“Save Otama! Straw Hat, Bounding through the Wasteland!”
What They Say:
Otama recounts her promise to Ace while Luffy rushes her to medical attention. But just as they reach the wasteland, a familiar face comes into view! But Kaido’s underlings show up too!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
One Piece hadn’t gotten far into the Wano arc when it got sidelined for a couple of episodes focusing on the release of the One Piece: Stampede movie. We’ve been through this drill before but a lot of those instances weren’t as bad since we were much deeper into other arcs and a break was actually welcome. Wano was just underway so it was a bit more problematic in disturbing the flow. But it also helps in reconnecting with it because you realize not a lot had actually happened yet so there isn’t a lot to touch on. It’s mostly just getting everyone into their first round places and seeing what those that have been here a while have been up to, which has definitely been a fun part of the show.
With the battle having taken place at Otama’s previously, Luffy is now intent on getting her to a doctor. Which isn’t going to be too easy since it’s a bit away but he’s more than capable and he’s bonded with her. With that in mind, her friend helps him fit in with the locals with a kimono that’s totally Luffy and he even gets a special sword out of the deal that’s going to factor into events later. Thankfully, Luffy doesn’t look like an Ace knockoff or anything but he looks good, gets some background here, and employs his usual confidence to start moving forward into this arc as you’d expect. The journey gets underway well but it’s also tinged with a lot of sadness now that she knows about Ace. But I love that we get flashback material showing the two of them together. As much as I love that the show spent its time building up Ace and then taking the risk of killing him, I do miss him as a character and getting a little more real time is surprisingly welcome.
When the pair make their way to the wasteland, it’s definitely something that appeals to Luffy with all the strange creatures that are there – some of which make his mouth water. But the reality is that this place is dangerous with contaminated water and land that has impacted the animals. While Luffy gets a bit of history of the place and setup, we also see Zoro doing his thing out here in dealing with some less than reputable people that know him as Zorojuro, a truly dangerous criminal. But what makes all of this worthwhile is when Luffy comes across him and the two have the biggest hug ever – and that’s before he realizes Zoro has meat on him. It’s fun to see how easily these two fall back in with each other after quite some time of separation and to just move forward without even much in the way of questions.
In Summary:
The show provides for some fun material and I do wish we had more time with Luffy and Zoro together than we do at the start here, though I know they’ve got more coming. That the show ends with a familiar face popping up with Basil Hwkins is just an added bonus though, at least if you like the character from past appearances. If not then, having him may leave you groaning a bit. He originally showed up way back in episode 392 as part of the “Worst Generation” and then being part of the Beasts Pirates. I remember him mostly by appearance so hopefully he’s become more interesting since then with the time skip and everything else that’s gone on since.
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.