After a rather tedious episode last week, Wano swiftly gets back on track with both bombast and story progress. We left off with Basil Hawkins and his straw man pursuing Luffy and Zoro as they dash their way through the dessert, hoping to find a nearby village to get Tama her much-needed first aid. The first half of this episode concludes the Hawkins fight, with Zoro going all out to tear the straw man to shreds in a slickly animated finishing move. The sinister clouds part and Hawkins retreats, leaving our heroes back to square one.
We meet a few new characters this week, starting with Otsuru (not to be confused with the Navy Vice Admiral, also named Tsuru), the Ukiyo-e-faced teahouse owner that Zoro inadvertently saved a few episodes ago. Tsuru leads our protagonists to Okobore Town, where we meet Okiku, the stupendously tall teahouse waitress currently fending off the advances of Urashima, Wano's reigning sumo champion. Urashima is well-regarded and rich, so he can offer Kiku a comfortable living if she'd marry him, but she insists that their social standing is too different, trying to keep her rejection polite. The private farms that the shogun and his associates use are brought up in this conversation, which are the only sources of clean food and water in the country. Kiku seems to know what's up, however, and wants nothing to do with the sumo-champ or the shogun.
The table scraps of plot we receive this week are at least satisfying in execution. One of the greatest attributes about this adaptation continues to be in the opportunities that the anime can add scenes to connect plot points together more organically. In the manga, there's a lot that's skirted off-screen as Luffy arrives in Okobore Town and Urashima gets shooed away. In the anime, we get the whole sequence of events as the Straw Hats arrive with a sick child, giving Kiku a reason to blue-ball Urashima and tend to someone else. Threatened by these tough-looking new men, Urashima walks away, inviting Kiku to a sumo show in the neighboring town and setting up a later scene in the story.
It's the last few minutes of this episode that provide the largest whirlwind of new information. We end up cycling very quickly between our introduction to Kiku, and then our reintroduction to Trafalgar Law and the Heart pirates, and then we wrap the episode up with an anime-original scene showing Kaido ominously sitting on his throne. "He's the strongest creature in the world, but for now he's simply waiting around and biding his time," the narrator pointedly tells us. No, seriously, this character is going to be important eventually! It's a little silly how calorie-free this tease is, and yet it sells the crap out of Kaido's sinister presence. He's truly a mythical, larger-than-life figure, and the atmosphere alone goes a long way in rousing the audience's attention.
We're tiptoeing our way through the early stages of this arc, but there hasn't been a boring scene in Wano outside of last week's episode. There's a lot of important set-up this week, and even the Hawkins material manages to wake up and put on a show. Okobore Town is the first proper village outside of the bustling Flower Capital that we've encountered, so this is where we'll be getting into the nitty gritty of the country's poverty, and its citizens' relationship with the powers that be. For now, the scenario is fairly standard as far as fantasy epics go, but for now I say it's worth trusting the pondering drip feed as this ocean-sized story gradually takes shape.
If I were to sum up Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable! in a single word, that word would be “cute.”― If I were to sum up Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable! in a single word, that word would be “cute.” Shiki and Fuyuki's interactions are a mixture of playful (and sometimes sexual) teasing and heartfelt feelings as the two come to value each other. They have real chemistry—and that drives the anime stra...
Lucas and Steve catch up on the Hunter × Hunter manga in time for the long-awaited new chapter and gush about why, even with years between releases, Hunter × Hunter is worth it.― Lucas and Steve catch up on the Hunter × Hunter manga in time for the long-awaited new chapter and gush about why, even with years between releases, Hunter × Hunter is worth it. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed...
Series previously inspired 52-episode anime in 1993― This year's 24th issue of Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine revealed on Wednesday that Gosho Aoyama's Yaiba manga will be getting a new anime adaptation. Aoyama is supervising. The series follows the titular Yaiba Kurogane, a young samurai boy inspired by Miyamoto Musashi, the real-life swordsman who pioneered the Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū sty...
Based on the novel by former Nogizaka46 member Kazumi Takayama, trapezium asks its audience to follow one girl who will use anything, and anyone, to achieve her dream.― Trapezium is a strange movie, to say the least. On the surface, it's a rather simple movie that explores youth, their dreams, and the lengths they'll go to achieve those dreams. It's a coming-of-age story wrapped in the veneer of the...
ZeroReq011 remembers what made Spice and Wolf a story for the ages, from its fully realized world and economics to Holo and Lawrence's romantic chemistry.― Back when Funimation was still its own company and not owned by Sony, long before its in-house streaming service was terminated in favor of Crunchyroll's streaming platform, it owned a TV channel. Legal streaming had yet to dominate the Western a...
Anime will star Hiroshi Kamiya, Kotaro Nishiyama, Kotaro Nishiyama― Distribution company Remow announced on Tuesday that Yura Urushibara's Tougen Anki: Dark Demon of Paradise manga will get a television anime in 2025. The company revealed the trailer, key visual, and main cast for the anime. The anime's cast includes:
Kazuki Ura as Shiki Ichinose, the protagonist who inherits the blood of an Oni. Sh...
Nick and Chris recount some of the most frustrating anime cancellations, from the Yuri on Ice movie to the second half of Stars Align.― Nick and Chris recount some of the most frustrating anime cancellations from the second half of Stars Align to the 2007 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood movie. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views...
Welcome to the rankings for the Spring 2024 season! The perfect place to check out which hidden gems might have flown under your radar.― 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 are based on how people rated ...
Producer Masakazu Kubo shares the animation team's dedication to realism, including bringing in a pro golfer to produce the anime's sound effects.― 64-year-old Masakazu Kubo has been planning and producing anime for decades. He's had a major hand in everything from Pokémon and Detective Conan to Teasing Master Takagi-san and Dorohedoro. Recently, he sat down with us to talk about Tonbo!, his attemp...