Reviewing an episode like One Piece 1035 is challenging because the distinction between adaptation and source material becomes very important.
Adaptation-wise, it's very well done. The animation looks great and many of the most touching scenes are well-shot and executed. The care and attention paid to the story Oda is telling are evident even in a “normal” episode (though what counts as a normal episode of the Wano arc is up for debate). Nothing here is phoned in, no corners are cut, and all the story beats are delivered with the heft one would expect.
The issues arise when this episode is viewed in the context of its source material.
Wano is a big and complicated arc in a big and complicated story. One Piece was always a world with limitless potential, but even 25 years in the horizons seem further away than ever. No matter how many reveals Oda drops – and in recent times they've been coming in hot and heavy – he cannot help but introduce more characters, more factions, and more islands. For better or worse, there is never a sense that One Piece is “locked in” for its final trajectory. There's always more and more and more.
The dichotomy between the Akazaya Nine and the Luffy/Kaido match in this episode makes things crystal clear. Kinemon and crew are, ostensibly, “side” characters or supporting cast members in Wano, the longest arc of One Piece, published over four years in real time and longer than some manga series by itself (and that's not even counting Kinemon and Momonosuke's introduction way back in Punk Hazard). This “side story” sure does look like a full meal all on its own, so much so that it has started to take away the shine from the (ostensibly) main story being told.
Is this Oda's intent? For the drama of the Akazaya Nine – compelling though it is – to overshadow what the protagonist of the story is going through? It's hard to say if that's an issue of intent or merely the fatigue of reading the release in real-time. Is this a feature or a bug? One thing is for sure: the drama between Kinemon and Kanjuro is powerful and moving, a complete tale of sorrow fully-told, and Luffy's battle with Kaido literally crashes in from above to disrupt it.
Manga about novelist, niece also has live-action film opening on June 7― Pony Canyon announced on Friday that Tomoko Yamashita's Ikoku Nikki (Diary of a Strange Land) manga is inspiring a television anime adaptation. The company also revealed a teaser promotional video, a teaser visual, and the show's main staff. Miyuki Oshiro (episode director for Durarara!!×2 Ketsu, Natsume Yūjin-Chō Go, To Your E...
Kaijin Fugeki manga launches on May 29― Manga creator Oh! great announced on Tuesday that he will launch a new manga titled Kaijin Fugeki in Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine on May 29. A Twitter account for the manga also debuted on the same day. Oh! great launched a manga adaptation of NisiOisin's Bakemonogatari novels (pictured at right) in Weekly Shonen Magazine in March 2018, and ended it in Ma...
This week, it's hot monster mommies and less hot AI-generated light novels.― I Support Falin's Crimes We've long joked on the podcast about the quality of light novel writing, but the news is out that the developers of the RyokoAI project have scraped Shosetsuka ni Narou...are fully machine-generated LNs in our future? Plus: Things get gorier in Kaiju No. 8, the world of yatagarasu politics unfolds...
Each story is like a dark portal into a realm of human sexuality that society usually sweeps under the rug, but I can't look away.― Nude Model delivers on the promise of its lurid title. This manga, consisting of three equally intense short stories, is charged with eroticism and danger, with epiphanies lurking around every corner. Created by Tsubasa Yamaguchi, Nude Model is nothing like her most wel...
Find out about the young star who set the internet aflame and walked away with two medals. Plus: Thousand-Year Door updates, a new HunterxHunter game, and Miku!― Welcome back, folks! As is my wont, I'd like to plug my El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron HD Remaster that went up earlier this week... but I've also got the disappointing news that Megaton Musashi W: Wired finally released in the US la...
Daisuke 'Dice' Tsutsumi shares what it was like to leave Pixar and how his studio will never shy away from honesty in their work, even when honesty isn't pretty.― Director Daisuke "Dice" Tsutsumi contributed to films like Toy Story 3 and Monsters University while simultaneously crafting what became his Academy Award-nominated animated short film, The Dam Keeper. His latest short film, Bottle George,...
Chris and Nick put on their headphones and dust off their vinyl records for a look at this season's guitar-strumming, mic-swinging girl groups.― Chris and Nick put on their headphones and dust off their vinyl records for a look at this season's guitar-strumming, mic-swinging girl groups. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News...
I cannot imagine how Square Enix could top themselves after this.― Final Fantasy VII Rebirth initially launched on the last day of February, and if you look at the date of this review's publication, you will immediately be able to discern one thing about this second entry of the FF7 Remake series: It is gargantuan. The first game got plenty of praise (and plenty of flak) for taking the relatively sh...
The Manga Guide library expands with six more series, including Trinity Seven -Revision-, Watch Dogs Tokyo, Fed Up With Being the Spoiled Queen's Genius Butler,, and more!― Welcome to Anime News Network's Spring 2024 Manga Guide! You may have seen one of our seasonal Anime Preview Guides, where a team of critics writes up each new anime television premiere as it airs at the beginning of a season. N...
With a new Nintendo Switch port available, even more gamers can experience Enoch's transcendental adventure across the world. How does it fare on Nintendo's portable device?― El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron was a curious game when it released in 2011. The world wasn't quite ready for it then, but time (and a PC port) helped people accept it. With a new Nintendo Switch port available, even more...
Manhwa is starting to find its footing in American comic book sphere, but it's not just another version of "manga." Find out what makes Korean comics unique.― The door to English-translated manga opened in the 1980s, and despite some fits and starts, essentially never looked back. Manhwa, or Korean comics, have had a much more troubled journey to popular visibility in English. Around 2006, manhwa be...