“A Legendary Battle! Garp and Roger!”
What They Say:
Admiral Issho and Fleet Admiral Sakazuki argue over the abolition of the Seven Warlord system and the alliance of the two Emperors of the Sea. Meanwhile, ex-Fleet Admiral Sengoku teaches the young Navy soldiers about the legendary Rocks Pirates that Kaido and Big Mom once belonged to along with all the other big names.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the news circulating previously about the end of the Seven Warlord system, it does feel like we’re at a moment of change in how the world works. When a change as big as this happens there’s going to be all kinds of unexpected fallout and pushback as well as support because of the layers of corruption that exist that will want to be fed as it always has. The show was welcome in bringing this out but it did it in standard One Piece form where it’s just so drawn out that the news itself lost its impact by the time it was fully revealed. But at least we had some decent time with Garp, which is always fun, and some time deep under the sea with Neptune and his daughter, which always delights.
Unfortunately, just as the show feels like we’re ready for some forward momentum and exploration of the first real wave of fallout from it, instead we get to go back in time. The recap at the start almost hits six minutes this time around and then after a little this and that it delves into Sengoku detailing some of the past of the Rock Pirates. It’s an important group since that’s where a slew of really big name pirates came from and he’s got a captive audience that’s eager to learn. But this building up of more history where you have characters like Big Mom and Kaido as part of it just leaves me feeling like they’ve been involved in so much over the course of their lives that it’s incredibly dense and overly complicated so as to not feel realistic to some degree.
It does go into a bit of the story some thirty-eight years ago with the God Valley battle and the fight between the two sides that took down a lot of marines, but also showed a much younger Garp in action which was probably the brief highlight of the episode for me. I do like that this event is what’s noted as the start of Garp’s legend overall, and that it’s tied to some other key people as well there, but we also get the whole twist about how this island has seemingly disappeared over the years. It adds another mystery for the series to deal with in the next few years before things come to a close. The rest of it delves into more of what came about over the years from all of this with the warlords and emperors and all, but it was mostly just recap of sorts with rewards being plastered about them.
In Summary:
Every week the call goes out with a new episode that the series is just about to start its epic storyline as we get further into the larger Wano arc. And every week I find myself just muddling through the show, waiting for it to actually do something that feels meaningful. I do like some of the background we get here but at the same time, it is all about setting up future parts of the series. There are a lot of tensions in just about every organization at play at this point within the series so a little time here touching on some of those past associations isn’t bad. But at the same time, the show feels like it’s spinning its wheels in so many ways that it’s leaving me more and more disinterested.
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.
