What They Say:
In order to save her child attendant Toko, the top Oiran Komurasaki stands up to the Shogun Orochi, but the yakuza boss Kyoshiro interrupts and does something that no one expected. Meanwhile, Robin is trying to get out of Orochi’s Castle with the help of Nami and Brook.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With a good bit of action focused on one location the last time around involving what Orochi was doing, One Piece had its moments. And mostly it was just some nice animation and choreography as we get the shogun attempting to eliminate Toko after the way she caused problems. It wasn’t bad but you’re left in that position of wondering what the bigger meaning and impact of all this is, especially since it largely kept the Straw Hats out of the situation until Robin got involved in it at the end. We did get a little time with Chopper and the others in dealing with Big Mom, who hs some memory loss for the moment, but even that just left me wincing because it leads to such predictable story tracks to choose from.
So, it’s no surprise that as the shogun gets more upset with everything and there’s a kind of egging on by others that are keeping their distance that we see Robin step in as Oiran to try and help out but really unsure if she can because of how the shogun is. What helps is that the situation changes as Fujin and Raisin come bursting into the room in a panic as a specter is following them. It is, of course, Brook getting a rare use of his abilities and it makes for some help in setting up an escape that works pretty well. I always like seeing how creative Robin can be with her ability and it’s so rare to see Brook on screen in general, never mind actually using his abilities well – and in this costume design – that it’s a lot of fun to watch unfold. While I’m still pretty cool on Toko and her weird personality (and yes, I know the reason for it), it’s good to see the other elements at play here.
The back half gives us a bit of time for things to calm down a bit, though not without issues as we see Kyoshiro taking down Komursaki in a hard way that ticks off the shogun even though what he did was technically right since she had “rebelled” against the shogun. There’s a decent standoff of sorts between the two men at this point but Kyoshiro hasn’t done much to be a character at this point that even if something happened to him I don’t think many would actually care. Keeping the focus on acquiring Toko becomes the main deal and that continues to give Robin some good purpose, which helps since Nami and her group is there to help as well – and she gets to use the weather egg thing that we haven’t seen in what, years? Beyond that, which does take up the bulk, we do get a little more with Big Mom at the end but it’s just a temporary bit to remind us that they’re still working that storyline.
In Summary:
It’s been amusing not having Luffy on screen for a while as even when we do get subplots of other characters in the forefront they usually keep him in to some degree. It looks like he’s back next episode so it wasn’t a long absence, for better or worse. This episode once again isn’t bad or anything but it’s just drawn out moments where it’s doing stage setting for what’s to come and you’re trying to find that balance of what to care about, if any of it. The best moments are just the callback bits for me such as seeing Brook in full ghostly mode or having Nami use her weather device to bring out her cloud that always looks like a half-drunk child.
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.
