One Piece Log: Fish-Man Island Saga

Episode 15

Episode 15 of One Piece Log: Fish-Man Island Saga ups the stakes for Luffy and Hody as the princes make their desperate final gambit.

This is a pretty solid entry this week, making the final pieces moving into position an exciting watch. Hody overdosing on Energy Steroids to emerge as Akuma circa Street Fighter 6 a new elevated self is pretty intense. And the princes' assault is exciting too. The most interesting discussion is between Jinbei and Luffy, where the best-est fish uncle helps Luffy understand that there are other considerations besides punching. Winning and doing the right thing - whatever Luffy might think that is - may not always be so simple, and sometimes the nature of leading people to a better future means weighing how things appear as much as they are. Yet another twisted consequence of the World Government's continued villainy.

The real standout this week is the animation. It is, simply put, superb. There are multiple sequences this week that look dynamite, and it's not always what you would expect. The big attacks and action sequences look good, such as the princes heading for Hody. So do the sequences of other Fish-men going wild, whether through drunken swordplay or Energy Steroid-fueled rampages. I think my favorite sequence this week, though, was nothing so dramatic, and was instead the scene where Brook is trying to talk to Pappag. It's a minor scene in the grand scheme of things, just a goofy aside where a tiny silly starfish is scared by a ghost trying to bring him a message. The sheer hilarity of Pappag running and screaming tears while bumping into the pillars is funny enough, then combined with the love and care put into the animation to really bring it to life. Despite the heady drama and big events happening elsewhere, this sequence stuck with me the most.

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One Piece Log: Fish-Man Island Saga is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.