Anime: Marineford Arc- Episode 478

“I am Whitebeard: Hear me roar!”

Only at OnePieceOfficial.com can you get action that is just THIS intense.

First Thoughts

Again, I may add, I was surprised by the events which were covered in my episode. I mean really, this episode held onto a lot of the humor which last episode (477) had brought, and yet saved a few surprises of its own right at the right moments. It was also almost entirely beautifully drawn as well; excellent face-scenes and shots of people. The overall chapter that the episode covered was a phenomenal one in itself; a lot of Gasp! Moments, and then a stunning finale, revealing a lot of fun stuff to everyone, hehe. Excellent overall, very action-y, and very worrying for certain Whitebeard crew members. Very epic, and I was surprised at the end, I had completely forgotten that That occurred when it did. Very awesome.

Summary

After Luffy practically orders Ivankov to inject him one final time with the Energy Hormones, he takes off swinging towards the scaffold, Ivankov right behind him. Coby decides to fulfill his promise to fight Luffy early, and stands before the rampaging pirate…right as Luffy takes him out with a OHKO to the face.

As Luffy and Ivankov charge forward, Whitebeard is released from the devastating blow of magma from Akainu, and his two able lead commanders fall at the hands of the other two Admirals. Marco is beat upon by Kizaru while Aokiji freezes the 3rd division commander solid. Whitebeard seems to be at the end of his rope as he is surrounded on all sides by soldiers, stabbed simultaneously by four Marines in the chest, and shot in the face with a cannonball.

Before he can be knocked off of his feet, however, Whitebeard roars and declares that he cannot be killed by such “small wounds”. A gaping hole in his chest, seared by magma, the half-giant displays a ferocious power, still proving that his side will not be crushed by the opposing forces. However, his multiple wounds and age-related illness prevent him from stopping the new executioners blades from swinging down upon Ace’s neck.

The end is a shock to all: With a cry of frustration and determination, Luffy lets loose a solid burst of The King’s Haki, instantly KO-ing over half of each side, Marine and pirate alike, and also saving Ace from the blade. Taking little to no notice, the Gum-Gum user charges forward as each of the Marines and pirates react to this spectacular, and unexpected, feat in their own manner.

Thoughts

Right from the get-go, this episode proved memorable. Well, considering that Luffy pretty much just claimed he would kill himself if he couldn’t fight now, that is pretty messed up and serious right off the bat. Especially considering that this is literally his ‘last life’, to put it in video game terms.

Hm. When Ivankov is ranting to Luffy about the effects of the Energy Hormone, it made me think really hard about the actual state of the boy’s body. I mean…he hasn’t stopped fighting since Impel Down…and there have been a lot of fights since then, not many of them little scrapes either. I’ll wager that Luffy crashes pretty hard after all of this stuff goes down here at Marineford, however it ends…

So…Ivankov dashes off after Luffy, and then this weird guy comes in. I mean really, what a freaky, sadistic weapon: a whip. Really dude? That is just so mean. Then, he uses one of his own men as a spring-board. Then, Luffy stretches backwards. Oh wait, that last one was funny…if he didn’t do that because his neck was caught in the whip. Darn it, that Beeping Marine and his freaky totally not regulated weapon…

I think that I have been enjoying this Marineford battle more and more because of the way Luffy has been fighting. I mean, usually he just knocks out enemies like it is nothing, and uses a lot of official attacks. Here though, it is literally just a struggle to move 100 feet, and so he has resorted to a lot of maneuvers which are really unusual, sudden, and spontaneous. Like this kicking-the-guy-into-the-air thing, then he whirls around and uses Sir Whips-A-Lot as a projectile object. Sweet.

I think that if too many more Marines say “We’ll destroy you now because you are evil…go Marines!...or best yet…In the name of Justice!” I’m gonna either hurl or wish I could beat them senseless. Jeez…I don’t want to get into a rant, so I’ll end my frustration at their naivety there. Darn Marines…beep…

Wow, every one of these guys looks totally dangerous, and more importantly, incredibly hard to beat or get through quickly. Good thing Ivankov is there to thrash them, haha!

Haha! Again Ivankov is really funny! 10 points…oh jeez…haha!

Oh, and Coby just walks thru the smoke very awesomely. Great Moment, Coby. Treasure it, your moment of dangerous/coolness.

Now here, I don’t understand why Coby believes he has to commit himself to killing Luffy. Can’t just defeating be enough? I mean, if he really believes in Luffy that much, he should NEVER want to actually kill him. Coby dreamed of catching bad guys. Luffy isn’t a bad guy. Just because a person isn’t on your side per se does not mean that they are evil. Obviously, Luffy is not evil. There are a lot of Actually evil pirate scum out there; Coby should commit himself to killing Those pirates, not the extremely nice one who actually save him and is his great friend. Jeez Coby, get your priorities straight…job, or friendship? Big life choices I think that the kid will make pretty soon.

I must say though, when Coby suddenly geared up (haha, geared…because that is what Luffy kinda does when he goes into Gear Second…) and that smoke blew away from him like that, I was surprised, and a hint of worry grew in me when he actually pulled off the technique ‘Shave’. I do say that I am impressed with the pinkette…haha, but still, a great way to end such a seriously-attempted moment! Poor Coby. Maybe next time. Well, at least he took it well…after he got knocked to the ground. Poor guy, haha!

[While looking at Coby’s uniform…I just realized that the Marine’s colors, that shade blue and white…are my school’s official colors. Weird thought to have in the middle of a life-or-death battle of the ages. Huh.]

Dang, there are so many great shots in this episode…just full of great face-shots and action sequences, ooh!

Oh drat…Pacifistas…ha! It’s Hancock. Everytime I see her have these weird fantasies about Luffy, it reminds me how much older she is than him…and taller…hahaha! It is so funny. Then she totally spaced out, and flipped on the Pacifistas. Awesome. I must say though, using her body as a shield like that was a good idea, because they would have to ignore you and power down because of the ‘same side’ thing.

Back to Whitebeard in the fray. So…how can even a half-giant super-human awesome famous guy like Whitebeard keep going when he has a HUGE hole in his chest…made by magma…I think that he must just be very talented. Definitely. After all, it is WHITEBEARD. He is like superman. Except old. He can do Anything.

BEEPING KIZARU!!!!!! Hate him. But still cool that Marco can regenerate; duh, phoenix? …AHHHHH!!! BEEPING BEEP OF A BEEP KIZARU!!!! He cheated, Cheated, CHEATED!!!! He can’t slap on a Sea Stone cuff just so that he can’t regenerate. The nasty, twisted, sadistic BEEP!! UGGG. …haha, I’m ticked off if anyone can’t tell. That spider-hair guy really freaks me out though. Man, would he be great at catching criminals…creepy…and beeping cheating…

Okay so…now I am seriously worried. I mean…they can’t get Sea Stone cuffs off without the key…so Marco is down for good probably…and the 3rd division commander is frozen solid…also totally down for the count…I am really starting to worry for these guys now…but wait, Whitebeard…

Man, what is up with cruelly holding people down in this episode? First a guy with a whip who gets Luffy by the neck, then that spider-hair guy and restraining Marco, now Jimbei is being wrapped in chains. How awful and cruel are these Marines gonna get? (not to mention CHEATING, which I will bet will totally come up here soon again, in an even more important of a scene)

How many Marines does it take to take down Whitebeard? Answer: Four. And some mortars…and guns…and whatnot.

So…I definitely stopped breathing for this scene. Yup. For a short few moments, I breathed again, not to worry. And yes, I DID worry that maybe his head was blown off or something. I REALLY did not want to see that. I mean seriously, it totally Looks as though he doesn’t have a head. Who wouldn’t be freaked?

I kept waiting…and waiting…and waiting for him to get his footing back…and he never did…gosh…is he okay?...oh yeah, whew.

The music playing here always plays when something supposedly amazing or resilient is occurring…but it is certainly Not ‘good’ feeling music. It always gives me the chills, or, if I don’t know previously from a spoiler what is going to happen, I always have a panic attack or yell at the screen for that person to stop whatever they are doing. It always freaks me out. I mean…he is absolutely lying at this point. He is almost as delusional as Luffy, wanting to believe that his body isn’t going to give out at any time. Ah jeez…I’m really worried…hysterical-worried too…

Quote: “I don’t need any help…because I am…I am… WHITEBEARD!” Boo-yah.

This scene both shocked, terrified, enthralled, and stunned me with its epic greatness. I really need to get better adjectives though…haha. I mean really, this is the exact reason people claim Whitebeard to be the strongest man in the world. Heck, that one Marine is swimming in the air! If anything in the world is epic, that is. Look at how far that huge blast made the Marines go! Oh, the power!

I like how the guy who called Whitebeard ‘a monster’ was the first to get thwacked with a falling crewmate, hehe. This raw display of power is definitely making the Marines pause in their tracks for a moment, bad for Sengoku to have scaredy-cat fighters, good for Whitebeard for being so darn tough!

Of course…he does look rather…worn out…sagging I would say…gulp…Darn, those darn Marines are persistent brutes!

Okay, at this point, Whitebeard is really just rolling on with his determination. Small wounds? I don’t think so. Unfortunately for him, only the young, ambitious, and super lucky (cough cough LUFFY cough) can actually do stuff like that with that much damage to the body and Live afterwards…

I have this really bad feeling that he plans to die here today…or at least, that he feels he may die here today…oh dear…but still, his very scary speech (which is also really sad because of the harsh reality banging on the door inside my head) is very serious.

Why do I feel as though he shall indeed die before he lives to see this ‘bright future’? …sometimes, I just hate my own premonitions…because they so often come true when I don’t want them to…of course, ha, I actually don’t know exactly what occurs later on...so who knows…

Aww…they are all gonna defend his glory by guarding his back…that is so awesome…haha, and Whitebeard thinks it’s too thoughtful, although I know where he is coming from. He is serious, after all.

What…? What is Squard doing…? Somehow, the way he is saying it, I am thinking that he is gonna do something serious and durastic…I have absolutely NO idea what is going on there, awesome enough. I have no spoilers for that, whee!

Oh no, Whitebeard went down, I am really worried now, and everyone is seriously freakin’ out…ahhh!

So at this part, I was yelling at the executioners, because I KNOW what was gonna happen for later…ug, I hate knowing a spoiler and not being able to tell about it!! But…I was really confused, and then suddenly, out of nowhere, Luffy…

…wow. Just, wow. I mean, I knew it was coming eventually, but I had forgotten it was right at this moment…people’s reaction were probably greater even than when they found out he was Dragon’s son. Maybe a little bit better. And also, it is dead silent during this part. It is really a great effect, but still…really even more intense than just a jaw-drop…

Seriously, Luffy collapsed over half of the entire battlefield, in one fell swoop, and totally stunned all of the ‘higher than average’ Marines and pirates still on the ground, and has put the Really powerful people into “Woah” mode…and did not even notice.

Luffy HAS GOT to learn to control this immense power. If he does not…jeez, what kind of storyline would have this power go untamed? Of course, I have a spoiler for it…but I can’t say anything because it was a whisper, so darn…still…Luffy did not even Notice that he did all that. That…is just unreal.

I love their reactions. Aokiji’s face is amazing right now, priceless in the serious mood. I didn’t put a reaction for Akainu ‘cuz his reaction is lame. Just standing there, all stoic and lame…bleh.

What a way to end an episode, huh?

Preview

Next week on One Piece, it looks like the Marines (and pirates, oops) are all going to have to collect themselves from this shocking and devastating blow to their forces, and they are going all out about this new, unstable “threat”. As the Marines attempt to block the huge opening Luffy has created, the rest of the Allied captains join Ivankov in defending Luffy on his race to the scaffold.

Only the strongest-willed Marines and pirates alike are left standing now, and each side still has a few surprises left up their sleeves. A few people from both sides that we haven’t seen in a while, like Mr. 1 (Daz Bones). Mihawk looks like he is about to do something as well. Ivankov using his ultimate technique? And what is with that one Scissors-guy…is he coming OUT OF Ivankov’s…Hair? It sure is his glass of wine I see…whoo boy.

Next Episode: In Front of the Execution Platform! The Way to Ace is Open!
Until next week then. Enjoy life, and enjoy One Piece legally at OnePieceOfficial.com, so that everyone who works so hard on it can enjoy it too! Ja na!