The Thousand Sunny crew is being swarmed on all sides. Big Mom is right on their tail, and big shots like Daifuku and Smoothie are bringing in massive fleets to surround the Straw Hats. What once began as a wedding assassination gone wrong in the early morning has turned into a giant naval battle that's persisted into the night, long enough for the clear full moon to show itself and for Carrot to demonstrate the long-teased true power of the Minks. It's kind of odd, because the revelation that this particular night happened to be a full moon means there must have been an entire month since our adventures on Zou, which doesn't sound quite right, but whatever.
Before we get further into the Carrot stuff, I feel like it's worth noting that we're also seeing a pretty noteworthy change in Big Mom herself. She's been rampaging for so long that she's actually losing weight from all the calories burned. (Luffy's already done something like this a few times this arc alone, so it's not abnormal for One Piece.) But her demeanor is changing too—she's growing tired and sunken-eyed, much more demonic and witch-like. She's like an extreme version of what we see in our heroes, where she's so headstrong and determined to get what she wants that she's willing to rampage until her body just withers away and dies. If the Straw Hats were willing to survive long enough for that to happen, that could possibly be the way to beat her.
And on that note, we have yet another example of such a character in Carrot's new "Sulong" form. If untrained, a Sulong (aka "Moon Lion") will fight until they run out of stamina and get themselves killed. Carrot's been trained by Pedro, but even if that's the case, we don't want her staying in this new form for very long. The transformation sequence is much more Super Saiyan than Sailor Moon. The latter seemed likely to me since her new form is so beautiful and elegant, and we all know how much Carrot loves drawing her sparkly shojo fanart, but the former makes sense with the intended animalistic nature of the transition.
As Carrot Fanboy Numero Uno, this was a highly anticipated episode for me. I assumed it was the kind of episode that would get top priority production values, but the adaptation honestly leaves a lot to be desired. I appreciate the emphasis on atmosphere, but the accompanying action scene's animation quality can't keep up with the choreography at all. Not only is Sulong Carrot incredibly fast and powerful, but she can straight-up fly and take on fleets of pirates on her own. She's on a time limit because of that whole possibly-dying thing, so she uses her brief window to kick a bunch of goons' asses and pick off the steering wheels from their ships. The Straw Hats can't overpower the Big Mom pirates, so this chase is all about doing what they can to stay several inches ahead. That's what Carrot's movement emphasizes, but too much of the fluid motion is implied instead of demonstrated.
This is a huge moment for Carrot. It's her biggest showstopper of the arc and our formal introduction to what the Minks might be capable of in the future. Now we get to sit and wonder what the other Minks might look like under the full moon, so get your Moon Lion Dogstorm and Cat Viper fanart ready!
Personally, I wish I walked away from this episode with a lot more excitement. It's similar to the sake cup scene with Jimbei earlier, where the elation I felt while reading the manga could never be taken away, but this episode doesn't have the oomph I need in order to go all in with these reviews. The material being covered is really neat, I just wish I could say the execution went the extra mile.
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...
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...