“Enemy or Ally? Luffy and Yamato!”
What They Say:
Evading Ulti and Page One, strong members of the Tobi Roppo, Luffy tries to find out what Kaido’s son Yamato’s motive is. However, the two get in a fight. Taking Luffy’s punishing attacks, Yamato remembers someone he fought against in the past.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
One Piece had a good bit of fun in the fight sequence the last time around with Ulti and Page One that made it work better than it should have. Page One was pretty unmemorable – and one of the worst-named One Piece characters in a series with a lot of bad names – but Ulti was a fairly fun one to watch, both in her regular form and when she really started upping the ante in the fight. It was enough to trip up Luffy for a bit since at times he’s still not treating every threat seriously, which slows down his progress in order to let other storylines unfold along the way as well. Granted, we’re at a top opponent’s place and his minions are going to be powerful, but this group really just lacks the something-something of past big opponents and their minions that keeps them from feeling like a real threat.
The opening half of the episode gives us some pretty good lighter comedy in terms of the fighting going on as we get Chopper and Usopp together in his machine, which has some minor transformation moments along the way, that makes for some good silliness as they really get underway. Part of the problem is figuring out who to go help since each of the groups are made up differently and they want to show off what they can do with their tank as well. While I do think they should have gone after Sanji, who went into the house with all the women, it’s no surprise that they just decide to advance on their own since the other groups are pretty powered up. Even if Big Mom is coming after some of them, since those like Nami are no pushovers themselves with their abilities and general skills.
While that dominates the first half with a little extra to it, the back half gives us some good time with Zoro as he continues to make his way through a lot of the rank and file opponents, and a few of those that are more colorful and powered up a bit. It’s done with the calm skill and presence that makes Zoro much fun to watch, especially with this current black outfit that he’s wearing. The back half skips around a bit too, such as showing how Luffy has been kidnapped by someone claiming to be Kaido’s son and we see some follow-up time with Ulti and Page One as others come to help them get back up and on track. Ulti’s anger is amusing as she’s ready for blood after being taken down so hard, but she’s starting to realize just how much damage her body has taken – to the point where she can’t follow Page One to go deal with things, adding a new level of shame to the mix for her.
In Summary:
One Piece is moving right along which is what a lot of the episodes recently have felt like. We are making progress but it’s small and incremental stuff at best. It’s otherwise a lot of running, which has its fun moments such as Chopper and Usopp in the beginning here. There’s some decent action to be had throughout and things take a fun turn with who Luffy gets caught up with at the end, but for me, the short time with Zoro is what delivers the best material of the episode.
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.
