So who's jobbed harder this arc, Pekoms, Cracker, Bobbin, or Sanji's feelings?
Title: ''Liar - Luffy and Sanji''
Chapters Covered: rest of 856
New Characters: Katakuri
Episode Director: Satoshi Ito (1/2)
Animation Director: Kenji Yokoyama ()
Time: 7:30PM EST
Watch It: www.crunchyroll.com/one-piece
Does anyone have alternative streaming link? Due regional limitation I can't see crunchyroll here in Italy.
One Piece Episode 826 Preview
[Special - Episode 825] One Piece Opening 20 - Hope
One Piece OST - We Are by Kouhei Tanaka
Katsumi Ishizuka AND Eisaku Inoue doing key animation again, nice
So in the end the special version of Hope was just a montage instead of another Tackey & Tsubasa. Thank god.
Neat knew end card there for the preview, with new outfit color schemes to boot! Colorscheme-wise, I'm disappointed that Pedro's suit is green. I had imagined white with the shirt being green instead; whould've looked so cool. Don't know how to feel about Brook's black-and-maroon stripes yet. Carrot's seems to have been changed to be less colorful compared to what was in the opening previously, and actually closer to what I had originally pictured since I'm boring.
! Probably done so that her Sulong form will appear monochrome.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Yokoyama, Matsuda, Inoue, Ishizuka, a sampling of One Piece ADs past present, and future.
Yuriko Yamaguchi sounded more high pitched but that was likely due to doing Vados so much recently
Great episode, Katsumi ishikazu punch was incredible (nobody in the anime industry does impact like him) and esaku inoue + ichikawa art was super nice.
Next looks like takra isamu is back in strong form plus mitsu youchi working on it.
One piece anime has been on fire for quite some time lately.
Im Just amazed at how this feels like an episode from Water 7 - which I consider to be the highlight of OP from a directorial standpoint - we even got the theme of the show popping in after the episode started. Something we havent been seeing in a while. This feels like this is the beginning of the Highpoint of the timeskip in the anime. it's a shame the speed of adaptation is so low - that said This episode was slow, but didnt feel like filler. Speaking of Direction HOLY SHIT!!! The foreground was used as part of the shot composition so much, the use of Smoke to turn a basic 2-shot into a far more cinematic widescreen over-the shoulder shot, The use of the filters, and camera. To grant us depth, time and space - and Im notsure if you noticed, but there was a LOT of focus on the face. Not only is it easier to draw a face than the entire body attached to it all the time (as OP tends to do) but it allowed the animators to play this up more as a graphic novel, than an animated production. In other words they used their limitations and made something with them - like what Old OP Did.
Old OP was very limited, but it made up for it with cool angles, and character designs that maximized Oda's perspective drawing skills. It never really went to Sakugafest terririty. During G8, the priorities shifted to be more like the movies, and so the show (with all it's limited glory) put emphasis on the animation - which is fine when the show has the power to make it happen, which OP for the most part simply doesnt. So to see clever use of restricted camera space to not only duplicate intimacy, but also detail the head-space of characters and do it for cheap - that shit makes me blush. Good on ya One Piece. And that's the power of an adaptation we were able to see a few pages of Manga play out over the course of the episode, but it really didn't feel padded because it maintained it's direction.
I guess my point is, it feels like OP is being treated as a dramatic serial again, rather than a disposable Sunday-morning Kids Cartoon.
Easily a 9/10 for me.
“When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say”
I've been wondering for a while now, has Toei decided to put more effort into the series? We've been getting key-animated cuts like every episode so far it's actually impressive. The pacing of the episodes, while slow, doesn't feel like they're being padded to hell like the storyboarding team actually decided to put actual content into the episode. I remember watching episode 823 and genuinely laughing at all the comedic moments in the episode; it's been a while since the anime's comedy actually made me laugh instead of barely giggling at their poorly executed gags.
I'm actually feeling more invested in watching the series again on a weekly basis and not just watch a few clips on YouTube now and again.
They had to have gotten a new director or something since this arc started. If they have to waste time I'd much rather have episodes like this with tasteful direction, music, and scenery instead of stupid gags.
They had to have gotten a new director or something since this arc started. If they have to waste time I'd much rather have episodes like this with tasteful direction, music, and scenery instead of stupid gags.
There's a new series' director since 683 or something.
They had to have gotten a new director or something since this arc started. If they have to waste time I'd much rather have episodes like this with tasteful direction, music, and scenery instead of stupid gags.
The series current director, Toshinori Fukuzawa, started at around mid-Dressrosa but he couldn't put his spin on things until a new arc started, due to having to pick up where previous director Hiroaki Miyamoto left off and deal with the pacing and such how he had set it up. When Zou started, there were a lot of changes in place with stuff like pacing and animation which improved the anime a whole lot, but Whole Cake Island has improved it even more with the way they pace things out and how they direct stuff overall. He also seems to have been responsible for recruiting Keiichi Ichikawa to be the General Animation Director which was the best decision they could have ever made. What it all chalks up to is Fukuzawa just being good at planning out the overall pacing of the series, correctly using animation directors like now with the Tea Party coming up and much more.
Tl:dr: Fukuzawa has kind of seemingly been working on pushing the anime into a new direction and Whole Cake Island has fully realized that new direction
What can I say about this episode that hasn't been said already? There've been some minor stumbling here and there, the conclusion of the Counter fight this week being one of them (Did he just squish the mystery shoulder girl?), but these past two months the anime hasn't been merely adapting the manga, by-and-large they've been elevating it through clever directing, music choice and placement, vocal performances, and so forth. Their approach may not be for everyone, but its episodes like this I would present as a counterpoint to people who say that the anime's a bad adaptation.
Looks like starting with next week we'll be back to covering full chapters again instead of halves or bits and pieces. Great seeing Takara back as it's been a while.
luffy punching sanji by Ishizuka , and Appearance of katakuri was the best thing in this episode
also i loved the smears used when clash of hands happened between luffy and the big guy
Three amazing storyboards in a row! This is Satoshi Ito at his best, and what an incredible scene by Ishizuka. It's so awesome to have him back.
Looks like we'll have Yoichi Mitsui doing a lot of stuff next week, it would be interesting to see him follow in Inoue's footsteps and supervise.
ROBIN! SAY YOU WANNA LIVE!!
oh wait…
What can I say about this episode that hasn't been said already? There've been some minor stumbling here and there, the conclusion of the Counter fight this week being one of them (Did he just squish the mystery shoulder girl?), but these past two months the anime hasn't been merely adapting the manga, by-and-large they've been elevating it through clever directing, music choice and placement, vocal performances, and so forth. Their approach may not be for everyone, but its episodes like this I would present as a counterpoint to people who say that the anime's a bad adaptation.
Looks like starting with next week we'll be back to covering full chapters again instead of halves or bits and pieces. Great seeing Takara back as it's been a while.
I've been getting FMA:B vibes since Sanji's last flashback. It really feels like a lower-budget episode of that show. but with slightly better directing. Now if ONLY They would update these antiquated sound effects. These things are from the 80's and they're never mixed well. They never feel like an extension of the environment - they always sound like recycled sound effects. I have only dabbled (more like my mentor was a hard ass and threw like 3 years worth of material in my face to figure out and I only got away with it because I have very good ears) in sound design for film, I know it must drive Funimation's team Insane to listen to these things and have to re-mix them to sound good.
Eh, I thought this episode was only OK…but mostly in terms of story. It may have been storyboarded and paced really well, but it still felt obvious that this episode mostly only covered a pretty short exchange. Me being lukewarm about this exchange in the manga probably contributed to that a lot as well. Also, the way the Counter fight ended was pretty underwhelming. But otherwise, this was a very well-done episode and if the quality keeps up during the wedding then I will be a very happy man.
! I am a bit cautious about the next episode because I remember the manga chapter was extremely light on content and only really served to establish Bege and the upcoming alliance, but I'm hoping we get to see a good amount of those flashbacks about Bege's past.
@RJ:
Im Just amazed at how this feels like an episode from Water 7 - which I consider to be the highlight of OP from a directorial standpoint - we even got the theme of the show popping in after the episode started. Something we havent been seeing in a while. This feels like this is the beginning of the Highpoint of the timeskip in the anime. it's a shame the speed of adaptation is so low - that said This episode was slow, but didnt feel like filler. Speaking of Direction HOLY SHIT!!! The foreground was used as part of the shot composition so much, the use of Smoke to turn a basic 2-shot into a far more cinematic widescreen over-the shoulder shot, The use of the filters, and camera. To grant us depth, time and space - and Im notsure if you noticed, but there was a LOT of focus on the face. Not only is it easier to draw a face than the entire body attached to it all the time (as OP tends to do) but it allowed the animators to play this up more as a graphic novel, than an animated production. In other words they used their limitations and made something with them - like what Old OP Did.
Old OP was very limited, but it made up for it with cool angles, and character designs that maximized Oda's perspective drawing skills. It never really went to Sakugafest terririty. During G8, the priorities shifted to be more like the movies, and so the show (with all it's limited glory) put emphasis on the animation - which is fine when the show has the power to make it happen, which OP for the most part simply doesnt. So to see clever use of restricted camera space to not only duplicate intimacy, but also detail the head-space of characters and do it for cheap - that shit makes me blush. Good on ya One Piece. And that's the power of an adaptation we were able to see a few pages of Manga play out over the course of the episode, but it really didn't feel padded because it maintained it's direction.
I guess my point is, it feels like OP is being treated as a dramatic serial again, rather than a disposable Sunday-morning Kids Cartoon.
Easily a 9/10 for me.
I’ve been saying this is the best arc since Water 7, so it’s good they’re going back to that style. But all that’s assuming this episode isn’t a fluke, which is almost absolutely is. But hey, here’s hoping it stays this level quality for he rest of this awesome arc (the second half of which is way better than the first, IMO).
And I don’t get why some of you are saying the anime has been kicking ass for tons of episodes. Maybe two? We’ve gotten like seven freaking episodes of Luffy running and fighting against nobodies filler. I personally have been exhausted by the anime and think it’s actually gotten worse, not better. But then the last two or three were good—the Brook rescue being a stand out chapter anyways.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
@Kaido:
Eh, I thought this episode was only OK…but mostly in terms of story. It may have been storyboarded and paced really well, but it still felt obvious that this episode mostly only covered a pretty short exchange. Me being lukewarm about this exchange in the manga probably contributed to that a lot as well. Also, the way the Counter fight ended was pretty underwhelming. But otherwise, this was a very well-done episode and if the quality keeps up during the wedding then I will be a very happy man.
! I am a bit cautious about the next episode because I remember the manga chapter was extremely light on content and only really served to establish Bege and the upcoming alliance, but I'm hoping we get to see a good amount of those flashbacks about Bege's past.
Yeah, the emotion for the Sanji stuff just isn’t anywhere near as potent as the Usopp stuff because his struggle isn’t such a big deal. You know Luffy can fight to get him out of it, whereas the Usopp divide was way deeper, and there were no clear villains to beat to get them out of it. The Robin stuff too was way more complicated because it stemmed from her long-lived depression and possible suicidal thoughts, and she legit left the crew (as did Usopp) to sacrifice herself (and the Sanji stuff treads a lot of similar ground, though not as strongly).
Yeah, the emotion for the Sanji stuff just isn’t anywhere near as potent as the Usopp stuff because his struggle isn’t such a big deal. You know Luffy can fight to get him out of it, whereas the Usopp divide was way deeper, and there were no clear villains to beat to get them out of it. The Robin stuff too was way more complicated because it stemmed from her long-lived depression and possible suicidal thoughts, and she legit left the crew (as did Usopp) to sacrifice herself (and the Sanji stuff treads a lot of similar ground, though not as strongly).
That's why I think it was overplayed by Oda, as if it's mandatory that a character cries at a tough event every arc. I get Oda's signature but it doesn't need to be forced. Considering the anime emphasized and built up to this scene the most compared to Nami, Robin, Ussop and even Ace, you gotta give it to up to Toei for trying to maintain an audience.
And I don’t get why some of you are saying the anime has been kicking ass for tons of episodes. Maybe two? We’ve gotten like seven freaking episodes of Luffy running and fighting against nobodies filler. I personally have been exhausted by the anime and think it’s actually gotten worse, not better. But then the last two or three were good—the Brook rescue being a stand out chapter anyways.
Before the "Luffy and Sanji" episodes we had in these two weeks, there were only #820, #821, #822 and #823 having extra scenes about Luffy fighting against Opera's brothers, not 7 episodes. Except for Episode #821 which was badly directed, all these episodes had a very good direction and animation above average, especially #820 and #823. In #820 there were also some of the best sakugas in this arc.
All of the extra scenes didn't take long and they were just minor parts of these episodes, especially considering the actual lengths of these episodes. The actual length of every episode trends to be longer since last September. For example:
#820 started at 3'44"
#822 at 3'26"
#823 at 3'30"
#824 at 3'27"
(I don't want to watch #821 again and I forgot the data.)
Speaking of these extra fighting scenes themselves, they made the "Luffy and Sanji" storyline having more drama which wasn't a bad idea, and that's also one of the reasons why #824 was that emotional.
