Luffy’s underwater adventures continue, until he comes across an octopus that he wants to keep.
What They Say:
With Caribou and his crew hot on their tail, the Straw Hats descend to the depths of the ocean in order to enter the New World. But the obstacles that await them there are beyond their belief and as they navigate the deep currents, one very big obstacle rears its ugly head!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
I have to admit, now that the gang is all back together and they’re on the Sunny with their journey underway, I’m feeling a bit uncertain about the series. It’s been so long in this section of the show that the whole crew has been together and that the story is moving forward in this particular way that it feels a bit weird for them all to be together. And I say that even as I watch the DVDs again from the beginning of the series where it feels very natural and right. With their journey now taking them underwater as their ship is all bubbled up, it’s on th emove and things are happening but there’s a strange sense of uncertainty that I’m getting as a vibe from it.
The time spent underwater definitely makes for some good visuals since it’s like they’re at an aquarium with all the fish floating by. You sort of miss the open blue skies, but it’s good that they can change it up a bit here and it keeps them all a bit closer as well because of it. While these guys have had a lot of adventures out in the seas, there is a good sense of mystery about what’s actually under the ocean’s surface and that gets to be fun, especially when Brook goes on about undersea ghosts and the like. It doesn’t take much to freak out Chopper and there’s a lot to like about that since he’s still simply so bloody adorable.
A good part of what makes this work though is that similar to when they went to Skypiea, it allows for some new visuals that can be really engaging. After so many land bound adventures for the past year, getting back in the water is a plus but going underneath has all sorts of monsters and critters to come across. And wit the bubble, they can get caught up in interesting ways, such as when they find a monster octopus underneath. It helps to highlight the dangers of searching for the New World but it also lets Luffy show just how wacky he is when it comes to the threats they face. You can almost sort of feel like the rest of the crew have forgotten what it’s like to be with him and how he acts, such as wanting to name the octopus that’s spent its years gobbling up other ships.
In Summary:
One Piece has kind of an odd episode here as it almost feels like it’s trying to find its legs again with how everyone acts and where they intend to go next. The course for the New World is obviously going to be dangerous and we get some exposure to it so there’s a good bit of fun to it here in that regard. And getting familiar with how Luffy acts is also fun, especially since it’s just plain good to see him so positive again after so many dark episodes and a lengthy trip to his past. But there’s something I can’t quite put my finger on here with how it feels just a little bit off, not quite itself, since it’s been so long since they’ve all been together. In a way, it feels like the next arc isn’t clearly defined yet so there’s just some uncertainty to things there. I like what we have here, but it’s not an out of the park hit to be sure.
Grade: B
Readers Rating: [ratings]
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.
