One Piece trudges on as we continue to explore the world of Japa—I mean, er, Wano—and we get a whiff of the next fragrance of local flavor in the form of sumo wrestling! We've already met Urashima, the yokozuna of Wano, but now it's time to finally see him in action as he struts his stuff and defends his champion position.
Luffy, Zoro, and Kiku have arrived in Bakura town, trying to track down Tama and her kidnappers. Urashima is their next obstacle, since the second Kiku is in his sight he hounds her with more marriage proposals. There's so good action as Luffy and Zoro fight off a wave of sumo henchmen, but the central conflict lies in how Kiku deals with the unwanted affection and manipulation. Characterization-wise, she's been really all over the place and it's never clear how much of that is intentional in the writing. Even when the sumos straight-up kidnap her, the Straw Hats prefer to stay hands-off since they've intuited her strength and would rather let her protect herself or... some such? There's a weird gag where Zoro stops himself from jumping in because he doesn't feel right about cutting up a bunch of naked sumo wrestlers, and rationalizes it by acknowledging that Kiku is "not just some teahouse waitress." It's really unclear whether characters mean what they say lately.
Kiku can't seem to make up her mind if she wants people to know she's a samurai or just an ordinary local woman. She tries hard to present herself as a waifish damsel type, but she's bad at it, as demonstrated by how she expertly slices Urashima's topknot off and dishonors him front of a large crowd, only to blush immediately after like, "Oops. Did I just do something badass? Sorry, I'm trying to reign it in!" There's a ton to be read into this. At this stage I wonder if the classic samurai of yesteryear are supposed to be extinct or in hiding. There are also questions about Kiku's gender and how that may or may not impact the way she behaves in front of others. This episode is kind of a subversion of One Piece's more conventional damsel tropes, but there's the potential for that to be an incredibly loaded twist if done poorly. She comes across as kind of a ditz, which adds a socially awkward charm to her character when she interacts with our heroes, but she's also book-ish enough to take notes on her enemies. She's a smart, dumb, girly, manly character. Everything we've seen so far could be expanded on in a million ways, but the story's actual intent is so obfuscated at this point that it can be somewhat frustrating.
Presentation-wise, this episode is great. The music swells at its most dramatic point—a new track I think? I really dug it—and the small amount of action we get looks fantastic. This is another case where I wish we could knock each mini-boss out within a single episode, rather than teasing it out across multiple weeks. We didn't need two episodes of Basil Hawkins and we definitely don't need two episodes of Urashima. As of the cliffhanger, Luffy's jumped into the ring with his shirt off and gleefully lures Urashima into a sumo match of wildly conflicting weight classes. What could have been a dour subplot is turning out to be much more fun and adventurous as Luffy must get a taste of the action, even when we still have a missing little girl to find. Providing us with a whirlwind of story tangents and finding humor and tragedy wherever we go is what One Piece does best, but we still have so much to do and see before this arc is over that I wish things could be a tad snappier than they are.
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...
This is a movie I never want to watch again. However, this is not because it's bad. Rather, it's a testament to just how incredible this film is.― Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction Part 2 is a film I never want to watch again. However, this is not because it's bad. Rather, it's a testament to just how incredible this film is. The film is full of well-developed and memorable characters—especiall...
Company acquires studio behind Lu over the wall, Inu-Oh, Scott Pilgrim anime, Tatami Time Machine Blues― The entertainment company Toho announced on Thursday that its board of directors has decided to acquire all shares of the anime studio Science Saru, effective on June 19. Toho will then make Science Saru its consolidated subsidiary from the second quarter (June-August) of the fiscal year ending i...