One Piece is simply jaw-dropping week to week television. This episode was smooth as butter even in its slowest scenes, and absolutely blew me away when it hit its highest highs.
Firstly, the scene of Shinobu and Momo fleeing Yamato was great. I loved the wall sticker gag, with the decoy leading Yamato astray, and the armored division showing up in all their funhouse glory. As well, it's clear the Toei team added a lot of polish to Shinobu's battle despite featuring what could charitably be described as distant supporting characters. Watching an axe-wielding warrior on a turtle fly through the air and attack a middle-aged ninja elicits a strange kind of joy that only One Piece could bring. I also love the little touches like Momonosuke's flashback being in 4:3 to represent it being in “the past.”
Yamato's big splashy bagua attack was beyond hype. It looked incredible, with popping colors and fluid animation, and the triple-take on the impact showed that it had plenty of power behind all that flashiness. It's a glorious feast for the eyes and what Yamato deserves.
I'm glad to see the shock and fallout of Kiku's arm loss carry across two episodes. It was really shocking when it happened in the manga, and this episode puts a lot of emphasis on how big of a moment it is. Oda is generally pretty reserved with killing or maiming characters, and that scene felt huge. The quiet moments of Kinemon cauterizing her wound while she bit the cloth and then stood again, raising her sword in defiance – stellar stuff. It feels like the most important battle in the world, and with good reason. Plus “It's not honorable for us to be killed by you” is one of the coldest lines Kinemon has delivered.
…also a giraffe man and a chicken man got punked by a fish and a chef, so One Piece gonna One Piece.
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