The seas of the past continue to be explored as Jimbei relates more of Tiger Fisher.
What They Say:
Jimbei continues to tell Luffy and the others about Fisher Tiger’s exploits and how he clashed with Arlong as well as how the Sun Pirates came to know a former human slave named Koala.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As the under the sea dance continues, One Piece spends more of its time here with a little bookend in the present that works to tell the tale of the past for the Fish-Man Island and what happened there. We got a good look in the previous episode with regards to Jimbei’s past there with Fisher Tiger and how Jimbei did things right overall, even though he was something of a ruffian, just one with a sense of honor about him there. The early look at what was going on in the island ties into the start of the series as well since it showed us an early look at Arlong before he set out to achieve his own goals, which in turn had him and his band taking over Nami’s home island which lead to deaths that impacted her for many years and got her to work for Arlong for quite a few of them as well in an effort to expand her mapping skills and wealth for her own plans.
With the time spent in the past the focus here again, we get to see more of how Fisher Tiger operated out there on the world, with his anger giving him a definite advantage on top of his look. Curiously, most of what we saw of the Fish-Men way back at the start of the series and at various times throughout, they were often kept to shades of blue and green for their skin tone. And when we did have reddish colors, they certainly weren’t as strong as what we get here overall. The design we get for Tiger Fisher definitely showcases someone with strength and it’s very easy to imagine the impression he leaves upon those that he comes up against. But unlike Arlong, his violence is fairly well controlled as we see it play out alongside each other as Arlong wantonly kills many, many people.
The differences in how to operate is a big part of the struggle that ensues between the two since Tiger Fisher isn’t interested in killing so easily whereas Arlong practically craves it. And her certainly has his supporters when it comes to it, though you know Jimbei isn’t exactly behind it. There are further tensions that come into play when Tiger Fisher also helps a young human girl find her way home by taking her on board the ship, something he feels he must do because of the connection they all share in the past. Arlong is so anti-human that he can’t agree to it but Jimbei has an understanding about it that allows things to go the way he wants, especially since Tiger Fisher comes from a similar understanding. It’s a moment of softness but also strong sadness as we see young Koala manage to stay on board the ship and adjust to things with how Tiger Fisher changes her.
In Summary:
While I wasn’t as enamored with the flashback that started in the previous episode since it dealt with Otohime and that left me cold, the story here is much more interesting, even as it introduces Koala towards the end. Tiger Fisher comes from an interesting past and the child helps to bring out a different side to him that we didn’t see so plainly before but that was definitely there. With it giving us a look at him in a good way, we also get a better look at some of the more defining time for Jimbei and Arlong, which in turn has you wanting to go back to those early in-series introduces and reexamine them in this new light to see how much of it still flows and makes sense. Arlong in particular definitely connects well between then and now and getting more of Jimbei is a big plus. But it’s definitely making Tiger Fisher a very interesting character to see being explored.
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.
