Oden holds on for as long as he can. Shinobu tells more of the truth, shocking the people of Wano. They begin to cheer for him, counting down the seconds as Oden hangs on. Oden then tells his retainers that it is vital that they open up the land of Wano. As he holds on he reflects on the adventures he had and the life he led.
Eventually Oden makes it, much to everyone's joy. But Orochi changes the rules and decides to execute him by gunfire. As the shots start flying from Orochi's retainers, Oden throws his friends to safety. Kinemon and the others scramble to get away, knowing that they had to survive and that they cannot look back. Kaido and Oden exchange few last words before he finally shoots Oden and ends his life. Cherry blossoms fall, the shamisen plays, and the credits roll.
Oden was made to boil.
Talk about an ending. This flashback sequence is still ongoing of course - we've not yet seen the end of it - but the emotional crux of the Wano arc has been laid bare. Oden has done what his name would imply, shifting from mythic folk hero to true legend, and what an ending it is. The sight of Oden holding Kinemon and the others aloft over the boiling water, the dramatic Kabuki theater posing and final gunshots that sent him reeling into the water - it's pure drama. It's what we come to these works for.
Oden is such an interesting case study for me as a One Piece fan. I'm not sure I'd say Oden himself is an all-time favorite character - like Sabo, I find him much more interesting for what he means to other cast members more than I find him interesting in and of himself. His flashback is monumental for precisely that same reason, as I find it so fascinating that he got to go with Roger and Whitebeard and we saw more of those adventures through his eyes. But I cannot deny that even in a series full of iconic characters and iconic scenes, Oden's death stands among the greats for vivid and lasting imagery.
And of course, the Toei team is relentless once again in delivering on the grandiose events at play. Take your pick of brilliant sequences this week: the crowd shifting to all black silhouettes as Orochi's arrows flew into them, or Orochi himself outlined in stark blood red over the dark background, the film reel effect over everyone's memories of Oden, or maybe the simple drama of the cherry blossoms over the ticking clock. Every frame a painting, to borrow a phrase.
Oden was born to boil, and these frames were made to sizzle.
Crunchyroll to stream upcoming anime― Aniplex and Crunchyroll announced on Wednesday that the late manga creator Hisaya Nakajo's Hana-Kimi manga is inspiring an anime. In addition, Crunchyroll announced that it will stream the anime when it premieres in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, the CIS, and India. The announcement did not reveal the deb...
James and Lynzee look into Hideaki Anno's latest hint that there might be more Evangelion after the last movie and news on the Lord of the Rings anime film!― Could There Be More Evangelion on the Horizon? James and Lynzee look into Hideaki Anno's latest hint that there might be more Evangelion after the last movie and news on the Lord of the Rings anime film! Plus, we catch up with Kafka and the Ka...
Grant Jones dives into the wild world of giant monsters and how Kaiju No. 8 builds on their legacy.― Kaiju No. 8 is a series that wears its influences on its sleeves. As the first word in its title suggests, it comes from a long line of works in the kaiju genre, using giant monsters and burning skylines as a backdrop to tell stories. While many likely know kaiju in a passing sense, it may help to h...
This steamy manga's appeal is going to depend on how much you can stomach a female protagonist who kicks off the romance by assaulting her former fiance.― This is a tricky one. Before You Discard Me, I Shall Have My Way with You is, to all appearances, a story that opens with a sexual assault. Agnès has been betrothed to Crown Prince Lucilleur since childhood, and she's been in love with him just as...
Japanese studio to handle production slated for broadcast, streaming globally― Kadokawa and Singaporean game developer and publisher Garena announced on Monday that they are co-producing an anime adaptation of Garena's Garena Free Fire battle royale shooting game, with a Japanese studio handling the animation. Kadokawa's Kadokawa Qingyu subsidiary is the production manager. The anime is planned to b...
Healer Nanna's powers have one very unique caveat: she has to have sex with the person to heal them. See why Rebecca Silverman calls it "a cute story, decently racy, and generally good, fluffy fun."― One of the fun things about Seven Seas' Steamship line of racy manga aimed at a female audience is finding which romance tropes are prevalent in any given release. While every genre has its tropes and s...
What's the perfect recipe for waifu supremacy? Lucas and Nick look at fan-favorites from Yu Yu Hakusho to Spice & Wolf.― What's the perfect recipe for waifu supremacy? Lucas and Nick look at fan-favorites from Yu Yu Hakusho to Spice & Wolf. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.Spoiler Warning for discussion of the s...
Train to the End of the World and Voice Actor Radio are getting a lot of love these last few weeks! Discover which other series stand out in 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...
Crystal Kay previously sang themes for 2004's Fullmetal Alchemist and Nodame Cantabile― Recently, Anime News Network was able to sit down with singer-songwriter Crystal Kay and talk about not only her involvement with anime over the years but also what it was like to grow up in Japan as the child of a Korean-Japanese mother and an African-American father. Anime fans likely know of Crystal Kay throug...
The plot is excellent in the romance camp. Everything that happens is to get Eui-joon and Gunwoo together, and it works pretty well.― You can read The Dangerous Convenience Store in English two ways. The first is to read it on the manhwa site/app Manta, which has all seventy-five chapters and four bonus stories available. The second is to read Seven Seas' print (or ebook) edition, which, as of this ...
Some older mysteries inch closer to resolution as the true nature of the Abyss slowly comes into view, and long-posed questions start to be answered.― Sometimes, being a fan of Akihito Tsukushi's acclaimed Made in Abyss series means acclimating to suffering. Like many Western devotees, I was introduced to this bizarre, squishy, disturbing world via the 2017 first season of Kinema Citrus' fantastic a...
Recently ended manga follows middle school student living with mysterious bird-looking creature― Shogakukan announced on Friday that Akira Konno's Kujima Utaeba Ie Hororo manga is inspiring an anime. The "bird(?) home comedy" manga's story starts when first-year middle school student Arata Kōda meets a mysterious bird-looking creature named Kujima in autumn. Hungry and craving Japanese food, Kujima ...