Anime: Friends' Whereabouts Arc- Episode 453

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First Thoughts
You got to say that Toei Animation did a good job in creating a story on just two single paneled stories. These two things were based on just two panels so it is impressive that something was weaved out of them. Both were good in their own right as we saw that we got some information out of one of them and the other we just got some funnies. I would have liked more fanservice but we can't all win. Heck we didn't even get Bishonen Luffy! I wanted Bishonen Luffy! It could have been in the beginning when Jimbei was looking at Luffy. It would be a bit creepy coming from Jimbei but at least it is something.

Also some news related to the blog side and next week's anime post. Due to me being at AKon, things happening in real life, and my mental and physical well being after the con, we will be having a guest blogger to do next week's anime post. I am going to have a huge con hangover for sure when I get back from Akon and instead of forcing a possibility bad anime post I thought it be best to do this instead. Also I am going to try to get the AKon con report sooner then I did the AnimeMatsuri one so not doing the anime post may actually help speed things up. Same thing for the manga post next week too. So you guys are in for a treat since you won't have to deal with my post and actually get to read a post made by people better then me! haha



Summary
Nami joins the old man on a job to bring rain to a desert city. She later decides to stay with the old man on Weatheria to learn about weather as they travel to Sabaody.

Franky is still on Barjimoa where he is being chased by wild cyborg animals due to the young boy, Kitton. He is later taken to Vegapunk's old lab.

Thoughts

Yep. I was right. This little moment here was going to be the only time we see Luffy in the episode. I really wonder what the guy was thinking but to tell the truth it seems like Luffy wasn't going to say anything about what was on his mind. Well Luffy didn't say anything at all in this episode! I wonder if he is going to be like this for the rest of of this little arc.

The last time that we had these little check ups on the other StrawHats, Luffy was used as comic relief in a way with antics from Hancock. I don't think that will be like this unless something happens in the next episode or something.

Though it seems like the point of this little moment here is to tell us how serious things are right now concerning this thing with Whitebeard, Ace and the Marines. It looks like there is going to be some earthshaking events at Marineford.

Still as we pan up and follow the seagull that is flying way too high. I don't think seagulls can fly that high but what do I know? Not like I am some sort of animal expert. (Really....I am not.)

Now we are back to the fun times at Weatheria with Nami and the old man. I am guessing the old man didn't learn his lesson in the last time about getting so close to Nami or much less get her upset. It is cool and all that your cotton candy is actually a cloud that taste just like cotton candy but I don't think you are going the right way with sticking it in her face. Most people need to do something call breathing and sticky cloud in face doesn't help too well.

I do have to admit that hearing the old man go "Hey hey hey hey hey hey girl!" all the time but at least Nami hit him for a different reason. haha

As I said before, people need to do something called breathing which cotton candy cloud kind of makes it hard to do. Also I think pointy teeth scares people which is something that Nami does a lot.

Things that One Piece teaches us: It is okay to abuse old people

It seems like Nami doesn't like the idea that it is going to take a long time for them to reach Sabaody on cloud. Still this explain how Nami is going to get back to Saboady it seems like. Travel by cloud is always the best way I heard too.

This is interesting though since I didn't think they will mention anything about getting back to Sabaody in these episodes. I guess that is useful since that means they don't have to show their own mode of transportation but I would be pissed too if I was told it was going to take so long due to us traveling by the wind. Though I wonder if you can guide the cloud to where you want it to go.

 More old people to abuse!

Why is everybody here old with long beards? I mean isn't there any young people here? How about any ladies? Where are the ladies? Do they have long beards too?

For some reason it feels like the story people for this episode are taking what we know about One Piece so far and applying it to what we are seeing now. Are those really soap bubbles? So the people of Weatheria have master the use of soap bubbles too just like the people of Sabaody to use it as a form of transportation?

Well they look like the soap bubbles so if they are not then we need something to tell us or show that they are not soap bubbles. Also they don't look really fast so I am guessing they are not used for long distance travel which means no way for Nami to get to Sabaody really fast.

I was thinking this was a part of Alabasta since I remember the island was really big. Though I guess there could be other desert Summer islands too in the Grand Line. I am thinking this isn't Alabasta though since these people are dressed a bit differently from the people in Alabasta. I could always be wrong but still it would suck if Nami had to travel all the way back from Alabasta to Sabaody. In reality it isn't much but the StrawHats had to travel a lot in order to make it to Sabaody as in going to the clouds, then to Water Seven and though the Florence Triangle. That sure will suck if this island was Alabasta.

You know your price is too high when Nami is freaking out. Then again she is kind of a cheapo so maybe it isn't. I am not sure. The last time I check it is kind of not good to sell rain. Then again old dude from Weatheria has to eat so why not charge that much. Come on old dude! Shake that money maker!

And now I have given you some bad mental images right? Yeah....thought so.

This old man is silly. Charging so much then charging so little. No wonder he thinks his research is expensive. Just think about how many times he has undercharge for his services. I am sure that by the time that Nami leaves this guy that some of her business smarts will rub off him. haha

I was wondering how this man makes it rain since the only way we know how to force rain is to use the Dance Powder but it seems like he uses something else. Rainclouds in bubbles it seem. Could this be something similar to Nami's Thunder Charge on her Perfect ClimaTact?

So time for one of Mikey's Crazy Ideas! So I am thinking that maybe Weatheria has some dials up there just like Skypeia which are used to make the thunderclouds in the bubbles. Nami started to use Thunder Charge when Usopp upgraded the ClimaTact to the Perfect ClimaTact. Is so then maybe Nami and Usopp has master the creation of these thunderclouds using the dials which is something that people in Skypeia has figure out. Now if Nami can learn more about the creation of weather from these old people where Usopp and herself has found by accident.

Or the old man uses Dance Powder and places the clouds in the soap bubbles.

So Nami's first lesson in weather is going to be explosive! It is expected and once again the old man will get hit in the head again. Though we don't see it so I am thinking that Japan has some sort of rule that limits the number of times that old men could be hurt in an episode.

Though I guess the idea of learning more about weather seems really tempting to Nami. I am not sure if this is out of character or not but it is a good excuse to why Nami hasn't appeared so far at Sabaody if she is there already. Also it is good that she learns more since knowing how weather works is part of how she fights. So this is just going to be a moment where she will come back to the rest of the crew improved. (Whenever that may be.)

Bubble umbrellas? Right? Can't it just be clouds or something? They used clouds for almost everything in Skypeia so I don't think it be that much different in Weatheria. Still til next time Nami. Hope you learn a lot on the way to Sabaody.

Seems like news spread fast since the rain feat at whatever island Nami is at has already reached the newspapers. I wonder how many days has it been since the last time we seen Nami and Franky. Kind of mess up the timeline but whatever. Not like I have actually been keeping track with time.

By the way, I would hate living at Barjimoa. It is way too cold for my taste and I don't like the cold.

GENTLEMAN FRANKY! SUPPPPPPPEEERRRR~!

Seems like Franky has been doing well for himself. Got a nice warm home and some tea to drink. Guess you can't ask for more when you are running on tea. I would prefer to be fueled by ramen but I guess we can't always win.

What kind of place is the Kingdom of Barjimoa where even the houses has treadmill things on the ground? I guess they are kind of useless to use outside anyways since there is a lot of snow and such that it will freeze the gears. Though it still sucks that people are that lazy that they don't have to walk inside their own homes.

And the little kid doesn't like Gentleman Franky. Really kid! It is Gentleman Franky! How can you not like him! Damn kids don't know what they want these days. First you think he was weird and now you want him back to be weird. Will you just make up your mind?

Though I would like some of old Franky.

 Don't you hate waking up one morning to find yourself waking up in the cold snow and surrounded by vicious cyborg animals. I do.

Franky sleeps funny. haha

Don't try this at home, kids!

I love how the narrator tells the viewers not to do this at home. Right, like there are going to be kids in real life. Then again kids are crazy and there would be somebody stupid enough to try to take their parent's bed along with their parents out of their room and into the snow.

Though really? How did a little kid and his cyborg dog were able to take a full grown man and his bed out of their room and into a forest of cyborg animals? I shouldn't question things in an anime but it makes me wonder. You would be thinking that Franky would be waking up from all the moving and such. Guess not.

Also I think I should maybe stop trying to be nit picky and just enjoy the show? haha

This episode helped me realize that it sucks to hear snow being stepped on. The sound that they are using when Franky is walking on the snow sounds like he is really walking though snow. It just that it a sound that is bad for the ears. It is like nails on a chalkboard. Ouch!

Bishonen Luf- I mean Bishonen Franky!

Yeah....Bishonen Franky isn't the same as Bishonen Luffy.

There are some funny moments in this part of the episode. I am sure a lot of people liked this part more then the Nami part but I liked both. They had their purpose for whatever this is going to go. Some of the things that made me laugh in this part was where Franky was telling the cyborg animals that it was time for breakfast and then realize that they should eat breakfast. There wasn't much laughing in Nami's part of the episode but it was funny to watch her beat up on the man. So I can see why people would find Franky's part funny compare to the Nami part.

At that naughty age...right...Even when I was at that 'naughty' age I wasn't a big hairy ape beating up on people while they are trying to talk to me.

CHOOOOO~!

Tip me over and pour me out!

Okay. I am out of (bad) teapot related jokes.

This will go under things that are hard to explain since I don't know how shaking up tea will make it steam. I am not science major or something. Though whatever, I shouldn't complain since we got our SUUUUPPPPPPEERRRR~ FRANKY~! Busting up animals and giving PETA another reason to be upset with One Piece. haha

Also now Franky glows which is something that he wasn't able to do before! Well as far as we know. So I guess tea makes Franky glow when he is all steamy. That is nice to know.

So we get some explanation on Vegapunk's exploits on this island. I guess he was a victim of ridicule and people must have mistaken his genius for something as strangeness. Now Vegapunk is the genius of the Marines and has built them things that they could never imagine. Vegapunk, a story of rags to riches.

I can't be sure of this but I am just doing some wild guessing. Though I wonder what made Vegapunk join the Marines. Was it something that was forced or did he join willing.

And the money shot! The shot that was used in the cover story for Franky in the manga. I don't remember if there was a kid in it but still it is something. Then as Franky enters the old lab, we see an alarm triggered and something that I am going to guess was a prequel to Vegapunk's Pacifista project. He looks surprise and unsure at what he is seeing. Though every animal on this island looks like a prequel to Vegapunk's pacifistas.

When I think about it, both Vegapunk and Franky are similar in a way. They both deal with inventions that could revolutionize the world. Franky is kind of a Vegapunk that is rough around the edges and still young. Just by himself, Franky was able to make half of his body into a cyborg while Vegapunk was able to make a full cyborg. Then the fact that Franky made all those Battle Frankys when he was young while Vegapunk made all those cyborg animals. So I am expecting to see what would be Franky's big accomplishment that will make his name known around the world beside as a StrawHat Pirate.

Though this close the book on the adventures of Nami and Franky. We found out some interesting things in both that could lead to some changes in both characters once they come back to Sabaody. Let just hope that they would return back one day. haha

Preview

So next week we are going to see Chopper and Sanji. Seems like we are going in the order that was set in the StrawHats Separation Arc.

And in Chopper fashion, we will be doing something that involves a cute little creature. I just love Chopper but must everything involving him be cute in someway? That is one cute little chick but it seems like people are chasing him and the little bird. Wonder what is happening there. I hope it is funny because I am not looking forward to it.

ITS A TRAP!

Oh wait...It just Sanji...and he is wearing make up! Oh noes! Did they get to him? What have they done to Sanji and why the heck is he wearing that dress? This is going to be a very sad episode. How could they do such a think to our lady's man?

It also seems like there is something going on at the island as it seems like somebody else has taken the throne that Ivankov once held. I wonder if his name will be mention in the next episode. It will be interesting but painful to watch to. haha

Next Episode: The Friends' Whereabouts! Giant Bird Chicks and a Pink Showdown


So come back next time for some great stuff!