What They Say:
Luffy agrees to form an alliance with Trafalgar Law and the Heart Pirates – now all he has to do is convince his crew to go along! Meanwhile, Caesar Clown’s centaur troops unleash a horrible force – and the Master’s terrifying “pet” begins ravaging the island!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
One Piece’s Punk Hazard arc picked up a bit more in the last couple of episodes after a whole lot of circling around with things when it comes to introducing hte island and some of its secrets. As it moved on, there were a lot of good bits brought into it, including adding Trafalgar Law to it, who is growing in importance it seems as he’s trying to strike a deal with Luffy to form an alliance. To take down one of the Emperor’s no less, which on some level definitely appeals to Luffy. And when it comes to Trafalgar, because of past events, he’s going to give him the benefit of the doubt to be sure as the two have a stronger connection now. That’s something that Chopper can’t quite grasp as he watches on while in Franky’s body as Trafalgar reveals which of them he wants to take out with his help. All obscured of course, just to make it a bit more dramatic for the viewer. But you can tell a lot from Luffy’s expression and the hilarious way he simply agrees on the spot.
Thankfully, as the alliance with the Heart Pirates is revealed to the rest of the crew, they all get back into their normal bodies and that helps a lot. Well, except for Chopper who is struggling with all the damage that he suffered under it and is just pretty displeased that he’s the only one that’s like this. There’s a good bit of fun with all the banter now that everyone is back where they belong and trying to understand what’s going on with Luffy and his deal, and just getting the kind of character interactions here that are par for the course with this group is welcome. While we’ve had them together for some time overall, they do keep getting split apart, so whenever they’re all in one place with Luffy, well, I can’t help but to laugh and smile with it all. You have to feel a little bad for Trafalgar though as he deals with them for a bit since he’s not used to it, but he’s able to set them on the right path, with him looking into the drug while the others are going to deal with the samurai.
As the plan comes into motion, we see how Trafalgar makes it clear that they intend to kidnap the Master, not for a ransom, but just to cause a whole lot of chaos with what’s going on. There’s a lot of trust involved here as Trafalgar isn’t going to reveal everything right away to them with his plan, which doesn’t sit well with the others, but the way Luffy accepts it without issue definitely says a lot. But Trafalgar does make clear that he’s going along with them in a lot of ways as well, which again is a point of trust that Luffy has implicitly in him, and it’s welcome to see that kind of thing play out between the two. The episode does have some action in it towards the end, more an expression of ability in a way, but the majority of what we get here is dialogue, light silliness a few times and a turning point for where the Straw Hats will go next.
In Summary:
One Piece has played the Punk Hazard arc about as expected up until this point with some silly adventures, some serious material and a general introduction to a varied and interesting land that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. But now with a new alliance forged, the show is starting to move into the next direction and that offers up some real interesting potential. Seeing the way the crew does back Luffy without much questioning is good, though the concerns do come up. With Luffy and Trafalgar having a relationship that the rest are unaware of or uncertain about, they know something has gone between the two and there’s a trust that exists there. And because of their trust in Luffy, it extends to them as well. How far may be the key, especially since the deal is to take out one of the Emperors.
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.
