What They Say:
Dressrosa! Luffy and the Straw Hats divide into teams and set about their business on this passionate, enchanting island! But here, in the heart of enemy territory, danger lurks around every corner. Luffy and the others encounter a mysterious blind man whose luck has just run out…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
One Piece spent a good part of its previous episode in setting up a lot of the larger drama ahead by showing us how the world has found out about some of what they’ve gone and done. There were some great nods to past places they’ve visited and people the Straw Hats have met and the impact they made, which is always good to see come out like that. With some smaller nods towards the larger side of things with the military structure of things, we got some small progress overall with how things are shifting and who is ending up where, particularly when it comes to what happened with Law and Doflamingo. But we also got the push forward with the Straw Hats setting their next destination in going to Dressrosa, which sets the stage for how the next round of events will play out.
Some of what the show wants to deal with early on here is the change in dynamic in the cast since we have Kin’emon and Momo-chan on board and we see that Momo and Luffy get along like a couple of kids, which leads to some fighting between them. Kin’emon does try to remind Luffy that Momo is just eight years old, but that also plays to some cute material since Momo uses that to his advantage when it comes to Nami’s cleavage, which doesn’t exactly endear him with the rest. Kin’emon also starts showing them what it’s like to dress in Dressrosa as they need to start preparing for this particular land. It’s all comedy and silliness at first, but it also starts turning serious as Law sets their plans for going forward on the island to deal with handing over Caesar to get what they want.
With the team split as half is going to that mission and the rest are guarding the Sunny, since they are in dangerous territory, we get a good introduction going forward to Dressrosa. It’s one that’s presented with some decent culture from the start, more so than some other lands have been, but also the allure of some fragrant foods that entices the guys. But the real surprise is that mixed in with all the people are a wide variety of dolls, living toys as they’re called, which gives it a whole different flair and touch of comedy. Not surprisingly, Luffy finds it hugely exciting and can’t wait to get involved in it more. With the guys in their costumes and disguises, we get a few hints of what’s to come, such as the blind man that Zoro encounters, but we also get a lot of food and a moment where Luffy looks like Master Roshi from Dragon Ball to great effect in his costume.
In Summary:
One Piece lays down some of the basics of what to expect, at least at the start, with the Dressrosa arc. Law shows us his crude map and plan of attack as the team splits in two to go into the main island and begin their progress towards trading off Caesar while the other half hangs out to defend the ship. There’s some good comedy throughout it as we see how the crew dynamic has changed with three new bodies there, plus Caesar, and the way it can change things in some very fun ways. THe time on Dressrosa gives us the basics of how it operates and what separates it from other islands we saw and we get hints of what’s to come with some thugs and a blind man who simply exudes power. It’s not a hugely engaging setup, but it does the job well and leaves you wanting to see what’s next for this..
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
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.
