The duality of Wano, am I right folks? Continuing on last week's theme of “Oh my Usopp there is so much Wano,” we have a lot more arc to get through this week. Much of the runtime is rather uneventful. We get a discussion over what is to be done with Momonosuke, Kaido complaining in his room, and Law toting the Akazaya samurai to Onigashima. Not a lot going on even if it does continue to get certain important players into their appropriate positions on the stage, as it were.
At least this episode manages to be a great deal funnier in the process. Law and the Heart Pirates are always a hoot when they are together - in truth, anyway who isn't as glum as Law is hilarious when he's around. Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi being goofballs warms my heart every time. We also get a few good bits with the Akazaya Nine and Marco, the surprise comedy pairing of the season. Beyond the text, I also got a good laugh out of Kaido coming to the party super late - very much in the vein of a teenager coming downstairs and their parents going “Well look who finally decided to leave their room.”
The big hit though is the Yamato reveal. Even if it's only a short portion of the runtime, Yamato's revelation about discovering Oden's journal and idolizing him is really spectacular. I think it is a testament to Eiichiro Oda's incredible abilities that even after over twenty years of telling the same story, he finds ways to create new and compelling characters. The central tension of Yamato idolizing Oden, the ultimate foe of Kaido - it's just brilliant stuff, a dramatic capstone to an arc heavy with broader setting implications. Wano is long and at times it can be a slog due to the sheer breadth of it, but when the payoffs are there they're really there.
Also Robin talking like a mustache-twirling villain, whew Lordy I believe I'm catchin the vapors...
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...
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...
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 ...