Every review it feels like I have to come up with a new way of saying "this is moving way too slow," but thankfully the show makes it a little easier on me by having vastly different pacing issues just about every week. These past couple episodes are especially hurt by trying to contrive suspense around every minuscule detail—which can range from effective to hindering depending on the episode—but somehow this episode manages to come across even more lifeless and meandering than last week's. It's not just the lack of manga content to cover this time, it's the incredibly stiff editing as well.
As for what's going on in the plot: Sanji's back, baby! And now the Straw Hats are devising a plan to crash his wedding and rescue the Vinsmokes. Most of the episode centers around Luffy and Sanji communicating with the crew through a small shard of mirror, since the rest of the gang are still hanging out in Charlotte Brulee's mirror world. There's a moment of fear over how the others might react when they hear the plan to go headfirst into a fight with Big Mom, but the crew is so relieved to know that they have Sanji back that this cancels out the terror of imminent doom. One of the stand-out moments in this conversation is when Nami, happy to be talking to Sanji again, still has to play the "I'll never forgive you for scaring us like that" routine. It's played like a joke, but I think it's going to get brought back up again by the end of the arc.
Given how elegantly all the loose threads and subplots have been weaving in and out lately, it's a shock to remember that there are still a number of important characters we haven't heard from in months. Luffy and Sanji don't have any concrete ideas for how they're going to deal with this wedding, but with expert strategist Jimbei on our side, it turns out we have more options than we considered, most notably a potential alliance with Capone Bege of the Firetank pirates. This leads to a really good example of the editing problems in this episode, because it tries to Tarantino us at the very end with an extremely abrupt jump to the meeting between crews, with everybody decked out in new gangster duds, but the attempt to jumble the scene order only comes off jarring as opposed to creative. (And it turns out that they're just trying to get clever in avoiding the last two pages of the chapter that's being adapted.)
So we've known Capone to be working for Big Mom, having married into the family through Lola's twin Chiffon. We've also seen him conspiring against Big Mom earlier in the arc when he shot Pekoms off a cliff and into the ocean. It turns out that the Sun pirates caught and rescued Pekoms before being eaten by sharks, and this is how Jimbei learned of Capone's Big Mom assassination plan and decided to communicate with him. Capone and his crew have been trusted to operate security at the wedding, and now it's to be seen if a mutually beneficial partnership can be made between the Straw Hats and the Firetanks. Between Luffy's crew, Capone's crew, Big Mom's crew, and the Vinsmokes, this has been quite the arc of people plotting each other's demise.
I really love how Whole Cake Island continues to add new aesthetic themes into the mix, making the elevator pitch for the arc even more delightfully absurd ("It's a Game of Thrones/Disney musical/mobster drama with bunny girls!"), but I think we'll have to wait until the next episode before we truly get to revel in it. This is an episode of exposition that sets us up for the juicier exposition to come, and the pacing problems only seem to be getting worse. Sadly, I didn't find myself enjoying this week all that much, since the adaptation doesn't feel very engaged. The last shot of the two crews meeting, covered in solid black shadows and rad outfits, is memorable and striking, but this will be easier to gush about next time.
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The documentary was full of cool tidbits about the 82-year-old producer and the anime he's worked on—including Ninja Scroll, Pluto, and In This Corner of the World.― Late last month, Japanese television network NHK put out a documentary on anime producer Masao Maruyama as part of their Anime Manga Explosion series. In it, the show delves into the now 82-year-old producer's life, philosophies, and so...
Masaki Watanabe directs anime at TMS Entertainment― Shueisha announced on Monday in its first "Jump Press" video that Yuuto Suzuki's Sakamoto Days manga will get a television anime series in January 2025 starring Tomokazu Sugita as Taro Sakamoto. The video also revealed the main staff. Masaki Watanabe (KADO - The Right Answer, Bartender, several Battle Spirits anime) is directing the anime at TMS En...
This is where the series earns its place in anime history, setting a precedent that other magical girl shows will follow.― It's a moment of magical girl history, right there on the screen: in episode forty-six of Fairy Princess Minky Momo's original 1982-83 television series, Momo is hit by a truck and dies. Even putting aside the question of whether or not this is Truck-kun's first victim, this is ...
Ayane Sakura, Daisuke Ono join cast as Tokyo Blade play's creative team― A Sunday live-streamed program for the second Oshi no Ko anime season debuted the first main promotional video, a new main visual, and new character visuals for the season. The program and the video both revealed two more cast members, the opening theme song, and the July 3 premiere for the season. Sunday's program also announc...
This is a movie I never want to watch again. However, this is not because it's bad. Rather, it's a testament to just how incredible this film is.― Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction Part 2 is a film I never want to watch again. However, this is not because it's bad. Rather, it's a testament to just how incredible this film is. The film is full of well-developed and memorable characters—especiall...
Company acquires studio behind Lu over the wall, Inu-Oh, Scott Pilgrim anime, Tatami Time Machine Blues― The entertainment company Toho announced on Thursday that its board of directors has decided to acquire all shares of the anime studio Science Saru, effective on June 19. Toho will then make Science Saru its consolidated subsidiary from the second quarter (June-August) of the fiscal year ending i...
Chillin' in Another World pulls off a major dramatic spike and goes from trawling the bottom to #2 this week! See how all your favorites fared in our weekly user rankings.― 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 ran...
If you're a Haikyu!! fanatic, or if you can overcome this background knowledge hurdle, you're in for a pretty good time and some of the best editing to come from an anime in recent memory.― To begin, I should note that this film is a continuation of the Haikyu!! anime and a canon adaptation of the manga. As such, if you're not caught up on the anime or at least generally aware of the franchise and i...
The touchstone visual novel Kanon is coming to Steam! Plus, Gundam in Call of Duty, Nintendo's latest studio buy, and more!― Welcome back, folks! Last weekend, I had a sudden pang of nostalgia, and I started missing Avalon Code. Avalon Code was one of the many offbeat RPGs released on the Nintendo DS, this one by Matrix Software (and released in the US by Xseed). It had a fun concept: the world is g...
We sat down with game creator Suda51 ahead of his MomoCon appearance to talk about his new game Hotel Barcelona, his current must-watch TV shows, and more.― The renowned Suda51 has been responsible for countless cult-favorite video games. From the psychedelia of Killer7 to the hells of Shadows of the Damned, from the sunny streets of Santa Destroy in No More Heroes to the blood-soaked setting of the...
Nestled in a Japanese neighborhood is the Tokiwaso Manga Museum, a detailed replica of the sharehouse that Osamu Tezuka, Shōtarō Ishinomori, and more manga artists called home.― In the midst of the modern Toshima ward in Tokyo, there's a two-story, multi-flat building with an appearance straight out of the 1950s. It sits behind a wrought-iron gate, flanked by children's play equipment. The outer fa...