One Piece continues its hot streak with episode 1045, delivering on more dramatic scenes and hard-hitting action. The only letdown here is not in what was delivered so much as what was not delivered, but that's to be expected.
Much of this episode is centered around villainous monologues. After Nico Robin's triumphant victory over Black Maria, the sense of momentum swings back the other way as we focus on Hawking, Big Mom, King, and Queen. It's lots of mwahahaha-laughs over burning backgrounds with our heroes either groveling, grunting, or fighting for their lives. There are simply too many heavy-hitters at Onigashima for things to end this soon.
Big Mom in particular gets to gloat over the lesser pirates before her. Despite Eustass and Killer both getting significant chest-size glow-ups post-timeskip, no amount of pectoral mass can save you when Big Mom crashes the party.
Though the heroes got a chance to shine too, namely Raizo and Sanji. Raizo is an odd duck; he's certainly not my least favorite of the Red Scabbards, but he's not a particularly noteworthy member either. Raizo's most telling features are the things that make him stand out visually: he's a ninja (which is not common in One Piece generally or Wano specifically) and he has NBA JAM Big Head syndrome (also strangely uncommon in the proportion-defying-world of One Piece). Sadly, beyond his early introduction in Zou, I've never really felt he was all that different from the rest of the Red Scabbards. Still, it's nice to hear him deliver his big call to action and get a bit of visual shine, and it's a testament to the Toei team's ability to make such an absurd character design work in a serious dramatic scene.
Sanji also gets to shine, and man it's great to see him in action. Despite all my misgivings about him, when he gets to do his thing it's always a visual treat and his battle with Queen is no exception. The flow and speed on display are superb – once again, hats off to Toei for bringing this battle to life. It's vibrant and exhilarating and I only wish there were more.
Also of note is the final scene with Cat-Viper and Perospero. Not only is this sequence stunning and fluid, with an almost astonishing level of detail on Persopero's facial features, it has some very interesting visual elements to boot. I'm not sure how many times I've seen such a lovingly animated archery POV shot like this, let alone in weekly television. The cartoonish elasticity of his face when Cat-Viper leaps in to attack is sheer delight in motion.
The only negative feature of this week is that it follows premium Nico Robin content and is by definition lesser, though that's not an entirely fair criticism on my part.
Staff, most cast return to perform original 2023 musical on October 11-13― The musical based on Hajime Isayama's Attack on Titan manga will have its first international performance at the New York City Center in New York on October 11-13. Attack on Titan: The Musical will be performed in Japanese with English subtitles with a returning cast and staff from the 2023 show. Presale tickets are available...
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...
Haruka Shiraishi, Jun Fukuyama star in EMT Squared anime― The official website for the television anime of Izumi Sawano's I Want to Escape from Princess Lessons (Kisaki Kyōiku kara Nigetai Watashi) light novel series opened on Wednesday and revealed the anime's teaser visuals, main cast, main staff, and 2025 premiere. The anime stars: Haruka Shiraishi as Leticia Jun Fukuyama as Clarke Uri Sugata, th...
Game also inspires 2nd symphonic concert 'with animation'― The official website for Palette's 9-nine- game announced on Wednesday that the anime is inspiring a television anime. To commemorate the anime announcement, the franchise will hold its "9-nine- Symphonic Concert 2 with Animation" on September 8. (The franchise held an earlier symphonic concert, without the "animation" tag, on October 17, 20...
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...
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 ...