“The Second Ohara! The Mastermind’s Ambition!”
What They Say:
Stussy and Sentomaru discuss how big the threat that closes in on Egghead is as Luffy and the others keep fighting the uncontrollable Seraphim. Meanwhile, in an underground lab, someone approaches Vegapunk, who is being held captive.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
One Piece always has a lot of moving parts when you get down to it but the early part of arcs tend to be the areas I enjoy the most since it’s about exploration of new areas and new characters. Egghead has been fun for a lot of that but also because we mostly kept things to two groups for a bit before it split again. I know we’ve never really had lengthy arcs with the main cast all together as they always split but it’s just so much more enjoyable to me when everyone is together. Still, the split here is working for me so far and it’s fun to watch as it unfolds, especially as the new characters are giving us something interesting as well. I’m still not fully on board with all of those that Vegapunk had created and had operating on the island, but they’re certainly interesting and add something new.
The threat of the Navy is what’s increasing the tension at the early part of this with word of a hundred or more ships on the way and that’s used to get a lot of people to get off the island and start making plans for that. This is a little cleanser of sorts at the start of the episode before we finally get back to Vegapunk and who shot Shaka which, of course, is going to be spread out across the episode as it is teased. The show is back in the mode of its simple map to show where everyone is in the building and I’m both amused and exhausted by it because it’s just so familiar. It’s painted a little comically but it allows us to connect quickly with each area and who is there as they go through either investigations of what’s happening or are dealing with the threats that are there with the Seraphim. Which do continue to be pretty much the biggest problem at the moment since they’re rampaging pretty well.
Action continues to be the top of the list for a lot of this and there are fun moments with Luffy and others going through things and handling what’s coming at them, though not able to stop it completely. But it’s all just a bit of fluff to some degree until we get to the eye-catch which takes us back in time three months to Sacred Maijoa to understand what’s happening in the now. With the news of Vegapunks research making it to the outside world, that sets a lot of the higher-ups to put in motion plans to eliminate him because of the threat the Void research brings. The mobilization of a lot of forces and elements to deal with it is interesting since it’s like putting a good chunk of the Navy on a war footing. Of course, this is when the Straw Hats unknowingly sailed into Egghead Island and provide to be a spanner in the works that made it all the more complicated for the World Government.
In Summary:
While the reveal at the end of the episode as to who shot Shaka is welcome, it doesn’t exactly resonate for me at the moment so it wasn’t like some great reveal. This episode covers a lot of ground once again and the flashback material to show why some of this was set in motion is welcome for the additional context it provides. But we mostly bounce to a lot of different things over the course of it with some interesting moments but no sense of forward momentum and what the exact goals are just yet beyond survival, which is fine. I’m waiting for things to feel like they’re coalescing a bit more while also wishing that the Straw Hats would all be back together for a bit as well.
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.
