Once again I find myself in awe of the craft on display. Every time I begin to wonder, “Is there too much Wano?” and the fatigue starts to set in, the material comes back around with a home run installment. It's incredible to think about how much is coming to a head in this arc. The story of the land of Wano, and particularly the Akazaya Nine, has really come to define post-timeskip One Piece.
We see the emotional crux of so much coming to fruition. You can almost see the layers of setup like geological strata, going back in time from newly introduced characters (Kiku, Denjiro, Kanjuro, Ashura, Kawamatsu), to those from the recent past (Raizo, Dogstorm, Cat Viper), to those introduced nearly a decade ago in the manga (Kinemon). The Akazaya Nine are as integrated into the specific island of Wano and present-tense concerns as they are connected with the broader world and the long history of injustice in the setting.
The Kiku and Kanjuro fight is a real highlight. The framing of the battle as a climactic battle in a stage play, mirroring Kanjuro's figurative and literal performances as well as the theatrical framing of the arc more broadly, is just terrific. Kiku having to, in her own words, slice up her own heart until there is No Mercy left for the Kanjuro she had known since childhood was powerful stuff. The shot of the horizontal red slash cutting through Kiku's inner child until she disintegrated – wow. Amazing stuff, and in weekly television no less.
In truth, this is another one of those episodes where it feels you can pull any sequence and talk about its visual flourishes at length. The Dutch angle POV on Kaido beheading Orochi, the shattered screen of Onigashima when Kaido is pontificating, the combative blue and red screen slashes throughout – it's all gorgeous stuff. And the wide range of hues in each scene helps underscore the grand existential forces at play, from the terrifying yellow smog of Big Mom's arrival to the sickening green of Orochi's greed to the black and white fading to crimson of Kanjuro's grand finale. The Toei team has yet again outdone themselves and taken what was already some of the strongest material in the manga and elevated it substantially.
Visual revealed for new season― The staff for the Spy x Family anime revealed on Sunday that the anime is getting a third season. The staff also revealed a visual for the third season. Anime character designer and chief animation director Kazuaki Shimada drew the below visual. Art director Yuni Yoshida designed the visual. The first anime season's first half premiered in April 2022. Crunchyroll stre...
Amane Shindō, Rie Takahashi, Lynn, Kanon Takao voice new heroines― A special event for the television anime of Rikito Nakamura and Yukiko Nozawa's The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You (Kimi no koto ga Dai Dai Dai Dai Daisuki na 100-nin no Kanojo) manga unveils more cast members for the new heroines, the January 2025 premiere, and a teaser visual for the second seas...
Momoiro Clover Z, MindaRyn to perform season's new theme songs― Bandai Namco Filmworks revealed more cast, a new key visual, a new promotional video, and a new commercial on Saturday for the third season of the That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken) television anime. Bandai Namco Filmworks also announced that Momoiro Clover Z will perform the season's second opening...
Co-founder Hideaki Anno's current studio Khara acquires Gainax's trademark― Anime studio Gainax announced on its website on Friday that it filed for bankruptcy in the Tokyo District Court on May 29. The bankruptcy proceedings are happening just short of the studio's 40th anniversary in December. Gainax's Statement In its statement on Friday, Gainax explained that its financial situation worsened sta...
Lynzee slays the Nosferatu Arucard, but isn't sure if she enjoyed the experience.― Welcome back to The Anime Backlog, the column where I chronicle my journey to overcome a backlog of 100+ anime titles. After slaying my behemoth of shame, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, I decided to dive into the quintessential dark and edgy series of the aughts, Hellsing Ultimate. Hellsing Ultimate Why Is It Impo...
Synduality: Noir perhaps ends up better than other video game tie-in series, but in the larger mecha genre, it's still an also-ran.― This second cour started as a big fat question mark. While the first half of Synduality: Noir had occasional drama, most of its runtime was all about chilling with its extended cast as they got into cool robot fights. While that lent the show a lot of charm, it meant t...
Before Summer Game Fest truly kicks off, Jean-Karlo checks out the upcoming Yakuza TV series news and Gen Urobutchi's deceptively cute rabbit puzzler.― Welcome back, folks! In honor of the Astro Bot announcement, I spent some time playing Astro's Playhouse over the weekend. It's a cute tech demo disguised as a platformer, helped by Astro being an adorable little mascot. The historical angle of colle...
Anti-hero or villain? Scar and Magneto present evidence for either interpretation.― X-Men' 97 has now concluded its stunning first season, and those ten episodes highlighted the best and worst of Magneto — a man who's been both the X-Men's nemesis and leader. Introduced at the very beginning of X-Men in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's 1963 debut issue, the "Master of Magnetism" has changed a lot in his s...
Sound Euphonium 3 is now the top anime both in weekly and cumulative rankings! Find out how your favorite shows fared 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 are based on how pe...
Chris and Steve make the highly questionable decision of watching all of Code Geass in 48 hours. Is the series just as good as it was nearly two decades ago?― Chris and Steve make the highly questionable decision of watching all of Code Geass in 48 hours. Is the series just as good as it was nearly two decades ago? Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are...
Unfortunately, Kengan Ashura isn't dumb fun often enough to be enjoyable, and its politics make it a slog to get through.― The back half of season one of Kengan Ashura — confusingly labeled "Part II" on Netflix and with episode numbers that reset to 1 through 12 — is better than the first part of the season. Unfortunately, that isn't saying much, as this martial arts anime opens with an incredibly w...