As the news spreads around the world, reactions are varied but expected.
What They Say:
The secret behind Luffy’s actions at Marineford is hinted at as the crew all see the news. Meanwhile, Buggy’s reunion with his crew has an unexpected interruption and Duval of the Flying Fish Riders, trying to protect the Thousand Sunny, takes a hit!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After a bunch of Straw Hat episodes involving the crew slowly coming together, we had a good episode that showed Luffy making his move with Rayleigh and Jimbei to establish himself on a number of levels by entering Marineford without anybody knowing for awhile. That plot sent a lot of waves around the world and served as a wake-up notice that things aren’t going to go as smoothly as some thought. It worked very well in raising his profile again, something that was already strong after so many saw what he did there in trying to rescue his brother. This episode has some of the fallout from the news spreading as it’s hit the island where Buggy has discovered what’s happened and it just adds more panic to his life.
Considering how much Buggy proved to be an awesome character during te Impel Down storyline as well as in Marineford, seeing him return to the screen even for a bit is great as he tries to figure out how this news affects him. With the people he has with him like Alvida and Mr. Three, his adventures are ones that I really want to see more of. But this episod eis focused on jumping around a bit, giving us a glimpse of them and a look at what’s going on elsewhere as it also deals with Luffy’s original ship which is becoming a center of attention for those that want to capture it and sell it to the Navy. And it also becomes a piece of attention as Kuma has sought it out, though his reasons at this point are a bit more mysterious since he previously spent some time with Rayleigh.
Another piece shows things from the view of Alabasta where the king talks about beefing up security overall and lamenting that more pirates aren’t like Luffy. We even get a nice moment with Vivi as she reads about events and wonders about the marks on Luffy’s arm. The same can be said of Crocodile as he’s laid low since Marineford but even this has him thinking of making the trip to the New World. There’s so many blasts from the past covered beyond these as well that makes it a whole lot of fun to watch, including a very tender moment that goes back to Ace and Luffy’s childhood. There isn’t much in the way of actual plot progression here, but it works well in getting us to go through so many of the locales and seeing how everyone is doing and reacting to the news that it’s a very fun episode.
In Summary:
In a way, this episode is almost like a big party episode though it’s more a celebration of all things One Piece as it works through so many characters, lands and minor pieces that you can’t help but to smile. When was the last time we saw Vivi after all? Of course, you could almost say the same of most of the Straw Hats prior to their recent arc. Though there isn’t a lot of depth to be had here, there is a lot of fun in seeing all these people react to the news of what Luffy has done and that keeps it fun. It does start kicking the Straw Hats a bit more as well towards the end to getting their butts in gear and that adds a bit of cuteness to it as well.
Grade: B
Streamed By: FUNimation
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
