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One Piece
Episode 944

by Grant Jones,

How would you rate episode 944 of
One Piece (TV 1999) ?
Community score: 4.1

Episode 944

The opening portion of the episode was largely focused on Kinemon and Ashura. Kinemon admits to Ashura that he specifically caused the raids to antagonize Holdem, who would in turn attack Ashura and get him back into the revolution. Kinemon apologizes to Ashura by bowing low and admitting that he was wrong in his approach. Ashura basically lets it slide without saying as much out loud, and reminds Kinemon that he can never know what the past twenty years have really been like. However, he does have something to show Kinemon, but the episode cuts back to the prison without revealing what that is.

Things are not exactly going great at the prison for Queen and his henchmen because – dun dun dun – Big Mom has arrived. She tears off the iron gate with her bare hands and flings it away, entering the prison in search of red bean soup. Tama and Momonosuke are overjoyed by this turn of events, but Kiku reminds them that it is important they stay hidden. This doesn't exclude Kiku herself, as Chopper reminds her, so she masks up and the duo enter the prison while Tama and Momonosuke hang back.

Queen is infuriated by Big Mom's request for his red bean soup. The soup is, by his own admission, like air to him, and he's not giving her a single drop. He even transforms into his brachiosaurus form to prove he means business. Big Mom's eyes glow red and she slams his face into the ground, shocking everyone right before we cut to the To Be Continued card.

This was a solid episode with some really great standout moments. First off, Queen's transformation is just an incredible visual – having a leather biker Fist of the North Star boss turn into a cigar-chomping dinosaur is precisely the reason I watch anime. Where else can you have this kind of fun?

Big Mom, as always, is a delight and the focal point of any scene she is in. She has a sort of narrative gravity that makes everything pivot to revolve around her. The gate-ripping sequence was terrific, and I love that the animation team gave it a floating leaf-like quality as it fell. It underscored how strong Big Mom is.

Kinemon and Ashura's scene was great too. Kinemon giving Yasui his due, while also showing the true humility of a leader who acknowledges that he's made a mistake, was great stuff and stands in stark contrast to Orochi and his villainy. I dug the shot that follows immediately after Kinemon's apology where the camera zooms in on Ashura's foot, which instills some doubt to how he might react. When Ashura pushes off of that foot it seems as though he might be moving to strike...but he doesn't. It's a great bit of direction that adds to the tension of the scene.

Far and away my personal favorite moment was Chopper and Kiku's scene. Kiku putting the wrap on her head and thinking that was a sufficient disguise… I love it. I love these goofy characters so much.

Rating:

Grant is the cohost on the Blade Licking Thieves podcast and Super Senpai Podcast.

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

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