One Piece (2026-)

Episode 1160

Episode 1160 of One Piece continues the grand sense of adventure from last week with skill – if not necessarily haste.

After the bombastic final moments from last week's episode, we reach a cooldown (snarf) period this week. There is no direct fighting in this week's outing, not in the sense of opponents squaring off against one another at any rate. Nor do we get a lot of tension with regard to pending physical altercations. Instead, this is a half-and-half affair where part of the crew has conversations with giants and the other half ventures forth into Elbaph's snowy environs.

Robin, Franky, Brook, and Jinbei have a fun conversation with the giants. It's a bit of exposition, communication, and recap, though I think it's worth the time spent. It is always welcome to hear the Straw Hats reaffirm their faith in Luffy, their fellow crewmembers, and the Thousand Sunny, too. Hearing the crew sing Luffy's accolades is pretty common, but the vote of confidence in their peers is a welcome treat. It's also fun how this half of the crew is more or less in standard new-arc pirate attire – shout out to Franky in the green jacket and gold chain, good look – while the island-bound half of the team is in their island-specific Viking gear. Most critical of all, of course, is that this has multiple moments where Nico Robin is smiling, and therefore, this is my favorite portion of the episode. But also her pointed observations about the X on Luffy's arm in Joy Boy form are worth keeping an eye on and a fun nugget to follow for the wiki-minded theory-weavers in the audience.

On the island of Elbaph, we get a nice dollop of adventuring fun. The crew mostly has to deal with environmental hazards, particularly the cold. For my money, the most engaging portion of this is the shots of Luffy moving around the environment. There's something deeply charming about Luffy soaring through the air, oversized horned helm on his head and red fur coat flapping in the wind over the wide white blanket of snow covering the land. Even better is the cartoonish silhouette he leaves once he impacts the snow, rising from it only to be surrounded by giant wolves in a forest. This is classic fantasy overexaggeration and perfect fodder for One Piece. A wolf could never challenge Luffy, but what if the wolf was as big as a house? What if the trees towered into the sky? What if the inhabitants of the next island were bigger than mountains?

Speaking of big inhabitants, Loki comes into frame for us. I loved the slow build-up and zoom out to emphasize his scale. Loki being chained up is one of the most potent moments of the Elbaph arc. It will endure as a lasting, iconic image for the series, and I'm glad to see the Toei team have rendered it with such care.

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