Carrot's new transformation was never meant to last long, and already it's starting to tire her out. Thankfully Brook is there to take a page from her book, running across the water to take out a few ships of his own and catch her before she's completely done. I was already kind of iffy about the Carrot fight from last week, wishing the better cuts of animation could connect more without being sandwiched between so many flat panning shots, and now this episode has even less spectacle to work with as we focus more on dialogue and story than straight action. Carrot's Sulong form reaches its end, and now it's up to the Straw Hats to fight Big Mom face-to-face while she sleeps it off.
Elsewhere, Sanji and Capone are arguing over how to handle the cake as they make their way over. Capone wants to poison the cake and finally put an end to Big Mom's reign once and for all. It's the logical choice, since even if our heroes manage to escape Totto Land, we wouldn't want to know Mom is still kicking around. But we're not dealing with logic here. Sanji's determined to beat Big Mom purely on the strength of his cooking. It's that Dragon Ball logic of "No, we have to win the fun way!" that might infuriate audience members who don't want to see their protagonists be such prideful selfish dimwits. (But I love it.)
However, the real meat of the story lies with Big Mom. The longer her rampage goes on, the more you start to see Mother Carmel in her face, like a ghost that's followed her around for her entire life. Thanks to Prometheus, she now has giant flaming hair with a jack-o-lantern smile, and she's looking more like an otherworldly monster than ever despite the fact that she's gradually regaining her original consciousness. (At the very least, she can speak in full sentences again.) Our currently standing crew isn't a match for her up close like this, and now she's tearing the Thousand Sunny to pieces while our shipwright is far-off in the distance, waiting in a completely different arc.
I find this stage of Big Mom's descent into madness so powerfully compelling, especially in the manga where the stark black & white expressionism speaks to me in Rorscach-like ways. Big Mom is the abyss, the point where humanity and inhumanity are one and the same. She's the coked-up version of so many familiar human flaws—addiction, hypocrisy, and the need to impress imaginary versions of people we create in our heads. Within Whole Cake Island, there's a sobering acknowledgement that we are often creatures of impulse, and there's a primal fear that it's all we truly can be. Specifically, that panel of Big Mom landing on the deck is deeply etched into my subconscious. It's the image I most heavily associate with Whole Cake Island.
This is a strange episode that's abundant with unique directorial choices in shot composition and music, and yet the whole thing feels so unwieldy and distant. That sort of works in its favor by making the episode feel disorienting and off-kilter, but I don't think the energy's been exciting enough in the past few episodes to earn that sense of exhaustion. We need to feel like we've flamed out in a blaze of glory (the importance of the Sulong fight scene), and now we're trying to get our next high off the remaining fumes.
We're in a strange place with the anime right now, where the story is juggling a large variety of tones and ideas at once, so the pacing has to be a lot more careful than just padding everything out for dramatic suspense. Easily my favorite material this week is the stuff with Big Mom on the ship, but all of that is sadly packed into the last couple minutes. This is an episode of sluggish roughness that occasionally lights up with moments of brilliance because the story beneath the surface is so profound.
James and Lynzee discuss the latest episode of Yatagarsu. Plus, GoHands keeps making anime, and we don't know WHY.― Yatagarasu Gets Violent! James and Lynzee discuss the latest episode of Yatagarsu, in which Wakamiya plays his hand to find out the truth behind his older brother's scheming to obtain the throne. Plus, GoHands keeps making anime, and we don't know WHY; Hunter x Hunter manga is on its ...
Making a sequel to Code Geass is a daunting task. But with its fantastic main character and a story that doesn't undercut what came before, Rozé of the Recapture is on the right track.― Making a sequel to Code Geass—especially one set close to the end of the series—is a daunting task. Any story that involves an ongoing war massively undercuts both the finale of the original anime and the sacrifices ...
The Switch sequel console is finally happening! The details are scarce, but you can find out more in this week's column. Also: an interview with El Shaddai's Sawaki Takeyasu, Microsoft layoffs, and more.― Welcome back, folks! What a wild week this has been for the gaming industry. We'll go further into it, but jeez. This past week also saw the disappearance of Capcom's Dark Void and Dark Void Zero. ...
The Code Geass creator discusses his new project with Web3 company Azuki, Enter the Garden, and his hope that this new path could help the medium evolve.― Los Angeles-based Web3 anime-styled brand Azuki and advertising conglomerate Dentsu debuted the first nine-minute episode of their joint anime endeavor, Enter the Garden, on April 30. The episode, which has already racked up a quarter of a million...
Wandering Son creator's manga about girls in opera school ran from 2011 until this past March― Ohta Publishing announced on Thursday that Takako Shimura's Awajima Hyakkei manga is inspiring an anime. Ohta Publishing has not revealed any further details about the anime adaptation. The coming-of-age omnibus series follows the girls at an opera music school, with each chapter centering around different...
Special cereal box honors Goku Day― Dragon Ball Z... for breakfast?! Alright, it isn't actually that surprising since General Mills' Reese's Puffs cereal has been rocking the dragon with a limited-time collaboration with Dragon Ball Z since earlier this year. The collaboration is still ongoing, but now Reese's Puffs has reached its FINAL FORM! In honor of Goku Day (May 9 because the numbers for "5" ...
If I were to sum up Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable! in a single word, that word would be “cute.”― If I were to sum up Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable! in a single word, that word would be “cute.” Shiki and Fuyuki's interactions are a mixture of playful (and sometimes sexual) teasing and heartfelt feelings as the two come to value each other. They have real chemistry—and that drives the anime stra...
Final volume ships in fall― The 25th compiled book volume of Yuki Sato's Tomodachi Game (Friends Games) manga revealed on Thursday that the series will end with the 26th volume's release in fall. The story, based on Mikoto Yamaguchi's original concept, centers on Yūichi Katagiri, a young man with a perfect student life who has four friends with difficult lives. His peaceful daily life comes to an e...
Lucas and Steve catch up on the Hunter × Hunter manga in time for the long-awaited new chapter and gush about why, even with years between releases, Hunter × Hunter is worth it.― Lucas and Steve catch up on the Hunter × Hunter manga in time for the long-awaited new chapter and gush about why, even with years between releases, Hunter × Hunter is worth it. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed...
Series previously inspired 52-episode anime in 1993― This year's 24th issue of Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine revealed on Wednesday that Gosho Aoyama's Yaiba manga will be getting a new anime adaptation. Aoyama is supervising. The series follows the titular Yaiba Kurogane, a young samurai boy inspired by Miyamoto Musashi, the real-life swordsman who pioneered the Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū sty...
Based on the novel by former Nogizaka46 member Kazumi Takayama, trapezium asks its audience to follow one girl who will use anything, and anyone, to achieve her dream.― Trapezium is a strange movie, to say the least. On the surface, it's a rather simple movie that explores youth, their dreams, and the lengths they'll go to achieve those dreams. It's a coming-of-age story wrapped in the veneer of the...
ZeroReq011 remembers what made Spice and Wolf a story for the ages, from its fully realized world and economics to Holo and Lawrence's romantic chemistry.― Back when Funimation was still its own company and not owned by Sony, long before its in-house streaming service was terminated in favor of Crunchyroll's streaming platform, it owned a TV channel. Legal streaming had yet to dominate the Western a...
Nick and Chris recount some of the most frustrating anime cancellations, from the Yuri on Ice movie to the second half of Stars Align.― Nick and Chris recount some of the most frustrating anime cancellations from the second half of Stars Align to the 2007 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood movie. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views...