With all three initial Zou episodes being home runs, it was only a matter of time before we got an episode that was just “pretty good.” The majority of the crew has reunited, minus Sanji, so most of this episode is the crew sitting around with their new Mink friends and filling each other in on the events that they've missed out on since splitting up early in the Dressrosa arc. As a result, this episode is low on the awe and wonder that this arc was off to such a great start with.
That being said, there are still a few things that I have to give Toei props on, mainly the continued inclusion of genuinely entertaining filler sequences. At the beginning of this arc, the samurai duo who had been tagging along with the Straw Hats, Kin'nemon, and Kanjuro, got knocked off the back of Ryunosuke and had to restart their climb up the elephant on their own. This time, they're using a new living drawing in the form of Nekozaemon the cat. In the manga, that's about as eventful as their re-climb gets. But in the anime, we see their trials as the elephant's run-off water from last week knocks them back down yet again and Nekozaemon just barely survives being washed away, remaining as this horrifying zombie-looking monster that insists on continuing its climb. That image got a big laugh out of me, and I was happy to see Toei editorializing the story in a way that was actually fun to watch.
The rest of the episode centers around a flashback as we learn the immediate events of what went down with Sanji's half of the crew after splitting from Dressrosa and getting chased by Big Mom. We get confirmation that Bege Capone has joined Big Mom's forces and is assisting them with the capture of the Straw Hats' mad scientist hostage, Caesar Clown. The ensuing fight is one of those cool team-up attacks that we don't get to see from the Straw Hats often enough, and I really like seeing Sanji's Sky Walk ability animated in a way that actually has a sense of speed and impact. The crew does manage to escape and even blow a big hole in Big Mom's ship. Not a small feat when your opponent is one of the Four Emperors.
The episode ends with the promise of the continued story of the “Twirly Hat Pirates” and the eventual explanation as to where exactly Sanji has been this whole time. The flashback is to be continued as the crew travels across Zou to meet one of the county's two Dukes, a man named Dogstorm (or “Inuarashi” if you prefer the Japanese name).
This episode isn't exceptional like the last few have been, but it's solid nonetheless. In an ideal world, this is what the lower-end episodes of this show would look like; it's not especially stylish or ambitious, but more of a connecting information episode designed to transition us between the really cool parts of the story. The flashback to the Twirly Hat crew had some good action, and Brook's arrival on the scene was super funny as we learn the natural relationship between a batch of living bones and a community of dog Minks. Lastly, the episode preview for next week looks especially cool as we step closer the the grittier side of Sanji and company's previous adventures on Zou.
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...