Sanji’s life is saved, barely, before he’s about to go all overboard once again.
What They Say:
Sanji is saved in the nick of time – but is shocked to find out who his saviors are! More of the mysterious workings of the Fish-Man Island are revealed – all while Madame Sharley has a devastating premonition that may spell the end of the fantastic undersea kingdom!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The over the top element of Sanji’s blood loss and reactions to women has been something that annoyed me, but it’s worked well here at the start as Sanji has gotten the donation he needed in order to survive since it went so badly. The whole thing starts off frantically, but it does settle down a bit thankfully, at least until Sanji starts to try and remember what caused the whole thing which freaks them all out. The idea of having to go through such an ordeal with him again definitely has them worried. But they also have a very fun way of settling him down by introducing the donors from which his blood came from and that just drives him batty in a whole other direction. Which they do find amusing since it at least means that he won’t have another spectacular nosebleed.
With Sanji back in shape, Camie gets the opportunity to spend time with the guys by being able to show them around the place as her ostensible boss, Madame Sharley, approves it since they definitely need some visitors there. Pirates have been few and far between for awhile so the chance to have others come in and have some fun is good. And it’s an ideal time to try and bring everyone back together as the separation can be dealt with, which happens quickly as Usopp and Luffy come across Brook rather quickly. And he’s been having a blast down there under the sea after being rescued by a Rastafarian starfish who knew of his Soul King time. While Brook’s adventure in that area was cute, I wondered if it would have any lasting impact and things like this point to it being something that may be key later down the road.
The episode spends some decent time getting around and having a good bit of time with the characters just checking out the setting, which certainly helps to flesh it all out a bit. But it’s also a very quiet episode overall, especially with Sanji recuperating, as even Luffy is pretty mellow during his time. The focus on Brook is pretty nice through since he’s got such a fun yet laid back personality that lets him dictate the atmosphere pretty well. Getting a look at Fish-Man Island in this form, without the bad pirates from the Arlong style group, helps to make it a more interesting place as well rather than just a den of danger and intrigue. Similar to what I felt before, it feels like it’s another variation on Skypiea with its slight otherworldliness that isn’t hugely out of place and has a sense of the familiar.
In Summary:
One Piece doesn’t exactly have an off episode here, or a bad one, but it has more of a world building setup style episode that wants to spend its time showing us where the characters are going to operate out of for a bit. And unlike other story arcs in the past, they’re not just being shoved through it while either being chased or chasing others, at least for an episode. This lets us take a more relaxed view of things and to get the feel that Fish-Man Island is no different than many of the villages and islands we’ve seen on the surface over the course of the series. Which, of course, makes you wonder which bit of evil and danger will surface to prove itself to be the real danger. The introduction of Sharley here is rather welcome too since she seems like she has some potential to be a catalyst for things, especially with the premonition she has at the end, which looks like it’ll be the main idea in the next episode. There’s some fun to be had here, and it’s good to see Brook rejoin the group, but the main draw here is just getting to see more of the underwater world.
Grade: C+
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.
