It seems as though the Wano arc delivers nothing but knock-down, drag-out fights, week after week. But episode 1075 shows us that there can be just as much action and drama in the space of a single punch.
This is a beautiful work of art, a moving visual display of heartache and triumph that spans twenty years. On a functional level, I suppose you could reduce it to merely a summation of Wano's major themes/threads, but I think it's clear - both visually and emotionally - that this is more than a mere recap. This episode shows what has been at stake for all this time, and why Luffy simply could not allow himself to be defeated by Kaido. It's not just the dreams of his close friends that are at stake; it's not just the dreams of the current inhabitants of Wano, either. This is a multigenerational cry for freedom, where people have yearned for better lives free of the cruel yoke of Kaido and Shogun Orochi. It is a pain that must be lifted, no matter the cost.
Wow, does this episode sell it. It's a moving tribute to all the plot threads and character moments that have led up to this point, with gorgeous use of color and the steady swell of music to bring home the true agony of what the people of Wano have suffered. The twin match cuts of the image of the gray hands rising as small yellow sparks flew to the heavens being matched with the lanterns at the flower capital as well as gray hands becoming the smoke-stack factories dotting Wano were both very expertly done. In the end, you get what's really at stake: there really cannot be another twenty years of this. The people have been robbed of their lives and spirits - even their sorrow.
Happy Pride! Steve and Lucas browse through some queer manga in celebration.― Happy Pride! Steve and Lucas browse through some queer manga in celebration. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.Spoiler Warning for discussion of the series ahead. @RiderStrike @BWProwl @LucasDeRuyter @vestenet Lucas Steve, I know you an...
This Little Mermaid-inspired film just won at Annecy - come discover the charms that helped it to do so.― There have been many stories – even just told with animation – about love going beyond cultural lines, appearance, even specifically love between man and mermaid. As the film settles in to its premise, ChaO has a lot of work to set itself apart from these other films. Director Yasuhiro Aoki buil...
Nonsensical as this twenty-episode fever-dream of a show is, I can’t deny the potency of its mad imagery.― After finishing the second half of LIDEN FILMS utterly inscrutable anime adaptation of Tow Ubukata's Bye Bye, Earth novel series, I had to lie down for an hour so that my poor, confused brain could attempt to parse all that it had experienced. I don't know whether that helped, but the color-dre...
Asha Bardon explores sites off the beaten path and explains why so many anime fans are making their own pilgrimages.― It's the end of a much-loved anime movie: Makoto Shinkai's 2016 hit Your Name. The protagonists, Mitsuha and Taki, have just glimpsed each other on a subway train in Tokyo, only for both to get off at the next station and frantically try to find each other. Then they come to some ste...
Anime gets panel at Anime Expo on July 5― TOHO Animation began streaming a teaser trailer for the eighth and final season of the My Hero Academia anime on Monday: TOHO animation will host a “My Hero Academia Special Event” panel at Anime Expo on July 5 from 10:00-11:20 a.m. PDT at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Daiki Yamashita and Justin Briner, the Japanese and English voice actors for Deku, w...
Anime to have "censored," "original" versions, with original version debuting on AT-X on July 15― The staff for the New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt anime unveiled the main promotional video trailer and a key visual for the anime on Monday. The video confirms the anime's Anime Expo 2025 world premiere event on July 4, its July 9 broadcast premiere date, and its "censored" and "original" versions...
This is, at its heart, a send-up of otoge isekai.― No matter where you trace it back to, the subgenre of isekai where someone is reborn in the world of, specifically, an otome game, has become popular. It's not as well-loved (strictly in terms of popularity) as villainess or OP isekai, but there are enough stories that use it as a setting to make it deserving of its specific subgenre. It's got a bit...
Puniru Is a Kawaii Slime is throwback to the mid-late 2000s, when we had an abundance of slice of life comedies focusing on a tsundere boy and an overly hyperactive girl.― In a lot of ways, you could consider Puniru Is a Cute Slime as a throwback to the mid-late 2000s when we had an abundance of slice of life comedies focusing on a tsundere boy and an overly hyperactive girl. We have a bunch of imma...
