One Piece trudges on as we continue to explore the world of Japa—I mean, er, Wano—and we get a whiff of the next fragrance of local flavor in the form of sumo wrestling! We've already met Urashima, the yokozuna of Wano, but now it's time to finally see him in action as he struts his stuff and defends his champion position.
Luffy, Zoro, and Kiku have arrived in Bakura town, trying to track down Tama and her kidnappers. Urashima is their next obstacle, since the second Kiku is in his sight he hounds her with more marriage proposals. There's so good action as Luffy and Zoro fight off a wave of sumo henchmen, but the central conflict lies in how Kiku deals with the unwanted affection and manipulation. Characterization-wise, she's been really all over the place and it's never clear how much of that is intentional in the writing. Even when the sumos straight-up kidnap her, the Straw Hats prefer to stay hands-off since they've intuited her strength and would rather let her protect herself or... some such? There's a weird gag where Zoro stops himself from jumping in because he doesn't feel right about cutting up a bunch of naked sumo wrestlers, and rationalizes it by acknowledging that Kiku is "not just some teahouse waitress." It's really unclear whether characters mean what they say lately.
Kiku can't seem to make up her mind if she wants people to know she's a samurai or just an ordinary local woman. She tries hard to present herself as a waifish damsel type, but she's bad at it, as demonstrated by how she expertly slices Urashima's topknot off and dishonors him front of a large crowd, only to blush immediately after like, "Oops. Did I just do something badass? Sorry, I'm trying to reign it in!" There's a ton to be read into this. At this stage I wonder if the classic samurai of yesteryear are supposed to be extinct or in hiding. There are also questions about Kiku's gender and how that may or may not impact the way she behaves in front of others. This episode is kind of a subversion of One Piece's more conventional damsel tropes, but there's the potential for that to be an incredibly loaded twist if done poorly. She comes across as kind of a ditz, which adds a socially awkward charm to her character when she interacts with our heroes, but she's also book-ish enough to take notes on her enemies. She's a smart, dumb, girly, manly character. Everything we've seen so far could be expanded on in a million ways, but the story's actual intent is so obfuscated at this point that it can be somewhat frustrating.
Presentation-wise, this episode is great. The music swells at its most dramatic point—a new track I think? I really dug it—and the small amount of action we get looks fantastic. This is another case where I wish we could knock each mini-boss out within a single episode, rather than teasing it out across multiple weeks. We didn't need two episodes of Basil Hawkins and we definitely don't need two episodes of Urashima. As of the cliffhanger, Luffy's jumped into the ring with his shirt off and gleefully lures Urashima into a sumo match of wildly conflicting weight classes. What could have been a dour subplot is turning out to be much more fun and adventurous as Luffy must get a taste of the action, even when we still have a missing little girl to find. Providing us with a whirlwind of story tangents and finding humor and tragedy wherever we go is what One Piece does best, but we still have so much to do and see before this arc is over that I wish things could be a tad snappier than they are.
Manga went on hiatus in 2019 due to Yū Sasuga's health issues― This year's 17th issue of Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump magazine revealed on Thursday that Kenichi Tachibana and Yū Sasuga's Terraformars manga will resume in the magazine's 18th issue on April 4. The manga will feature on the cover of the 18th issue, and will have an opening color page. The magazine will also bundle a sticker to commemor...
Company's Japanese anime studio to double output― Warner Bros. Discovery president of Asia-Pacific James Gibbons stated to entertainment news website Variety last Friday that the company's Japanese anime studio will produce more than 10 titles per year as opposed to its output of five to 10 titles in past years. He stated that "anime is one of the best ways to reach the 18 to 30-year-old audience, w...
What you're left with is a dull fantasy with stock, underdeveloped characters with uninteresting relationships that never look as good as they insist they should.― The isekai subgenre is no stranger to harems. These days, it seems like every Tom, Dick, or Harry who gets transported to a fantasy world is instantly gifted with a gaggle of giggling girls glomming over his gormless gonads. Tales of Wedd...
With no less than three new golf anime coming this spring season, Chris and Steve as the big question: Is this Birdie Wing's fault?― With no less than three new golf anime coming this spring season, Chris and Steve ask the big question: Is this Birdie Wing's fault? Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.Spoiler Warnin...
As we approach the end of the season, Delicious in Dungeon and Undead Unluck are steadily climbing the cumulative. Find out how your favorite shows performed in 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...
As we look in despair to a future without new episodes of Frieren, you may be wondering what could possibly fill the hole in your heart (and watch schedule). We're here to help.― With the end of one anime season comes the start of another. As we look in despair to a future without new episodes of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, you may be wondering what could possibly fill the hole in your heart (an...
This week, Nick and Lucas talk about the recent, ongoing, and not-yet-released works of the late, great Akira Toriyama—as well as the potential future of his most popular franchise.― This week, Nick and Lucas talk about the recent, ongoing, and not-yet-released works of the late, great Akira Toriyama—as well as the potential future of his most popular franchise. Disclaimer: The views and opinions e...
From shows that are "just not for me" to pure animated shlock, here are our editorial team's picks for the worst anime of the winter 2024 season.― Yesterday, we gave you our list of the best anime Winter 2024 had to offer. Now it's time for the opposite. From shows that are "just not for me" to pure animated shlock, here are our editorial team's picks for the worst anime of the season. Note: The co...
The second part of a double-feature currently in U.S. theaters, when Sakuta finds he's become invisible, he'll have to face some significant changes in his life to create the future he wants.― As an overarching story, The Rascal Does Not Dream series hit its central climax in the 2019 film Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl. The previous film to this one, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Vent...
With the end of the Winter 2024 anime season upon us, it's time to look back at the best of what the season had to offer.― With the end of the Winter 2024 anime season looming, it's time to look back at the best of what the season had to offer. And so here's a list of our editorial team's favorite anime series this season. The big takeaway? We really like Delicious in Dungeon. Note: the commentary ...
― Curious about all the news and panels that happened at AnimeJapan 2024 last weekend? 132,557 people descended upon Tokyo Big Sight across two days to experience all the latest and greatest in anime! News from Saturday, March 23 Nanare Hananare TV Anime Premieres in July CoMix Wave Films Teases New Work by 'Rookie Director' Hyakushō Kizoku TV Anime's 2nd Season Premieres This Fall Thunderbolt Fant...