When the news came out that Wano would be put on pause merely three episodes in so we could deviate into several weeks of movie tie-in filler, I honestly wasn't too bummed out by the prospect. The anime's new look has been so great that I've developed a renewed confidence in the TV show, and I don't mind being patient if it means the final product continues to be this good. The filler may be awkwardly timed, but even two episodes feels like a healthy buffer to make sure the anime isn't going to catch up with the manga's story.
However, I was hoping that these episodes would at least be more interesting than this. Stampede is a good-looking movie, and its visual style is clearly drumming to the same beat as the Wano reboot, so it's disappointing that its tie-in episodes aren't at all in line with the quality we've been tasting lately. This episode has been pulled out of a time capsule, having waited dormant since the distant year of one month ago. The Wano-specific eye catches have been hurriedly swept back into the closet, and the varied line width on the character art is less pronounced. I can't tell if it's supposed to look like a new episode or an old one.
Plot-wise, this week's adventure appears to be taking place slightly before the events of Stampede, with Buena Festa stringing together is ideal cast of ruffians for the "Pirate Festa." Stampede's main villain, Douglas Bullet, is name dropped, but as far as I can tell we'll have to wait until the movie itself before we can meet him. In his place, our villain of the week is Cidre, a bounty hunter who picks a fight with the Straw Hat pirates while receiving his invitation to the Festa. Bounty hunters are one of the most under-represented categories of One Piecetough guys!, though this Cidre dude likely isn't going to be leaving any lasting impressions.
Stampede's big hook is that we're going to be seeing a massive cast of secondary characters coming together in a big crossover. Luffy's met hundreds of major players throughout his adventures, but who ends up crossing paths in the main series is always dependent on the needs of the story and the goal of this movie is to toss that limitation in the trash and go absolutely nuts. This filler arc is just the pregame, however, so there's only one character on our Super Smash Bros. demo disc, and that's Boa Hancock. Luffy's misadventures lead him to an island of carbonated water in search for cola to help fuel the Thousand Sunny, and naturally he reunites with Pirate Empress by accidentally falling from the sky into the hot springs while she bathes naked. (Again.) The bar is pretty low for filler antics, and as far as swooning lovestruck ladies go, Hancock's a little difficult to go back to in a post-Charlotte Pudding world. Together they must team-up and fight Cidre, a man who hates pirates so much that he'd even kill a member of the Seven Warlords.
As a commercial for Stampede, I can't fathom what this episode aims to accomplish. It's incredibly forgettable and speaks to absolutely nothing that might get my hype meters running for this upcoming movie, which is assuming the audience is keen to watch a commercial for Stampede at the cost of the Wano arc's progression in the first place. I can't speak with any certainty that I even understand the chronology of events here. Is Stampede going to start with Luffy and Hancock having already met? Or is this filler going to be completely ignored? I suppose this is all within expectation, but so far this mini-arc is in one ear and out the other.
Here we have a from-the-ground-up remake, but does this beloved classic still hold up in a modern sense, or is that praise just nostalgia talking?― It's nice when Nintendo surprises us with a remaster or re-release of one of their more difficult-to-obtain games. The original Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for the Nintendo GameCube is a classic for many. However, since the game was never re-rele...
Miles Atherton crunched Netflix's latest numbers for some surprising anime discoveries, from the popularity of My Happy Marriage to the One Piece juggernaut.― Since the advent of streaming, it's been notoriously difficult to gauge how popular a specific anime is with international audiences, both for publishers looking to make informed decisions for a market that generates most of its revenue outsi...
With seven full routes and one mini-route with a character from the previous game, if you enjoyed Cupid Paradise, Sweet & Spicy Darling is worth playing.― The first order of business is this: if you haven't played the original Cupid Parasite otome game, there isn't much point in picking up Sweet & Spicy Darling. There is one new route for this sequel, but even that relies on you knowing the backgrou...
With the release of Dead Dead Demon's Dededededestruction, Nick and Steve take a look at it and some other manga that were thought to be "unadaptable"—and see if that was truly the case.― With the release of Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction, Nick and Steve take a look at it and some other manga that were thought to be "unadaptable"—and see if that was truly the case. Disclaimer: The views and...
LiSA performs 'Black Box' opening theme― The official website for NieR:Automata Ver 1.1a, the television anime of Square Enix and Platinum Games' NieR:Automata action role-playing game, started streaming its "promotion file 11" on Tuesday. The video previews the opening theme song "Black Box" by LiSA, and reveals the premiere of the anime's second cours (quarter of year) in July. (The video below re...
When even the author says this story will hurt, you know it will be bad.― When even the author says this story will hurt, you know it will be bad. That's assuming, of course, that you weren't prepared for it going in. The fate of Astrea Familia is well-known to readers and viewers (and players) of the various Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon iterations, and the most recent season of ...
The documentary was full of cool tidbits about the 82-year-old producer and the anime he's worked on—including Ninja Scroll, Pluto, and In This Corner of the World.― Late last month, Japanese television network NHK put out a documentary on anime producer Masao Maruyama as part of their Anime Manga Explosion series. In it, the show delves into the now 82-year-old producer's life, philosophies, and so...
Masaki Watanabe directs anime at TMS Entertainment― Shueisha announced on Monday in its first "Jump Press" video that Yuuto Suzuki's Sakamoto Days manga will get a television anime series in January 2025 starring Tomokazu Sugita as Taro Sakamoto. The video also revealed the main staff. Masaki Watanabe (KADO - The Right Answer, Bartender, several Battle Spirits anime) is directing the anime at TMS En...
This is where the series earns its place in anime history, setting a precedent that other magical girl shows will follow.― It's a moment of magical girl history, right there on the screen: in episode forty-six of Fairy Princess Minky Momo's original 1982-83 television series, Momo is hit by a truck and dies. Even putting aside the question of whether or not this is Truck-kun's first victim, this is ...
Teaser video streamed― Bandai Namco Filmworks announced on Saturday that the Ghost in the Shell franchise is getting a new television anime series in 2026. Science Saru will produce the anime, which is tentatively titled Kōkaku Kidōtai (The Ghost in the Shell). Bandai Namco Filmworks, Kodansha, Science Saru, and Production I.G are on the production committee for the series. Bandai Namco Filmworks al...