Wano continues unabated. This go around we get more time with the Akazaya Nine, which is great to my mind as they are critical to the entire arc. While they may be a large contributing factor to the length of the arc, I think the characterization of the Akazaya Nine has on the net been worth the time invested. The coming battle with Kaido feels truly momentous because we have such a close knowledge of all of Oden's retainers.
The showdown between Kanjuro and Kiku is terrific stuff. Kanjuro sending out drawings of headless horsemen is just a cool fantasy concept generally. More specifically, the agony of Kanjuro reveling in the anguish he is causing through betrayal as a testament to his acting skills make it sting that much more. I liked Kiku framing it as Kanjuro speaking ill of her friend and cutting him off before he could besmirch the person she feels she has lost.
The Luffy and Yamato scenes are great too. Any time Luffy is breaking the shackles that bind someone, I'm going ape for it. But the real treasure (other than the friends we made along the way) is the shot of Luffy and Yamato sticking their heads through the ceiling. The way they have their heads clunked together and are bending the board like a Looney Tunes bit, it's one of my favorite comedy beats in the entirety of Wano. I love these too goofballs, and it's heartwarming that they have connected over Ace and are now clowning it up together.
Big Mom returns to the scene in all her glory. I'm a known mark for Big Mom being evil, but the icing on this whole cake is the yokai designs. They are delightfully simple and sadistic little doodle monsters, and further exemplify Oda's penchant for creativity even in the midst of the grand delivery of his biggest arc yet. Just seems like the creativity well is never dry for him.
Creator Negi Haruba drafts story for new anime, light novel― "The Quintessential Quintuplets 5th Anniversary Event in Yokohama Arena" announced on Sunday that Negi Haruba's The Quintessential Quintuplets (Gotōbun no Hanayome) romantic comedy manga is inspiring a new anime, Gotōbun no Hanayome*. Haruba personally drafted the original story concept and is supervising all aspects of the anime, which re...
Yostar reveals teaser, key visual, official website― The staff for the Arknights mobile game and its tie-in franchise announced on Saturday in a new teaser trailer that the Arknights: Rise from Ember anime is now in production. The staff also launched an official website for the anime and released a key visual. The game is set in a fantasy world called Terra with modern science-fiction motifs. Terra...
Makes Nagi an even more interesting and nuanced character, but the last 10 minutes almost upends the film's otherwise interesting plot.― BLUELOCK THE MOVIE -EPISODE NAGI- is a retelling of the early events of BLUELOCK through the eyes of Nagi and Mikage. However, that's not to say this is a recap or compilation film. Rather, a good 70% of the film is newly animated footage as the story follows their...
Following Poupelle of Chimney Town, Nishino tackles addiction in his new stop-motion anime short film.― In advance of the U.S. premiere of the new stop-motion animated short film Bottle George, Anime News Network sat down with writer Akihiro Nishino and chatted not only about the film and its creation but also its deeper message and how it connects to Nishino's past. While now well-known as a childr...
From Classroom for Heroes to Management of a Novice Alchemist, we have reviews of the newest light novels in our guide!― Welcome to Anime News Network's Spring 2024 Light Novel Guide, the companion to our ongoing manga guide! This season, we have 20 novels with reviews in the guide for you to browse. Every included novel was published in March or April or will be released in May. This guide focuses...
SAND LAND is a curious game that combines an eclectic set of gameplay features into a well-realized package that, despite its flaws, is perfectly solid and more than the sum of its parts.― SAND LAND is a curious game that combines an eclectic set of gameplay features into a well-realized package that, despite its flaws, is perfectly solid and more than the sum of its parts. Going into this one, all ...
Atlus reveals its big new game, Metaphor: ReFantazio, amid the recent exit of Shin Megami Tensei artist Kazuma Kaneko. PLUS: A Golden Axe comedy series and Pokémon Go models get a makeover.― Welcome back, folks! As you probably noticed, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes came out earlier this week. It's a fun time, as you could see in my review of it. It's come to my attention that there are some per...
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes promises to revive the Suikoden series in everything but name, but what's so great about Suikoden that it's worth reviving? Well, read on…― It's 1996, and the PlayStation is just starting to take over the game industry. It has many genres covered: racing, fighting, action, sports, puzzles, train-conducting, deep-sea diving, fire-fighting, and so forth. But what abou...
Some of Shonen Jump's biggest manga hits are approaching their end. Does the magazine have new heavy-hitters lined up to take up the mantle?― Some of Shonen Jump's biggest manga hits are approaching their end. Does the magazine have new heavy-hitters lined up to take up the mantle? Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Netwo...