Yuck. I hate seeing the anime look this bad. I have a lot of affection for The One Piece anime as a whole, and I'm among the people quick to defend it, but every so often there's an episode so slap-dash that it's genuinely disappointing .
It turns out that we haven't entirely left filler territory yet on our trip to Zou, as we spend about two-thirds of this episode on Bartolomeo regaling his crew with the stories of how Luffy met each member of the Straw Hat pirates. The arcs included in this clip show range from the Shanks flashback all the way through Thriller Bark (not including arcs like Skypiea, where we weren't introduced to any new crew members). Once the story reaches the point where the anime started to broadcast in widescreen, the episode simply re-uses old footage. However, anything before that gets re-animated with a glossy new coat of modern Toei paint.
The only explanation I can imagine for why this episode looks so bad is that they're currently spending their resources on better future episodes and needed an extra week of filler, but even by bottom-of-the-barrel Toei standards, there's something weirdly alarming about some of this footage. Characters are almost never on-model, the static "animation" draws a lot of attention to itself, and the overall storyboarding/direction of these classic scenes is as dull and lifeless as you could possibly get. The Zoro and Nami related content was the worst of this material.
But by far the most heartbreaking thing about this episode is how it forces you to think about how much the animation style has changed for the worse over the years. Again, I'm usually an apologist for the modern incarnation of Toei's One Piece, but I do think it's lost a bit of soul somewhere down the line. Even if this was a more expensive looking episode, something about the way the show is made on a technical level wouldn't allow those old scenes to have the same organic quality they used to have. Shiny and plastic is just kind of Toei's thing now, and I do not understand why. This has little to do with how impressive the show does or doesn't look at a given moment, since even the old stuff had it's fair share of butt-ugly animation, this is purely about what feels good to look at. And feel-good episodes are few and far between these days.
The episode wraps up with a few noteworthy story events: First, we learn about the most recent addition to the Seven Warlords: a bulky and powerful man claiming to be the biological son of Whitebeard. We don't get to see much of this person, but the next-episode preview makes it clear we'll be seeing more of him soon. Second, Luffy and friends finally arrive at the island of Zou, which turns out not to be an island at all but rather an enormous living elephant wandering the oceans and carrying an entire civilization on its back. We've seen snippets of Sanji's half of the crew exploring this unique location, so now we'll be getting to see it in much more explicit detail.
Ignoring the poor quality of the episode itself, I do love the concept of Zou. Ever since the crew entered the Grand Line, every location has had some kind of crazy fantasy hook, and an entire kingdom that exists on the back of an elephant (who may or may not have ties to the dark history of The One Piece world) fits perfectly snug into that pattern. I look forward to the Straw Hats' adventures in this crazy new location, and I'm crossing my fingers about feeling better about the production starting next week.
Chris and Steve explore this season's magical girl offerings while threatening to recategorize the whole genre. It's a magical free-for-all, from Minky Momo to Acro Trip!― Chris and Steve explore this season's magical girl offerings while threatening to recategorize the whole genre. It's a magical free-for-all, from Minky Momo to Acro Trip! Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the partic...
If you enjoy a slow-burn visual novel, this is going to be right up your alley.― The Memories Off series of visual novels first debuted in 1999, and it's only now in 2024 that we're finally getting one of them in English. In fact, SINce Memories: Off the Starry Sky is the first new entry in the franchise since 2015, and while one or two characters from the earlier games pop in as bit players, this i...
We see major battles through their eyes – distant laser beams visible only from the sparks of light and titanic punches that can be felt miles away as they shake the earth – and realize what it means to be an average person in these times.― One Piece Fan Letter is precisely what its title describes in the best possible way. What a breath of fresh air this was. It's hard to encapsulate all my feeling...
The team raised US$6.68 million for the first-ever film, described as an "experiment" that will blend 2D and 3D elements and audience participation.― On April 8, a one-minute clip circulating on social media caught anime fans' attention worldwide. It's actually the pilot film of the newly-announced anime film titled KILLTUBE. The film is scheduled to be released sometime in 2026, but it's safe to s...
Like any great game with immersive sim elements, Echoes of Wisdom feels like you're getting away with something anytime you solve a problem with anything other than the most obvious solution.― How do you even review a Zelda game? They're some of the most overtly influential video games in the medium's history and are directly responsible for the art form's growth several times over. It's impossible ...
Lucas and Coop discuss the recent Junji Ito anime catastrophe: Adult Swim's Uzumaki adaptation.― Lucas and Coop discuss the recent Junji Ito anime catastrophe: Adult Swim's Uzumaki adaptation. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.Spoiler Warning for discussion of the series ahead. Uzumaki is streaming and available ...
Director Eri Osada and Producer Sho Ohtani discuss Harley Quinn's turn as an independent woman and the DC character that almost made it into the anime.― A team of Super-Villains on a rampage in another world! The Suicide Squad, also known as Task Force X, is a special task force of Super-Villains forced to undertake top-secret government missions in exchange for lesser sentences. The nano-bombs imp...
We all knew Dan Da Dan was going to be a hit this season, but did you expect Orb: On the Movements of the Earth to start so strong? Discover the first user rankings of the Fall 2024 season!― 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 m...
Come get your fill of October releases, featuring fan-favorite yuri, horror for Halloween, and plenty of [pumpkin] spice!― 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 airs at the beginning of a season. Now, doing something like that for manga is tricky ...
My Sister Took My Fiancé and Now I'm Being Courted by a Beastly Prince is off to a solid start. It may not be wholly innovative, but Cordelia is a good heroine and nobody's fool, except when it comes to herself, and she's wholly cognizant of that.― Life is not easy for Cordelia. The daughter of a noble in the kingdom of Liobern, Cordelia isn't so much unremarkable as she is less outwardly beautiful ...
The voices of Ichigo and Uryu reminisce about their decades of memories among a cast that "improves together while supporting one another."― JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles with VIZ Media hosted a panel with Masakazu Morita (Ichigo Kurosaki) and Noriaki Sugiyama (Uryu Ishida) of BLEACH. In promoting the third season of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3 - The Conflict, the two were invited for a Q&A and...