It's easy to forget that all the living objects and trees within Whole Cake Island are animated by the souls of individual people. Pudding reminds us of this when she creates a clearing for the Straw Hats in the forest by using her Memo-Memo powers to return the attacking trees to their original consciousness, at least for the time being. It's a little tragic to think that this arc is basically Thriller Bark 2.0, but without the happy ending where we see the souls return to their original owners.
This is a surprisingly good-looking episode, despite how little story progress is made. This is my platonic ideal for how I'd like the anime to look on a more regular basis, where even the less animation intensive scenes look nice and polished, like the artists actually had time to draw multiple drafts before airing. This would be a perfect episode if anything happened in it, but sadly this is about half a chapter's worth of running forward. Thankfully, this seems to be the end of the Big Mom foot chase before we transition into naval combat, as the rest of the Straw Hats finally arrive to assist Chopper and Brook on the Sunny.
Chopper and Brook's side of the fight continues to be really cool, with Brook now fighting with his Soul King ghost hanging off him like a JoJo's Stand. I hope that's just how he fights from now on. It's a little frustrating to know how strong Katakuri and Perospero must be and for them to not just murder Chopper and Brook with the blink of an eye. Part of that is the anime's pacing, but Perospero's involvement in the fight includes trapping his opponents in candy and then literally putting a clock on their heads to wait for them to suffocate. I believe circumstances demand a little more efficiency on the villains' part at the moment.
Still, the villains' lazy confidence does lead to the highlight of the episode, where Perospero watches the Seducing Woods from a distance and assumes Mom has killed the Straw Hats by now, only for them to emerge intact in a sequence that has some real kick to it. We get to watch the enemy's stunned face as they realize their barrage of obstacles hasn't slowed Luffy and company down at all, and it feels great. The finale also tops the episode off with a well-animated action scene where Luffy plows his way through Perospero's giant candy attacks. It really gets your blood pumping to see the heroes putting so much effort into avoiding Big Mom, as well as trying to throw the other powerful villains off the ship so they can finally take off.
So the Straw Hats sans Sanji have at long last made it to the Sunny, meaning we can only change gears from here. Sanji, Pudding, and Chiffon are off to Cacao Island to rebuild Mom's wedding cake, so the crew's best bet is to sail between the various islands of Totto Land while the baking commences. I'd really prefer that we not still be taking things this slow, but I have a lot of affection for the execution of this episode in all other regards. That fun adventurous spirit can finally breathe, and I hope we get to spend at least a few more episodes at this level of quality as the story delves into heavier stuff up ahead.
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...
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...
Director adds that there are no definite plans, but it would be helmed by "someone other than himself"― In a recent interview with The Asahi Shimbun newspaper, director Hideaki Anno acknowledged that "there may be plans" for more in the Evangelion anime franchise, but possibly with "someone other than [himself]" at the helm, who would receive a high degree of freedom. He added that there are no defi...
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 ...
Kenichi Suzumura, Ayako Kawasumi, Hiro Shimono, Nao Toyama, Takumi Yamazaki, Takaya Hashi join cast― The official website for The Magical Girl and The Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies, the television anime of late creator Cocoa Fujiwara's Katsute Mahō Shōjo to Aku wa Tekitai Shiteita. manga, revealed six new cast members and a third promotional video for the anime on Monday. The video reveals ...
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...