Trafalgar Law is dead, according to the incredibly blunt title of this episode: “Law Dies! Luffy's Raging Onslaught!” Of course, this is One Piece and major character deaths are far and few between, so chances are good the show is pulling our leg. Though, it does raise the question as to what Law's big picture role in this series is. Either he's a main character forever now or he continues to live on until he fulfills some other dramatic purpose.
Before Law “dies” we revisit his most recent encounter with Doflamingo, where he restates the faith that he puts in Luffy and friends. We get a little clip show of all the famous acts of defiance the Straw Hats have committed to the world, reminding us of why Luffy and his crew is so notorious. Law believes firmly that, even if he died, Luffy would find away to take Doflamingo down. This clip show kind of sadly reminds me of how long it's been since we've really felt the stakes of what the Straw Hats were going through. The show is so much more about the world as a whole now, rather than the relationships and determination of the main characters. The experience hasn't been crippled in recent years, but I think it's been too long since we've seen some of those emotional highs.
The episode goes on to reminds us of that the ultimate power of Law's Devil Fruit is the ability to make somebody immortal at the cost of his own life. Doflamingo's best case scenario is to force Law to use this ability on himself. After all, an egomaniac like Doffy could do quite a bit of damage living forever and it gets at least one carrier of the Will of D. out of his hair. Obviously Law gives him the “kiss my ass” response you could expect, prompting Doffy to riddle him full of bullets in a bloody fervor. It's really brutal, and the number of visible holes punched through Law's unmoving body as he lays in a puddle of his own blood is pretty convincing as far as that “he's dead” thing goes.
I'm still pretty hung up on this idea of Law's immortality power. There's no way he isn't going to use it by the end of the series at some point, right? That power is a ticking plot time bomb as far as I'm concerned, but it's strange to think that Oda has set up a Chekov's Gun that inevitably involves a major character dying. I do have a low-key theory that Law will make Luffy immortal at some point way down the line, just as a side-sweep to all those far too obvious theories about Luffy's future Roger-like death, but that's neither here nor there.
So Law is quote-unquote “dead” now and it's up to Luffy to break through the floor and re-challenge Doflamingo, now angrier than ever for how the flamingo man manipulated Bellamy. There's some really neat animation as Luffy makes his grand re-reentrance. I don't know what it is but there's something about Luffy's animation model that feels really “right” within a few of these quick shots. It's stylistically what I want to see more of.
Luffy vs. Doflamingo is a fight I find myself having a lot of yearning for. In an arc this big and a villain this larger-than-life, a satisfying final battle is the least I can hope for. Fortunately, this arc has had a pretty good track record when it comes to animation featuring these two guys at fisticuffs. This episode's main accomplishment is getting Luffy and Doffy face to face once again. At the end, we hear Law's voice whispering mysteriously, signaling that he's (of course) not really dead. Whether he's got some sort of plan up his sleeve or not will have to wait until next week.
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...
Kaijin Fugeki manga launches on May 29― Manga creator Oh! great announced on Tuesday that he will launch a new manga titled Kaijin Fugeki in Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine on May 29. A Twitter account for the manga also debuted on the same day. Oh! great launched a manga adaptation of NisiOisin's Bakemonogatari novels (pictured at right) in Weekly Shonen Magazine in March 2018, and ended it in Ma...