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One Piece
Episode 742

by Sam Leach,

How would you rate episode 742 of
One Piece (TV 1999) ?
Community score: 3.2

It's finally time to say adiós to Rebecca. It's not her fault that she was given some of the most confused and directionless writing ever seen in One Piece. Her story with Kyros may have started super promising and then veered off into total underwhelming gibberish, but at least it gets a decently okay bow for the wrap-up. It definitely feels like Oda put a lot of heart and soul into this father/daughter subplot, even if huge chunks of it just didn't work.

Last week, Luffy and Rebecca busted out of the palace in an attempt to reunite the princess with her ruffian father. Kyros has been suffering a strong guilt complex over his shady past and has been trying to distance himself from his daughter, hoping that she can live a better life as royalty. But neither Luffy or Rebecca agree with his conclusion, so they are off to catch him before he leaves the island for good.

"Filler heavy" is an accurate description of this episode, considering that in the manga, the characters' dash towards the flower field was pretty concise. Toei has decided to buy some time by having Luffy and Rebecca getting tripped up by marines who are out to catch them, as well as a sequence later in the episode where Rebecca is running through a forest alone and trying to make it to the other side where she might find her dad. Constant flashbacks to herself as a child, living with Kyros as the toy soldier, are also abundant.

I've got a weak spot for any emotional crying scene in One Piece. When Rebecca and Kyros reunite, the waterworks are flowing within milliseconds. Rebecca is assuring her father that she doesn't care about his past and wants him to stay by her side like he had promised when he was still a toy. Kyros' voice actor's booming wails as he cries continue to be pretty great. I have my grievances with the Rebecca and Kyros storyline, but the worst of it ended months ago. As its own little heartwarming story beat, this episode does okay.

Lastly, we end on a scene between Law and Sengoku off to the side while the rest of the Straw Hat alliance heads to the shore. Both of these characters were like family to Corazon: Law like a son and Sengoku like a parent. The two had never crossed paths before, but they share some baggage. The episode ends on a dramatic cliffhanger, implying some beef between the two, but anyone who's read the manga knows that it's nothing that serious.

Overall, we're finally on our way off the island, about to mark the end of the Dressrosa arc. There's still a few more episodes to go as we deal with Fujitora's impending attack, but spiritually, the loose ends have been tied up. It's not the most impressive episode, since it's stretching out one of the weaker subplots of the arc, but it gets the job done. Buh-bye, Rebecca.

Rating: B

One Piece is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.com.

Sam Leach writes and records about One Piece for The One Piece Podcast and you can find him on Twitter @LuckyChainsaw

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