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May 3, 2024
I had no idea this series had been cancelled at 28 chapters when I was going into this as MAL has yet to mark this as a complete series, but this is the first short-lived Shonen Jump series where I felt it was really a shame that they cancelled it so early. Though I am glad they didn't try to rush a full-ending and kept a good pacing, the ending itself still leaves much to be desired as though it does leave off in a good place there are still so many plot threads that I wish we got to see develop and see through
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to fruition.
Two on Ice is a manga that surprised me because of how quickly I got invested - I have always loved ice-skating, and though the story seems fairly basic in terms of a talented newbie coming into the sport and pairing with an experienced skater who has fallen to the way-side as she grew older, it still managed to give it a fresh spin that kept me engaged. The rivalry was interesting as well, and I wanted to see more of them clashing with Yuki and to see a proper resolution there as obviously the ending was quite open due to the cancellation.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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May 19, 2023
Romance Dawn
This is the first arc, and every time I forget how much I like One Piece because the years between me rereading it or watching the show, and this reminds me all over again why I fell in love with these characters and their insane antics. I also always manage to forget that this starts with Luffy as a kid and his relationship with Shanks, and how Shanks loses his arm. This is also the arc where we get Luffy's dream and him setting out from his village to become the pirate king and find the treasure left by Gold D. Rodger, as well
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as meeting with Zoro and leaving behind Coby in the navy. It's the first hints we get of their personalities and the brash way they go about things, and overall a fun introduction that sets the tone of the story.
Orange Town
This arcs sees our first introduction to Nami, who is a thief obsessed with collecting treasure to pay for her village, and absolutely loathes pirates (but reluctantly ends up teaming with Luffy and Zoro to get to the Grand Line and get enough money). This is also the first time that we really get to see Luffy properly go up against another pirate captain - in the previous arc we only really saw him clobber a pretty low-level pirate crew and the navy people, so going up against Buggy definitely felt like a definite step-up as it was a more drawn-out battle. He also definitely has a knack of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time and getting them into trouble.
Syrup Village
Here we get our introduction to Usopp - a lot of the early arcs are just us slowly building up the Straw Hats crew and getting to know them, which is fun but can also be a bit tiring as I do enjoy the longer, more thought-out arcs more that we get later. This played very much into the boy who cried wolf as well, and Usopp has never really been one of my favourite characters, though I still enjoyed this for what it was.
Baratie
I always manage to forget that Nami straight up abandons them when things get dicey at the Baratie restaurant, and that's even before things get really bad. We do meet Sanji in this arc though, who joins the crew as the chef, and it's clear she does have her regrets about leaving them and she's doing it to save her village, which we will see more of in the next arc. We also get to hear more about the Grand Line and the dangers they'll face there as well in this arc, and Zoro faces off against Mihawk and realises how far he still had to go in order to become the strongest swordsman.
Arlong Park
This is the arc that really sees Nami properly joining the crew more than Orange Town did. She faces off against the past with the help of the rest of the crew in the end, and gets to save her village and see them happy before setting off to achieve one of her dreams, to map the entire world. It's nice to see the crew coming together and each of them with their own high ambitions and dreams to achieve, and how ultimately they are set out to be the strongest, especially if they manage to achieve their dreams.
Loguetown
This arc marks the end of the East Blue saga, and might just seem like a throwaway filler arc as the crew finally set out to join the Grand Line, stopping at a final town along the way which is Gold D. Roger's birth and death place. It introduces the bounties on their heads, the navy crew out to get them, and sees a return of Buggy & co who are after them and all following them into the Grand Line as well. It also solidifies all their goals and what they're setting out to do, as well as Zoro getting two replacement swords which truly match his first now. It was a fun arc, if rather short and relatively mid-tier in the end.
Reverse Mountain
And the crew have officially entered the Grand Line. The story of the whale is low-key tragic, and my memory for the early arcs in the Grand Line is a little wavy until we hit Skypiea so it will be nice to revisit them. We also get more of Luffy's brash decisions and bizarre antics in this arc as he decides apparently becoming the whale's rival by trying to beat it up was the best option? Oh, to have insight into his mind.
Whisky Peak
And I completely forgot that Vivi was Ms Wednesday and had infiltrated the Baroque works... Honestly my memory for early One Piece is so bad as I read it so long ago initially that I'm glad I'm giving this another reread to refresh before I continue on. We also get our first hearing of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Crocodile in this case being the head of the Baroque works who have a sinister plan to take over Alabasta. Luffy is... Well, I feel like I need a guidebook to understand his logic because he's all over the place, and his fight with Zoro was so dumb, but this was a fun, short arc.
Little Garden
We had some wacky antics in this arc which were quite fun as we meet two giants who are stuck in battle for a reason they can't remember, and the Baroque Works continue their attack, this time introducing Mr. 3 alongside Goldenweek, and the return of Mr. 5. Some of the fights were pretty dumb, and Zoro's tendency to injury is getting a little ridiculous at this point, but I'm still having a good time with this and am enjoying this reread.
Drum Island
And now we have Chopper joining the crew - the last one for a while now and finally a doctor is on board. This was an interesting arc as we got to see the ins and outs of Drum Island as well as the ways the devil fruits can even affect nature, as Chopper consumed the human human fruit and now is more an anthropomorphised reindeer. We also see Vivi integrating herself with the crew more as she puts Nami's health above her own want to get to Alabasta as quickly as possible, and we get our first look at Ace, who has left a message for Luffy.
Alabasta
This is the first long arc that we get, the culmination of the Baroque Works saga which we had seen really built up through the last few arcs, and damn did it have an impact. Seeing Luffy go up against Crocodile and again and again, as well as the introduction to Nico Robin and their parting with Vivi, and even Bon Clay doing his best to lead the navy astray in the end... This arc definitely had an emotional punch at time whilst still managing to keep some of those light-hearted moments.
Jaya
This is more of a shorter bridge arc that introduces the idea of the sky islands, as well as lets us have a look into the world government, some of the other War Lords, and Blackbeard Teach, who Ace is currently after. Knowing how this plays out in the future is very frustrating for me because I adore Ace so much. As it stands, this was an interesting arc for what it introduces us to, but the plot isn't exactly strong in this one. I do like Nico Robin's integration with the crew though, and I can't wait to see how she fits in as they continue on their misadventures.
Skypiea
This was definitely a slower arc for me, though the ending and the history of the island and its people brought it back a little. The initial exploration of a new place was also pretty fun, and we're introduced to dials as well as both a general tool and a weapon. The mystery of the poneglyphs that Robin is trying to get to the bottom of in order to uncover the history of the world definitely has caught my interest though, especially as Gol D. Rodger seems to be caught up in it and we get more hints about the mysterious 'D' in some characters names (including Luffy).
Long Ring Long Land
Aokiji sucks and nothing will make me change my mind. This definitely has the feel of a filler arc, introducing the davy back game between pirates as they go up against Foxy and his crew of rotten cheaters, but obviously they prevail in the end. This is definitely not one of my favourite arcs for sure, as the jokes definitely get a bit stale.
Water 7
Water 7 is such an interesting city, and honestly the setting has to be one of my favourites with the canals and the sea train and the general feel of it. We also get to learn more about Nico Robin's past and her motivations, and the World Government really sets itself up as a bad guy here. We also get Usopp leaving the crew over a dispute with Luffy about Merry - like, I get that it's upsetting, but there's literally nothing that could be done and this is a case of Usopp needing to realise that, get over it, and apologise. Sure, Luffy was a little brash about it (as usual), but they literally had no other choice if they wanted to carry on as pirates.
Enies Lobby
This was definitely an emotional one, especially at the end there when they finally say goodbye to Merry, who came to rescue them on their one last journey together. No tears were shed, but I definitely welled up. We also get Robin's backstory, more on the corruption and general ruthlessness of the World Government, and Luffy going up a Gear and the first time it's properly named and his power-up is realised as well. This was a very battle-intensive arc, which got a little tiring at times, but I still very much enjoyed it and it still packed an emotional punch.
Post-Enies Lobby
I'm a sucker for a wrap-up, and this was definitely my favourite arc so far. It sets up so many things for the future, including the four Emperors of the Sea, Ace vs Blackbeard, Whitebeard and Shanks becoming involved, the Thousand Sunny and Franky joining the crew, among other things. We also have Usopp rejoining the crew and Zoro making Luffy stand firm and put his foot down as a captain, and we get to learn more about Luffy's family, namely his father (leader of the revolutionary army) and his grandfather (an admiral of the navy) which... Definitely helps explain Luffy a bit more.
Thriller Bark
Oh boy did the brief mention of Ace being captured by the navy and up for execution get me - I know what comes in the next few arcs and I am not prepared no matter how many times I've read/watched this before. Thriller Bark as an arc was... Interesting. I get the general horror throwbacks that influence this arc, but I've never been a huge fan and zombies especially aren't really my thing. We are introduced to Brook in this arc as well, who is the latest to join the Straw Hats crew (Luffy finally getting the musician he always wanted), and he rounds out the crew pretty well, plus we get a throwback to Reverse Mountain and the whale as well which was a nice touch.
Sabaody Archipelago
And from this point onwards we shall know only pain apparently (Goddamit Oda). This was definitely a heartfelt read, and it's only going to get worse from here on out for a while now. This arc sets up a lot of things for New World and the next saga, and we get introduced to Law (!) as well, but this is also where our Straw Hats really begin to understand that they aren't quite up to snuff to go against the admirals just yet, and they do need to get stronger. They're young and plucky, but there are a lot of powerful people out there and they can't quite hold their own just yet.
Amazon Lily
I will never be okay with what comes next, and the anticipation is honestly killing me at this point. The Straw Hats find themselves flung to different corners of the world (and each on an island well-suited to developing their abilities of course), whilst Luffy comes into contact with Boa Hancock, the Empress of Amazon Lily, an island entirely full of only women, and steals his heart to go after Ace and help free him from Impel Down when he hears of his impending execution. The navy and the Seven War Lords are gathered, with White Beard set to go against them, and things are really developing now.
Impel Down
Seeing so many past characters come together to break out of Impel Down together and their different motivations in going to Marineford with Luffy was pretty interesting for sure. My heart hurts so much for what is to come, but I like how this lays the foundations for some things later in the series. Blackbeard can still go die in a hole though and nothing will change my mind.
Marineford
Yeah... I cried like a little baby. It's the fact that they give you hope that he's going to make it after all the shit they've been through, only for right at the very end him to die saving Luffy. Also, Blackbeard can go die in a hole and I hate him so much. Also, why is the navy so terrible? This was a heart-wrenching arc, and I completely forgot that it's Law who ultimately saves Luffy in the end and helps him escape, with the help of Shanks who shows up last minute.
Post-War
I'm not crying, you're crying. This arc really solidifies everything that Marineford set out to do. We get a flashback sequence of Luffy meeting Ace and Sabo and becoming brothers as kids, which was heart-breaking enough, but we also get him mourning Ace and realising that he isn't as strong as he thought he was and still has so far left to go. With the return of Rayleigh and a message sent to his fellow crewmates though, he now has 2 years to battle and train and get stronger, as do the others, in order to face the New World and what is coming next. This is a much needed time-skip as we've seen how much they're out-classed, and it makes sense in the narrative, but damn does my heart break for them all.
Return to Sabaody
The idiots are back together and stronger than ever, and I couldn't be happier. Seeing how much they've progressed already as they escape the navy and storm through the false Straw Hats was fun (though of course Chopper got fooled for a bit, as did Luffy). This was a fun arc introducing us back to their antics before they pick up where they left off and head to Fish-Man Island.
Fish-Man Island
This arc was fine, and it was nice seeing how much everyone had gotten stronger, but it dragged on a little for me and I didn't find it as interesting as I had hoped. The do lay some interesting points down which will hopefully come to fruition later, but aside from that I was uninterested by the internal conflict at play here and generally the fights weren't as exciting as I had hoped they would be. Of course Luffy would pick a fight with Big Mom though and I'm excited to see them head into the New World.
Punk Hazard
Law is one of the few things that keep me going after losing Ace (Jokes, except not really...). He's so calculating and careful, and his natural draw to Luffy and his powers make him even more interesting. Seeing the Straw Hats team up with him and his crew will also prove to be quite fun as they go up against Doflamingo and co. In Luffy's goal to take down the four emperors of the sea (saving Shanks until last of course). Things are really kicking off with a bang as they travel the second half of the Grand Line, and I'm excited to proceed.
Dressrosa
Law being told so many times that Luffy's idea of an alliance might be different from his but going ahead and trying to manipulate the situation anyway, and then getting caught up in his own revenge and trying to cut ties and Luffy eventually going 'no, you're my crew now, we don't cut ties until I want to' was great. Seeing some old faces pop up and the realisation that Sabo is alive (and he gets the Fire Fire Fruit!) was also fun as well. The battles did get a little tiring at times which was a little unfortunate, but overall this was definitely an interesting arc and I liked seeing Law's past and how this new generation are generally causing chaos, but also we have Blackbeard in the background with his goons stealing fruit powers as well, and the revolutionary army working as well to better the world. It's clear at this point though that aside from hurting the people who are actually helping the navy are kind of... utterly useless.
Zou
And Sanji gets taken, and the Straw Hats are separated yet again shortly after being reunited. I want more adventures where they don't have to split into groups all the time and instead we see them all together, as that definitely seems to be lacking in the post-time skip half of the manga. That being said, this does set up future arcs quite nicely as we get to learn more about Wano and the samurai and then have Luffy departing to rescue Sanji from his wedding.
Whole Cake Island
We're getting close now to where I stopped reading (which was at the beginning of the Wano arc I think?) the first two times I read this. This arc definitely had some cool concepts with the different junk food/sweets themed islands as Luffy & co go up against Big Mom in order to get Sanji back. Luffy facing Katakuri is also the most difficult fight he's won as of yet so it was nice seeming him go all out and persevere and get stronger without backing down, as we can see he still has a long way to go but he is on the right path.
Levely
Screw the Celestial Dragons so hard. I swear if we don't get a team-up of the revolutionary army and the Straw Hats in order to take them down at the end I'll be pissed because they've proved themselves to be despicable all around. That being said, this arc did set up some interesting things and let us know a little more about the world which I can't wait to be explored further in future arcs.
Wano
I read further into this arc the first time than I realised as a lot came back to me during this reread. This was such an interesting arc though and we get so many hints about the future. Yes, we could have had even one less fake-out with Luffy losing against Kaido as it did get a little ridiculous by the third one, but we had so many great battles in this arc and got to see the 'worst generation' really come together in order to go against two emperors of the sea. Shanks is also making his move, we get more hints about the world-building, and we get to see more of Gol D. Rodger's history with Wano as well, plus more hints about Joy Boy. The navy still sucks and they need to leave the Straw Hats the hell alone. Law being constantly done with the Straw Hats and their general chaos is also such a mood - he doesn't even try and plan with them now, it's more planning around them. Also, hopefully Vivi is okay and I have no idea what's going on with Sabo and whether the revolutionary army are succeeding in what they want to do - things are generally getting so wild up in here. Ace also being so present in the story still despite being go is simultaneously heart-warming and heart-wrenching because it's a constant reminder that he's gone.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 31, 2022
This was a fairly basic romance anime - it wasn't the best thing I've ever watched, and I didn't completely fall in love with it, but I did have fun whilst watching it. Shikimori is really cute, but I liked how her character was fleshed out a bit more over the course of the series. Having her and Izumi were in an already established relationship at the beginning of the series as well - it's very rare that this happens, and seeing their relationship develop and grow from the get-go was rather sweet, plus it was kind of nice not having the whole confession scenes
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dragged out like a lot of shoujo recently, instead getting to delve straight into the actual relationship problems they have to work through and seeing how much they like each other.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 31, 2022
Honestly, there was nothing majorly wrong with this - it was just fairly mediocre and honestly wasn't really my vibes. I don't really care for fiction surrounding idols as they all tend to follow the same story beats, and it wasn't that different here - we had some obsessive fans causing trouble with rumours about dating, and the girl caught in the middle (this time their secret manager in training) gets abused because of it. Having long sequences of singing within anime also just isn't really for me - fair enough it makes sense given the context, but I wasn't a huge fan of the
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music and the whole fan culture with the Julietta's was more cringy than anything else for me.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jul 31, 2022
The first season had me intrigued, and I did find it entertaining as much as it was also frustrating. Things definitely took a down-turn this season, however, as we go into yet another world for most of it, with the Shield Hero and his companions being separated. I just didn't find the story compelling, and nor did I particularly care about any of the characters - a sense of intrigue and wondering if things would turn out okay for the Shield Hero which I had from the first season had pretty much disappeared by this one, and the novelty had definitely worn off.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jul 31, 2022
This wasn't great - the animation was very poor, often being one still that's just zoomed in and out of, and I just really didn't care for it. The story and characters weren't enough to bring this back for me either. The whole thing was just kind of dull and I struggled to pay attention to this and actually finish it. Couple that with some weird time jumps and repetition and I wasn't having the best of times. Hopefully the manga will have more to offer, but this definitely wasn't a great adaptation and I'm surprised it managed to go for 24 episodes.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Jul 2, 2022
This was very cheesy and kind of campy but still very fun. We have Fudo and Desumi on opposing sides, Fudo acting as a much beloved hero whilst Desumi has gone the villain route, and against all odds they have fallen in love and must keep it a secret from both the world and their comrades. Hijinks ensue. It was all rather over the top and the actual set-up for the heroes and villains plays on clichés, but the romance was sweet for the most part and it didn't require too much thought whilst watching. It was something I looked forward to watching each week,
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but it wasn't particularly stand-out and I have a feeling it will fade into the endless wash of seasonal anime, but it was definitely a good time whilst it lasted.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 2, 2022
What in the actual hell did I just watch? I was so shocked by the ending of this season that I actually had to go and find my partner to rant at him despite him never having watched an episode of this in his life because it came so completely out of the left field. We did not need this to happen in order for it to be determined that societal expectations of normality are dumb and contrived, and individuality is where it's at. It was shown that the guy was shady from the get-go, but there is a difference from someone being off and
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not taking a break-up well, and attempting something personally, to him literally tasing Kanade and being the instigator of gang rape alongside brutally beating someone with said taser. The complete tonal shift was jarring to say the least, and this coupled with Yukimura jumping in with a science presentation in the middle of a pretty bad assault scene just felt so out of place given the rest of the anime. The fact that Kanade has apparently developed feelings for Yukimura out of all this is also pretty frustrating, given that it also seems apparent that the girl he is tutoring has developed a crush on him, and I'm not here for a harem anime. We have certainly come a long way from analysing each other's spit samples at the beginning of the season, that's for sure.
The thing is though, even if this did want to take a darker tone with the guy not reacting well to Kanade rejecting him - it didn't have to happen in this way. We saw him react negatively and her flipping him over, but instead of running for safety as any sane person would do whilst he was startled, she stuck around and repeatedly apologised to him throughout the whole thing. Instead of seeing Kanade overcome her fear and wanting to be some strict version of 'normal' she had in mind for herself, we see a man come to her rescue instead, which didn't sit well with me when she clearly had the physical strength necessary and the smarts to enact her own rescue. The situation was jarring enough without this developing into the guy apparently being a gang leader and going on a cheesy rant about her needing to the the normal, perfect girlfriend for him, and the beginning of a gang rape scene interjected with badly timed attempts at scientific humour.
In all, I wasn't pleased with the direction of this season and definitely won't be continuing if this does get renewed in the future.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Jul 2, 2022
Say what you want, but I haven't spoken personally to anyone who actively dislikes Spy x Family. It's a very endearing show and I absolutely adored this - i was a little worried heading into this being a big fan of the manga, as I was unsure whether the anime adaptation would do it justice. it was just as brilliant though, and I do appreciate how it expanded upon bits in the manga which weren't given as much attention, and really brought to life the manga panels - Anya's facial expressions are great, and seeing her alongside Yor and Loid animated was definitely a highlight
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of this season. It's such a heart-warming watch, and I can totally dig the cold war aesthetic with the east and west, plus the way the secret identities are played. I definitely can't wait to see more from this in the future, and this was a great first half of the season.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jul 2, 2022
This was an absolute tease of a season - once more we had confession dangled before is like a carrot before the donkey, and we fell just short yet again (though that ending definitely leaves me with hopes for the future!) Seeing Kaguya and Shirogane duke it out yet again on the bid to make each other confess first was definitely entertaining, but moments of this season did wear on me a little more than previous ones had, and I did find it kind of frustrating in places. That being said, I still very much enjoyed the student council's antics, and Kaguya definitely remained best
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girl for me. Seeing her finally admit her feelings was great, as we're one step closer to the end goal of them actually getting together and being happy.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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