Let's take a break from last week's flashback within a flashback in favor of a different flashback within a flashback! Yeah, the lives of troubled children is just kind of what this show does.
In this episode we jump back another few decades to explore the lives of the Donquixote family, fresh off of their departure from the Celestial Dragons' holy land. Doflamingo's father, Homing, has elected to remove his family from the lavish lifestyle of the world nobles in favor of a more “humble” living among the hard working regular folk. I really like Homing. You can tell how well he means and how much he just wants to see his family happy and healthy and full of character. He does not deserve all the awful stuff about to happen to him.
Unfortunately, living as a former noble is a lose-lose situation. It turns out the regular folk have nothing but grudges against the Celestial Dragons, who have historically hurt and killed a lot of people over petty, selfish reasons. No one wants to listen to Homing or believe that he's one of the good guys, and the Donquixote family of four find themselves the victims of lynching and their home destroyed. In a fit of desperation, Homing makes a call trying to get his family back into the holy lands, but is rejected under the condition of his family now being seen as traitors of the royal bloodline. Things really backfired for the man just trying to do the right thing, and it's really tough to watch as the situation gets worse and worse.
This is an episode that's just interesting, wall-to-wall. We see Doflamingo and Corazón (whose real name we learn is Rocinante, continuing the Don Quixote references) as children and, more importantly, we get to see a bit of an arc between who they were as kids and who we know they grow up to be. Considering the noble lifestyle he led, Doflamingo being a precocious, spoiled child makes sense. He's never once been given a reason to believe he should accept anything less than the most lavish. There's a scene in this episode where he's confused as to why his family is no longer living with slaves, which is pretty spooky coming from the mouth of a little kid. We know that Doflamingo as an adult is a pretty smart guy, which only furthers how dangerous he is as a man who grew up to have his hatred and resentment of the world go unchallenged.
But Corazón, on the flip-side, appears to have been a pretty shy and cautious child. He's young enough for new things to make an impression on him. Between Corazón and Homing (the mother of the family isn't given much presence), Doflamingo and his sociopathy definitely make him seem like the odd one out.
Back in the present day (not the present-present, the past-present) our little Law is being fully embraced as a member of Doflamingo's pirate crew. We montage our way through two years as his disease consumes him more and more. This episode would have been interesting enough as is, but it eventually leads to a pretty gnarly twist: Law's real full name is “Trafalgar D. Water Law.” What “Water” means is still a mystery, but any One Piece fan knows that the middle initial “D” is no small detail.
This is gargantuan. Law is officially in the company of people like Luffy and Gold Roger, a type of end-game chosen one. This is a pretty intense reveal because it changes everything and rewrites the rules for what we know is possible. This definitely feels like the kind of storytelling decision that was figured out by Eiichiro Odaafter Law became an absurdly popular character, but that doesn't take away from how dramatic of a surprise this is.
This revelation also stirs the pot in Law and Corazón's relationship, as upon hearing about this Corazón nabs Law off to the side and speaks for the first time, breaking the mute illusion. “If this is true, you need to get out of here!” he says. It turns out Corazón might be hiding a few secrets of his own...
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...