Luffy's got a plan and that plan is to sneak into Big Mom's territory all on his own in an attempt to rescue Sanji. "I'll just be quiet," he says, way overestimating himself. It's an audacious call, but none of the crew's options really put them in a place of ease. Pekoms has just told them that if Sanji goes through with this wedding and marries into Big Mom's family, he'll cease to be a member of the Straw Hat crew, and if Sanji refuses the wedding he'll find the head of somebody close to him in a box as a going away present.
It's hard to express how big of a deal Big Mom is in the One Piece world. She's one of the Four Emperors, the leading pirate captains who claim a majority of the territory in the New World. It's common for this kind of Shonen Jump series to constantly be introducing new villains who outshine the previous "strongest", but this series has been spending the past few hundred episodes building up the fact that characters like Big Mom and Kaido are truly at the very top, and Luffy has already picked long distance fights with both of them. It's been a while since Luffy faced off with somebody way stronger than him, which used to be a signature quality of this series, but the Four Emperors are making me think that time is coming up once again.
So Luffy is dead set on putting Law's anti-Kaido plan on hold so that he can risk making Big Mom angry instead, but that's just the way things got to be. He probably won't end up going alone, but we're still left with so many questions. If Luffy ends up fighting an Emperor, can he win? It honestly feels too early for something like that to happen, but there are plenty of other interesting happenings that could propel the story forward over a win-or-lose fight. There's also the possibility that Big Mom ends up being on of the friendlier Emperors like Shanks (though, she is already mad at Luffy), and the villain role could fall to Sanji's family. That's the direction that makes sense to me.
Unprepared and easily distracted, Luffy and company get caught up in a big overnight celebration, with the Minks thanking them for their help. This is a very fun and relaxing scene, and it has the air of the traditional end-of-arc party that we've seen many times, though it seems a little soon after the Dressrosa celebration. Also, they're celebrating the solution to a conflict that happened before Luffy's half of the crew even arrived on Zou, so it's got the vibe of "Yay! We beat Dolfamingo! Let's party! Oh? We helped you guys too and we didn't even know it? Sure! Let's have another party!" If we're about to get serious with a saga of Four Emperors, it might be a while before the next party, so it feels appropriate.
The party and Luffy's eagerness to go get Sanji signals an end of sorts to the Zou arc, though there are a few more hoops that we're destined to jump through before Luffy officially steps off the elephant. It makes sense for us to get a smaller adventure more focused on antics and info-dumps after the monster sized Dressrosa arc, and I'm eager to see the few remaining Zou-based story beats before we head into Big Mom's madness.
I can't recommend the series, nor think that any hypothetical viewer would enjoy it, but it is the kind of trash TV that's rewarding to dissect.― Have you ever wondered what Baki would be like if it had a conservative bent instead of queer undertones? Well, look no further because the answer is Kengan Ashura! While Kengan is trying to convey the same spectacle and white-knuckle action of the long-ru...
Film also available to rent, purchase digitally on several major outlets in N. America― The official X/Twitter account for TOHO's Godzilla franchise announced on Saturday that Takashi Yamazaki's Godzilla Minus One film is streaming worldwide on Netflix. The film is available worldwide, but is currently not available in Japan. Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color, the black-and-white version of the film, w...
One Piece: Heroines novel also licensed― Viz Media revealed its new licenses and new print releases planned for spring 2025 on Friday. Kazuyoshi Seto's Minecraft: The Manga: Announcement: Add this book to your enchantment room! Join Nico on his chance to escape the blocky confines of his home and prove how strong he's become when zombies attack! Minecraft: The Manga, by Kazuyoshi Seto, releases Spri...
Series starring Miku Martineau, Ayo Solanke, more starts production in Toronto― The Hollywood Reporter entertainment news site reported on Thursday that showrunner Simon Barry (Warrior Nun creator) and Boat Rocker Media are producing a live-action series for Netflix titled BET that "is based in part" on writer Homura Kawamoto and artist Tōru Naomura's Kakegurui - Compulsive Gambler manga. The show h...
Jean-Karlo attempts to condense two big video game showcases into a coherent column, from the revamped Silent Hill 2 to the grazing pastures of Story of Seasons.― Welcome back, folks. This is related to a big story for this week, but this past weekend, I listened to Utada Hikaru's re-recording of "Simple And Clean". It's very emotional. Utada Hikaru is a good twenty-plus years older than when she or...
In the Eisner-nominated work, Maki Fujiwara chronicles her daily life with her husband, lionized mangaka Yoshiharu Tsuge. Though deceptively simple at first glance, a foundation of abuse is slowly revealed.― At first blush, Maki Fujiwara's My Picture Diary does what it says on the tin. It tells the story of her daily life as a housewife and mother, spending time with her daily activities, noting the...
Now streaming on Netflix, Tomotaka Shibayama's first feature animation mixes the magical with reality to share a simple but important message.―
Director Tomotaka Shibayama's latest film, My Oni Girl, is an action-adventure drama with elements of a buddy comedy and a relatable coming-of-age story. The film, produced by Studio Colorido, was released in theaters in Japan and on Netflix on May 24, foll...
Miyano, Nukumi play original characters for August 2 film― The official website for My Hero Academia the Movie: You're Next (My Hero Academia: You're Next), the fourth anime film in the My Hero Academia franchise, announced on Friday that the film has cast Mamoru Miyano and Meru Nukumi as original characters. Mamori Miyano as Giulio Gandini, a butler who serves the Scervino family Meru Nukumi as Ann...
Kaiju No. 8 takes the top spot this week while Tonari no Yōkai-san pushes to #3 in the cmulative! Check out our weekly user rankings!― 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 that these rankings are based on how people rated in...
Mospeada is a work very much of its time, riffing on ideas and tropes that were all the rage when it was made, and doesn't do anything exceptional with them.― It can be easy for even longtime fans to forget that alongside Macross, there were two other 80's sci-fi anime that got Frankenstein-ed into what we'd eventually call Robotech. While this isn't the first time one of those series has made it to...
Following the upcoming retro programming block Toonami Rewind, Chris and Lucas look back fondly on the afternoons spent watching Naruto and Sailor Moon.― Following the upcoming retro programming block Toonami Rewind, Chris and Lucas look back fondly on the afternoons spent watching Naruto and Sailor Moon. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the v...
Yeah, yeah, Kaiju No. 8 has all the great action scenes, but Yatagarasu is chewing up the scenery as the royal ladies absolutely lose their minds!?― Why Aren't You Watching This Anime Yet? Yeah, yeah, Kaiju No. 8 has all the great action scenes, but Yatagarasu is chewing up the scenery as the royal ladies absolutely lose their minds!? The ANN After Show streams live on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitte...
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...