Last week, we saw our heroes on their way to meet the Duke of the Day, Dogstorm (or “Inuarashi” for those who prefer the untranslated name). Apparently in the world of the Minks, they have two leaders: Dogstorm by day and somebody called the Cat Viper (“Nekomamushi”) by night. The story is that these two rule the country equally, but they hate each other and would probably make attempts on each other's lives if given the chance. This day/night relationship is their agreement to both rule in peace, without the threat of having to see each other's faces.
The cliffhanger last week had Luffy blurting out something about the samurai of Wano, after several episodes of reminders that that is a taboo subject among the Minks. The cliffhanger implied something dramatic about to happen, but this episode opens immediately with the rest of the Straw Hats viciously beating Luffy for flapping his gums in a jokey attempt to disguise Luffy's words from Wanda. The whole exchange gets brushed off and the audience is spared any real drama.
We meet a few new characters in this episode, mainly Dogstorm himself, a giant dog Mink, probably around the size of somebody like Whitebeard. He's bedridden and still healing from the wounds he sustained in the battle with Jack's men. The second half of this episode continues that story as the Minks' Musketeers arrive on the scene to fend off the Gifters of Jack's group. These Musketeers include Wanda and Carrot, two of the stronger warriors on Zou, as well as a Lion Mink with a twisty mustache named Shishilian.
This episode is one of the kind that reviewers have the most difficult time with. There's not a whole lot especially good or especially bad to talk about, leaving it right in the boring middle. Honestly, the animation probably looks a tad bit nicer than it did last week, but not in any particularly exciting way. The new characters introduced this week seem cool enough, but they each have much more interesting counterparts hanging out in the background (Cat Viper for Dogstorm, and Pedro for Shishilian). The most interesting detail revealed in this episode was easily the Gifters' bizarre pseudo-Devil Fruit abilities. We already knew that Kaido was building an amy using Caesar and Doflamingo's fake Devil Fruits, but we only ever had a vague idea of what that meant. In this episode, we get to see a guy's hand turn into a wolf's head, and that's just weird enough to want to see more of it.
The biggest strength of the Zou arc so far has been its color palette. Usually One Piece does a pretty good job at making sure each arc has its own unique color feel that you associate it with, but Zou goes above and beyond in making sure that every scene is much more atmospheric than what we've gotten in the past. Even when the animation is below average, or exactly average like it is this week, you still have those colors to fall back on. That said, I'm a little let down by how little I have to talk about this week in terms of story, and I'm counting on it getting interesting again soon.
Chainsaw Man creator's film opens in Japan on June 28― Avex began streaming the full trailer for the anime film of Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto's "Look Back" one-shot manga on Wednesday. The trailer previews the film's theme "Light song" by composer haruka nakamura and singer urara, and the film project listed more staff members. The newly announced staff members are:
Art Director: Kiyoshi ...
Game launches for PS5, PS4, Switch, PC via Steam― The official Twitter account of the Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation - Quest of Memories console game announced on Sunday that the game will launch worldwide except China on June 20. Bushiroad Games will release the game for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. Lancarse is developing the game. Bushiroad describes the ...
The late premieres are coming in, including GRIMM VARIATIONS. Also: Touken Ranbu Kai Kyoden, YATAGARASU, Kaiju No. 8, Black Butler: Public School Arc, The Misfit of Demon King Academy II, KONOSUBA Season 3, Viral Hit, Mysterious Disappearances, Mushoku Tensei, Sound! Euphonium, Mission: Yozakura Family, Go! Go! Loser Ranger!, and more!― Welcome to Anime News Network's Spring 2024 Anime Preview Guid...
Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino, singer T.M. Revolution, and LUNA SEA's Sugizo appeared for the spectacular send-off.― The Gundam Factory Yokohama held its “Grand Finale ~To the Next Stage~” event on March 31. And to be honest, grand is an understatement. It was epic. Since December 2020, Gundam fans from around the world have visited the Yamashita Pier area in Yokohama to see the 18-meter-tall RX-7...
Change.org petition with 6,200+ signatures asks for refunds― Crunchyroll and Crypton Future Media have been facing criticism from Hatsune Miku fans after the "HATSUNE MIKU EXPO 2024 North America tour powered by Crunchyroll" concert tour started in Vancouver, Canada on April 4. According to fans who have attended the concerts so far, the concerts seem to be using a LED screen instead of the trademar...
In the modern streaming landscape, almost every anime series is simulcast for fans. Almost. Chris and Steve discuss what happens when a highly-anticipated series gets passed over.― In the modern streaming landscape, almost every anime series is simulcast for fans. Almost. Chris and Steve discuss what happens when a highly-anticipated series gets passed over. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expre...
Ragna Crimson volume 11 effectively ends the first major arc of the manga and encapsulates all of the strengths and struggles of what has come thus far.― Ragna Crimson Volume 11 effectively ends the first major arc of the manga and encapsulates the strengths and struggles of what has come thus far. The volume is essentially broken into three pieces: the battle, a flashback with Ultimatia and Wolteka...
― This past week has been busy for the two leads of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM as they've been promoting the U.S. premiere of the movie on the West Coast. Immediately after they attended the festivities in Seattle, they joined Michael Sinterniklaas (Gundam SEED dub producer) and Stephanie Sheh (English voice of Lacus Clyne) at the Los Angeles film premiere. As attendees eagerly awaited the scr...
These tenously-linked films sport impressive world-building and mechanical designs but suffer from undercooked plots.― Streaming worldwide on Crunchyroll on the day of their Japanese theatrical release, does the distribution pattern of these one-hour-long thematically-linked movies mark a new strategy for the Sony-owned service? I can't see anything similar happening with massive properties like Dem...