Anime: Impel Down Arc- Episode 451

Us Americans can watch this first on OnePieceOfficial.com! 

First Thoughts
This episode wasn't dragged out but you could feel the padding a bit. Maybe it is because I know what is filler and what is not or maybe I am just being mean. Still it was a great episode. The episode was able to close up the arc yet set things up for the future in a nice way. Though at the end of the episode, the Impel Down arc is now close taking us to something that will be grander then what we have seen so far.

This episode also shown us something that we may have to watch out for later on. I didn't notice this before but it was really noticeable in this episode. It isn't a bad thing but something that will have to be resolved by the end of the series. Then again I could be be being mean again. haha

Well this 'First Thoughts' suck so I am going to shut up and get into the post now. haha



Summary
Luffy and the prisoners finally made it to the getaway ship that Jimbei, Crocodile, Buggy and Das Bones has secured. They defend against the Marines ships that were at Impel Down.

The Gates of Justice opens for Luffy and the others due to Bon Clay staying behind at Impel Down. After a tearful farewell to the others, Bon Clay prepares to defend against an angry Magellan as Luffy and the former Impel Down prisoners sail towards Marineford.

Thoughts

 NO~!

After listening to the a recap where the was some awesome music and basically the replaying of the last two minutes from episode 450, we get to see Magellan lift a poisonous hand out to the sea as he tries to grab for the escape prisoners. haha

Yeah....sucks for Magellan. The only thing in his way to get Luffy and them guys is a sea and a bunch of happy fish that are swimming in the ocean. Really you got to feel a bit bad for the guy as he stretchs out the Venomous Demon's hand to reach for them. It is like a little boy reaching for the piece of candy that he wants but can't grab it because he is so short.

Wow....haha Those fish look so happy! haha Heck they are actually talking! In a strange fish sonic wave fish-thing way. haha

For some reason I am remembering South Park with Kanye West and Gayfish....These fish are nothing like that but it just funny to watch. haha

Wait...how can Jimbei talk to the fish if his mouth isn't moving? haha I am guessing things like this shouldn't be thought of and just move on.

Still it so sucks for those guys. Luffy may have enjoyed it but I don't think that it was a good idea to bounce the guys over to the ship. Wouldn't it have been better to just swim over there and not be lazy. Stupid fishes but oh well...That is how they do things I guess.

It so has to suck being those two people in Ivankov's nose. Especially that one guy who can see up his nose. The other guy is lucky since only his legs are in the nose. Still everybody is all happy. They are out of Impel Down and that means no more torture and other painful stuff!

Also that is one small wheel but then again everything is small when you put Jimbei next to them.

And here is the bad part of the episode. When everybody realize that there is a huge door blocking the way to Marineford and that there is a fleet of Marine battleships behind them that wants to sink them all to the bottom of the ocean. I am guessing that can damper any sort of I-am-out-of-jail parties for a bit. I mean they were so happy a few minutes ago but having cannonballs raining down on you isn't a good way celebrate.

Though it is a damn good thing for these guys that these Marines have sucky aim when it comes to cannons and just everything else that has to do with trying to shoot down a huge ship. I mean even after they adjusted their fancy cannons they still can't hit a single ship.

Vegapunk's next project may be how to make sure the Marines don't have sucky aim or something since they seem to have a lot of that. I mean out of all the shots the Marines did, only like two of them hit the ship or something during the whole episode. That is awesome there Marines. You guys deserve medals or something for actually hitting something that wasn't water. haha

And now the prisoners fight back! I so loved when Crocodile just waved his hand and used Sables to knock out the cannonballs. Pimp slap! That how you do it yah! Then it is always nice to see Luffy use Balloon to bounce back cannonballs. I love it when he can bounce junk back even though I think those cannonballs hit nothing back.

Well the prisoners didn't hit anything with their cannonballs either but they have a good excuse. I mean these guys been in a prison for who knows how many years and also unlike the Marines on those ships, they didn't have months of Marine training on using the cannons. I am sure that it takes more then pointing the cannon in the direction of where you want to shot and light a fuse. If so then that explains why the Marines suck at it.

The guy in the green suit there reminds me of someone. I have no idea who but he just does. That is the only reason why I took a screenshot of him. If you recognize this guy then feel free to tell me. I am thinking he is some sort of comedian or something.

And everybody happy again! The Gates of Justice has opened!

And also we get some lovely NewKama fashion! Got to love a guy wearing panties? Speedos? I really not sure what they are but whatever! The guys are happy and everybody get to go home happy. Well if home is Marineford and happy is.....happy? Okay....lame joke. I know. haha

Magellan does this face a lot in this episode. Something that I notice in this episode. I guessing the guy got the sheet place over his eyes a lot of times. Poor guy. He has had a nice run as warden and then all of this happens and everything goes down the toilet. Well the figurative toilet at least. I am sure that he will be on that toilet soon enough though after all the fighting he has done so far.

Two Magellans! That is excellent! That means he can now work twelve hours a day now! While one is out of commission the other can be working hard on making sure Impel Down doesn't get screw over like it was right now.

Still I think the Magellan that just came in isn't too happy about this Magellan. Then again I don't think anybody would like it that there is a clone of himself that he didn't know about running a show.

Now this was the part of the episode where things could be notice to be padded out but also was raising to be good. In the end, Bon Clay got the last laugh as he was able to not only fool the jailers of Impel Down to open the Gates of Justice but also got Magellan to tell the guards to close the gates to make sure that the Marines won't be able to follow Luffy and them to Marineford. Sneaky sneaky.

haha Yes...the jailers of Impel Down are idiots. haha As Bon Clay spins, they are just watching him. No wonder the guy was able to trick them that he was Magellan and to open the gates. Heck, I am sure Bon Clay can do this again if tries. Heck, Bon Clay could have just memorize one of those guy's faces and then transform into them in order to escape in the confuse while Magellan talk or something. Won't be that hard seeing that they are just letting Bon Clay spin around.

That one guy has pretty eyes under his sunglasses. haha

And there is Magellan making that face again. I am guessing that Magellan doesn't get surprise often so when it does happen then it is a big deal. The poor man.

And yes, this proves that there are not many good jailers in Impel Down. Something like this was bound to happen and it just happen to go down right now. haha The poop has hit the fan and is going to leave the place very stinky.

Then we get a little nod to the past. An attack named after the adventures in the desert kingdom from way wards in the series.

Those jailers didn't even bother to try to stop Bon Clay. Now it is certain that Luffy and them would make it to Marineford all because they didn't try to stop Bon Clay when they had the change. What awesome work these guys do!

Still Bon Clay has been awesome so far in this episode. He was able to trick the jailers into thinking that he was Magellan and secure a safe passage to the other prisoners. Pretty awesome there.

Heck we even got a 'Heehaw' in there! haha Now that is just a sign that Bon Clay being pretty awesome. haha

Now here is what I was talking about earlier in the post. It seems like Luffy has a thing about letting things go. He wants to make sure that everybody is safe but fails to realize that there are more important things to worry about at time. We saw this a lot of time during the second half of Impel Down as they were making their way up but here I realize that this could be a problem later on in the series. Jimbei brings up a good point, a lot of people so far has been sacrifice and they shouldn't waste any of the limited time they have right now trying to save one person.

I am not saying this is a bad trait of Luffy's but it could be problematic later on in the series where Luffy could  suffer because of it.  That is one of the things that we like about Luffy. The goal is always to safe as many people as you can but sometimes you have to know when something is a lost cause.

Luffy either needs to drop this trait or draw on it to gain more strength similar to what he did to develop Second Gear and Third Gear. So far it has been good but still does he want to push his luck? That all depends. Also when you look back at the arc, seems like Luffy has trouble putting faith in others. Remember how he was worry about Inazuma and Ivankov when he heard about Magellan defeating them but later on we see that Ivankov was able to make it back to the others. Not so great looking but still able to catch up. This could be applied to the crew where he wants to protect them and he should as their captain but I feel like he also needs to have a bit more faith in their strength because it seems as of late that he is taking putting their protection on his shoulders. Maybe it just me since I just got done reading Water 7 and it is still fresh on my mind compare to recent thing but it feels like that.

I was a bit worried about how they going to show how Bon Clay added Magellan to his memory since they didn't show Bon Clay touching Magellan's face back during his interaction with Magellan as Hannyabal. I thought they showed it back then in the manga when it actually happened but I was mistaken so this little cut scene is nice. If we are going to compare the manga to the anime then really the manga didn't even show Bon Clay touching Magallan and it is left for us to assume that Bon Clay made his move there. Here in the anime we can waste the time to show the hand touching Magallan's face as we are told that this was when Bon Clay took Magallen into his memory. Nice work.

Now we get one of the most epic flashbacks ever. I totally approve of this flashback and am glad that we get to see it. Basically it was half of an episode while cutting out small pieces of the original content in better animation but so looks great.

I was laughing at Chopper's face as he watched Bon Clay do his speech about friendship and how 'Queers never die' (or something like that). It looked like Chopper was thinking that everything that Bon Clay is saying is completely stupid and has no founding for it but so awesome! Usopp is going, "Well this is just crazy....". Still once again, this just proves how much has happen since Alabasta and that the Going Merry is always in pain....Why! I mean then it had huge metal spikes in it and now just recently in the Season Two, Seventh Voyage the ship literally fell out of the sky and had the mast, a railing and the figurehead broken off....When will the pain end for this ship? When! haha Damn I just love that ship.

Also the guy dressed as Nami, does he creep any of you guys out? I am getting that vibe right now and I just wondering if anybody else is feeling it too.

The bonds of friendship goes deep and that means a lot in One Piece. It kind of  goes back to when Luffy and Bon Clay were on Level Five where the prisoners in Luffy's cell here mocking him for depending on having friends and wanting to save somebody. Then it is this very friendship that basically saved Luffy and the others from the rain of cannonballs that is following them. Heck, it was the bonds that Luffy has developed in Impel Down that has allowed him to make it this far. The manpower of Crocodile, Jimbei and Das Bones in getting rid the jailers and Marines. The cunning of Buggy and Mr. 3 to take care of the riot and assisting in the beating of Magellan. Then ultimately the bravery of Bon Clay to stay behind to open the Gates of Justice. Put everything together and you have an almost surefire way to get out of Impel Down.

Hmm....now I am thinking about Shugo Chara! (Well it been a long time since I made a connection to Shugo Chara! in an One Piece episode post. haha) and how the friendship and depending on others, thing that tend to be strongly seen in shojo titles, is being played here in a shonen series. I am sure that other shonen titles has message of friendship and junk but recently Oda been stressing the idea that One Piece is a 'boy's' series and that he is writing for young boys yet he has a huge audience. Kind of funny how he is able to get something that I think is usually stronger seen in series for girls in a series aimed at boys. Just me thinking and maybe it just something stupid on my behalf. haha

That den den mushi came really close to being the opening image for this post. It was a real toss up between that image, the one with the two people in Ivankov's nose and the one that I actually used. Still I felt that I made the best choice considering this episode. I have other posts to make stupid decisions in opening images. haha

"You gotta save your brother at any cost!"
-Bon Clay

Words that I think that will stay with Luffy for a good while. One of his friends risked his life in order to allow Luffy the chance to go save his older brother. Now that is something there. Those words seem to be hitting the others hard too as Mr. 3 looked as if he was hit with a bag of bricks or something. It even made Buggy apologize for ditching him and Luffy back on Level Five. I guessing when you think that something bad is going to happen to somebody and it maybe the last time you hear from them then you got to get those words out now of live with regret.

The flashback of Bon Clay in Impel Down were doable. I mean some of these things we saw like a few episodes ago and I usually complain about things like that but it was needed. We saw a lot of development of Bon Clay throughout this arc to the point where he know him as a real character instead of some crazy guy from Alabasta. During the Alabasta arc, Bon Clay was some villain that was touched by Sanji's kindness that he wanted to help Luffy and gang. Then during Impel Down he has bloomed into a character that is respectable and easily could gain his own fanbase that could rival other popular characters. Before Impel Down I considered Bon Clay as a decent guy. He was just there in Alabasta and was a silly character. Nothing to get too excited about. Now as we went though Impel Down, we saw more of him and learned that he is a much deeper character.

I just wanted to point out that guy with the metal plate on the side of his face. haha Really....is he a filler character or an actually guy that Oda drew? haha

And here is a wonderful image to use as a reference for anybody who wants to cosplay as an injured Inazuma or something of the such. Don't want to make an elaborate costume where you have to get or make a goldish  and white fur coat but still want to cosplay as Inazuma then here is an alternative. haha Just get a pair of speedos or something and paint one side while and the other side the goldish color then get the wig. Simple as that! I am sure you will be the hit of the convention (assuming that the convention organizers don't kick you out first).

Please don't cosplay as this....still if you do then send pictures of you at the con. I will regretfully post them up on the blog. haha

Then in serious music, we witness the last that we see of Bon Clay as Luffy and the others cry a tearful farewell on the other side of the Gates of Justice. Then we hear Bon Clay say this:

"This is what I wanted!"
-Bon Clay

Beautifully done! I couldn't have asked for this part of the chapter to be done any other way. The faces of the crying prisoners and Luffy were a bit silly but fitted in nicely in One Piece fashion.

I have no idea if Bon Clay lives or not after this but either way it looks bad for the guy. I hope that there is some way that Bon Clay survives this match against Magellan but the deck is stacked against him. Either way, the guy has gotten an epic end. I just hope we get to see some sign that Bon Clay is okay after all of this has ended.

So in the end, Impel Down has went though the biggest disgrace in it's history. Just in a few days, 241 prisoners have escaped on a Marine battleship while a lot of Impel Down forces have been defeated. Still the end has not yet to come as where we are going next is the same place where those 241 prisoners are heading to.

Marineford.

What are we to expect once we get to Marineford? Who knows but right now that place is prepping for a war against the powerful Whitebeard pirates as mention by Ivankov earlier. There are a lot of questions to be asked as in how will Luffy and this group of prisoners will change the tide of this upcoming battle. Then the other question is why we are ending on this image of Shiryuu over the fallen Blackbeard pirates. Surely the end isn't near for anybody as bigger things are up ahead.

So to Marineford!

Preview

So now we are going to be making our way to Marineford, the headquarters of the Marines. Seems like some people are still morning the lost of Bon Clay. I am wondering what Mr. 3 and Luffy are talking about but that could wait for next week I guess. It looks like most of next week's episode will be a bit calmer compare to the last few episodes. Not much is happening.

This moment is the most excitement we will get next week as it seems like Luffy is talking to what looks like Marines. Well once again the Marines are proving to be dependable once again. haha Though we are going to get cool images of the Warlords so that is cool.

Coming Up Next Week: The Destination is Marine Headquarters - The Ship Sets Out to Rescue Ace!

 So till next week everybody! To Marineford!