One Piece - Episode 892 [Review]

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YU-NO: A girl who chants love at the bound of this world. - Episode 15 [Review]

As predicted, this episode of YU-NO turns out to be about Takuya and friends having their beach excursion. It's another of what can be charitably categorized as the ‘faffing about’ parts of the show: These mostly-uneventful interludes where we ostensibly spend time with the characters to endear and develop them so we'll care when the eventual time-travel action starts up again. But you know what isn't so predictable about this one? I actually thought it was okay! Yes, the plot twist this time turns out to be that if YU-NO does something enough it might finally get the hang of it, and in this case that means it got me through a half-hour of Takuya, Kanna, and two supporting characters who don't really matter anymore having fun in the sun without me checking my watch.

The secret to the success of this standout slice-of-life is that it's trading on an idea beyond merely endearing Takuya, Kanna, and their relationship to us. It takes a while to get there, but by the time the relatively low-stress threat of a stray dog has made a mess of the gang's barbecue and fireworks plans, Takuya briefly entertains using the Reflector Device to return to his earlier savestate and try to fix things. He doesn't, of course, because that's a frivolous use of such a power, and robs the friends of the time spent together, good or bad, besides. When you remember that this was the guy who previously was happy to use the device to pass a test in Summer school, it acts as a more-understated-than-expected example of character growth. It also sells us on why this little vacation was presented as uneventfully as it was: These simple, non-sci-fi-enhanced times are the point unto themselves.

Even as I'm not really complaining about it, I should also stress that going on this trip isn't actually as uneventful as I initially described. The main intrigue points revolve around that pendant of Kanna's, and the creepy old man Hojo who seems to be pursuing her for it, for some reason. That he hints at this information while using a public restroom alongside Takuya and also commenting on his junk is probably the least-appreciable part of the whole affair. But then they put him on a train out of the plot for the rest of the episode, so at least that's dealt with.

The other element of the episode with some depth to it is where it's characterizing Kanna. Calling her purely derivative of the old ‘emotionless girl’ anime archetype honestly seems unfair (especially given the age of the character's origins) but thus far there was just that little to go on. This episode actually sneaks in some fun asides that make her seem like she has a real personality, albeit a withdrawn one. Her prowess at watermelon splitting was a fun revelation, and the storytelling and character work here were strong enough to believably present her as someone who wanted to enjoy herself with her new friends. It makes it odd that Takuya's connection with her now was barely established by him trying to speedrun the visual-novel route, since she actually slots into this group quite well despite just barely having met him. Or has she? I'll get to that in a moment.

Just a moment though, because there really isn't that much else to discuss about this episode. It's all very cozy and enjoyably-presented. The aforementioned ideas and functional character work carry it further than YU-NO's usual time-wasting. The most tense part is when Kanna's pendant and the Reflector Device go missing, and even that gets deflated in just a couple minutes when it's revealed to be that stray dog tearing up the place. Even then, I'm so accustomed to the show's adventure-game puzzle-box logic that I was momentary like “Wait, is that supposed to be the curse beast that Eriko's old boyfriend has his soul shunted into?”. Obviously that wasn't the case, but it says something that the episode can deflate a serious situation with an anticlimax like that and have me nonplussed about missed opportunities.

Perhaps that's because this episode is bookended with well-paced intrigue regarding Kanna and how she actually figures alongside Takuya, his father, and the rest of their family. A flashback at the beginning of the episode shows Kanna, seemingly the same age she is now, accompanying a young Takuya at the beach. That's honestly time-travel 101 as far as setting up situations goes, but we seem to be getting right back to it when she has another one of her collapsing fits at the end of the episode. And wait, how did I only just notice that Kanna and Takuya kind of have some family resemblance in their character designs going on? See, this one episode of well-utilized downtime just did its job of pacing out the intrigue in the story, and I'm genuinely ready to keep following it into next week.

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One Piece - Episode 892 [Review]

The reputation of the One Piece anime has surely not been lost on anyone. Generally speaking, I'm probably kinder on it than a lot of people have been if only because I still have so much room in my heart of the hundred episode marathons that I raised myself on over the years. Between One Piece and DBZ and the like, I get it. I get that these shows are slow and not always the prettiest, but there's still a charm to be found in a pulp-y alchemic kind of way. Though, even by my own personal metric for One Piece, the point of diminishing returns started somewhere at the 300 episode count. The rise of much higher-quality Shonen Jump adaptations like My Hero Academia certainly haven't helped my ache for something better, either.

Starting with the new opening theme 'Over the Top' by Kitadani Hiroshi, the differences this week are staggering. It's an actual anime opening! One of my big pet peeves with the New World openings was how they always defaulted to the Straw Hats' Fishman Island outfits, as if that was what the characters actually wear on a regular Tuesday. This new opening shows the crew in their new ninja/samurai duds, really selling us on what's actually going to be happening in this story arc. The new sketchy hand-drawn art style is also greatly appreciated, and the (slightly) shorter runtime for the opening means there isn't as much room for bland or generic shots. It's all action and exciting teases for scenes to come, even if that means the opening isn't shy of spoilers.

As we step into this brave new world, we need to catch up on what the missing half of the crew has been up to since Luffy made his trip to Whole Cake Island. Zoro, Franky, Usopp, and Robin have been blending in as citizens of Wano, taking up local jobs and Japanese aliases. (Zoro's Wano name is "Zorojuro", for example.) They've been instructed by Kin'emon not to make a scene, as they need to wait for Luffy and the others before they can properly begin their attack on Kaido and his crew. An important motif of the arc is introduced to us in the form of a stage curtain opening to reveal Wano's landscape. This arc is a samurai film/kabuki play/rakugo performance and this is formerly 'Act One' of Wano. The curtains go along with the masked shamisen player—a teal-haired woman who's sure to become an important character soon enough. I eagerly await how this arc is going to develop its act structure hook. I feel like we have to see the artifice take on a literal meaning by the end of the story.

For all the updates to the visual and directorial style, the question of pacing is still a big one. I felt as though the voice actors were talking slower than usual this week, like the anime is trying new ways to pad the story out without it becoming immediately apparent. There's at least one significant flourish to the plot, as we're being led step-by-step through the events that led Zoro to being tried for murder, something the manga just cut to in media res. Obviously, he didn't do it, but the sequence leads to a showstopping fight scene where Zoro smokes a bunch of swordsmen with a tiny seppuku blade. He's not blending in very well, is he?

Things are really looking up for the Wano anime, as we've barely gotten started and the visuals are already singing. At its heart, this is still a fairly standard One Piece episode, but there's so much more care put into avoiding the trappings that made our last few adventures feel like a chore. Even when the animation quality inevitably takes a backseat again, the new art direction will ensure that there's at least some baseline charm keeping the show's head above water. There's a lot of good anime being released every season, so it'd be nice if One Piece had a chance at competing with any big franchises other than itself for once.

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