As the dust settles on Big Mom wrecking Queen, she… continues to wreck Queen. He doesn't let up though, and does a mighty leap into the sky to drop down on top of her. Barely managing to hold up his huge brachiosaurus frame, Big Mom is forced to listen to him chuckle about how she'll never touch that red bean soup.
The laughter does not last long.
She soon grabs him and begins spinning him around full Yonkou Wrestlemania-style. Big Mom proceeds to chuck this jurassic into the prison wall so hard that the entire complex starts crumbling. Towers fall, cells break, and Kid and Killer end up freed from the water.
Across the compound, Raizo and Caribou are playing Metal Gear Solid by taking out guards and breaking communication lines. Raizo is quite impressed with how useful Caribou is turning out to be. The squishy creeper mentions that by taking out the boss snail they can cut off communications to Udon.
Back in the prison yard, Big Mom finds that the red bean soup container is empty. Luffy tries to “subtly” say that he did that, but Big Mom hears him because Luffy's dump stat is whispering. It turns out she was not in a soup rage for her own hunger – rather, she wanted to support the people of Ebisu who were so kind to her. She begins attacking Luffy and Hyogoro, sending them flying. Before their collars explode, Luffy manages to rip them off in a heightened state – tapping into the Ryou/Haki that Hyogoro was trying to get him to access. Hyogoro decides not to run and instead stay in the path of Big Mom to increase Luffy's need to succeed. Luffy rises to the challenge, blossoming with newfound power, and preparing to take on an Emperor of the Sea head-on.
What a phenomenal episode with excellent animation, direction, and character moments. Big Mom is one of the story's most fascinating villains and any time she appears it's a treat. Finding out that her hunger rage was for the people of Ebisu rather than herself was a big o-o-f in the heart and the anime did a terrific job rendering the impact of that scene. Luffy's hilarious inability to have an internal monologue and the bit where he thought Big Mom didn't recognize him because of his “disguise” had me rolling.
Speaking of impact and rolling, wow the fights this week. The titanic, screen-shaking battering Queen took at Big Mom's hands was glorious to watch. All the shaky cam POV shots from low angles really made Big Mom feel appropriately terrifying. It's hard as a viewer not to get the sense that you are right there in her shadow as she begins her rampage, and the pressure is on. The absolutely absurdity of the events – kaiju matriarch versus punk-rock dinosaur wrestling match – does not feel out of place at all, because the execution is flawless.
Luffy's Ryou awakening was the cherry on top. The black screen with the burning hot pink blossoms coming up from the depths, then the way they rippled across Luffy's body as his armament activated… just wow. Again, hats off to the Toei team for elevating the (already excellent) source material. Even as someone who has already read these chapters in the manga, it was something special to see it fully realized on the screen.
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...
Seki voiced Shutaro Kiba in Mōryō no Hako, Zhang Fei in Sōten Kōro― Talent agency En-kikaku announced on Tuesday that voice actor Takaaki Seki died on April 15 due to esophageal cancer. He had been undergoing medical treatment. He was 54. There was a funeral held for close relatives. Seki was born in Osaka, Japan on November 5, 1969. He entered the En Theater Institute in 1995 and joined Engeki Shūd...
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...
Part District 9 meets O Maidens in Your Savage Season, part grimdark deconstruction of Doraemon.― Many anime films are adapted from manga and Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction is no exception. Usually, a film will cover a single arc of the greater plot—giving the story on screen a solid beginning, middle, and end. However, this is not the case with the first Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destructi...
People might think of this game as a celebration of the energy and experimentation of RPGs past, a tribute to a time when archetypes and genre conventions hadn't yet calcified and anything was fair game. And for once, they'd be right.― There's a point that Lady Perielle returns to often when people ask her why Nowa, a young warrior from a small village, is the leader of the resistance front against ...
