Luffy vs. Cracker is a fight with an interesting shape to it. There's some funkiness going on in how it translates to the anime, since they're animating a lot of content that was off-screen in the manga, but the idea of an exhausting, uphill battle that Luffy has to overcome just so he can reunite with Sanji and continue the rest the arc is a good one. The real danger comes with the inclusion of Fourth Gear, which can only last so many minutes in a fight that takes hours. This episode opens with Nami and a deflated Luffy doing their best to keep the fight going despite their incredible disadvantage, and the sequence is well animated with a lot of expressive movement. It looks great.
But the real meat as always rests with the Sanji stuff, where we enter the newest and most thorough flashback regarding his childhood with the Vinsmokes. The focus is mostly on the bullying that his brothers dished out, as well as his father's disappointment in him since can't keep up with the intense superhuman training that the kids are put through as a result of their genetic modifications. Sanji's modifications never held, so he's a regular human among pseudo cyborgs, which makes it that much more satisfying that present-day Sanji's going toe-to-toe with them in strength.
Since this is the beginning of a flashback, the most gut-wrenching stuff is still to come. Seeing Sanji fight his brothers in the present while they beat on him in the past is effective, but we've seen that quite a few times in this arc by now. It's the little moments that shine in these backstories, like Sanji's turtle friend that his brothers feel the need to kick around, or Judge firmly establishing how reprehensible he can be. Sanji's parents are interesting because there seems to be this whole other story there that we've barely scraped the surface of. Judge is a garbage dad, but his awfulness seems to be in service of something. He's got a dream he's trying to accomplish.
This episode has all the feeling in it that I want from One Piece. It's active and awake during the fights, and calm and sensitive during the flashbacks. The art and music come together really well, making this one of the more appealing episodes in recent weeks. We're in "I wish the anime was like this more often" territory once again, and I couldn't be happier. The Cracker fight could easily be overstaying its welcome if you're experiencing this through the anime for the first time, but of all the Cracker-heavy stuff lately, this week is pretty strong. That, combined with the great Sanji flashback and an overall energy to the episode, makes this a good one in my book.
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 ...
The final Spring 2024 Manga Guide update includes not-yet-released series from this month, including Sword Art Online Re:Aincrad,Bungo Stray Dogs: The Official Comic Anthology, A Sign of Affection 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 a...
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...
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...