“The Implacable Three! A Big Chase After the Straw Hats!”
What They Say:
The jig is up as Luffy and the others make a daring dash to avoid the furious Navy! Can they escape without having to turn to fight – and after they’ve had a chance to raid the cabinets for food?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As I’ve talked about over the years, anime original arcs are dicey for the property. Or, more specifically, for the fanbase. Those who only want the direct adaptation often find them frustrating while those that aren’t as bound to them can find a lot of enjoyment in them because of how they’re produced. I kind of walk between both sides of it but I do tend to like that they’re paced a bit faster without the drawn out elements to it. And since you know they’re not going to do anything big or world altering with them you can kind of enjoy something a bit more simple for what it is, just a good bit of fun and silliness with characters you know and like. The team here knows what they can and cannot do and unlike some other series original material (oh, Naruto), One Piece keeps within the bounds easily.
With the gang having snuck onto the island and now having to deal with some up and coming rookie Navy soldiers that are looking to staking out their place in the world by capturing some pirates, there’s the problem of it being Luffy. Combined with knowing that he’s Garp’s grandson and his reputation, you have to admit that some of them are just incredibly cocky in thinking that they can take him down after all that Luffy’s been accused of. Even if they think half of it is false, well, that’s just a whole lot of bravado. Most of them are thinking of the fame and glory of taking down Luffy, who is just eating away because Luffy does what Luffy does, but at least one of them proves himself a bit scummier in thinking that taking out Luffy will make Nami his. The opening fight is certainly comical enough because you know these guys are going to get their butts handed to them since they just view him on appearances and how he’s acting, not his reputation.
True to tradition, a lot of what we get is running around in the base by Luffy and Carrot, which means the feet sound effect is getting a heavy workout. It’s fun in seeing how it plays out since the pair are just looking for more food and there’s a silliness that works between them, particularly since there are no true threats to be had here unlike other recent island adventures and bases. The back and forth of it is fun and silly as you’d expect and getting a Sanji-light kind of character here that alternates his intentions toward Carrot and Nami has its moments. Over the course of it what becomes the most amusing is how little action Luffy and Nami in particular actually take. They tend to avoid and smoothly slide aside from things happening more than direct confrontation and action, since they are after food more than anything else, making it a comical affair.
In Summary:
One Piece may not have a top tier episode here in the grand mythology of things but it does deliver one of its better original episodes. One can imagine that this would be a couple of episodes if it was an adapted piece due to the structure and what the show has to deal with in terms of adapting manga material, so getting something tighter and faster paced here certainly works in a way that’s exciting and fun even if it is largely meaningless in the big picture. What the episode is doing best for me is making Carrot a bit more enjoyable and familiar to watch and just giving me fun with Luffy and Nami in how they deal with the situation. I was smiling throughout most of this episode and that’s definitely a very good thing. More of these kinds of mini original episode arcs are welcome.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
