It's been almost 800 episodes and I still stand with the One Piece anime as a way to enjoy this series, even if its heyday is behind us. Most of it comes from an acknowledgement that the production values have in fact never been consistent and the show's worst pacing issues have been present since at least the 300s, and yet that's never stopped people from falling in love with the series. It also helps that nowadays you get the occasional amazing episode that's way above something you would have seen in the early years.
But every now and then even I get a little glum, particularly whenever the show has to flashback to earlier animation and I realize how much I miss the way it used to look. That feeling returns this week as we finally get confirmation that one of Big Mom's many children is none other than Lola from Thriller Bark, while the lookalike who's married to Capone is her twin sister. This triggers a series of flashbacks to the Thriller Bark arc, none of which looks spectacular, but it looks the way One Piece looks in my mind's eye. There are so many little flourishes the anime has added over the years—the softer color pallet, the increased detail in Nami's eyes—and it all looks fine when the rest of the production is up to snuff, but if the animation's going to feel half-finished a lot of the time anyway, I wish we had the bold colors and old designs back.
I probably wouldn't be feeling this right now if the episode wasn't stretched so absurdly thin. The aforementioned flashback takes up a shocking amount of screen time and I've already been getting exhausted by the Seducing Woods stuff. I'm at the point now where I'm trying to imagine how this arc might feel in a marathon, and even with my patient standards I think this section is going to be at least one episode too long. Clearly the production cycle is in a tight spot compared to where the manga's story is at, and the show is begging for even a small break.
To dredge up some something positive here, when Charlotte Cracker arrives on the scene and knocks out many of Big Mom's minions, the art on their horrified corpses after having their souls dispatched was ghastly. There's a lot about Cracker and his upcoming fight with Luffy that's super cool and interesting, but as of this episode there would be no way to know how big of a deal he is. His massive 860 million bounty is relegated to the next episode preview (alongside a lot of stellar looking animation) but it's in this episode that we desperately need an adrenaline shot to keep the momentum going, and I don't think there is one nearby.
I think that's the problem. Cracker is a big deal, but right now he feels like just another tedious obstacle in the Seducing Woods. The setting isn't the problem, the characters aren't the problem, the problem is that we've spent so much time goofing off and going through all these repetitive challenges that I can't imagine the few people who keep up with the anime week to week will be getting a whole lot out of the Whole Cake Island arc so far. Next week's episode looks great, and I wish that was the one we were getting this week instead.
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...