One Piece Episode 952 - Tension Rises in Onigashima! Two Emperors of the Sea Meet?!

Rate The Episode

  • 5/5

    Votes: 12 41.4%
  • 4/5

    Votes: 5 17.2%
  • 3/5

    Votes: 3 10.3%
  • 2/5

    Votes: 5 17.2%
  • 1/5

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 0/5

    Votes: 4 13.8%

  • Total voters
    29
#24
Watched the episode.

It was okay. Was better than expected all things considered.

Shingaki's art was a bit bleg. I don't really care for how he draws characters, and he did mess up some of the potentially cooler shots in the episode.

Directionally and storyboard wise, the second half was very strong with its action scenes, and Big Mum and Kaido meeting up was nicely done(if marred by Shingaki's rather meh artwork).

The first half was bogged down by flashbacks and uninteresting content, however, Luffy's training with Hyo was cool enough, and was pretty solidly animated. Nothing is confirmed, but it appears Luffy's punch against Hyogoro was animated by Dennis Cablao and Tetsuro Nireki. The first 5 seconds till Luffy opening his eye appears to be Cablao, with everything else being Nireki.
PRESUMED: DENNIS CABLAO 0:00-0:05/ TETSURO NIREKI 0:06-rest

The action scenes this episode were really impressive. They had a lot of weight, and the camera was very active in quite a few of them. Zoro vs Gyukimaru was incredibly well animated, with Tetsuro Nireki going in hard.
TETSURO NIREKI

The final clash between Big Mum and Kaido was nice aside from the reuse and redrawn shida animation leading up to the clash. I think they did a decent job selling the scale of the impact, and there was a lot of really nice effects works. Masahiro Kitzaki animated the clash, and he did a remarkable job with the animation. Even if it wasn't the craziest thing ever, I still think the animation more than sufficed in depicting the scale and energy of the clash.
MASAHIRO KITAZAKI


Overall, a mixed bag of an episode, with some nice animation highlights. Tetsuro Nireki's work on this episode was really great. He was the top creditted key animator, and his been consistently one of the best animators on Wano.


Next episode looks really good. It seems that the extended Big Mum vs Kaido fight is going to be animated by Tu Yong Ce, the animator behind the entire second half of 946, and the Brachio Bomber only a few episodes back.
 
#26
The concept of God Sword is a plot line that is definitely very interesting, especially after what happen in the manga chapter 997.

That same title could go to Zoro if indeed is able to achieve the blacken blade vs someone that is so call the strongest pirate in the world.

In any case, I appreciate all the focus given to shushui and the fact that Hyori is listening behind the tree. The atmosphere was great with all the snow, I really like it how zoro stop kawamatsu katana (very cool indeed).
The fight between Zoro&Gikamaryu was pretty solid, no super dragon ball effect but very effective.

Let see KaidovsBigMom what the 2 Yonko are capable to do xD!!
 
#31
Shanks vs WB or Kaido vs Big Mom, which one looks better? Shanks and Wb's clash was great in anime, i dont like that clash between Kaido Bm :/
Obviously Shanks versus Whitebeard, the clash between Kaido and Big Mom is, as usual in this arc, way over the top with layers and layers of flashy effects that blur the actual drawing of the scene and destroy the impressiveness of dividing the sky. They the basic mistake of focusing on the clouds for the whole shot without any additional clue and, therefore, losing the whole context of the sky among Onigashima visually breaking. Without that frame the shot just loses any weight it had in manga. Also, the sound effects were way more impactful in SvsWB, in KvsBM they are just generic and don't do the emperors's justice.
 

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#33
Obviously Shanks versus Whitebeard, the clash between Kaido and Big Mom is, as usual in this arc, way over the top with layers and layers of flashy effects that blur the actual drawing of the scene and destroy the impressiveness of dividing the sky. They the basic mistake of focusing on the clouds for the whole shot without any additional clue and, therefore, losing the whole context of the sky among Onigashima visually breaking. Without that frame the shot just loses any weight it had in manga. Also, the sound effects were way more impactful in SvsWB, in KvsBM they are just generic and don't do the emperors's justice.
Have to agree on that one but the impact animation was better in Kaido Vs BM that haki lighting right after was amazing
 
#35
Have to agree on that one but the impact animation was better in Kaido Vs BM that haki lighting right after was amazing
Personally I don't enjoy Naotoshi Shida's style that much (don't know if he animated Kaido and Big Mom about to clash or they just copied him, and Kaido's club seemed reused from Thunder Bagua), I usually find it overdone and pretty much inorganic to the point that I feel almost no weight in their movements thanks to the over-the-top "fluidity" of them (basically half of the frames feel like filler to me and I just can't believe a character moving like that, whenever I see something from Shida I only see a guy dancing instead of acting realistically). On top of that, all the layers of effects put over the actual action (whether it's blasts of light, white translucent shades, etc.) annoy me quite a bit since they basically cover the actual event, drawing, colors..., so instead of appreciating the art of what's happening I find myself seeing a blurry bunch of effect layers hiding the actual content under them. So this animation isn't done for me, I guess. I will always prefer the on point simplicity of Whitebeard versus Shanks than Kaido and Big Mom's clash.
 
#37
Personally I don't enjoy Naotoshi Shida's style that much (don't know if he animated Kaido and Big Mom about to clash or they just copied him, and Kaido's club seemed reused from Thunder Bagua), I usually find it overdone and pretty much inorganic to the point that I feel almost no weight in their movements thanks to the over-the-top "fluidity" of them (basically half of the frames feel like filler to me and I just can't believe a character moving like that, whenever I see something from Shida I only see a guy dancing instead of acting realistically).
Yeah, that's a common complaint.

I think there are ways to make those sorts of effects interesting though.

For me, the two coolest cuts of the clash in 852 was the cut showing the wide shot of Onigashima, and the super close up showing the lightning effects of cognac clashing with Kaido's club. I think the initial wide shot of them clashing didn't as adequately sell the ferocity and wild nature of the clash as well as those two cuts I mentioned.
I will always prefer the on point simplicity of Whitebeard versus Shanks than Kaido and Big Mom's clash.
Also, rewatching Shanks and Whitebeard clashing, its hilariously bad. Like, damn. They really fucked that up. Like holy crap, they literally just changed the background. It didn't look good at all.

Like, you can criticize the execution of the clouds splitting this episode, but damn, they did not at all try with Whitebeard vs Shanks. I did not remember it being that bad. I watched several versions of it to make sure I was actually watching the right version.

The only reason I give it a pass is because it used my favourite one piece OST, difficult. Seriously, that's a GOAT OST. Sad it isn't used more.
 
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