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One Piece
Episode 990

by Grant Jones,

How would you rate episode 990 of
One Piece (TV 1999) ?
Community score: 4.4

The Toei team is back to spoiling us again with another amazing twenty minutes of weekly television. There were a few negatives to contend with before we get into the good stuff: there was a slightly longer than usual recap sequence of prior episodes' animation, and quite a few repeated sequences. In the latter's case, it was particularly egregious with the Yamato hallway running sequences, which we saw two to three times shot for shot. But that did not detract from the highs this episode had, which were just phenomenal.

The Ulti versus Luffy fight is the big bombastic centerpiece of the episode. The sibling bickering shtick getting replayed was slightly annoying, but once Ulti and Luffy got to their standoff, everything really ramped up. The actual fight between them, replete with high-flying headbutts and thunderous throws, was jaw-dropping and of the quality we have come to expect during Wano's big moments. There was plenty of gorgeous animation and dazzling effects to go with each bone-crunching blow.

Yamato's arrival is also a welcome one. Anime viewers finally get to see the son of Kaido arrive on the scene and begin one of the most interesting character arcs in recent memory. Wano is full of terrific characters, but in my opinion, Yamato is perhaps the truest culmination of everything at play in the setting locally and globally. Not only that, we get to see Yamato deliver an absolutely terrific home run hit in Thunder Bagua, one of my favorite sequences in an arc already hitting top-shelf quality again and again.

Even some of the slower moments like Ulti and Luffy conversing were very well done visually. I thought the softer linework the Toei team used in those moments was reminiscent of the Baron Omatsuri film (and the trademark visual flair of many of Mamoru Hosoda's works) in the best way. Other visual flairs like the recurring motif of eyes in close-ups and through masks – windows to the true soul and determination of the many characters involved in these world-shattering events – were more icing on the cake.



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. Save on Anime Streaming Subscriptions with Funimation.

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