We open on Orochi's secret ninja police beating Yasu within an inch of his life. They've captured him and are torturing him, but he does not break. In fact he appears to be tiring out his captors. They rip off his covering to reveal his face and massive afro.
The head of the ninja police rushes off to tell Orochi that they have captured the thief Uhsimitsu Koro. Shogun Orochi is still inconsolable regarding the Oiran's death, and is reluctant to see who Yasu really is. After much fuming he goes to see Yasu/Ushimitsu and realizes that he is in fact Tonoyasu. In his shock and rage he decides to have Yasu executed on the same day as Oiran's funeral.
Meanwhile, at the prison Queen hears of the Oiran's death and is distraught. He doesn't have long to mull it over as Luffy and Hyogoro challenge him to a fight. They want to make it a sumo match as they have ballooned up on the red bean soup. Queen instad kicks on his video snail to view images from the Flower Capital.
Elsewhere, Holdem's and Shutenmaru's forces are locked in a deadly battle. Holdem reveals his fiery chain blade and engages in single combat with Shutenmaru. While their battle largely ends in a stalemate, Holdem does matter to set the thieves' hideout ablaze and with it all their supplies. Carrot and Wanda head off to inform Kinemon of this turn of events.
In the snowy hut, Brook arrives and discovers Zoro snuggling with Komurasaki and Toko. He mentions that Ushimitsu Kozo has been captured and that he is, in fact, Tonoyasu. Toko is chilled to her core at her father's capture and rushes out into the snowdrifts to save him. Zoro, Komurasaki, and Brook dash after her to stop her from heading out on her own.
Finally, Yasu is taken from his holding cell and brought into the bright light of day where his public execution awaits.
This episode was more emotionally resonant than visually resplendent. It's mostly setup for what is coming down the pipe in the near future. There's a fair amount of action with the Holdem versus Shutenmaru fight and it's certainly animated well enough. Nothing in particular stands out though and while there is nothing particularly wrong with it, it's hard not to compare it to the dynamite animation from the prior sequences we've seen in Wano. Holdem's fiery chain blade is, if nothing else, pretty darn cool.
The star of the show here is the voice performances. Hiroshi Iwasaki's work as Shogun Orochi is once again stellar. The desperation of his agonized screaming and blubbering crying fits is remarkable, and it's chased with the wonderfully evil glee of his sentencing Yasu to death. Not to mention Kokoro Kikuchi's gut-wrenching performance in Toko's scenes. I think the tragedy of the SMILE fruits is most apparent in the voice acting in these moments, where Kokoro Kikuchi's laughs are so anxious and unsettling. And how could I not mention Mayumi Tanaka's brilliant “stuffed Luffy” voice, she's always a delight. Excellent performances all around.
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...