What They Say:
The Straw Hats put Jimbei’s plan into action and approach Bege with the possibility of an alliance. But before they are granted an audience, they must make themselves presentable! At the same time, Nami learns about the terror of Big Mom from Lola’s twin sister! less
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The series has done some solid stuff recently with bringing the group back together in standard form – slowly but surely. The last time around we got a lot of time with Luffy and Sanji together where they were kind of male-ish about it in how they deal with things but eventually just got things settled as best as can be. That allows them to move their friendship and relationship forward to be a better thing from here. We also got the reconnect with the others through the mirror piece that gets them all up to speed on the fact that there are multiple plots afoot and more complications than they expected from this overall mission – which still isn’t complete even with things better between Luffy and Sanji. There’s a lot of big forces aligned here with their own interests.
With this serving as a transitional episode of sorts, and adapting from the manga directly, it’s a kind of odd piece in some ways where it’s trying to deal with several different things. Getting the main Straw Hats on the same page is a solid prologue to things but what we’re getting is an episode that takes a while to get a very simple thing done. With Luffy and Sanji, they’re heading to where Bege is in an attempt to form an alliance with them, which is obviously dangerous for a lot of reasons. But making it to where they can have that audience is not going to be quick or simple. Amusingly, however, one of the first things that’s insisted upon is that everyone gets a good bath and cleaning. Which gives us a hilarious looking Chopper and a kind of surprised Luffy – who one must believe doesn’t bathe unless it’s forced upon him considering his general wariness of water.
Thankfully, they avoid going all in on Nami fanservice and use the moment for her to talk shop a bit with those she’s with, learning how Mama is reviled by all the Giants in the world, which possibly explains some of her personality while digging into some of her past plans to use the Giants. This backstory material is interesting and helps to flesh the arc out a bit and Mama herself. Admittedly, it’s stuff that gets kind of lost along the way in this sprawling series that I’m watching over the decades, but it’s enjoyable in the here and now. As is the rest of the bath montage material, with Sanji and Luffy having fun and even some silly picking out outfits bits with what they come up with. The best moment, however, is when Nami and Sanji come across each other and his happiness at seeing her turns to shame and she ends up walking right past him. Totally earned in many ways and set perfectly with how it all unfolds, giving us some truly classic Sanji.
In Summary:
The show may not have any big moments here but it delivers what’s necessary. Bringing us to Bege at the very end is standard operating for a series of this nature but it does it in the way it needs to. Giving the Straw Hats that are here a chance to bathe, change, have a little fun, and engage in some background discussions is what’s needed before things really start to pick up here. Getting them into new clothes and all back together feels like the perfect thing to do as we get ready for the tea party. It may not be an exciting episode in many ways but it has me excited for what’s to come.
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.
