The Wano arc is secretly a Feudal Japan reskin of a Super Mario Land 2 adaptation.
Title: "A State of Emergency - Big Mom Approaches!"
Chapters Covered: rest of 929-930
Episode Director: Katsumi Tokoro (****)
Animation Director: Masahiro Shimanuki (**)
Time: 7:30PM EST
Watch It: www.crunchyroll.com/one-piece
The anime's going on hiatus for the next two weeks due to marathon coverage, so episode 924 won't be airing until the second half of March.
PageOne looks nothing like I imagined
One Piece Episode 924 Preview - (March 15th, 2020)
One Piece Episode 924 Preview - (March 15th, 2019)
Just a random observation. It's unusual how everyone in the Beast Pirates has the barbarian look, then there's King with his leatherman Nazi look.
Seeing that preview makes me wish we had gotten Whole Cake with the current animation style. So much better. Also makes me hope the upcoming Wano battle is a full on dino romp. Been forever since we've seen dinos.
Page One Voice Actor = Yutaka Aoyama
I'm glad to see that Snack is confirmed to have joined Big Mom and the others to Wano.
Soon we will.witness the best thing ever
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I'm glad to see that Snack is confirmed to have joined Big Mom and the others to Wano.
Where is Snack? Missed him twice now
Awesome thanks
Still baffled that Daifuku only has a 300 million bounty with the attention he is getting
Same for Oven
I think one of the benefits of the anime filler showing the Big Mum pirates in action, is that it contextualises abit more some of the crew members that we see in this episode, and gives a bit more gravitas to the situation. In the anime Charlotte Nusstorte, Basskarte and Dosmarche were shown giving the Germa siblings trouble for several episodes which made them seem to be decently tricky opponents. Charlotte Tablet and Mobile were given fights against the main cast, although they were beaten swiftly, they certainly stick out a little bit more because they had some role. Same is sort of true for Raisin who was actually shown in action against Pekom's after Sanji's attack on him.
Basically what I'm getting at, is that some of the anime's filler fights in WCI did make the reveal of the Big Mum pirates showing up have a little bit more oomph, as there were more characters given a bit more context.
People rag on the non-top tier BM pirates joining, but think of it like when Luffy brings anyone below the monster trio. Not everyone is a powerhouse, but they all bring a skill set that makes them dangerous as a whole.
On another note, this episode was fantastic! Did not feel dragged along at all, and we're getting closer and closer to Sanji's moment. I hope they go all out for it
Great content and pacing for this episode. Really didn’t care for the storyboards and colors. One Piece often moves to garrish color pallets, as with the party scene. Wish they would’ve brought the colorists behind the Komurasaki episode on board for this one, which will determine the colors for the next few episodes.
Such a bummer the anime is going on a two week hiatus right when the great stuff is starting. It’ll be an exciting month when the show comes back.
Great content and pacing for this episode. Really didn’t care for the storyboards and colors. One Piece often moves to garrison color pallets, as with the party episode. Wish they would’ve brought the colorists behind the Komurasaki episode on board for this one, which will determine the colors for the next few episodes.
Such a bummer the anime is going on a two week hiatus right when the great stuff is starting. It’ll be an exciting month when the show comes back.
What didn’t you like about the storyboard?
Great content and pacing for this episode. Really didn’t care for the storyboards and colors. One Piece often moves to garrison color pallets, as with the party episode. Wish they would’ve brought the colorists behind the Komurasaki episode on board for this one, which will determine the colors for the next few episodes.
Such a bummer the anime is going on a two week hiatus right when the great stuff is starting. It’ll be an exciting month when the show comes back.
Wait what they delayed my Osobamask
Burn in hell
I absolutely loved Kenji Iwasaki's voice performance of Orochi! Man he's making that twat way more enjoyable than what he ever deserves to be. Orochi's gonna be a treat in the anime with such an amazing voice actor!
Otherwise it was a solid episode. Really good board and nice direction overall.
That 2 week break's gonna be painful to sit through.
What didn’t you like about the storyboard?
It’s a personal preference thing, as is most judgement of a storyboard. If you watch Skippy’s review, check minute 4:00-4:30. See the prioritization of close-ups, and how those close-ups are VERY close? This storyboarder has a penchant for cutting off characters’ heads and always being in way too close. The establishing shots, too, felt too close for me; like he’s need to back up the camera a few feet.
90% of the time when I complain about a storyboard, the complaint is that the shots were too close, they prioritized close-ups too often, and there weren’t enough wide-shots. These are all true of this episode, but that isn’t to say I thought it was terrible or hated it or anything; definitely don’t misunderstand my argument as the extreme.
I watch a ton of foreign film, which by and large shoots from further back than American films. If you watch American films, they prioritize close-ups heavily.
Long shots often times have less details and people wrongfully criticize them as bad animation.
Monkey D. D. Ragon! So beastly he got two D's in his name!
Long shots often times have less details and people wrongfully criticize them as bad animation.
You mean wide shots and establishing shots? There’s an easy solution to that: a little more detail.
And we’re talking about two extremes here (close-ups and wide shots). There’s room in the middle, which is where the majority of the episode would be at. My problem is the severe lack of wide shots and high prioritization of close-ups (arguably extreme close-ups, too).
Fantastic episode. One of the best of the arc, easily. Great pacing, felt full.
I am so upset about this two week hiatus though!!
You mean wide shots and establishing shots? There’s an easy solution to that: a little more detail.
And we’re talking about two extremes here (close-ups and wide shots). There’s room in the middle, which is where the majority of the episode would be at. My problem is the severe lack of wide shots and high prioritization of close-ups (arguably extreme close-ups, too).
The only complaint I'd really have with the lack of wide shots, is that I do want to see more of the background. The background artists in Wano have been awesome. The set pieces have looked consistently beautiful.
In saying that though, I think the focus on close ups are extreme close ups makes sense in the context of a show like One Piece. Considering that One Piece isn't very animation heavy character acting wise, its harder to sell a characters emotions and feelings through just character art(considering that characters are also hard to draw). By having a focus on close ups and extreme close ups, its not only a bit easier to animate, but also allows the staff to convey a variety of feelings and emotions effectively. I think its an extremely smart and pragmatic way to help us better connect with a character or sell the intensity of a characters emotion considering the circumstances of the show(not to mentioned, warped eyes are my thing, I love them to death when they're done well).
A lot of the detail becomes lost in wide shots because of the filters. Even the Broly and Stampede films that were early to adopt this method had signifgantly more close-up shots.
This is how the filter looks is on its lowest setting, it would work well for wide shots but may look inconsistent:
So what I’ll say here is that asking for more wide shots doesn’t mean I want a whole episode of wide shots, or for them to be prioritized over all other types of shots. They’re very good to better establish the location and the blocking, and it’s good to zoom out every so often to give you a sense of the space as it changes.
And I think you folks are maybe conflating close-ups and medium shots. The image there is more a medium shot—albeit slightly close. Medium shots are from the waist up (or at least the lower chest). Close-ups are shoulders and head. Extreme close-ups are just faces. It changes on an episode to episode basis, so my assigning percentages would be misleading, but let’s assume wide shots are only 5% of the shots. I’d like double. Let’s assume medium shots are 20%; again, I’d like double. Close-ups are somewhere around 55%; cut that in half. Extreme close-ups are around 20%; cut that by 5% or 10%. Of course, this is a probably poor estimate with only the last episode in mind. There’s no perfect ratios because the content dictates what types of shots should be used. All I’m saying is that I need more wide shots and medium shots to give me a better sense of the setting and blocking.
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A lot of the detail becomes lost in wide shots because of the filters. Even the Broly and Stampede films that were early to adopt this method had signifgantly more close-up shots.
This is how the filter looks is on its lowest setting, it would work well for wide shots but may look inconsistent:
The filter jumps around a ton anyways. I’m not worried about that. The Wano arc has given us some truly stunning backgrounds, and they haven’t suffered from the filters or line art. Check the first few episodes in particular for this (and for a heavier reliance on medium shots).
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The only complaint I'd really have with the lack of wide shots, is that I do want to see more of the background. The background artists in Wano have been awesome. The set pieces have looked consistently beautiful.
In saying that though, I think the focus on close ups are extreme close ups makes sense in the context of a show like One Piece. Considering that One Piece isn't very animation heavy character acting wise, its harder to sell a characters emotions and feelings through just character art(considering that characters are also hard to draw). By having a focus on close ups and extreme close ups, its not only a bit easier to animate, but also allows the staff to convey a variety of feelings and emotions effectively. I think its an extremely smart and pragmatic way to help us better connect with a character or sell the intensity of a characters emotion considering the circumstances of the show(not to mentioned, warped eyes are my thing, I love them to death when they're done well).
Agreed about the background work in Wano; see above. I think it’s a common fallacy when people say close-ups are by definition better for character reactions. Look at the image above. That’s a medium shot and we get plenty—arguably far more than we’d get on a closeup of Caribou because then we’d only see his face and not his body language, which adds a ton more.
In fact, I think I’d argue it’s far easier to show a character’s reaction with a medium shot. A close-up requires the artist to be really good at character work to put in anything interesting; usually the default is a boring open-mouth, when a medium shot would at least give gestures and movements to keep it more interesting/inventive/revealing.
Now if we’re going to debate what’s quicker to draw, yeah, probably an extreme closeup is quicker than a medium with posture and all that to consider. But I think the badass staff is more than capable to rely a little less on extreme closeups. That isn’t a big ask; it’s not like asking for OP animation.
So what I’ll say here is that asking for more wide shots doesn’t mean I want a whole episode of wide shots, or for them to be prioritized over all other types of shots. They’re very good to better establish the location and the blocking, and it’s good to zoom out every so often to give you a sense of the space as it changes.
And I think you folks are maybe conflating close-ups and medium shots. The image there is more a medium shot—albeit slightly close. Medium shots are from the waist up (or at least the lower chest). Close-ups are shoulders and head. Extreme close-ups are just faces. It changes on an episode to episode basis, so my assigning percentages would be misleading, but let’s assume wide shots are only 5% of the shots. I’d like double. Let’s assume medium shots are 20%; again, I’d like double. Close-ups are somewhere around 55%; cut that in half. Extreme close-ups are around 20%; cut that by 5% or 10%. Of course, this is a probably poor estimate with only the last episode in mind. There’s no perfect ratios because the content dictates what types of shots should be used. All I’m saying is that I need more wide shots and medium shots to give me a better sense of the setting and blocking.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
The filter jumps around a ton anyways. I’m not worried about that. The Wano arc has given us some truly stunning backgrounds, and they haven’t suffered from the filters or line art. Check the first few episodes in particular for this (and for a heavier reliance on medium shots).
--- Update From New Post Merge ---
Agreed about the background work in Wano; see above. I think it’s a common fallacy when people say close-ups are by definition better for character reactions. Look at the image above. That’s a medium shot and we get plenty—arguably far more than we’d get on a closeup of Caribou because then we’d only see his face and not his body language, which adds a ton more.
In fact, I think I’d argue it’s far easier to show a character’s reaction with a medium shot. A close-up requires the artist to be really good at character work to put in anything interesting; usually the default is a boring open-mouth, when a medium shot would at least give gestures and movements to keep it more interesting/inventive/revealing.
Now if we’re going to debate what’s quicker to draw, yeah, probably an extreme closeup is quicker than a medium with posture and all that to consider. But I think the badass staff is more than capable to rely a little less on extreme closeups. That isn’t a big ask; it’s not like asking for OP animation.
I mean, its worth noting that its a reaction shot that also signals Kid's entrance into the scene, so yeah, its pretty obvious that's what his reacting to. It would be odd if it was a close up. For reacting to basic things like dialogue, close ups or extreme close ups can work extremely well in conveying the intensity of the situation or a characters reaction as opposed to full animating the body. Its easier to animate an eye shaking or bulging out, as opposed to just the entire body quivering. Also, its not like this was necessarily a crutch in the episode itself. I think a good example of this being done effectively would be the Kaido scenes, which had a big focus on Kaido's facial expressions, included some character acting in between, and had a really cool perspective shot on the eyes that transitioned using a warped perspective to Kaido smashing his booze in anger. I think that scene more than effectively communicated Kaido's frustration and anger, as well as giving it a certain intensity.
Eye shots in particular are also good for stand off sort of situations, they inherently have an extremely dramatic effect. Westerns and even One Piece more than demonstrates how eye shots are used to create tension in stand offs.
I mean, its worth noting that its a reaction shot that also signals Kid's entrance into the scene, so yeah, its pretty obvious that's what his reacting to. It would be odd if it was a close up. For reacting to basic things like dialogue, close ups or extreme close ups can work extremely well in conveying the intensity of the situation or a characters reaction as opposed to full animating the body. Its easier to animate an eye shaking or bulging out, as opposed to just the entire body quivering. Also, its not like this was necessarily a crutch in the episode itself. I think a good example of this being done effectively would be the Kaido scenes, which had a big focus on Kaido's facial expressions, included some character acting in between, and had a really cool perspective shot on the eyes that transitioned using a warped perspective to Kaido smashing his booze in anger. I think that scene more than effectively communicated Kaido's frustration and anger, as well as giving it a certain intensity.
Eye shots in particular are also good for stand off sort of situations, they inherently have an extremely dramatic effect. Westerns and even One Piece more than demonstrates how eye shots are used to create tension in stand offs.
Just rewatched the episode. I agree with everything in this post except that close-ups weren’t used as a crutch for this particular episode. The Kaido example you gave us is definitely a great example of a well-used close-up. I never argued that they couldn’t be well used or that they shouldn’t be used at all. I only argued that this episode relied far too heavily on them. And after watching it again, I unfortunately felt the same. It wasn’t a terrible episode or anything; there was just a heavy reliance on close-ups.
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