It’s time for a summer shake-up! We’ve looked over the poll results, drawn lots, flipped coins, finished an elimination bracket for rock-paper-scissors, broken up, reconciled, and finally assigned the most requested reviews.

Unlike last season, it was a pretty close race between the top two: Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia edged out Goodbye, Lara by less than 3%. It was followed by The Ghost in the Shell, KAIJU GIRL CARAMELISE, and You and I Are Polar Opposites Season 2 to round out the top five.

The MAO didn’t make the cut and will be shelved until the end of the show run.

Here’s the full Daily Streaming season. Check below to see if your favorites made the list.

Lynzee Loveridge
–Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia

Grant Jones
–One Piece
–Iron Wok Jan!
–Tomb Raider King

Sylvia Jones
–KAIJU GIRL CARAMELISE

Christopher Farris
–The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You Season 3
–Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 3: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke

James Beckett
–Clevatess Season 2
–The World Is Dancing
–Chainsmoker Cat
–The Elusive Samurai Season 2

Kennedy
–Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games
–Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity

Bolts
–Draw This, Then Die!
–I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day

Jairus Taylor
–You and I Are Polar Opposites Season 2

Rebecca Silverman
–Goodbye, Lara
–Red River
–Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun Season 4

Richard Eisenbeis
–Daemons of the Shadow Realm
–Saga of Tanya the Evil II
–Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation III
–Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (The Recapture Arc)

Kevin Cormack
–The Ghost in the Shell
–Thunder 3

Lucas DeRuyter
–Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You
–Sparks of Tomorrow

Caitlin Moore
–Though I Am an Inept Villainess

Episode 1169 of One Piece is a slow-burn introduction that telegraphs the outcome from a mile away and sticks the landing regardless.

Scopper Gaban is the main feature for this week. It’s pretty clear what’s happening throughout the episode. The crew meets a mysterious old man with a lot of knowledge about Elbaph. Luffy comments on how Sanji will be just like him when he gets older, and the entire middle portion of the episode is a series of mythological recaps about a legendary figure from Roger’s crew. Gee, I wonder if this mysterious old man who just so happened to appear at the beginning of the episode might be him? Eh? Will he?

Obviously, yes.

Scopper Gaban arrives with plenty of buildup. It makes for an interesting, if not terribly exciting, episode because this is mostly setting up for what is to come. I will say that an entire episode dedicated to hyping up a character we’ve never met before could have seemed boring, but I was pretty well engaged throughout. I think this comes down to a couple of factors having to do with the episode’s visuals.

There’s a lot to look at and enjoy even while the on-screen happenings aren’t high-octane. The usual interesting details of Elbaph always give you something to look at. Castles floating in the sky, dark stony paths into the depths, treasure rooms full of empty treasure chests; there are neat visuals that stick out in the mind while the legendary tales wash over you.

Additionally, there’s lots of great expression work in this episode. Probably 25% of the episode’s runtime is Nami making an absurd face at the nonsense her captain and others are getting up to, but that’s not a bad thing. The expressions are fun, and Nami is a cutie pie, so it’s more than welcome. Usopp and Road also do quite a bit of expression work, mostly of the runny-nose-shocked-look variety. Again, it’s nothing novel, but it is fun, and the voice actors always give believable shocked screams at various legendary reveals.

The best bit is that Scopper Gaban is an antagonist with a big ol key. Keys as weapons are always cool (well, I’m mostly referencing Kingdom Hearts here, but that makes us two for two, so I’m sticking with my prior statement). And building up this legendary figure who is nominally an ally or at least not related to an antagonist of Luffy, only to have him turn around and oppose the crew, is a great capstone moment. In a way, this positions him as a sort of polar opposite to someone like Rayleigh – at least for the time being – and that’s an interesting spice to add to the mix.

Rating:

One Piece is currently streaming on
Crunchyroll.

Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures revealed the television format, first promotional video, teaser visual, main cast and staff members, and the January 2027 debut for the anime adaptation of Fire head’s Mercedes and the Waning Moon: The Dungeoneering Feats of a Discarded Vampire Aristocrat (Kaketa Tsuki no Mercedes: Kyūketsuki no Kizoku ni Tensei Shita kedo Suteraresō nanode Dungeon wo Seiha suru) light novel series, on Wednesday.

The anime will star Anna Nagase as the titular Mercedes Grunewald:

Kunihisa Sugishima (Strike Witches, Yu Gi Oh!, Beyblade: Metal Fury) is directing the anime at Teddy. Jun Kumagai (Persona 4 the Golden Animation, Teppen—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Laughing ’til you Cry, Aquarion Logos) is in charge of series scripts, Nami Shōyama (animation director for Buddy Daddies, Yu-Gi-Oh! Go Rush!!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens) is designing the characters, and R.O.N (The Classroom of a Black Cat and a Witch, Kuroko’s Basketball) and Shūhei Mutsuki (The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You, Lycoris Recoil) are composing the music.

J-Novel Club publishes the novel series in English digitally and describes the story:

Reincarnated as a vampire to a noble father and his shunned concubine, Mercedes Grunewald has always known that one day, her father will choose an heir that isn’t her. But what will become of her family when that time comes? Her mother has no skills, their maid is old, and Mercedes is but a small child. How will they survive in the world on their own?

Luckily, dungeon crawling is a job that anyone can do—even a child. To provide for her family, Mercedes begins training at the age of a kindergartener, and because she’s from a nation of vampires, she fortunately has the potential to become strong. In her past life, she died unfulfilled, but that won’t be her fate this time. In the dungeons, she’s determined to find something that will make her moon full.

Fire head launched the series on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website in 2018. TO Books started publishing the novels with illustrations by KeG in 2021. TO Books released the fifth novel volume digitally on Wednesday
.

Pochi Edoya launched the novel series’ manga adaptation on TO Books‘ Comic Corona (now Corona EX) website in 2021. TO Books published the manga’s sixth compiled book volume also on Wednesday
.

Source: Press release