I'm going to do my best to write about this episode without absolutely frothing at the mouth over giant evil women. I'd also promise that would not color my review, but I won't make a promise I can't keep…
Episode 1044 continues to illustrate some of my core theses about One Piece. Firstly, the episodes which delve into the emotional context of the core Straw Hat crew are far and away the strongest material in the series. Secondly, Nico Robin is a strong enough character to have her own series entirely.
Let's take the flashbacks for example. Most of the flashbacks we see, while artfully done and cinematically rich, are reminders of what we have already seen. Events such as her mother's death, Saul teaching her to laugh, being hounded by other people, and so forth – it hits hard, but there's not much in the way of new revelations here. We already knew most of these things and their emotional beats (though they are always nice to revisit).
The one new piece of information we do get is a bit about Robin's time with the revolutionary army during the time skip. We still know next to nothing about what happened during those two years, and this flashback doesn't exactly reveal a whole lot. We knew she spent time with Koala and Sabo, but now we get more details about Koala teaching her a few Fish-Man Karate techniques. It's a very small amount of new information, but everything – from their little arguments about who gets to work with Robin to her emotional journey in self-worth and fighting to protect herself and others – is incredibly engaging. Robin was with the revolutionary army for two years, and finding out about a single moment in that time is enough to fill an episode with depth and introspection.
Not to mention the marquee fight being an absolute tour de force. Black Maria and Robin's throwdown is somewhere between a kaiju battle and a Devilman fight, and it is full of gorgeous visuals and fluid motion. Toei really made this feel like the highlight of Wano – and I wonder if they'll be able to top it by the end.
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...