Fourth Gear lovers rejoice as the action picks back up with our new Bounceman Luffy continuing to wale on Doflamingo as the two trade blows and flex their Devil Fruit-y muscles. The fighting here manages to stay swift and exciting as it carries us through the first part of the episode. Luffy's Haki-infused face as he headbutt's Doffys stomach got a bit of an uncomfortable laugh from me, as it makes his new transformation even scarier looking than it already was.
The action is packed into roughly the first third of this episode, culminating in Luffy's “Leo Bazooka” attack that sends Doflamingo flying into a crater. The unanimous reaction from all the watchers-on is “I can't believe it! Doflamingo has been defeated!”, but we all know it can't possibly be that easy. I'm a little bummed that we even got that exclamation at all, since traditionally that's been the series' way of informing the audience, without ambiguity, that villain has finally been taken down (since the series opts for beating the villains unconscious over any definitive deaths). However, that's proven not to be the case by the end of the episode, not that it felt like it could be over that quickly anyway.
While we wait for Doflamingo to pull himself back out of the rubble, Luffy bounces around, being admired by the townsfolk of Dressrosa. A little too much time out of this episode is spent watching Luffy bounce in place (his new form doesn't allow him to stand still) while he waits for his adversary to start the fight back up. Gives us just a little too much breathing room to think that maybe, just maybe, Fourth Gear is a tiny bit more stupid than it is cool.
Luffy listens to the townsfolk yammer on, discussing who this mysterious, bouncy muscle man could be. Most of them correctly deduce that this man is the pirate, Monkey D. Luffy, as well as
the gladiator who disguised himself earlier in the series as “Lucy”. However, in the middle of all this, Luffy's power-up runs out of juice and he deflates into a tired shriveled up version of himself. Man, if his power had a limit you'd think Luffy wouldn't let Toei kill so much of his precious time!
Anyway, the biggest shocker of this episode comes with Burgess's eagerness to attack Luffy in this weakened state, shouting that he's off to steal the Gum-Gum Fruit. This is super interesting because it raises so many questions about what the Blackbeard pirates are up to and capable of. When Blackbeard stole Whitebeard's Devil Fruit, it seemed possible that it was a result of his own Dark-Dark powers. If Burgess has the power to steal a fruit from somebody without his captain being present, then what exactly is going on? Do they have some kind of special device? Or is it simply about killing Luffy in hopes of nabbing the resurrected fruit that grows in his wake?
We probably won't be finding out any time soon, as Doflamingo finally decides to stop resting about and re-emerges into the city. Relatively speaking, I feel like we got through the first phase of the Fourth gear fight pretty well. Even though I'm fatigued as hell of Dressrosa, I would have been disappointed if the fight was over that quickly. Giving his Fourth Gear a time limit and then forcing a recharge state seems like a pretty obvious move, but it's the right choice in terms of giving the fight a good ebb and flow. Luffy is now totally vulnerable and it's up to the story to keep him safe just long enough for him to deliver the final blow.
Following Poupelle of Chimney Town, Nishino tackles addiction in his new stop-motion anime short film.― In advance of the U.S. premiere of the new stop-motion animated short film Bottle George, Anime News Network sat down with writer Akihiro Nishino and chatted not only about the film and its creation but also its deeper message and how it connects to Nishino's past. While now well-known as a childr...
From Classroom for Heroes to Management of a Novice Alchemist, we have reviews of the newest light novels in our guide!― Welcome to Anime News Network's Spring 2024 Light Novel Guide, the companion to our ongoing manga guide! This season, we have 20 novels with reviews in the guide for you to browse. Every included novel was published in March or April or will be released in May. This guide focuses...
Anime's teaser visual also revealed― A website opened on Thursday to reveal the original anime project of animation studio GoHands titled Momentary Lily, which will premiere in January 2025. The website also revealed a teaser visual and promotional video. The visual above teases: "Our daily life is always fun." GoRA and GoHands' K television anime series premiered in October 2013, and had a TV serie...
SAND LAND is a curious game that combines an eclectic set of gameplay features into a well-realized package that, despite its flaws, is perfectly solid and more than the sum of its parts.― SAND LAND is a curious game that combines an eclectic set of gameplay features into a well-realized package that, despite its flaws, is perfectly solid and more than the sum of its parts. Going into this one, all ...
Atlus reveals its big new game, Metaphor: ReFantazio, amid the recent exit of Shin Megami Tensei artist Kazuma Kaneko. PLUS: A Golden Axe comedy series and Pokémon Go models get a makeover.― Welcome back, folks! As you probably noticed, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes came out earlier this week. It's a fun time, as you could see in my review of it. It's come to my attention that there are some per...
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes promises to revive the Suikoden series in everything but name, but what's so great about Suikoden that it's worth reviving? Well, read on…― It's 1996, and the PlayStation is just starting to take over the game industry. It has many genres covered: racing, fighting, action, sports, puzzles, train-conducting, deep-sea diving, fire-fighting, and so forth. But what abou...
Some of Shonen Jump's biggest manga hits are approaching their end. Does the magazine have new heavy-hitters lined up to take up the mantle?― Some of Shonen Jump's biggest manga hits are approaching their end. Does the magazine have new heavy-hitters lined up to take up the mantle? Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Netwo...
James and Lynzee reflect on the end of Solo Leveling and whether its worldbuilding is worth its edgy turn. PLUS: The big monsters of Kaiju No. 8, & court intrigue in Yatagarasu!― Will You Watch Solo Leveling Season 2? James and Lynzee reflect on the end of Solo Leveling and whether its worldbuilding is worth its edgy turn. PLUS: The big monsters of Kaiju No 8, court intrigue in Yatagarasu, and a li...
Some books are good. Some books read like self-insert fanfiction from the early days of AO3, but you can't stop reading and enjoying them. Dark Moon: The Blood Altar is one of those.― Some books are good. Some books are not and read sort of like self-insert fanfiction from the early days of AO3, but even though you recognize that they aren't objectively filled with literary merit, you can't stop rea...
Hayashi and Tōchi play mentee/mentor in heart-warming golf anime series.― Golf anime Tonbo! is one of the new anime premiering in the Spring 2024 season. At Anime Japan 2024, we sat down with lead voice actors Rika Hayashi and Hiroki Tōchi to talk about their characters, their experiences with golf, and the positives of country life in Japan. In her first voice acting role as a main character, Hayas...
The third season of Sound Euphonium reignites the fandom controversy over Reina and Kumiko's relationship. Chris and Steve delve into it and why 'queerbaiting' is such a loaded term.― The third season of Sound Euphonium reignites the fandom controversy over Reina and Kumiko's relationship. Chris and Steve delve into it and why 'queerbaiting' is such a loaded term. Disclaimer: The views and opinions...
You can't accuse the Pretty Cure franchise of resting on its laurels. Wonderful Precure! could move too slowly for some viewers. But these episodes are full of unmitigated joy.― You can't accuse the Pretty Cure franchise of resting on its laurels. While there are distinct similarities between all iterations of the long-running Magical Girl franchise, recent years have done their best to maintain the...