Ten Anime and Films to Look Forward to in Summer 2025
Now that it is meteorlogically behind us, I think we can all be honest about the Spring 2025 season of anime: it wasn’t that good. There were a number of great anime, to be sure. My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Wind Breaker, the return of One Piece, and Lazarus (at times) were all good. However, it feels like many of the anime this season were a bit of a let down. The Beginning After the End, for example, had the potential to be the next Solo Leveling, but became a laughingstock. However, deep down, I think most people knew that the spring was going to be a lean time for many anime fans. What everyone was really waiting for was the arrival of summer, because we’ve got one of the strongest anime lineups in years. Spring might have been lean times for many, but this summer, fans shall feast!
Lord of Mysteries (June 28th)
After the disasterthat wasThe Beginning After the End’s anime (THANKS A LOT, A-CAT!), isekai fans need a palette cleanser. Whereas TBATE was born in the USA, though, the next big isekai, Lord of Mysteries, comes from China. The premise is that a young Chinese man suddenly finds himself reborn into a world that’s a combination of the Victorian Era, steampunk, and magic. Now going by the name of Klein, the man is entangled into some sort of supernatural conspiracy as he tries to find a way home. I know next to nothing about the series, but everyone who talks about it on YouTube says its on par with Re:Zero and Mushoku Tensei in terms of quality. That alone is enough for me to be intrigued! Though, it won’t be the only isekai to look out for this summer.
New Saga (July 2nd)
What’s the one thing better than the chance of being reborn into a new world with a clean slate? Going back to an earlier part of your life with all your memories intact, giving you the chance to change how your life turns out. That is the premise behind this new anime, New Saga. Set in a fantasy world nearly destroyed by a war between humans and demons, this anime tells the story of Kyle, the hero who saved the world at the cost of his life, only to awaken four years in the past. Given a second chance to save everyone he loves, how will he put this time to good use? I don’t know, but I’m eager to find out.
DanDaDan Season 2 (July 3rd)
Sometimes, life is good. It’s only been a few months since the first season of DanDaDan ended, and we’re already getting season two. Then again, given the cliffhanger the first season ended on, anime-only watchers wouldn’t want to wait very long. The second season looks set to pick up right where we last left off with the Evil Eye Arc, with Okarun and Jiji hunting for the ghost haunting the latter’s home, while Momo has to fend off a group of perverts in a bathhouse. And judging by the trailer that we’ve gotten, not only will the animation be as good as ever, but the story will get even crazier. Given how the series became one of the biggest hits of 2024, expectations for DanDaDan remain at an all-time high. At the very least, here’s hoping that the new OP is as catchy as “Otonoke.”
Nyaight of the Living Cat (July 6th)
Of all the versions of the zombie apocalypse, this is, by far, the most cruel and evil version I have seen to date. In this comedy horror, a mysterious virus spreads throughout the world, turning everyone who touches a cat…into a cat. Given how beloved cats are by humanity for their companionship, endearing behavior, and natural floofness, this is pure torture! As a cat-lover myself, having to avoid petting their floof feels scarier than any zombie horde. Which is probably the whole point. It’s not meant to be taken seriously and is meant for laughs.
New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt (July 9th)
After all these years, Panty and Stocking have returned. For those who don’t remember, this was an action-comedy about two angelic sisters who got kicked out of Heaven for bad behavior and have to redeem themselves by killing evil ghosts. Sadly, they’re easily distracted by their respective vices of men and candy. The show happens to be a favorite of the founders of this blog, so it’s return is going to be a big deal. Just don’t let any minors see it. It’s raunchy enough to rival the likes of South Park!
The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 4 (July 9th)
Just when things seemed to be going Naofumi’s way, the Shield Hero ends up facing a new problem. Thanks to a misunderstanding, Naofumi discovers that his companion, Raphtalia, is actually the long-lost heir to an isolationist nation with techniques capable of beating the Cardinal Heroes. Rather than let them keep coming after her, Naofumi opts to travel eastward so he can stop the fight at the source. Unfortunately, the only way to get there is by going through the Shield Hero-worshipping nation of Siltvelt, and they have their own plans for him. In addition to uncovering more about Raphtalia’s lineage, this season will also shed light on the lineage of two of his newest allies, Atla and Fohl. Given how Shield Hero has managed to remain consistently good (barring its second season), this going to be one of the big isekai of the summer.
Sakamoto Days, Part 2 (July 14th)
It’s been a few months since we last saw any new episodes of Sakomoto Days, but the new shonen anime about the former assassin who doesn’t kill is coming back with a new cours. The first half ended in the middle of the Sakamoto Family fighting Lu Xiaotang’s Triad family for the right for her to stay with them. However, the second half seems to have the stakes get raised as more assassin’s begin to target Sakamoto. Most notably, the trailer explictily shows that these new hitmen are willing to target his wife and daughter. Even if he didn’t kill anyone anymore, though, that’s still going to be the biggest mistake they ever make! You don’t mess with a person’s family unless you’re ready to risk your life!
Kaiju No. 8 Season Two (July 19th)
Much like DanDaDan, Kaiju No 8 is a shonen series from last year that’s returning for its sophomore season. At the end of the last season, the main protagonist, Kafka Hibino, was forced to out himself as a humanoid Kaiju to his comrades in the Anti-Kaiju Defense Force. Thankfully, he was able to convince them to give him a chance, leading him to be taken in by the First Division. With the threat of Kaiju No. 9 hanging over Japan, Kafka will have to gain greater control over his Kaiju form if he hopes to be of any help. While it might have gotten overshadowed by the likes of DanDaDan and Solo Leveling in terms of hype, Kaiju No. 8 remains an amazing anime with great animation, so it’s going to be one to look out for.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba โ The Movie: Infinity Castle
This summer, the final battle between the Demon Slayers and Muzan is about to begin. Shortly after the end of its fourth season, it was revealed that Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba wouldn’t be getting a fifth season. It would be getting something better: a three-part film trilogy covering the events of the Infinity Castle Arc, and presumably, the final battle against Muzan. While it’s still unclear when the films will be released outside of Japan, fans are ecstatic over this news, and will no doubt flock to movie theaters to give the beloved series the ending it deserves. The D&A Anime Blog will be included among them.
Chainsaw Man: The Reze Arc (September 19th)
At last, Chainsaw Man HAS RETURNED!! Despite how I felt about the ending to the first season, I was still interested in seeing the rest of the series unfold as an anime. And like many people, when I heard that the next arc, the Reze Arc, would be getting the movie treatment, I had one question: what day does it come out? Sadly, like Infinity Castle, we don’t know when the film releases stateside, but when it does, I hope to be there to see it. In all of its bloody glory.
Many kids dream of living a life of adventure, but since few ever do, they turn to fiction. In Arthur’s case, though, he’s actually getting to live the dream. At the tender age of nine (but the mental of forty-three), Arthur has left home (again) to become an adventurer! Unfortunately, like many things in The Beginning After the End anime, events are…lackluster.
You Call That a Fight?
Firstly, I should apologize about the preview for this episode included at the end of the review for the last one. That scene doesn’t happen until the end of this episode, so it might have spoiled some things. Most of this episode is really focused on the process of Arthur becoming an adventurer. That means that he needs to take a test in the form of a duel. And, unfortunately, that also means that the anime lets everyone down once again.
Even with the low bar that Studio A-Cat has set in terms of animation, the fight between Arthur and Kaspian, the Guildmaster who decided to administer the test himself, is bad. Firstly, the show fools people into thinking the fight would be glossed over, only for it to be told in flashback a few minutes later. The fight itself is not that impressive to look at, the characters movements are stiff, and when Arthur is parrying blows, you can see that they’re reusing the same animation to save money. Plenty of animated series reuse animation to save money, especially in fight scenes, but the best ones do a better job of hiding it!
Narratively speaking, though, the fight is supposed to serve as yet another wake-up call for Arthur. He’s gotten so used to being strong that he’s become complacent. That’s the opposite of what he promised he would be when he was reborn. With this and his fight with the headmistress of Xyrus serving as wake-up calls, Arthur decides to rededicate himself to continual growth.
Remember these People
It should also be noted that this sequence serves as an introduction to two people who will come to play important roles in Arthur’s life: Lucas Sykes and Elijah Knight. The former is a human-elf hybrid fathered out of wedlock with an elf slave by a rich noble, so he’s got an inferiority complex and massive ego. The latter is a human raised by dwarves. If you decide to sit through the second season, remember these two. They will be important!
Sadly, the only other important thing in this episode is learning Jasmineโs backstory. She was born into a family of fire mages who thought their element was the best, and they disowned her when she proved talented in wind magic. Itโs a very in-your-face nod to the original Avatar: The Last Airbender and how the majority of the Fire Nation convinced themselves they were better than everyone else. But as Arthur points out, that’s a matter of preference and no one element is superior, just like how no way of life is superior.
Also, Tessia has been spying on her future man, and she’s not happy with him being around another woman.
What a Waste
With that, season one (or first cours) of The Beginning After the End. And despite TurtleMe trying to put a positive spin on things, itโs obvious that TBATE is one of the biggest misfires of 2025. TurtleMe got screwed over by Studio A-Cat, who did a poor job of bringing his story to life. The fans got screwed over because its unlikely the show will make it to a third season. And worst of all, TBATE itself got screwed over. It could’ve been the next big isekai, but it got wrecked. However, that shouldn’t discourage people from reading the web novel and web comic. Both are better than what the anime gave us, and TurtleMe deserves the support. For those who stuck around until then, you deserve a trophy.
We are reaching the climax of the story of Lazarus, and things are coming down to the wire. The team has a solid lead on Dr. Skinner’s location (and you won’t believe where he’s hiding), but rogue government agents threaten to ruin everything. Eleina’s collapsed with a fever. Doug’s been captured by INSCOM agents working for the deplorable Schneider, who has also taken Hersch captive. And to top it off, Axel’s clinging to life after a near-death experience fighting the mysterious Soryu. But when you hit rock bottom and survive, the only way to go is up. Now it’s time for Lazarus to make their counterattack, find Skinner, and save the world!
Popcorn Wizard is So Nice
Despite how dire things looked for several members of Lazarus, luck/plot armor has ensured that all of them has weathered the worst of the storm. Thanks to Popcorn Wizard, Eleina safely recovers from her fever until it breaks. The fact that she even recovers from what should be a fatal Hapna fever is even lampshaded by the fellow hacker, who jokes how she might be immortal. That might not be the case, but more likely, Eleina might have an immunity to Hapna. More importantly, Popcorn Wizard, AKA Lin, admits that she’s working to keep Skinner safe. And the reasons are rather heartwarming.
Who would have thought that Popcorn Wizard was one of the islanders with analgesia? Since Skinner enabled her people to move away from their doomed islands, though, her gratitude makes sense. Skinner isn’t an inherently bad person, just one fed up with the self-centered people in the world. Given how Schneider is almost certainly the reason behind the attack that led to Skinner’s crash out, though, one cannot blame him. In fact, this episode makes us hate Schneider even more now.
The Ego on Schneider is Ridiculous
As it turns out, there’s a reason why Schneider chose to go after Lazarus in the first place. Somehow, he got it into his head that there was another purpose behind the team’s formation beyond finding Skinner. He thought that they were secretly attempting to gather blackmail information on the government, namely him. Given how his crimes include using Hapna for illegal experiments on prisoners and covering up a botched seizure as a terrorist attack, he must have thought finding Skinner would expose him somehow.
…Yeah, me and Aaron both agree that Schneider is dumb as freak. He thought that exposing his crimes was more important than preventing the end of the world? Whatever he has done doesn’t matter if the majority of mankind wouldn’t be around to see judgement passed on him. Furthermore, Lazarus may have never thought to look into his dealings until he decided to get in their way. He brought on a self-fufilling prophecy, and almost doomed the world in the process. And while he has yet to face justice, his back is already against the wall. Abel of the NSA was able to convince the President (who’s dying from taking Hapna in the clinical trials) to sign an Executive Order to move on Schneider. The man can only keep INSCOM in the dark for so long. And once Lazarus finds Skinner, he’ll either die or rot in jail forever.
In the meantime, thanks to some help from Popcorn Wizard, Doug and Eleina turn the tables on their pursuers and elude them. Even better, Lin gives them what they were looking for: Dr. Skinner’s location. Remember back in the third episode, when Axel and Doug went to that homeless camp and I thought I saw a background character who looked like Skinner? As it turns out, I WAS RIGHT!Skinner has been hiding out with the homeless the whole time right under Lazarus’ noses! Thanks to some fast-travel, though, Eleina, Doug, and Chris start to converge on Skinner’s location, and without a moment to spare.
That just leaves one last problem: Soryu. After Abel’s assistant bails Dr. 909 out of jail to help them, they manage to confirm Soryu’s identity: he’s the same man that Schneider was speaking to pretending to be Soryu’s handler. In reality, Soryu has a split personality brought on by trauma of something called the “Hundun Project.” It’s not made clear what it is, but it sounds like an illegal government assassin program. And having lost his quarry the first time, Soryu is determined to finish the job. Not for the money, but for the love of the game. The good news is that Axel is still alive and in the care of Skinner’s doctor. The bad news is that the preview for the series finale reveals that he’s headed to a final confrontation with Soryu. Worse, it looks as though the doctor he was sent to find is already dead.
The end is finally in sight for Lazarus, but the stakes are at their highest. If they don’t find Skinner in time, or Axel dies, then they could trip at the finish line, and billions will die. I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to see how this story ends! It’s had its ups and downs at times, but the past month (in-show) has been a heck of a ride. Let’s hoping the finale proves worthwhile.
One would think that the threat of most of humanity dying would be enough to get everyone on the same page. One would think that the threat of mankind being reduced to a small fraction, less than 1% of its total population, would be enough for our species to get its act together for a short time. Yet even in the face of unprecedented death, thereโs still some fool who wants to profit from it. And if it wasn’t made clear by now, then Schneider, the man from INSCOM (Army Intelligence) is not only trying to stop Lazarus from finding Dr. Skinner. He’s willing to let the majority of humanity die.
Schneider’s a Jerk!
The team of Lazarus is scattered and divided. Eleina and Doug make it to Pakistan to find Popcorn Wizard, who might have the key to finding Skinner. And with Eleina starting to succumb to the effects of Hapna, they dont have time to waste. Unfortunately, this episode marks the moment when Schneider of INSCOM decides to drop all pretenses and tries to kill Lazarus altogether.
As Hersch manages to put together, Schneider is the one responsible for setting the events of the series in motion. He was the one who caused the incident at the airport that released the prototype Hapna by attacking Skinner. He likely used that as cover for him to steal the prototype and conduct illegal tests on life sentence prisoners and death row inmates. All of that likely wound up being Dr Skinnerโs breaking point, prompting him to turn Hapna into a deadly trap, endangering the majority of humanity. Now, he’s trying to keep Lazarus from finding Skinner for whatever reason, likely because he’s got some means of surviving so he can gain power in the aftermath. And he’s proven willing to bribe a minor, hire an assassin to cover up his experiments, and abuse his power to sic INSCOM on Doug and Eleina.
Oh, and to top it off, when Hersch tries to blackmail him into standing down, he detains her for treason. The fact that he doesnโt even try to think of a reason shows how much he doesn’t care.
Eleina is in Peril
Schneider disgusts me. He is the absolute worst of humanity. Even in the face of possible extinction, he is willing to throw his entire species under the bus, condemn entire cultures to oblivion, all so he can be on top in the aftermath. Itโs people like him that make people like Skinner lose faith in the world. If nothing else, I hope that we at least get the satisfaction of seeing Schneider get his just desserts. Alas, some members of Lazarus may not live to see that happen.
In Pakistan, Doug stays behind to give Eleina a chance to make it to Popcorn Wizard, leaving himself to be captured. Unfortunately, by the time Eleina makes it to the hacker, she’s all but collapsed from the effects of Hapna. Unless Popcorn Wizard helps her in time, then Eleina is going to die, and with her, any chance of finding Skinner.
The real draw of the episode, though, is the fight between Axel and the phantom assassin Soryu. It takes place throughout the entire episode, interspersed between everything else that has been happening. Upon seeing the compilation of whats happening, though, its obvious the anime means for it to be the big fight of the series. Assuming that the final episode wonโt see it get topped, that is. And while TV Tropes would say that Schneider is the second coming of Vicious, Soryu still contains plenty of Spike Spiegelโs rival in him.
And unfortunately for everyone, Axel ends up losing the fight. The only reason he doesn’t die is because Chris arrives in time to save him. That, and Soryu freaks out when he sees Axelโs necklace and has flashbacks to his training days. Its doubtful that weโll learn more about it in the time we have left, though. And frankly, I wouldn’t care.
So, Lazarus is under attack on all sides. Eleina is about to die. A madman is willing to let most of humanity die. And the man who might be the key to its salvation is clinging to life with only five days left. The one consolation is that the preview for the next episode reveals that Axel is alive. Fingers crossed, the last two episodes pull off a miracle. Mankind is going to need it!
There comes a time in every childโs life when they must leave the nest. Granted, Arthur has technically already done that, but involuntarily doing it doesn’t really count. This time, though, Arthur has every intention of spreading his wings as he prepares himself for his future time in academia. But before he does that, he wants to get a few more miles on his soul by going out and seeing the world. All he has to do is convince his parents to let him do so.
โฆthis is going to be hard.
Early Enrollment Exams 1
Due to the anime moving various events from the webcomic around, what we see happen at the end of the last episode and the start of this one takes place far later than in the source material. Perhaps A-Cat Studio did it because they thought it would make more sense, but all it does is annoy long-time fans who want a faithful adaptation of TBATE. Given how it doesn’t really affect the overall plot of the story, though, I think the anime can be forgiven.
At any rate, the woman that Arthur meets is Cynthia, founder and headmaster of Xyrus Academy. AKA this worldโs equivalent of Hogwarts or Ranoa University. Itโs not explained well here, but Vincent Helstea put in a good word with her and she’s testing him to see if he’s good enough to enroll.
As per usual, the fight is nowhere near as impressive as it should be. However, if you’re still watching TBATE at this point, you might as well abandon all hope of good fight scenes. What matters is that while he loses, Cynthia knows he’s got great potential and passes him. Despite offering to let him enroll in the Academy then and there, though, Arthur turns her down. He wants to wait until he’s the same age as the other students before he enrolls, meaning he’s got until he turns twelve; three years from now.
Although, Arthur has no intention of spending those three years being idle.
Arthur the Adventurer!
Despite being younger than Rudeus was when he got flung to the other side of the world, Arthur is set on becoming an adventurer. He wants to keep getting stronger so that he won’t lose anyone in his family. And while his parents know he’s more capable than people twice his (biological) age, they’re rightfully reluctant to let him become an adventurer. Itโs only when he promises to visit every few months and he gets a ring and scroll that will let her know if he’s in trouble that Alice relents. It also helps that Jasmine agrees to go with him.
With that out of the way, now comes the most important part: choosing his weapon. And the one he ends up choosing with Sylvieโs help is pretty cool.
Cool Sword, Arthur!
Dawnโs Ballad W.K IV. is a unique weapon, to be certain. It looks unassuming on the outside, but the fact that it can absorb Arthurโs magic and adjust itself to his size says it all. That blade is special; the chosen weapon of an RPG protagonist special. And he manages to get it for free by tricking Vincent Helstea. Not the most moral of decisions, but even so, itโs a good find.
And so, this chapter of Arthurโs life comes to an end as he sets off on his journey as an adventurer with Jasmine. A journey that, sadly, we do not see, not even in the webcomic, as this moment marks the finale to its second “season.” AKA when a major timeskip occurs in Arthur’s life. The next season will subsequently cover the tail end of Arthur’s time as an adventurer before he starts school. That will end up being largely covered by what will be the second season of the show…sort of.
They already made the next batch of episodes
In a recent post, Crunchyroll announced that episode twelve will be the season finale for The Beginning After the End, with the second season releasing sometime in 2026. With the amount of backlash the anime has gotten from fans, it seems crazy that the show would get a second season. While they’re calling it a second season, though, it’s not; it’s more like a second cour, or episode block.
According to Anime News Network, TBATE was originally planned to have twenty-four episodes that would comprise its first season. Instead, they decided to split it up into two cours’ and release the second half in the following year. It’s actually common in longer anime. It doesn’t mean that the series is getting renewed for a new season. If it is, then hopefully, it will be made by a studio that knows how to animate properly!
Ladies, gentlemen, and those who identify as neither, this Sunday is Father’s Day. The day when we tell our dads and father figures how much we love and appreciate them. There have been many noteworthy fathers in anime. Some are great, others aren’t, and there’s the one dad who’s so vile that we consider him one of the most despicable villains in fiction. Fullmetal Alchemist fans know who I’m talking about. However, there is one dad in all of anime who stands head and shoulders above the restโsomeone who’s gone above and beyond for their child. Someone so selfless should be canonized as an actual Saint. That man’s name is Bartholomew Kuma.
Kuma from One Piece is the walking definition of a gentle giant. Despite how terrifying he can be towards those who commit evil, he is just the sweetest to everyone he meets. And despite the horrific nature of his life, he never stops trying to be a good father to his little girl, Bonney. Not even death itself will stop this man from protecting his daughter. And with the One Piece anime having returned and now into the story of Kuma’s life, it is the perfect time to honor Saint Kuma. This man has one of the saddest backstories in all of One Piece, yet he manages to be one of the best dads I’ve ever seen in an anime.
Get some tissues ready. This story is going to make you cry.
Born to Hardship
It all starts forty-five years before Luffy sets out to sea when Kuma is born in South Blue. His mom was a normal human, but his pastor father was secretly the last survivor of the Buccaneers, a race of powerful hybrids that had spent centuries being hunted by the World Government. They claimed it was for a “crime” they “committed,” but it was likely for simply breathing the same air as them. And when Kuma was four, the Government found them.
They dragged the whole family up to their capital of Mariejois and made them the slaves of the Celestial Dragons, AKA the vile, disgusting, and hedonistic rulers of the world. They would beat, torture, and abuse the family until Kuma’s mom finally dropped dead. But his dad didn’t want Kuma to lose hope, so he told him stories about Nika, the ancient sun god their people worshipped. He would go around spreading laughter and joy and freeing the miserable and oppressed while doing a fun dance. But then, just as Kuma was starting to cheer up, the Celestial Dragons shot his dad dead right in front of him. All because they didn’t like him making noise.
Yes, you read that right. They killed a man right in front of his child for simply annoying them with his song and dance. That is how petty these people are! About 99% of them have no empathy for anyone and those who do end up dead. And this isn’t even the worst. Every three years, they annex an entire country, seize its resources, and then hunt down the entire population for the fun of it. And Kuma was being used as one of their prey.
Thankfully, not all their slaves were willing to accept this date, and at the next hunting event, they met Kuma and made their move.
Freedom
Meet Ginny and Emporio Ivankov, two slave children who decided to take matters into their own hands, and they wanted Kuma in on their plan. Weeks ahead of time, Ginny had managed to leak the location of the World Noble’s (AKA the Celestial Dragons) hunt to the outside world. That led to some of the toughest pirates in the world descending on the place, turning it into a warzone. And while that happened, Kuma and Ivankov would sneak over to where the grand prizes, rare and powerful Devil Fruits, were being kept. They planned to steal and eat them so they could use their powers to escape. Unfortunately, they were only able to get the one Fruit that Kuma ate, the Paw-Paw Fruit. It not only gave him paw pads, but it let him push away anything he wanted for as far as he wanted, even pain itself. Using that, Kuma was able to help himself, his friends, and five hundred other slaves escape. And that was only his first miracle.
After they escaped, the trio went their separate ways. Ivankov took to the seas while Kuma and Ginny moved into the old church his parents had called home. They would make a living selling wood in town, and once he came of age, Kuma became a priest like his father before him. He even used his powers to help the elderly by taking their pain away and into himself. But he took it like a champ.
During this time, Kuma and Ginny would fall in love with each other. But when Ginny asked him to marry her, he refused. He couldn’t bear to put her in the same danger his mom went through. But then, something happened; something bad.
Their island home’s new king, Bekori, was a greedy and horrible tyrant who wanted to suck up to the Celestial Dragons. So, he decided the best way to do that was by saving money by getting rid of the parts of the population that he thought were dead weight. So he declared the southern half of the kingdom was being thrown out, leaving all the elderly people who made up its population to rot.
No one was happy about this decision, and when Kuma tried to protest, the king had him arrested. And then arrested Ginny and their friends when they protested that. But then, help came in the form of their old friend, Ivankov. During his time out at sea, he had met a man named Dragon who hated the World Government as much as he did. Together, they formed a small team of like-minded freedom fighters to fight tyranny wherever they found it. And they came running as soon as they heard Kuma and Ginny were in trouble. With their help, they swiftly deposed the king and sent him running for the hills. Afterward, Dragon and Ivankov offered the two a place in their group. And despite Kuma abhorring violence, the two gladly agreed to join.
Thus, the Revolutionary Army was born. This group of rebels had one goal: to overthrow the World Government and free the world from the tyranny of the Celestial Dragons! With their skills, Kuma and Ginny earned a place in Dragon’s inner circle alongside Ivankov. Together, the group fought tyranny and injustice, took names, and helped those in need. Life was good for Kuma.
But then, another great tragedy befell Kuma. Around twelve years before Luffy set out to sea, Ginny was kidnapped.
Fatherhood
Since becoming an adult, Ginny had become known as quite the beauty and had many admirers, even though her heart belonged to Kuma. Somehow, though, a Celestial Dragon learned about her and, being who they are, had her kidnapped and brought back to Mariejois to be their “bride.” There was nothing her friends could do.
For the next two years, Kuma would become a different person. He threw himself into his duties, charging recklessly onto battlefields as his mood began to darken. Then, one fateful day, he and the others received a call from Ginny. She had been released and made it back to the surface! But whatever joy Kuma felt turned to even deeper sorrow. The reason she’d been cast out was because she was dying from a terminal illness; she had called to say goodbye. Kuma never heard it, though. He teleported back to their church home, knowing she would be there. But by then, it was already too late.
To reiterate: the love of Kuma’s life had been kidnapped, forced to spend two years of her life as a s** slave, was r**** repeatedly, and then left to die after catching a deadly illness. And it was all the fault of the Celestial Dragons. For the second time in Kuma’s life, they had taken everything from him. And this almost destroyed Kuma. But amidst all this darkness, there was still a light to be found: a baby.
Ginny had gotten pregnant during her time in captivity and given birth to a baby girl. Being the monsters they were, the Celestial Dragons abandoned the child as well as her mother. Ginny sacrificed what time she had left to get her daughter, Bonney, to safety. And Kuma wouldn’t let her death be in vain. He would take in her daughter and raise her as his own. She would be the daughter that he and Ginny should’ve had. She became his new reason to keep living.
Being a single dad is hard in the best of times, and since Kuma was still part of the Revolutionary Army, he had to balance being a dad with his job. Fortunately, his Paw-Paw powers meant commuting wasn’t an issue, and the townsfolk were happy to help him raise Bonney, for they had long adored her parents. It was a busy life, but a happy one…until Bonney suddenly got a blue stone on her face.
By a cruel twist of fate, Bonney had been afflicted by Sapphire Scales, the same disease that killed her mother. It was such a rare illness that there was no cure for it. Any contact with natural light would make it spread, covering the host with blue stones before finally turning their skin blue before they died. The doctors who came to see her all said she wouldn’t make it to her tenth birthday. And to make matters worse, Bonney overheard this and misunderstood, thinking she would be better by then. Kuma had no choice but to maintain the lie to his little girl.
Kingship
After learning about this, Kuma left the Army to become a stay-at-home dad, keeping his daughter’s spirits up by telling her stories of Nika while looking for a cure. But then, the former King Bekori returned and regained his old throne. The difference was that this time, he opted to simply burn the southern half of his kingdom to the ground! Kuma couldn’t let this happen, and in a repeat of what happened before, he single-handedly stormed the palace and sent the tyrant back into exile once more. Afterward, the people were so grateful they declared Kuma their new king!
Kuma, naturally, didn’t care about such a title. He left rule in the hands of the tyrant king’s nicer predecessor so he could focus on Bonney. Who he just found out had somehow gained Devil Fruit powers of her own, letting her temporarily alter her age to look as young or as old as she wanted. It could even let her transform into alternate future versions of herself that she could imagine, even Nika!
But guess what? Bekori returned for a third time. He had spread lies overseas, claiming that Kuma was a tyrant who unjustly overthrew him, and the international community fell for it. The WG gave him a fleet of Marines to retake the island and everything!
Now, Kuma was a gentle man by heart who never wanted to hurt anybody. But after everything the king had done, Kuma decided that Bekori’s free trial of life had expired. He didn’t even wait for him to make landfall. He just pulled up on him at sea and sent the foolish former king and his fleet to the bottom of the sea.
After that, Kuma was now a wanted man. He couldn’t stay with Bonney any longer, and he knew it. So he set out to sea, fighting off bounty hunters while continuing to look for a cure for Bonney. Then, one day, he ran into his old friend, Dragon, who had managed to come through. Dragon recommended that Kuma go and see a friend of his, Dr. Vegapunk, a brilliant scientist and the smartest person alive. If anyone could cure Bonney, it would be him.
Just as Dragon hoped, Vegapunk could cure Bonney. Thanks to the miracles of stem cell research, the good doctor could save the girl’s life! The procedure would take a while, and it wouldn’t be cheap, but Bonney was going to live. However, Vegapunk wasn’t interested in money as payment. What he wanted was samples of Kuma’s blood.
Vegapunk had this idea about creating a line of cybernetic protectors that could keep the people of the world safe. With the Buccaneers renowned for their strength and durability, Vegapunk thought Kuma was the ideal template. Kuma happily agreed, thinking that being the template for an army of friendly peacekeepers was a great idea. It felt like things were going his way at last!
But then, the biggest opp in Kuma’s life and one of the greatest haters in all of One Piece came in and decided to take everything from him.
JayGarcia Saturn, a Celestial Dragon, one of the Five Elders who ran the World Government, and an absolute hater. Years ago, he had seen firsthand how Kuma had defied his masters and vowed to become a savior like Nika. And that act of defiance had been enough to make Saturn dedicate his life to making Kuma’s life miserable. And when he learned about Vegapunk’s deal with Kuma, he decided his time had come. Instead of arresting Kuma or forcing Vegapunk to back out, he did something worse. He would let them follow through on the deal. But in exchange, he would force Kuma to give up everything: his freedom, his daughter, and even his very humanity.
The World Government would oversee Bonney’s treatment, effectively holding her hostage while keeping Kuma from seeing her. As for Kuma, he had to agree to work for the World Government as one of the Seven Warlords and slowly be turned into a cyborg, with the ultimate end goal being to erase his free will, essentially killing him. And to add insult to injury, they would take Vegapunk’s clone army and turn them into weapons for the Navy to use!
So, despite knowing that this would lead to his eventual death, Kuma took the deal. He gave up his freedom and his very humanity all to give his daughter the future he deserved. That is how great a dad he was!
The process of becoming a cyborg was a slow one that spanned several years, and during that time, Kuma rarely got to see his daughter. And while he constantly wrote letters to her, the government op in charge of watching kept shredding them up! She had no reason to do so; she was just doing it to be mean! And the longer Bonney went without hearing from her dad, the more convinced his friends were that something was up. Sure enough, they were right.
Bonney’s Freedom
Some of Kuma and Ginny’s friends had overheard the Government agents talking in town, and that’s when they learned the truth: Bonney had already been cured. They kept lying about it to keep her captive as leverage. And it was at this point that those family friends took matters into their own hands. Having kept Bonney’s Devil Fruit powers a secret and having converted a ship in the local harbor to suit their needs, they managed to get the girl out right under her captor’s nose, set out to sea, and went to look for Kuma.
And, for extra karma, when the fake nurse tried to stop them, Bonney used her Devil Fruit to turn into a version of Nika and punch her face!
At just ten years old, Bonney had escaped to sea and become a pirate, and she would make a huge impression. Using her powers to mess with the marines wherever she went, she became part of the same new generation of pirates as Luffy and the Straw Hats. Yet try as they might, they could never find Kuma. And that was because he didn’t want to be found.
Even though they no longer had anything to use as blackmail, Kuma continued to serve the World Government. He knew that if he backed out now, Saturn would ensure that Bonney would not survive. The most he could do was watch her from afar as he awaited his end. However, all was not lost. Kuma had discovered something that gave him a new sense of hope for the future: the stories of Nika might be true.
Luffy is Pirate Jesus
For those who dont know, Dragon is the father of the series protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy. And despite keeping it a secret from his friends, Kuma was able to piece this together. More importantly, he saw firsthand how Luffy could stretch his body like rubber and seemed to bring joy to everyone he met. And it just so happened that those exact two things were what Nika did in the stories his father told him.
Kuma kept an eye on Luffy as he set out on his journey to becoming King of the Pirates, and the more he did, the more he grew convinced. He didn’t know if it was fate or coincidence, but everything that Luffy did matched the legends about Nika. After Luffy proceeded to punch a Celestial Dragon without any fear of retaliation, Kuma became convinced: Luffy was the second coming of Nika.
Unfortunately, that stunt he pulled meant that Luffy and the Straw Hats were now being hunted by the best fighters the Navy had to offer. With the Straw Hat Pirates woefully underprepared for the second half of the Grand Line, Kuma knew they would get themselves killed. So, he decided it was time for some tough love. As Luffy and his crew were being assailed by Admiral Kizaru of the Navy, Kuma stepped in. And before they could do anything, he teleported each of the Straw Hats to islands across the world for mandatory training arcs. It was cruel, and it caused them all grief, but it was the right decision. If Luffy was the new incarnation of Nika, then he would need friends powerful enough to help him. And this was something they all came to understand.
But it was not something that Kuma would live to see. For his time had come.
The End…or is it?
Vegapunk had begged Saturn to show Kuma mercy, but, being the hater he was, the monster refused. Yet despite this, Kuma showed no regret for his decision. He was giving up his life to ensure that his daughter could live a full one, like any good parent. Using his powers once more to extract his memories for the doctor to study, Kuma said his final goodbyes. Then, with the final pull of a lever, Bartholomew Kuma, the man, was no more…and the world was a little less bright.
But the story doesn’t end there.
So, two years after Kuma effectively died, the Celestial Dragons brought him full circle, turning them into their slave once more and using him as their personal mule boy. Until, that is, the day that his friends in the Revolutionary Army decided the time had come to pick a fight with the World Nobles. And in the process, they sprang Kuma loose! However, there was nothing that they could do to restore his mind.
Meanwhile, Bonney had made her way to Vegapunk’s lab at Egghead Island, and ran into the Straw Hats while doing so. Having not gotten the full story about her dad, she blamed Vegapunk for everything, and if he couldn’t make him fix Kuma, she was out for his blood. Until she stumbled upon her father’s memories and proceeded to see everything.
Return of the Opps
And I think I can speak with all sincerity when I saw that what we saw in Kuma’s memories has to be one of the saddest backstories in all of One Piece. Maybe one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen in my life! But it did make Bonney realize that the real opp was Saturn. Who, as it so happened, was currently leading an army of Marines to kill Vegapunk for secretly turning on them. And when Saturn arrived on the island as this demonic spider, Bonney decided that it was on-site. But as she quickly learned, Saturn was almost unkillable.
So, Saturn pretty much had Bonney, Vegapunk, and half the Straw Hats dead to rights, paralyzed by Conqueror’s Haki. And now that Kuma was of no use to him and Vegapunk had turned on him, he decided it was time to end Bonney’s life. But before he did, he decided to twist the knife even further.
Warning: spoilers from the manga lie ahead.
Saturn proceeds to tell Bonney the horrible truth: “You know how your mama died from that rare disease? And how you somehow got Devil Fruit powers at random? Who do you think was the one who did all that to you two?”
It was all Saturn! He used Ginny as a guinea pig and infected her and her daughter with sapphire scales on purpose. And then he injected baby Bonney with the essence of a Devil Fruit to see if it would give her its powers. He is the reason that Bonney died and Kuma had to sacrifice his freedom and life!!! HE DESTROYED THIS FAMILY’S LIVES! ALL BECAUSE KUMA DECIDED TO STAND UP FOR HIMSELF!
In all my years of life, I have seen some truly despicable villains. I have seen tyrants, psychopaths, predators, and haters of the highest degree. But this? This is hating on the same level as Reverse-Flash, DIO, and Frieza. This reveal was enough to make me scream for Saturn’s blood at the top of my lungs! He became public enemy number one in the fandom!
Thankfully, fans didn’t have to wait long for karma to come back to bite Saturn in the butt.
Justice at last
So, one of the last things that Saturn ordered Vegapunk to do to Kuma before erasing his free will was to implant a bomb in him. That way, he could blow him up if he ever went rogue. But Vegapunk secretly altered it to a simple shutdown switch that would render him inactive, because he had morals and ethics. By the time the Revolutionary Army found him, Saturn had already hit the button, meaning that he was pretty much catatonic.
Which only makes what happened next even more important.
As everything was happening at Egghead, Kuma’s friends were trying to restore his humanity. Suddenly, Kuma got up and started running as fast as he could. Before they could stop him, he had already teleported away!
None of them knew it, but Kuma’s dad’s sense had been tingling.
Despite losing his memories, free will, and humanity, and despite not knowing what was happening, Kuma somehow sensed that Bonney was in trouble. And in defiance of all logic and common sense, through sheer force of will, Kuma forced himself to run, fly, and teleport to where his daughter was. He climbed the 10,000-meter tall Red Line, fought his way through Mariejois, and slipped past Fleet Admiral Akainu to get to Egghead. And he got there just in time to save his daughter from being skewered by Saturn!
i added some sound effects to midael's kuma vs saturn animation, for the punch i used the sound of luffy punching the celestial dragon from one piece ep396 because i thought it kind of matches the intensity
Finally, after all these years, Bonney was reunited with her beloved dad. And while she sat there, being hugged by her father and crying her eyes out, Saturn was unable to process what was happening. It didn’t make any sense to him! He thought that Kuma was dead! Even Vegapunk had no idea how this was possible. It didn’t matter, though, because this was the beginning of the end for Saturn.
Saturn had made it his personal mission in life to make Kuma’s life a living hell. He had taken the woman he loved, endangered his daughter’s life, and robbed him of his humanity and freedom. And now, Kuma was ready to give him a lifetime of karma. He went full Asura’s Wrath mode on Saturn and, for the crime of making his daughter cry, sentenced the demon to a cathartic face-punch that should’ve killed him then and there. But that would be too good for Saturn. His humiliation was just getting started. Because now, it was time for the Sun God to punish him.
Saturn Gets Royally Clapped
After being left exhausted earlier from an earlier fight, Luffy finally recovered enough to re-enter Gear Fifth and rejoined the battle. And the moment that Bonney saw him in that form, Vegapunk told her that all the stories about Nika were true, and she was looking at them. Everything her dad had told her had been right all along; NIKA WAS REAL, AND LUFFY WAS HIS NEWEST INCARNATION. And he proceeded to
Utterly embarrass Saturn in the most cartoonish way possible. But that wasn’t even the best part.
Luffy is HIM fighting the Gorosei and a Admiral making both Kizaru and Saturn into a pizza then making Saturn call for the rest of the Gorosei to fight along is a huge feat https://t.co/zuVRA1IB3Ypic.twitter.com/TCaUdtOCqH
Remember those robot clones of Kuma that Vegapunk built, the Pacifistas? The newest models had been stationed as security on Egghead, and while everything was happening, Saturn had tried to use them to kill Vegapunk and the Straw Hats. He thought that they were programmed to follow the Five Elders orders above all else. However, Vegapunk had outsmarted them. He secretly programmed the Pacifistas to follow an even higher authority: Bonney. The good doctor made it so that they would never harm her and would always be there to help her. The love between father and daughter basically made one of the World Government’s greatest weapons completely useless.
Eventually, the Straw Hats, Kuma, Bonney, and all their allies managed to escape, but not before Saturn made one last attempt to kill them all. But Luffy and Bonney had had enough of this monster. And using her Fruit’s powers to mimic Luffy’s Gear Fifth, Bonney joined her hero in repaying Saturn for a lifetime of pain and suffering by giving him the mother of all beatdowns.
Luffy is HIM fighting the Gorosei and a Admiral making both Kizaru and Saturn into a pizza then making Saturn call for the rest of the Gorosei to fight along is a huge feat https://t.co/zuVRA1IB3Ypic.twitter.com/TCaUdtOCqH
Sadly, Saturn did not dieโฆyet. However, his failure to kill Luffy and cost the World Government control of the Pacifistas drew the wrath of the true ruler of the world, Imu. And while Saturn tried to explain himself to his master, Imu was about as forgiving as Darth Vader. And Saturn had failed him for the last time, an act that would see the dark entity strip him of his immortality and, thus, his life.
– He killed Ginny & made Kuma become a cyborg – He made Bonney suffer – He made Kizaru & Sentomaru conflicted – He contributed to Vegapunk's death – He summoned all Gorosei in Egghead – He made Robin suffer
So ended the life of one of the greatest haters in One Piece lore. May they rot forever.
Kuma is Best Anime Dad Ever
And that is the story of Saint Kuma thus far. And I say thus far because, despite technically being dead, one of Vegapunk’s satellites, Lilith, said that she was going to work on a way to restore his mind. In other words, Bonney might be able to have her happy ending with her father after all! But for now, she’s just happy being able to be with her dad. And may no one ever separate them again.
Kuma is, without a doubt, one of the best dads I’ve ever seen in anime. He has lived a life of selfless charity, saving hundreds of lives and literally taking on their pain for himself. He’s so selfless that he is willing to make a deal with the devil to save his daughter’s life despite knowing it would kill him. He even willed himself to protect his child after becoming a mindless machine because he loved her that much. That is the kind of example every dad should follow! If he were a real person, he would be canonized as a saint!
So far, The Beginning After the End has changed up several things from the original webcomic. Itโs moved things around, added new context to Arthurโs past life, and altered certain moments in the story. However, this episode marks the biggest departure from the source canon to date. And it all has to do with Arthur putting an arrogant little nobody in his place.
The Auction House Changed a Bit
For those who donโt remember, the reason the Helstea family is so rich is because they run the Helstea Auction House. Every year, they host a massive auction where adventurers, nobles, and even royals show up to bid for rare artifacts, weapons, and even monsters. And since they let them stay in exchange for Reynolds heading security, the Leywins get an invitation to the auctionโฆwith the other people.
Even before the episode starts, the anime is already making some changes to events, and not always for the better. In the webcomic, Arthur approaches Mr. Helstea beforehand and asks him to try and get him some gear he wants. In addition, the Leywins get to stay in a private box with the Helsteas, which will eventually lead to them meeting the Sapin Royal Family. Not only does the conversation not take place here, but for some reason, the anime sees fit to have the Leywins sit below, with everyone else. It might be so that what happens next makes more sense, but itโs going to aggravate plenty of fans.
What happens next, though, is the biggest change from the webcomic, and it revolves around poor little Sylvie.
Arthur Almost Crashes Out
So, as the Leywins are busy watching the auction, Sylvie gets bored like most little kids would, and wanders off. Arthur goes to look for her, because heโs a good dad, and thatโs when he finds her being bothered by this shady-looking man in a robe who works for the Royal Family. This mage takes one look at Sylvie and decides โI want her,โ and starts running his mouth, demanding Arthur give her to him. Arthurโs response: โNot for sale!โ And then the man has the audacity to say โKid, I work for the royal family! I could you and your entire family out on the streets if I say the word to the king!โ
Arthurโs response? Unleashes the Conquerorโs Haki.
While similar events did happen in the webcomic, they took place in the private box. And Arthur got a lucky break by passing the blame off on some random intruder. In the anime, though, he gets no such luck, and his Dad gets in trouble for it! Itโs not a major story change and doesnโt do much in the grand scheme of things, but longtime fans are gonna be frustrated with it. The comments on YouTube seem to say so.
Arthur Unleashes Za Warudo
At any rate, the Kingโs attempts to get Sylvie from Arthur are largely the same here, and Arthurโs retort of โhow much would you ask for your kidsโ is still cool. He rightfully sees Sylvie as his adoptive daughter, and like any good parent, he ainโt giving up his kid.
And when the dumb court mage escalates by trying to kill him, Arthur pulls off the โZa Warudoโ technique and lays down the law.
Arthur shows off his time-stopping power! ๐ฅ (via The Beginning After the End) pic.twitter.com/qQUbTalHtF
In any event, the mage gets fired from his job, and the King covers everything up and bribes Arthur to keep quiet, just as what happens in the webcomic. However, the ending to the episode differs thanks to certain parts of the story being moved around. It may not make sense right now, but hopefully, the next episode will clear some things up.
Six days; that is all the time the world has left before the first users of Hapna start dying. Time is running out for the majority of humanity, and Lazarus still has no idea where Dr. Skinner could be. Yet all is not lost, as the team might have not just one, but two possible leads they can use to track down Skinner. One of them requires Leland to face his past, while the other reveals an astonishing connection to another member of Lazarus: Axel.
With less than a week before Hapna becomes fatal, society is starting to break down. People are starting to break out in fevers from Hapna, hospitals are being overwhelmed, and governments are shutting down. No sense in remaining active if most of humanity dies. And herein lies a slight problem with how the story of Lazarus is going: the lack of time.
Skinner claimed that he has the cure for Hapna on him, hence the entire purpose of Lazarus is to find him in time. However, even if they find him now, mass-producing the cure in time will be next to impossible. Millions of people are going to die before they get their hands on it. Maybe the story will pull off something amazing, but unless the cure can be spread via aerosol form, people are going to die. And one of the team might be among them.
Wait, Leland is HOW RICH!?!
In any case, Lazarus might have a real breakthrough on their hands. That pill that Chris found at Skinnerโs estate wasn’t the cure for Hapna. What it was was an antiplatelet medication used by people who have had artificial heart transplants. They realize that Skinner must have gotten surgery after going into hiding, yet finding no records of it, the team starts looking into a rumored clinic for the elite that does procedures in exchange for high amounts of money. That’s when Leland comes in to help them, revealing he has a secret he’s kept from everyone.
It turns out that Leland comes from money. He’s the illegitimate child of a deceased aristocrat whose family he’s on poor terms with. To make things even more awkward, as the only surviving son, the family rules say that he’s the head of the family, much to the anger of his older half-sister. Their reunion is an incredibly tense one, and one that Doug and Axel have to see firsthand at his own request.
Family can often be messy, especially in situations as complicated as what Leland grew up with. However, in a nice change of pace, the older sister isn’t just upset about Leland being the heir instead of her. She’s also upset at how little he’s tried to get to know his family. With the world on the verge of ending, people want to get their priorities straight. So, Leland agreeing to spend a few days with her is, honestly, a very touching thing.
In the end, Leland’s sister pulls through, and she gets him to see Skinner’s doctor, who confirms that he did get an artificial heart. Normally, that comes with a stream of data they can track but, Skinner being Skinner, he encrypted it. Furthermore, it doesn’t lead them to Skinner, but Eleina figures out that it’s being monitored by their old friend, Popcorn Wizard, in Pakistan. That leads her and Doug to head to Pakistan on another lead. As they do so, though, Elenia starts to show signs of a fever.
Uh-oh.
Axel Could be the Key to Everything
As promising as that lead might be, there’s another one that might be even more promising.
Remember the incident where Chris faked her death? The Schiphol Airport incident. Official reports say that it was a bio-chemical attack by terrorists, but as Hersch and Abel, the head of the NSA discover, that was a lie. In reality, government incompetence led to a shootout between INSCOM and Airport security, with Skinner caught in the middle. The firefight wound up unleashing an airborne, prototype version of Hapna. That is what killed everyone, and it left Skinner a changed man.
If you recall, INSCOM are the ones who hired that assassin to kill Axel for unknown reasons. Those reasons might have become a lot clearer in this episode, though. As it turns out, that same Hapna prototype was tested on prison inmates. And out of all of those inmates, only one managed to survive: Axel Gilberto.
Axel is in Trouble
This revelation could change everything. When a disease is threatening a large population, such as humans, there’s often going to be a small number of people with a natural immunity. Is it possible that Axel is immune to Hapna? Or was it just a fluke? Either way, it’s enough to get Hersch to send Axel looking for the prison doctor responsible for the test. Unfortunately, that’s when the INSCOM assassin, Soryu, makes his move.
This is not good. Not only would the death of Axel mean killing off the main protagonist, but if Axel really is the key to curing Hapna, then INSCOM could be dooming mankind to extinction. With the preview for the next episode showing a full-on battle about to take place, it could be the most important episode of the series. No matter what, Axel cannot die.
If a show gets to the point where even it wonders why things arenโt going fast enough, then you know something is wrong. Ten days are left before the first people to take Hapna start dying, and Lazarus is no closer to catching him. And now, theyโve come under the scrutiny of the US Government, which is looking to shut them down. And whatโs worse, some of them are willing to go off the books and hire the second coming of Vicious to take care of one of them.
So, after their excursion to rescue Chris in the previous episode, the people in charge of Lazarus are not happy. From their perspective, the team, whose sole job is to find Dr. Skinner, has just been messing around. Thus, they bring Hersch and her boss before a committee to complain about them not doing their jobs.
While the audience knows that Lazarus has been looking for Skinner this whole time, it would make sense why the US government is losing patience. This is essentially the show calling itself out for the fact that itโs made little headway in advancing the overall plot, something that fans are already doing on social media. The suits even bring Leland in to have him testify against his teammates, though he doesnโt take the bait. However, as Axel and Doug themselves discuss, there is a very real chance that they could get silenced after they fulfill their job. And theyโre right to think that, as we soon learn.
Everything gets put on the back burner, though, as Skinner decides to up the ante with another announcement (Start at 20:12):
Skinner Changed the Game
This completely reframes the entire mission. If they donโt find Skinner, he will die, and so will any chance of curing Hapna. It might not make sense for Skinner to not take the antidote, but given how he seems to view humanity as a problem, heโs holding himself to those standards. That, and even if only a handful of people survive, the world will be very empty for thousands of years.
Though Lazarus might already have the cure for Hapna in there possession. As Chris is getting dressed, she finds the pill that she took from Skinnerโs home. I guessed it was either a clue to his whereabouts or a flat-out cure, but the fact that itโs being brought up now means itโs important. It could be the key to solving everything.
There are bigger concerns now, though, as members of the government are after someone from Lazarus: Axel.
Vicious Has been Reborn
For some unknown reason, members of INSCOM see Axel as a threat. Perhaps it has something to do with how he wound up in prison in the first place, but apparently, itโs enough for them to warrant hiring a black-ops assassin to take him out. And the final minutes of the episode are dedicated to exclusively showing how dangerous he is in what can only be described as the second coming of Vicious.
If Axel is the modern-day Spike Spiegel, this assassin is Vicious. And if he is after Axel, then Lazarus is going to have a hard time.
This entire episode was, for all intents and purposes, meant to set the show up for the final act by raising the stakes. There are only ten days left before Skinner dies, the US Government goes after Lazarus, and now thereโs an assassin after Axel. The stakes have been raised to new heights. Hopefully, the last four episodes will see the team finally make headway!
Last year, I stepped away from going to a lot of anime conventions due to personal reasons; the biggest one being disposable income. Being an anime fan is expensive. From Crunchyroll subscriptions to budgeting for anime conventions, we nerds kick out at LEAST $10k-$20k in disposable income a year. I’m surprised we can’t even write that off on our taxes, unless you’re claiming your hobby as a business expense. I guess that’s why many fans decided to become professional cosplayers, anime content creators, and even voice actors; cuz’ at least you get paid to be a guest at the con! (At least the voice actors and professional cosplayers do.)
So yeah, I did step away from the scene for a bit, but now I’m back with a brand new bag! As much as I like going to big name conventions; like Otakon and Zenkaikon, I’ve decided to stay local, and go to smaller anime conventions. This past weekend I pulled up to a small anime convention in Bethesda, Maryland (about an hour from my house). It was held at the Silver Spring Civic Center, and it was called…HanaCon.
HanaCon 2025
When Aaron and I stepped into the place, it did kind of remind me of Khromakon only because of the venue space. Last time I talked about the difference between Classic and Modern anime conventions, so if I were to grade HanaCon based off of that, I’d say this convention has a classic feel with a modern twist. With both Aaron and I being ‘Certified Uncs’ in the anime community, larger conventions are rather overwhelming and crowded as hell! So we decided to shop local, and came to this convention.
Despite the size, there was actually a good amount of programming for its debut year. One new thing that I saw at this convention, that I didn’t really see at other small local conventions, is The Maid Cafe. They’re a staple in the mid-size and large conventions, and have grown in popularity within convention culture. While we didn’t get the chance to go to any panels, most of our time was spent in the Dealer’s Room. A lot of the vendors were local to the DMV, and even some of our Baltimore friends were there! (Shout-out to Crystal Soul Cosplay!) We even stopped by a few of the cosplay guest tables to get a couple pictures, and chop it up about anime and nerd stuff, cuz’ why not?
Of course an anime con can’t be an anime con without a rave party, and DJ Taylor Senpai did just that! Once all the panels were over, many of the attendees headed over to the Moonlight Overdrive Dance Party. The area kind of reminded me of a high school dance with an EDM theme, as the song selection had a little bit of everything (including EDM). I danced a little bit to some of the tracks (including Cupid and Boots on the Ground), and by doing so, I was gassed after 3 minutes…but still had fun. If my brother and his dance crew were there, they would’ve shut the party down!
HanaCon Lobby
So in conclusion; HanaCon is a really cool anime convention, and now that it’s making its way to Towson, MD next year as a 2-day convention, it’ll be twice as good! Will Club BASSMODE be there and throw an official afterparty for them? Only time will tell. With Stellar Con and Miryokucon now back in Baltimore, plus a brand new Anime/Horror themed convention called KurayamiCon (is pullin’ up Halloween 2026), the Baltimore Anime Con Scene is BACK and better than ever!
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