Once again we're entering the wonderful world of One Piece flashbacks. Luffy's half of the Straw Hat crew arrived on Zou in the aftermath of a lot of unseen drama, so everything is presented as vague and mysterious as possible while the characters in the know slowly fill us in, story by story. In the last episode we got the explanation as to how Sanji's group outran the Big Mom pirates, and now this week we start to learn what went down in the recently destroyed Mink city of Kurau.
The ones responsible for the destruction are the Beast pirates, the crew led by Kaido of the Four Emperors. The man leading this specific faction of the crew is a mammoth man named Jack, who's referred to as one of Kaido's top henchmen. We saw a tiny glimmer of Jack's human form during the end of Dressrosa when he and his crew went to rescue Doflamingo from the navy's hold, but the newspaper claims that he has since died at sea. In this flashback, Jack remains in his mammoth form throughout. There could be some poetry in a mammoth being the villain of an arc taking place on the back of a giant elephant, but maybe that's thinking too much about it.
Jack is looking for the ninja, Raizo, who we remember is the friend that Kin'nemon and Kanjuro were hoping to reunite with on Zou. The Mink's swear up and down that they know nothing about a ninja, and this episode mainly exists to demonstrate the Mink's fighting power as Jack and his men are unimpressed by their lack of information. The ordinary citizens have no trouble fending off the lower rungs of Kaido's crew and we're told that Minks are born as natural fighters. Even the babies are strong. One of the most entertaining scenes in this episode is one where a mother and her child fight side by side, beating up pirates in a decently directed and staged fight sequence. The implication of this story, however is that things take a turn for the worse as the stronger individuals of the pirate crew start to take center stage.
Having read the manga, I'm noticing how weird this arc is regarding the mysteries that it's laying out for us. A few episodes ago we were being asked to wonder if the Minks would be enemies of the Straw Hats, only to unveil that they're extremely friendly. Before this reveal, there was Wanda's line "You'll find the corpse of your friend there!" and then, of course, the twist is that she was talking about Brook the skeleton, who is otherwise safe and sound. This is a pretty funny set-up and payoff, but it highlights the thing that's starting to bug me: how vague and mysterious the characters are being about everything, when they actually have no reason to be other than to trick the audience. There's another, much more dramatic twist to come in a few weeks and currently I'm seeing all the ways that the show is milking the setup and realizing how inelegant it is.
After three stellar episodes introducing the Zou arc, we've fallen back into completely competent and average production quality. That's to be expected, so I'm not too let down, but it still doesn't leave me a lot to write home about. Seeing the Minks in their daily life, and then later seeing them kick ass together, was pretty entertaining, though it's all starting to feel like a low budget Disney show with all these anthropomorphic animals in the spotlight.
60th, final episode of previous anime streamed on YouTube on Friday― The official Twitter account for the anime of Penguin Box's Odekake Kozame (Little Shark's Outings) manga announced on Friday that the manga will get a new anime series. Update: The staff revealed a visual for the new series in a press release on Saturday. The previous anime series debuted on YouTube last August, and its 60th and f...
Recently ended manga follows middle school student living with mysterious bird-looking creature― Shogakukan announced on Friday that Akira Konno's Kujima Utaeba Ie Hororo manga is inspiring an anime. The "bird(?) home comedy" manga's story starts when first-year middle school student Arata Kōda meets a mysterious bird-looking creature named Kujima in autumn. Hungry and craving Japanese food, Kujima ...
As Slam Dunk reached its final stretch, I can see why this series is considered the sports classic that it is today.― This is the largest batch of Slam Dunk episodes that I've reviewed thus far. Originally, I wanted to review the show in more even seasons, but given its overall pacing and release, it wasn't easy to find a moment where it felt right to stop and start again. However, as we approached ...
2nd part opens in Japanese theaters on June 7― The staff for the four-part Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture (originally titled Gode Geass: Z of the Recapture, or Dakkan no Zetto) anime project revealed a trailer and a visual on Saturday for the second part in the project. The below video previews MIYAVI's opening theme song "Running In My Head." The anime's first part premiered in Japan on Friday. ...
James and Lynzee discuss the latest episode of Yatagarsu. Plus, GoHands keeps making anime, and we don't know WHY.― Yatagarasu Gets Violent! James and Lynzee discuss the latest episode of Yatagarsu, in which Wakamiya plays his hand to find out the truth behind his older brother's scheming to obtain the throne. Plus, GoHands keeps making anime, and we don't know WHY; Hunter x Hunter manga is on its ...
Making a sequel to Code Geass is a daunting task. But with its fantastic main character and a story that doesn't undercut what came before, Rozé of the Recapture is on the right track.― Making a sequel to Code Geass—especially one set close to the end of the series—is a daunting task. Any story that involves an ongoing war massively undercuts both the finale of the original anime and the sacrifices ...
The Switch sequel console is finally happening! The details are scarce, but you can find out more in this week's column. Also: an interview with El Shaddai's Sawaki Takeyasu, Microsoft layoffs, and more.― Welcome back, folks! What a wild week this has been for the gaming industry. We'll go further into it, but jeez. This past week also saw the disappearance of Capcom's Dark Void and Dark Void Zero. ...
The Code Geass creator discusses his new project with Web3 company Azuki, Enter the Garden, and his hope that this new path could help the medium evolve.― Los Angeles-based Web3 anime-styled brand Azuki and advertising conglomerate Dentsu debuted the first nine-minute episode of their joint anime endeavor, Enter the Garden, on April 30. The episode, which has already racked up a quarter of a million...
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...
Final volume ships in fall― The 25th compiled book volume of Yuki Sato's Tomodachi Game (Friends Games) manga revealed on Thursday that the series will end with the 26th volume's release in fall. The story, based on Mikoto Yamaguchi's original concept, centers on Yūichi Katagiri, a young man with a perfect student life who has four friends with difficult lives. His peaceful daily life comes to an e...
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...
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...