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One Piece
Episode 1053

by Grant Jones,

How would you rate episode 1053 of
One Piece (TV 1999) ?
Community score: 4.4

op1053
©Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha, Toei Animation

One Piece episode 1053 is one of the more classic-feeling episodes of the Wano arc. It has a great mix of comedy, action, character variety, and Nico Robin appreciation. All it takes to win me over is the latter, though of course all the other stuff is nice too.

Unsurprisingly, the fight between Queen and Sanji is the big draw for this week's episode. Sanji always gets a lot of love from the Toei crew when it's his turn to step up to the plate and this week was no different. The mid-air multi-jumps, the flaming kicks, the smoldering looks – it's all done up in the best way and makes Sanji out to be the most unstoppable dynamite kicker this side of Kamen Rider.

Queen is similarly treated well this week. Not only does his absurd dinosaur body look terrific whether it's dealing or taking damage, it also makes for some solid comedy. Queen shooting his head out of his body and claiming it as an ancient dinosaur power remains one of my favorite moments in all of Wano, with hilarious deliveries and reactions from nearby onlookers. I particularly liked the manga-like freeze frame with all its resplendent colors and cartoonish popping eyeballs. I love when One Piece is an epic struggle between titanic forces in a world of salt and sin… but I also like when it's a honk honk silly cartoon.

The reveal that Sanji's body is not entirely “normal” is perhaps the best thing to happen for his characterization in a long time. I am somewhat mixed on the burden of his family being supervillains: I don't think it hits quite hard enough for me. Judge is so monstrous that it makes Sanji's backstory sympathetic of course, don't get me wrong. I think this is when it really hits just how evil all that is though, since Sanji suffered so much abuse for not being a perfect specimen like his siblings, only to find out he's something of a late bloomer. Now the tragedy hits home and it humanizes Sanji that much more.

Of course there's also Nico Robin seeming like the most important person in the entire series and smiling a ton, so for that alone it's a top-tier week. Great stuff, more please.

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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