The Straw Hats attempt to save Momonosuke. Sanji uses his air jumping to ascend and chase after Kanjuro, while Usopp launches one of his special stars. Sanji and Kanjuro duel, but Kanjuro unleashes an ink cloud that blots out the sky and sends ink arrows down on the fleet. Everyone is forced to take cover or fight back against the falling ink arrows and this allows Kanjuro to escape with Momonosuke. Momonosuke pushes through his fear to call out to those below and tell them not to worry about him, and instead push on to bring down Kaido.
The assembled fleet continues towards Onigashima. As they approach they are fired on by another ship with long range cannons. Ships begin sinking but the fleet keeps going in spite of the losses. But from beneath the waves comes new help - Jinbei. Using his Fish-Man Karate, he destroys the long range ship in a single strike. Emerging from the smoke of the destroyed vessel, he declares that he will share a cup of sake with Luffy and join the Straw Hats as their helmsman as the episode ends.
Ah, momentous events!
It's hard to talk about how much and how little happens in this episode. On the one hand, it's rather brief in terms of literal events. Kanjuro tries to escape, the Straw Hats try to stop him, Momo says don't worry, they head to Onigashima, a ship shoots at them, Jinbei sinks the ship. Between the flashback Momo takes us on, the extended cuts of samurai slashing at ink arrows, and the long sequence of ships sinking, there really is not all that much going on here. In one sense, you could say it was feeling somewhat stretched thin for content.
On the other hand - OH MY GOD JINBEI HAS JOINED THE STRAW HATS! A new crewmember is always cause for excitement and celebration. We have not had an official new member of the crew since Brook joined, which was pre-timeskip for goodness sakes. It's a literal once a decade kind of event.
What a day! And what a deserving character. While Vivi, Law, Carrot, and others have enjoyed unofficial status of sorts, Jinbei being brought onto the team is a great moment and represents just how far Luffy and co have come. At this point they can now count among their number yet another incredibly powerful fighter, and one who was a former Warlord at that. It shows how big of a challenge they have ahead of them too - even with this boost in strength, the battle against Kaido and Big Mom will be formidable no matter what.
The ANN After Show is at episode 100! Let's reflect on some of our favorite moments, catch up on Kaiju No. 8, Yatagarasu, and more this week!― 100 Episodes of the ANN Aftershow!? The ANN After Show is at episode 100! Let's catch up on Kaiju No. 8, Yatagarasu, and more this week! The ANN After Show streams live on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter Spaces on Tuesdays at 6pm PT/9pm ET. You can listen to ...
Nobunaga Shimazaki, Yūsuke Kobayashi, Haruka Shiraishi join cast as members of Freya Familia for anime streaming on HIDIVE this fall― Update: HIDIVE confirmed on Thursday it will stream the series as it airs under the title s It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V as part of its simulcast season this fall. The series will stream on HIDIVE in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Australia, ...
Nick and Steve look back on director Tsutomu Mizushima's work so far, from his latest Train to the End of the World to Shirobako, Girls und Panzer, and more.― Nick and Steve look back on director Tsutomu Mizushima's work so far, from his latest Train to the End of the World to Shirobako, Girls und Panzer, and more. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are...
i☆Ris the Movie -Full Energy!!- is a movie best described as having big Saturday morning cartoon energy when it comes to its catchy high notes and off-key attempt at deeper storytelling.― Admittedly, when I walked into Anime Central to review i☆Ris the Movie -Full Energy!!-, I envisioned the film as the typical fare of idol dancing via 3D models in dizzyingly pastel-rich environments with little to ...
Come celebrate the 25th anniversary of One Piece with this special orchestra concert!― Come celebrate the 25th anniversary of One Piece with this special orchestra concert! The most memorable moments of the beloved TV series will be projected on a giant screen to the sound of a 50-musician orchestra! In only a few weeks, the ONE PIECE Music Symphony 25 th Anniversary Tour will premiere in the US on...
Manga's final chapter scheduled for June 26― This year's 25th issue of Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine announced on Wednesday that Hiro Mashima's Edens Zero manga will end five chapters. The magazine's 30th issue will publish the manga's final chapter on June 26. The manga entered its final arc in December 2022. Mashima (Fairy Tail, Rave Master) launched the manga in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in June...
Narrative dissonance aside, the heart of My Oni Girl still shines through its jumbled ending: that folks should speak their minds even when it hurts.― Upon first glance, My Oni Girl has all the hallmarks of a Studio Ghibli-inspired romp. You've got a globe-trodding adventure with odd-couple protagonists, a myriad of wonderfully drawn vistas, titular mouthwatering glamour shots of Japanese delicacies...
Ahead of the Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction TV anime premiere, Rebecca Silverman looks at its creator's stark, and sometimes depressing, manga work.― Inio Asano may be one of the creators whose works don't allow for middle-ground opinions. There's something in the reactions to his work that smacks of “love it or hate it,” with readers either fully embracing his dark, psychological style of s...
Furuya acknowledged threatening to hurt fan in argument, causing her to have abortion― On his X (formerly Twitter) account on Wednesday, voice actor Tōru Furuya acknowledged a recent report by the Weekly Bunshun magazine regarding an affair he had with a fan. Weekly Bunshun interviewed him for the article. Furuya admitted that he had been in a relationship with a female fan for four and a half years...
Manga about half human, half chimpanzee boy launched in 2020― TOHO Animation announced on Wednesday that Shun Umezawa's The Darwin Incident (Darwin Jihen manga will get a television anime adaptation. A new official Twitter account opened and unveiled a teaser visual: Original creator Umezawa shared an illustration to commemorate the announcement: TOHO Animation had teased on its X (formerly Twitter)...
The book feels like a deliberate combo of SAO, Log Horizon, and Suppose a Kid From the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town, and that works better than you might expect.― If this story feels familiar, that's on purpose. In their afterword, author Nagawasabi64 says that they've noticed that the "trapped in a VRMMORPG" genre made popular by SAO has fallen out of favor, which made them want to ...
There's no question that Go! Go! Loser Ranger! is a dark deconstruction of Super Sentai/Power Rangers in anime form—but is that all it is? Chris and Lucas dive in to find out.― There's no question that Go! Go! Loser Ranger! is a dark deconstruction of Super Sentai/Power Rangers in anime form—but is that all it is? Chris and Lucas dive in to find out. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by ...
This is a good series to check out if you like more bite with your vampire romances.― Going into Bloody Sweet, I expected to find a fluffy rom-com about a girl and the vampire she accidentally gets attached to. Instead, I found a story about a bullied high school girl whose bullies are smart enough to evade all of the checks and balances the school has put in place. When Naerim accidentally awakens ...
In our brand-new column, Lynzee Loveridge comes clean about her backlog, starting with one of the most popular anime ever. Use this space here for critical finger-wagging and exclamations of disbelief.― I have a secret. A no-good, embarrassing, shame-inducing secret. I'm the executive editor at Anime News Network but there are, in fact, anime I have not watched. Not just forgettable mid-tier season...
Chiu shares how she brought the SEA simulcast service to the forefront after founding it at 17 years old.― Over the past six years, many streaming and simulcast services have catered to otaku in Asia, offering simulcasts of seasonal anime and theatrical anime screenings. One such service is Ani-One Asia, a Hong Kong-based Medialink Group brand that offers a competitive lineup of simulcasts every se...