The Dressrosa arc is going to end one of these days, I swear. As it stands, our heroes are on the move, making a beeline to the shore and trying to stave off the marines from capturing them. Luffy did say a long time ago, "That's the way pirates should leave," referring to the pirate-marine-civilian relationship. However, in the middle of their grand exit, it's Luffy who stops and decides he has unfinished business on the island.
He's got something he wants to say to Rebecca, feeling unsatisfied with the way her relationship with her father was being swept under the rug by Kyros' fake rumor from last week. So he stops, waves "see ya later!" to his friends and starts to head in a different direction to the annoyance of his crew. But what can they do about it, right?
Rebecca is such a headache to think about sometimes. It's not that I don't want to like her or anything, but she's so obviously one of the weakest arc-centric characters we've ever seen in this show. Luffy's attempt to bring her and her dad back together is supposed to be a beautiful thing, but if ever there was a character who didn't earn it... Though, honestly these last few episodes have been doing a pretty okay job at bringing us back to a time when the Kyros and Rebecca storyline had promise: when Kyros was a helpless toy soldier and Rebecca was his scared friend who wanted to protect him. That stuff still works really well and I wish Oda had kept on a stronger through-line for them.
Okay, so maybe Rebecca is that bad. She's just a victim of a botched subplot. Luffy plows his way through the dozens (maybe hundreds?) of marines as he's keen to do, and makes his way back to the palace where Rebecca is being suited up for her families public return to the throne. Before Luffy appears, she seems to have given up trying to connect back with Kyros after he wrote her a letter saying not to. Luffy's got a fire in him, though, and he grips the bars of the palace window, trying angrily to turn the tides on this side story.
"Are you really okay with things this way?!" Luffy seems pretty opinionated over people's emotional compasses. Most of this episode is a bit of a padded drag, but this scene manages to be interesting. Rebecca has to wrestle with her conflicted feelings where part of her wants to respect her father's wishes, and another part is being shredded by guilt and anxiety as she has to wonder if she's not good enough for him, with no outlet to express herself. It honestly doesn't make a lot of logical sense how she would come to the conclusion based on any of their interactions, but frankly I was able to plug a bit of myself into this scene so I'll cut it some slack. We all get put in those no-win situations, but we probably don't have a Luffy in our lives.
Luffy gets Rebecca to admit that, no, she is not okay with things being the way they are, and soon Luffy is busting her out of the palace and they are off to Kyros' cabin in big, dramatic fashion. The two are off to finish one last story thread before Dressrosa can wrap up and the Straw Hats can finally set sail for Zou.
Overall this would be a pretty below-average episode with action scenes that are competent but in no way memorable connecting the stronger story beats. The exhaustion felt towards the end of the Doflamingo fight is coming back as the story just keeps refusing to leave Dressrosa, but I suppose we've accepted that feeling along time ago, so why not one more thing.
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...
Anime will star Hiroshi Kamiya, Kotaro Nishiyama, Kotaro Nishiyama― Distribution company Remow announced on Tuesday that Yura Urushibara's Tougen Anki: Dark Demon of Paradise manga will get a television anime in 2025. The company revealed the trailer, key visual, and main cast for the anime. The anime's cast includes:
Kazuki Ura as Shiki Ichinose, the protagonist who inherits the blood of an Oni. Sh...
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...
Welcome to the rankings for the Spring 2024 season! The perfect place to check out which hidden gems might have flown under your radar.― 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 ...
The final Spring 2024 Manga Guide update includes not-yet-released series from this month, including Sword Art Online Re:Aincrad,Bungo Stray Dogs: The Official Comic Anthology, A Sign of Affection and more.― Welcome to Anime News Network's Spring 2024 Manga Guide! You may have seen one of our seasonal Anime Preview Guides, where a team of critics writes up each new anime television premiere as it a...
Producer Masakazu Kubo shares the animation team's dedication to realism, including bringing in a pro golfer to produce the anime's sound effects.― 64-year-old Masakazu Kubo has been planning and producing anime for decades. He's had a major hand in everything from Pokémon and Detective Conan to Teasing Master Takagi-san and Dorohedoro. Recently, he sat down with us to talk about Tonbo!, his attemp...