When the news came out that Wano would be put on pause merely three episodes in so we could deviate into several weeks of movie tie-in filler, I honestly wasn't too bummed out by the prospect. The anime's new look has been so great that I've developed a renewed confidence in the TV show, and I don't mind being patient if it means the final product continues to be this good. The filler may be awkwardly timed, but even two episodes feels like a healthy buffer to make sure the anime isn't going to catch up with the manga's story.
However, I was hoping that these episodes would at least be more interesting than this. Stampede is a good-looking movie, and its visual style is clearly drumming to the same beat as the Wano reboot, so it's disappointing that its tie-in episodes aren't at all in line with the quality we've been tasting lately. This episode has been pulled out of a time capsule, having waited dormant since the distant year of one month ago. The Wano-specific eye catches have been hurriedly swept back into the closet, and the varied line width on the character art is less pronounced. I can't tell if it's supposed to look like a new episode or an old one.
Plot-wise, this week's adventure appears to be taking place slightly before the events of Stampede, with Buena Festa stringing together is ideal cast of ruffians for the "Pirate Festa." Stampede's main villain, Douglas Bullet, is name dropped, but as far as I can tell we'll have to wait until the movie itself before we can meet him. In his place, our villain of the week is Cidre, a bounty hunter who picks a fight with the Straw Hat pirates while receiving his invitation to the Festa. Bounty hunters are one of the most under-represented categories of One Piecetough guys!, though this Cidre dude likely isn't going to be leaving any lasting impressions.
Stampede's big hook is that we're going to be seeing a massive cast of secondary characters coming together in a big crossover. Luffy's met hundreds of major players throughout his adventures, but who ends up crossing paths in the main series is always dependent on the needs of the story and the goal of this movie is to toss that limitation in the trash and go absolutely nuts. This filler arc is just the pregame, however, so there's only one character on our Super Smash Bros. demo disc, and that's Boa Hancock. Luffy's misadventures lead him to an island of carbonated water in search for cola to help fuel the Thousand Sunny, and naturally he reunites with Pirate Empress by accidentally falling from the sky into the hot springs while she bathes naked. (Again.) The bar is pretty low for filler antics, and as far as swooning lovestruck ladies go, Hancock's a little difficult to go back to in a post-Charlotte Pudding world. Together they must team-up and fight Cidre, a man who hates pirates so much that he'd even kill a member of the Seven Warlords.
As a commercial for Stampede, I can't fathom what this episode aims to accomplish. It's incredibly forgettable and speaks to absolutely nothing that might get my hype meters running for this upcoming movie, which is assuming the audience is keen to watch a commercial for Stampede at the cost of the Wano arc's progression in the first place. I can't speak with any certainty that I even understand the chronology of events here. Is Stampede going to start with Luffy and Hancock having already met? Or is this filler going to be completely ignored? I suppose this is all within expectation, but so far this mini-arc is in one ear and out the other.
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Series starring Miku Martineau, Ayo Solanke, more starts production in Toronto― The Hollywood Reporter entertainment news site reported on Thursday that showrunner Simon Barry (Warrior Nun creator) and Boat Rocker Media are producing a live-action series for Netflix titled BET that "is based in part" on writer Homura Kawamoto and artist Tōru Naomura's Kakegurui - Compulsive Gambler manga. The show h...
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Now streaming on Netflix, Tomotaka Shibayama's first feature animation mixes the magical with reality to share a simple but important message.―
Director Tomotaka Shibayama's latest film, My Oni Girl, is an action-adventure drama with elements of a buddy comedy and a relatable coming-of-age story. The film, produced by Studio Colorido, was released in theaters in Japan and on Netflix on May 24, foll...
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Kaiju No. 8 takes the top spot this week while Tonari no Yōkai-san pushes to #3 in the cmulative! Check out our weekly user rankings!― 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 in...
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Following the upcoming retro programming block Toonami Rewind, Chris and Lucas look back fondly on the afternoons spent watching Naruto and Sailor Moon.― Following the upcoming retro programming block Toonami Rewind, Chris and Lucas look back fondly on the afternoons spent watching Naruto and Sailor Moon. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the v...
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...