It's now finally time for One Piece to answer the question, "why bother saving the Vinsmokes?" The initial pitch was that Sanji couldn't just walk away and let his family die, even though they did all those horrible things to him. I kind of understood what he meant at the time—we can sympathize with the fact that he saw himself as weak for wanting to do so, which made Luffy's support that much more empowering—but it creates a weird pretzel of alliances where we're trying to save one awful family by helping Capone assassinate another awful family. I don't think casual audiences are going to find the idea of helping the bad guys in a series that normally punches them all that thrilling or cathartic, either.
And that's where episodes like this become really important. Now that Judge's goals and ego have been shattered by Big Mom's betrayal and Sanji's rescue, Sanji's in position to make a firm declaration of secession. "Admit you're not my father!" and all that. The child known as "Vinsmoke" Sanji died at sea as far as our hot-headed cook is concerned, and the act of kindness he's offering his family by saving them is more about upholding Zeff's values than anything else. It's here that the Whole Cake Island arc reveals itself as a grand-scale version of what we saw Sanji doing way back in Baratie, where he'd feed hungry pirates knowing full well they could turn against him the second they were back to full health. Sanji and Zeff's attitude of "I'll save your ass now and then kick it later if I have to" attitude is pretty cool and inspiring, and that philosophy is the spine that makes the rest of this arc even possible.
That's the most important event that happens this week, while the rest of the episode plods along slowly as Big Mom finally returns to consciousness and starts whacking away at the Big Father, which is where our heroes are currently hiding. There's really not much going on this week until we reach the Sanji and Judge scene, so it's otherwise a pretty unexceptional episode. That scene is solid, however, one of the cleanest emotional beats of the arc. By the end, Judge is turning his back to the audience, ready to head out and start his fight with Big Mom again because he doesn't want to owe Sanji anything. If there's one thing these two men can agree to work together on, it's getting to the point where they don't have to be in each other's lives anymore.
I do wish this episode gave me a larger variety of things to talk about. Now that we're in the action half of the arc, I fully expect to see the pace pick up and slow down at random like this, which has me sweating. The Straw Hats' fight right now is to be anything other than sitting ducks, since Capone can only keep them safe for so long and they only have a vague idea of an escape plan. It's been a good three episodes so far of "Oh no! The Big Mom pirates are closing in!" This is possibly the most important episode in terms of Sanji's arc in WCI, but it sure isn't much else.
The benefit of being committed to such a simple setup is that the story knows exactly what it needs to do to invoke the maximum emotional response for this type of story.― I Want You To Make Me Beautiful is a simple story that does everything it sets out to do. At its heart, it's a straightforward story about moving on from the pain of a bad breakup and reinventing yourself into something better. Th...
Laid-Back Camp narrowly claims the top spot this week, but Delicious in Dungeon is having none of that and bumps it down in the cumulative. Find out where your favorites rank this week!― 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 ...
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2019-20 anime was itself a follow-up to first 2013-16 Ace of Diamond anime― Production on a sequel to the 2019-2020 television anime of Yūji Terajima's Ace of Diamond Act II (Daiya no A Act II) manga has been green-lit. Terajima drew an illustration to commemorate the news: Terajima's original Ace of Diamond baseball manga inspired a television anime that premiered in 2013, and Crunchyroll streamed ...
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Natalie Van Sistine plays Star and Stripe in dub on Saturday― Crunchyroll announced on Friday that it will premiere the English dub for the seventh season of the My Hero Academia anime on May 18. New cast members include: Natalie Van Sistine as Star and Stripe Kyle Hebert as Agpar William Ofoegbu as Ethan Aiden Call as Biggs Sean Letourneau as Wedge Additional voices include Tyson Rinehart and Wyat...
2-hour programming block airs on Fridays starting on May 31― Adult Swim's Toonami programming block announced on Friday that it is creating a new block called Toonami Rewind that is dedicated to running anime, or versions of the series, that aired on the original Toonami prior to its 2012 revival. Toonami Rewind will air on Fridays starting on May 31 at 5:00 p.m. EDT, and it will feature Sailor Moo...
Pokémon Horizons continues to display some of the best the franchise offers with great character work, creative setpieces, surprisingly strong direction, and a focus on a plot that continues to feel engaging.― Pokémon Horizons felt like a breath of fresh air as a new mainline Pokémon series. With a more timid and empathic main character and a stronger emphasis on the adventuring aspect of being a Po...
Sony and Square-Enix are both reorganizing, from new CEOs to staff cutbacks. Also, sad news about Penny Blood, more Cotton, and the latest video game news!― Welcome back, folks! You know, it's always nice to discover old stuff from a franchise you love that you didn't know existed. For example, I didn't know that the old Captain N: The Game Master cartoon had an episode that featured the world of Dr...
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Steve and Chris compare some of the highs and lows of an anime studio change-up, from Attack on Titan and One-Punch Man to Spice and Wolf.― Steve and Chris compare some of the highs and lows of an anime studio change-up, from Attack on Titan and One-Punch Man to Spice and Wolf. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.S...
You've probably read some version of this story before, but I doubt that you've ever seen it be this adorable.― You've probably read some version of this story before, but I doubt that you've ever seen it be this adorable. You and I Are Polar Opposites is based on the tried-and-true formula of a thousand romantic comedies: Suzuki is a popular girl, and Tani is the class nerd. She's bright and perky,...
James and Lynzee look into Hideaki Anno's latest hint that there might be more Evangelion after the last movie and news on the Lord of the Rings anime film!― Could There Be More Evangelion on the Horizon? James and Lynzee look into Hideaki Anno's latest hint that there might be more Evangelion after the last movie and news on the Lord of the Rings anime film! Plus, we catch up with Kafka and the Ka...