Of course, the final battle between Luffy, Law and Doflamingo couldn't be that simple. We left off last week with Law ready to deliver the final blow. Here he mentions that, even if he were to fail, the Gamma Knife attack is designed to tear its victim apart from the inside, and that Doflamingo's organs were being ripped to shreds as they spoke. This seems like a pretty definitive win, but obviously we're still early in the fight and Law's attempt at a final blow leaves himself exhausted and tumbling back. Doflamingo has taken quite the beating himself, but that doesn't stop him from standing back up to everybody's surprise.
It turns out that Doflamingo's String-String powers never seem to run out of uses. He claims that he has strings working on himself from the inside as impromptu stitches holding his shattered organs in place. “It's a bit different from full recovery,” he mentions, implying that his body is still taking a toll from the damage. There has always been a precedent in One Piece that how you use your powers is far more important than what they are to begin with.
So this is our “all is lost” moment. Law is defeated and on the ground and Doflamingo is standing, as joyously furious as ever. Doffy is about to land the killing blow with a kick, but Luffy gets in his way, stopping the attack with his own foot. This was always one of my favorite scenes in the manga. Seeing the absurd size difference between Luffy and Doflamingo as they have their little stand-off is super cool, and the thought that little ole Luffy has no trouble stopping such a strong guy makes for some really exciting imagery. At least, in the manga that was the case. This episode seemed to have a lot of difficulty keeping the characters on-model, let alone capturing the strength of their body language.
Doflamingo tries to kick again but Luffy retaliates with an even stronger attack and suddenly the two are engaging in a battle of their Conquerer's Haki, marking this as a fight between two people chosen by the heavens to be kings. Trebol watches on, remembering the time when he and the other officers of the Doflamingo family took Doffy in and accepted him as their king on the basis of his Haki's strength. It was the family that nurtured his dark side and made him in to the champion of evil he is today. I have mixed feelings on this plot point, since another one of the Dressrosa arc's muddled thematics lies in Doflamingo's motivation, which has gone every which way over the course of the story.
There was once a time where Doflamingo was one of the few villains who seemed to be coming from a place of sincere emotion, but this scene seems hellbent on reminding us that he is just pure evil, and that this is ultimately a good vs. evil story. I liked seeing hints of a Doflamingo who cared about his crew and had ambitions of being the Pirate King, as Monet mentioned back on Punk Hazard. There was a chance to take Doflamingo, one of the most overwhelmingly sadistic characters we've met in the series so far, and give him a sympathetic character arc of some kind that came to an end with his defeat by Luffy's hand. I think there was evidence that Oda was toying with the idea of making him a deeper character, but he may have changed his mind by the time we got to this fight.
This an episode with some strong highs and lows. I love seeing Luffy and Doflamingo clash like this, and the Haki lightning that erupts through the second half gives the fight a strong sense of atmosphere. However, I'm less keen on the lower quality animation on display and the continued confusing mess that is Doflamingo's backstory. The more we learn about him and where he came from, the less I understand what kind of story Oda is trying to tell. I've mentioned before that I think Dressrosa is full of subplots that keep changing their mind, direction-wise, and I think this is a perfect example.
Series starring Miku Martineau, Ayo Solanke, more starts production in Toronto― The Hollywood Reporter entertainment news site reported on Thursday that showrunner Simon Barry (Warrior Nun creator) and Boat Rocker Media are producing a live-action series for Netflix titled BET that "is based in part" on writer Homura Kawamoto and artist Tōru Naomura's Kakegurui - Compulsive Gambler manga. The show h...
Jean-Karlo attempts to condense two big video game showcases into a coherent column, from the revamped Silent Hill 2 to the grazing pastures of Story of Seasons.― Welcome back, folks. This is related to a big story for this week, but this past weekend, I listened to Utada Hikaru's re-recording of "Simple And Clean". It's very emotional. Utada Hikaru is a good twenty-plus years older than when she or...
In the Eisner-nominated work, Maki Fujiwara chronicles her daily life with her husband, lionized mangaka Yoshiharu Tsuge. Though deceptively simple at first glance, a foundation of abuse is slowly revealed.― At first blush, Maki Fujiwara's My Picture Diary does what it says on the tin. It tells the story of her daily life as a housewife and mother, spending time with her daily activities, noting the...
Now streaming on Netflix, Tomotaka Shibayama's first feature animation mixes the magical with reality to share a simple but important message.―
Director Tomotaka Shibayama's latest film, My Oni Girl, is an action-adventure drama with elements of a buddy comedy and a relatable coming-of-age story. The film, produced by Studio Colorido, was released in theaters in Japan and on Netflix on May 24, foll...
Game that inspired multiple anime launched in August 2017― The X/Twitter account for the Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story PC and smartphone game announced on Friday that the game will end service on the PC version on July 1 at 3:00 p.m. JST and for iOS and Android on July 31 at 3:00 p.m. JST. The staff are working to release an "archive app" of the game to allow players to access c...
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Kaiju No. 8 takes the top spot this week while Tonari no Yōkai-san pushes to #3 in the cmulative! Check out 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 rankings are based on how people rated in...
Mospeada is a work very much of its time, riffing on ideas and tropes that were all the rage when it was made, and doesn't do anything exceptional with them.― It can be easy for even longtime fans to forget that alongside Macross, there were two other 80's sci-fi anime that got Frankenstein-ed into what we'd eventually call Robotech. While this isn't the first time one of those series has made it to...
Main staff, cast reunite for new film― Warner Bros. Japan revealed on Thursday that it is producing a sequel film to its Batman Ninja CG anime film titled Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League. Junpei Mizusaki, the producer of the opening animation sequences for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders and Kamikaze Douga CEO/founder, is returning from Batman Ninja to direct...
Hana Hishikawa, Misuzu Yamada star in J.C. Staff anime with designs drafted by Penguindrum's Lily Hoshino― The official website for the television anime of Yuzuki Akasaka's Mahō Tsukai ni Narenakatta Onna no Ko no Hanashi (The Story of the Girl Who Couldn't Become a Wizard) novel unveiled the first full promotional video and visual for the anime on Thursday. The video reveals the anime's cast as wel...
Following the upcoming retro programming block Toonami Rewind, Chris and Lucas look back fondly on the afternoons spent watching Naruto and Sailor Moon.― Following the upcoming retro programming block Toonami Rewind, Chris and Lucas look back fondly on the afternoons spent watching Naruto and Sailor Moon. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the v...
Yeah, yeah, Kaiju No. 8 has all the great action scenes, but Yatagarasu is chewing up the scenery as the royal ladies absolutely lose their minds!?― Why Aren't You Watching This Anime Yet? Yeah, yeah, Kaiju No. 8 has all the great action scenes, but Yatagarasu is chewing up the scenery as the royal ladies absolutely lose their minds!? The ANN After Show streams live on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitte...
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Miles Atherton crunched Netflix's latest numbers for some surprising anime discoveries, from the popularity of My Happy Marriage to the One Piece juggernaut.― Since the advent of streaming, it's been notoriously difficult to gauge how popular a specific anime is with international audiences, both for publishers looking to make informed decisions for a market that generates most of its revenue outsi...
With seven full routes and one mini-route with a character from the previous game, if you enjoyed Cupid Paradise, Sweet & Spicy Darling is worth playing.― The first order of business is this: if you haven't played the original Cupid Parasite otome game, there isn't much point in picking up Sweet & Spicy Darling. There is one new route for this sequel, but even that relies on you knowing the backgrou...
With the release of Dead Dead Demon's Dededededestruction, Nick and Steve take a look at it and some other manga that were thought to be "unadaptable"—and see if that was truly the case.― With the release of Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction, Nick and Steve take a look at it and some other manga that were thought to be "unadaptable"—and see if that was truly the case. Disclaimer: The views and...