The fallout from recent events gives us a quieter episode this time around as Ace copes with all that’s happened.
What They Say:
Ace and Dadan emerge from the fire in the Gray Terminal and their battle with Bluejam alive – only to find out shocking news about Sabo which compels the brothers to rededicate themselves to heading out to a life on the high seas!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
One Piece certainly put the cast in a difficult place in the previous episode and it ended with the Celestial Dragon causing quite a stir when he attacked Sabo’s boat as it went alongside his, as he viewed it as a complete insult. With Luffy in rough shape and Dadan and Ace missing, everything feels like it’s fallen apart. And for the nobles who have survived the burning of the Gray Terminal, seeing that the Celestial Dragon is angry with them and with Sabo’s parents realizing that it was likely that Sabo was on the ship that’s now been blown out of the water, there’s a lot of tension. Thankfully, some of these things are worked through quickly, such as Ace being a manly man and making it back to Dadan’s place with Dadan on his back no less.
The episode does spend some down time with the characters, particularly as Dadan recovers, and we get a bit more about how Ace is as we get a tale related from her about how his father was in order to become the King of the Pirates. Though it’s all just rolling around in Dadan’s mind, it does make it clear that there’s a definite like father, like son aspect to Ace with the way he handles himself and the kind of honor he has when it comes to dealing with others. He takes such a responsibility for others that it can tear him up inside. So when he learns about what happened to Sabo, it nearly pushes him off the edge. While Luffy may cry, it just raises Ace’s anger and he must have vengeance right away against the Celestial Dragon.
The bond between the three young men has been one of the best things about this arc as we see how defining it is for them at such a young age and how it has influenced them in the ten years that follow. They’ve had a lot of fun, faced numerous challenges and really worked to better themselves in pursuit of their goals to be pirate captains and sail the seas. There’s a lot to like about it as we get to know them and see how they were during the months after they first met. The loss of Sabo adds a very bittersweet element to this episode though, especially as their memories kick in and Ace takes it so very personally. Letting him show some emotion is also very important since he tends to be the stoic one. Bringing their relationship to this point pushes Ace to grow up more, but to also show that he is still just a kid.
In Summary:
Episodes like this do tend to be a bit difficult considering the fate that we know Ace will face, a fate all of us face to be sure, but Ace faces his sooner, as Luffy makes very emotional pleas to Ace about not dying and he makes promises he can’t keep. But that is the nature of the age, especially when someone you lived with, hunted with and bonded with like the three of them did is lost to them. The whole piece does end on a very good note though as it sets the two of them on a solid path that has even more meaning for them now so they can both catch up to Sabo as well as take his dreams further than he was able to. It’s a good episode, one that brings many things to a needed point, and has the right amount of action, emotion and quiet time to bring it all together very well.
Grade: B
Simulcast 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.
