Anime: Impel Down Arc- Episode 452

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First Thoughts
Did I say last week was the last episode of the Impel Down arc? Meh...Forgot that an arc doesn't end until we have the party which was in this episode. Also it helps in the naming of the arcs for the blog post. haha Don't want to say this is part of Marineford then change the arc name for the post in the next anime post. Yay for laziness!

This was a good episode. It wasn't the super best episode that we have seen but the episode was good at what it was suppose to do. It was suppose to keep us entertain until we get to Marineford for whatever awesome will happen there. Though there was this one part in the episode that I know was too dragged out and I am sure everybody else notice it too.

Another thing about this episode is all the Pandaman that we got. It is usually hard to spot the black and white faced man but he was just all over the place. I am guessing the animators wanted to make up for all the times they may have forgotten about him or just wanted to go crazy with the Pandaman-ness.



Summary
Luffy and the rest of the prisoners from Impel Down are riding the Tub Current to Marineford. Luffy discovers that Jimbei is a Warlord of the Sea while Buggy and the other nonNewKama prisoners find out that they are going to Marineford.

A person from Marine Headquarters calls the battleship that Luffy and them are on and revealed that Buggy was once on Gol Roger's ship. It gets the prisoners excited and almost decided to take over the ship but Buggy rallies them together to head to Marineford.

Thoughts

So it seems like we can't leave Impel Down because there is one order of business to take care of, the Blackbeard Pirates. Seems like Shiryuu has been working for the Blackbeard Pirates which includes busting them from the poison that they got hit with by Magellan. I am guessing that he joined forces or something after Blackbeard met him a few episodes ago. Whatever Blackbeard said impressed Shiryuu to not kill him and instead help the big guy out.

Still the idea of 'fate' is really strong with these guys. They mention it all the time and I notice it before but here they really push it. I want to say that the guys here were damn lucky but if you want to call it faith then go for it.

Calm down ladies, there is enough Blackbeard for all.

Doesn't Blackbeard look so damn sexy shirtless? haha Still the bond of evil has been made and now Blackbeard has a new member in his merry crew of men.

Not sure how this will effect the rest of the post but I took a damn lots of screencaps for this episode. There is about sixty images for this post. I know for sure I won't use them all but the main reason why there are a lot of images taken from this episode is because there were a lot of great face shots. I just couldn't resist getting the faces of Auger, Burgess, Doc Q, and Lafitte. Now my pain is your gain as now you can just save them on your computer and use them for whatever you want like avatars on any forum or instant messager you go/use. So yeah....yay you guys! haha

 That does look like tasty apple juice they are all drinking haha

So here is our party! The true sign that the arc has ended and we can move on to the next one. Still this is a short live party seeing from where we are going to head next. I doubt that whatever will happen at Marineford is going to be easy as pie. If anything it may just be a lot of junk thrown at us as we become an 'ant in a hurricane' as Elder Nyon said.

Everybody looks so happy about what is going on. I would be too if I just got out of a heckish prison and was able to live my life to be as happy as I want. Impel Down looks horrible based on what we saw. This party isn't limited to the normal prisoners but to the NewKamas too since I see a few in there.

On the other side of the ship we have Ivankov and the other NewKamas treating Inazuma who is out for the moment. I wonder how important is Inazuma to the Revolutionary Army if it is okay for Ivankov to loose some years of his life but not Inazuma. Is it because the big headed guy knows he has years to spare while Inazuma doesn't it? Maybe there is something bigger here about Inazuma that we don't know about.

If not then maybe Ivankov just cares for Inazuma more then the son of Dragon or something. He is closer to Inazuma and know that he is a powerful person that can't afford to lose years of his life.

Also Ivankov has a freakin huge face! I mean he is laying on the ground, which looks very strange itself, and his whole face is fitting though the door. If the guy goes inside the room then he will be hitting the ceiling. I am thinking that his hair is making it hard for him to get inside the room. Ivankov does have a lot of hair.

 They don't look happy.

So the sad party is there. I have to say that Luffy and Mr. 3 look really sad. They really do miss Bon Clay and I am guessing the rest of the NewKama too. I would too since he really did gave up a lot in order for them. The others may have fought their way out of Impel Down but Bon Clay really just gave up the chance to escape in order to allow the others to escape.

"When I think about it, he wasn't a bad guy after all"
-Mr. 3

Very true. Bon Clay wasn't such a bad guy after all that we learned about him from Impel Down. He saved Luffy's several times and even all the way back in Alabasta. Still this means a lot coming from Mr. 3 since it was kind of Bon Clay who sealed his faith back in RainDance since Bon Clay ended up recovering a bit from the Mr. 3 incident at Little Garden. So I can see why Mr. 3 would be a bit upset with Bon Clay. Guess both guys has changed a lot since their days in Baroque Works.

That was a good moment though. The sober moment was made into a happy moment. We haven't seen these two argue like this since their beginning days in the East Blue. Well it was Luffy's beginning days but I guess I am trying to say the beginning days of this series. It is kind of nice to see something like this. Heck, it is still funny even after all this time.

Though One Piece is always funny no matter when it was made. I been watching a bit of the old episodes from East Blue (due to the interview with Mike McFarland) and I was busting up laughing. I am sure I seen these episode like three times or something but they are still able to get a laugh out of me. Now that is a sign of a good series. The replay value of individual episodes.

I love how Crocodile just completely puts down Jimbei and calls him a freak. That was very funny and is something very 'Croc-ish'. Still I thought fishman and mermaids could talk to fish but I guess only mermaids can. The Little Mermaid led me wrong again. Damn Disney. haha

Still this is interesting and I hope that we see more explanation on this later in the series.

A nod to the Arlong arc. Jimbei seems very aware of what Arlong was doing in the East Blue. Guess that figures since he is a Warlord. Though I wonder why he didn't do anything about it. It seems like Jimbei could have easily slapped Arlong since it seems like there is a huge difference in power between the two. I doubt Arlong could do the same things that Jimbei coud do since I am thinking Arlong would have done so during his fight with Luffy instead of swing that sword around. Though it is cool that Jimbei, being a Warlord, is humble enough to apologize for something that, I guess, is a former crew mate did.

This episode did had a lot of these great faces that helped in the sixty plus images that I got from this episode. haha I thought I share a few with you guys.

I found it funny that Luffy didn't know that Jimbei was a Warlord since it was mention like five times around him. Well I think it was mention at least five times around him. I know I can pointed out one time back at Level Six. haha Then Buggy was funny to watch since he apparently forgot that Luffy was going after his brother he was at Marineford. Oh you silly guys. haha

The only reason why I took this image was for two reason. Croc's response to Buggy and the normal prisoners for not knowing about the trip to Marineford and the chick in the pink top.

Yes....I am pathetic but you have to make do with what you can in a series and moment with little women in it.

Like here! Great faces right here! Both from Buggy and Mr. 3. I just love when these two get together and do something funny but not all filler. Also I love their little mental scene where they responded to Luffy's comment about getting off the ship. haha

Found Pandaman.There he is in the back. One of the many times that you can find him in this episode. It is cool that I found him but kind of sucks that it was so easy and that he appears a lot of times in this episode. I mean I know that this is a ship so you see a lot of the same people but really Pandaman was everywhere on this ship. It was kind of crazy.

Another reason why I got about sixty images from this episode! Damn great face images! Some of the scenes look good while others are a bit off. I don't like the Sengoku one and I wish they would have kept his mouth shut since that kind of ruin it. Doflamingo is nice but the reflection of his glasses kind of makes it a bit off. Still overall they all look nice. The Whitebeard Pirates are nice in themselves since you can see a few familiar faces like Jozu and Marco.

This part they were really taking their dear sweet time with. I mean that Den Den Mushi was ringing forever and nobody bother to picked it up. I thought Luffy would be rushing down there to answer it or something but everybody just stared at it like it was something from a different planet.

Clearly the animators were trying to stall for time or something. That is my only guess why it took so long to answer it. Still those guys from the Marines must really have nothing better to do if they can wait so long for a band of pirates to answer the phone.

Another moment that I love involving Buggy and Luffy. Buggy just gets smack in the head by the door when Luffy opens it. Luffy simply answers it and says his name like it was an actually telephone. Then you see Buggy twitching on the ground and Luffy not caring. haha Poor Buggy. Great laugh though and the scene really picked up the moment after that long wait with the ringing of the Den Den Mushi.

Still seem like the Marines know what is going on though they got a bit of the details a bit off. They think that Buggy is one of the main people in charge of this whole escape from Impel Down and didn't even suspect the other big names like Crocodile, Jimbei or Ivankov. I would think they would suspect Ivankov since he is one of the main people in the Revolutionary Army but I guess being on Roger's crew is something higher then that.

Though I wonder how they were able to gather so much information on the guys in such a short amount of time. Could there be a spy in those guy's mist? Just me thinking a bit too much.

Still I think the Marines are giving Buggy abit too much credit. "Sworn brother of Shanks"? haha Okay. They were friends at one point of time but I don't think they are that close anymore. haha Though I hope we do see them together at Marineford or something. Chances are low since I don't think Shanks wants to help Whitebeard after their last get together but meh.

Que epic speech!

Luffy sounded so cool and you so know he will rescue Ace. Now that is the love of brothers right there. Screaming at the guys who are part of the organization that capture your brother and claiming that you will rescue him. Then this happens...

"Wash your potatoes and be ready for us!"
-Luffy

Yep....

I was with the Marines here when Luffy said that. I had no idea what the kid meant and then the guy there explain that Luffy was suppose to say, "Watch your backs." haha Then I laugh and shook my head in shame for what Luffy just said. I was thinking he was trying to all cool but once again Luffy's use of slang is every amazing. Now I feel like I should say that when I am threatening people. haha

"So every ship has at least one blemish."
-Ivankov

Yep, not every person from Roger's ship could turn out to be a big shot pirate that is all powerful. Some of them just are regular people but do excel in some things I guess. I mean I am thinking Buggy can be a powerful force when he puts himself up for it. It just that he gets scared easily. I mean Buggy looked pretty mean there in Whitebeard's flashback to the old days when recalling things when Shanks came to visit.

I forgot that Rayleigh mention Buggy back in Sabaody. Been a while considering that this was only a year ago in the anime.

I love these little moments here when everybody thinks of a certain character as being all powerful and mighty but then you have people like Luffy and Buggy right now talking as if that certain character was a neighbor or something. The comparison is always fun to watch since really Rayleigh was a big shot pirate and yet they just know him as some older guy that was helpful. Cool.

Found Pandaman. Seems like he is all for the idea of not going to Marineford and going for Buggy.

Well that Pandaman was easy to fine. Right in the front. Didn't have to try.

That image of Buggy slashing up Whitebeard looks pretty awesome. Also nice to see that Buggy is mostly back to his old gold and shiny loving self. Still I think this is the first time Buggy even mention wanting to be the King of the Pirates. It is funny to see him think that. The red nosed pirate has some pretty big dreams.

Nice to know that the power of denial is at work here since what the Marines did say is true. The guy was on Roger's ship and he was friends with Shanks. So if he can pull off some awesome at Marineford then that would get him the respect of a lot of pirates. There may be some like Crocodile that know the truth but it not like he will be talking about it over a drink with other pirates. If anything I think Crocodile will just dry them up and then steal the other pirate's money to buy himself a drink. haha

Found Pandaman.....again.

It also seems that this could be possible since there seems to be a lot of loyal idiots that are willing to follow the guy even though Buggy has a much lower bounty then half the people there. Guess he got to respect the man that freed you and just found out that he was part of Roger's crew. haha How very simple minded they are. Good for Buggy!

The prisoners yelling at Crocodile made me laugh. I mean they do know who they are yelling at right? Crocodile was one of the Warlords of the Sea. Don't they know that bullets and swords kind of don't work on them? So what can Buggy do to stop Crocodile then? I appreciate that they want to fight and stuff but really I don't think anybody except Jimbei stands a chance against the big bad Crocodile. haha Silly ex-prisoners.

And Das Bones? Right....Because a blade is so going to work on somebody that can make his whole body into a blade. haha

"Be quiet you flashy fools!"
-Buggy

Yes! Buggy back! Back again. Buggy back! Tell a friend. Guess who's back. Guess who's back. Guess who's back....

Okay...enough of me trying to make reference to an old Eminem song that maybe like less then half of the people reading this get while the other half is maybe too young to get it. Damn young punks....haha

I missed the overconfident Buggy who would say flashy every so often. I was wondering where it has been. Maybe it was always there but I just didn't remember. Either way the clown pirate is back and it seems like he is going to be taking names.

Also I think something is wrong with Buggy because he is glowing. Maybe that isn't something to worry about.

Now it seems like the cards are coming aligned at Marineford. Just by looking at the people leaving Marineford, I am guessing that the Marines are expecting some big stuff to happen at the Marine HQ. Just the idea that maybe Whitebeard will be coming to stop the execution of Ace is enough to put the island in a state of emergency. Still the Marines may have more things to worry about as it seems like another player in the form of Luffy and prisoners from Impel Down could be coming. I am sure that normally they just won't open the Gates of Justice for them like that Marine person told them on the Den Den Mushi but knowing Luffy, something will happen to let them though. Luffy just has dumb luck after all.

A good episode to hold us in and get us to where we need to go. Still the trip to Marineford is a long one that will only lead us to things that will blow our mind.

Preview

 Did I mention that it is going to be a long journey to Marineford? Yeah it is because first we are going to check up on the StrawHats and see what they been up to since the last time we seen them. I am kind of excited since I want to know more about what Robin is going though. I also can't wait till we see Zoro and Perona again since I am expecting that to be very funny.

Please remember that the next couple of episodes are kind of filler. They are based on the cover stories in the manga which is just a single scene of something that is happen before the start of the actual chapter. So there is a lot of padding to show how did that character got to what we see in the cover.

So next episode we return to see Gentleman Franky and Angry Nami. I see that Franky is still being fueled by tea but it seems like the man is having a hard time with the cold. I wonder what he can do against those things that looked angry at him. While it seems like Nami is back to being herself somewhat as she is still beating up on that old man. Well...she was doing that before....So since this is filler and it happen last time then does that mean we get to see some of Nami shower fanservice? haha

Then there will be some Luffy and from what I saw in the perview, I think that is all of Luffy we may see in the next episode. I am hoping to see some Bishonen Luffy though. haha

Next Episode: The Friends' Whereabouts! Weatheria Report and Cyborg Animals

Till next week!