime premieres in 2024― Adult Swim's YouTube channel began streaming a first look video for the Rick and Morty: The Anime series on Saturday. The show will premiere on Adult Swim and Max in 2024, and will also run on Adult Swim Canada. The anime will be an original work, with adapted themes and events from the main Rick and Morty animated series. Takashi Sano (Tower of God) is writing and directing...
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 ...
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...