Anime: Marineford Arc- Episode 484

This is the face of your enemy when you vainly rush at him in anger, only to fall after you land a few choice blows. “You are still too weak.” See the intense emotions skyrocket only on OnePieceOfficial.com, and try and understand what the Heck is going on…

First Thoughts

Ah, this is so late…(as usual), so Sora apologizes profusely. Sora also promises to stop speaking in freakin’ THIRD TERM anymore now.

This episode had me hanging at the edge of my seat, screaming at the computer in awe, horror, fear, and most of all, anger. Not knowing what was going to really occur since details are a bit sketchy for me from between Ace’s death to around ch. 600, I had no warning for Whitebeard’s reaction, nor Luffy’s. It was shocking, really, seeing what occurred in this episode, especially with the surprise ending. Everyone’s reactions were wonderfully fitting, and overall it was an excellently depicted episode. This episode is dedicated to the idea of Overcoming Failure, as so many people are saddened that they failed at accomplishing something right now…then how they cope with the loss by lashing out at something/someone in terrible bursts. Quite exciting, no?
Summary

Unable to keep himself stable, Luffy freezes immobile as Akainu tries once more to destroy the rubber boy. Luffy is saved by the combined forces of the assorted pirates, as they realize that Luffy is their way of helping their lost comrade Ace for the final time. Fleeing with the teen, Jimbei runs to the ships with the rest of the pirates right as Whitebeard finally reveals his reaction to the death of his “son”.

With terrible strength, power, and control Whitebeard silently unleashes his furry upon Admiral Akainu. Barely able to keep up, Akainu struggles to fight back, finally dealing a massive blow to the center of Whitebeard’s chest, forming a second hold beneath his first huge injury. Falling to one knee, Whitebeard almost loses control, but his crew’s chanting his name brings him back in time to deal a massive blow not just to Akainu but also unleashing a devastating quake to Marine HQ, nearly toppling the massive structure once more.

Right as things seem to be at their highest point in intensity, an unexpected (and unwelcome) guest appears on the ruins of the execution platform base: Blackbeard and his (now extended) crew. Having added several more members from the deepest levels of Impel Down, Teach stands above the fray awaiting his chance to act as the episode closes.

Thoughts

This episode… is just absolutely beyond me. Wow. It surprised me in ways I didn’t even know I could be surprised in. It was just That intense.

Luffy is taking this really badly. When a person close to you dies, one can totally understand this kind of emotional pain. Of course, Luffy has never had (that we know of) a person close to him die like this, especially his brother of all people. He is absolutely at a loss for what to do now. He has always, ALWAYS been able to save whomever he was set out to save. Failure never even crossed his mind. Well, until now. It is almost as if he cannot accept that he failed to protect someone he cared about, and now he is just shutting down. That would be so, very, bad in so very many ways.

These flashbacks are really sad now, but after seeing them a couple of times, I think I get why Ace acted like he did when he asked if Luffy thought he was dead, then got all angry. Probably, Ace had never really thought that anyone really cared if he lived or died before he met Luffy and they became brothers. So, in his own “angry” way, he told Luffy that he would promise to never die because he cared for his little brother and didn’t want to see him sad like that over him anymore. That is my take on the flashbacks.

Ahhhhhh! Garp…crying like this…..BWAAAAA!!!! *Chokes up with tears*

I wonder if Garp feels like he’s failed at his promise to take care of Ace. After all, he did raise Ace like a son.

Oooh, a dramatic sense that the fog is lifting; the shock of Ace’s death finally is going to have people react to it. I like how they use the fog like that.

Everyone’s reactions were rather surprising. I hadn’t given much thought to how everyone would react, but I must say that it really moved me how everyone, and I mean Everyone, reacted to Ace’s official death. The scenes flowed well too; they continued through and progressed along with the plot really evenly. That big cigar just falling out of that guy’s mouth was a good touch. It would take a mighty big occurrence/shock for a guy to let go of his cigar like that. No music; that also made for a great theatrical quality to the scene.

Then…everybody starts sobbing. Aww…that little kid/dude in green was actually really sad sounding…and Jimbei…oh Jimbei…that is just absolutely horrible. Luffy is just traumatized there, wailing, his brother dead before him on the ground. The representation of Ace’s blood on Luffy’s hands is a wonderful play on the reality of the situation, both plot-wise and just for the tone of the scene. Literally, Luffy is partially responsible for Ace’s death, hence “his blood is on his hands”. Really, I do like that concept.

And still Whitebeard does not react. This worries me. A LOT. What will his reaction be? My wonderful guess is…

…that he will suddenly and unsparingly beat Akainu into a little magma-pulp, and break him into tiny shattered pieces. Oh yes, I am worried that is what he would do.

Oh my gosh, Buggy STILL has that Den Den Mushi trained on the battle? Oh jeez…that means that the whole world, or at least Shabaondy, is seeing this…jeez…! That is really shocking.

Oh gods Luffy…with him wailing like that, and then…nothing. Oh man…this is bad. Really, serious bad. Like, worse than it has ever been before. I’ve never seen him this mentally torn up. This is bad. Really, Really bad.

This scene, with Akainu’s charge, Marco and Jimbei springing up there right away, Luffy totally losing his grip, and then everyone suddenly going on a terrifying blood-lust serious mode…a very intense scene indeed. Terrifying. Just frightening beyond measure. And then-

-Whitebeard reacted.

Oh yes, if only I could take a picture of that face of Akainu’s right now. Oh wait, I can!

I have never seen such ferocity in Whitebeard before. It is astounding, and again, very terrifying. Then, when he quake-punched Akainu…With Haki, Direct to the face…Akainu’s face seriously went FLAT there for a second. Awesome.

Dude, Sakazuki just freakin’ Shot Off Whitebeard’s ‘stash. So not cool. The worst part is, this moment is so serious, nobody even cares. That is what (again) is so scary. When the “good guys” get this serious and intimidating…well, let’s just say that that is their final act of desperation, condensed into anger. And Good Guys don’t win on anger. Determination, yes. Friends, maybe. Strength, power, sure. But…when a Good Guy resorts to beating the enemy to a pulp because they killed one of their friends and/or loved ones…that commonly foreshadows something Really bad is going to occur to the Good Guys.

The animation here is great as well. The music is really intense, and suits the scenes marvelously. This is a great atmosphere that is created.

That picture there, of Whitebeard fallen on one knee, zoomed out to show his surrounding followers and part of the collapsed Marineford structure is a really good shot.

Odd how his own burning fire within him (literally thanks to Akainu) combined with his comrades calling out “Pops!” over and over gave him that mental image of Ace. Or maybe not as odd as one would imagine…but, that face Akainu made is totally priceless. He is just scared Beep-less. And he should be.

The sheer epicness of these following scenes is just purely overwhelming. Whitebeard is so…Vicious in his attacks against the magma man…
Now This is a terrifying picture…He is literally shattering Sakazuki…

This whole scene is just (again) so full of intense-ness…well, dare I call it Awesome? Because…it IS ridiculously scary…and then all that blood surprised me…not a lot of gushing from the mouth in One Piece usually…

And look at that quake! That is seriously the most destruction I have seen any character EVER do. More than Arlong’s house/fortress. More than Eneru to Skypeia. More than Luffy and co. at Enies Lobby. More than Luffy and co. (but mostly Luffy) at Thriller Bark. More than everybody at Impel Down. This is a huge level of destruction I am talking about here. Like, “I seriously want to split this island in half and take it all DOWN with me” kind of serious.

Intense.

I do like the way these scenes are drawn though, excellent style. The look on Sengoku’s face…ah, that look shall never get old, because it is so rare…

Personally I find it equally frightening how Whitebeard is still on fire while Akainu is too injured (as a LOGIA type) to save himself from falling into the cataclysm (that we can see).

This next scene with the huge rift in the stone and the crew’s ‘hurried but not quite a run’ retreat is a good scene, to show Marco’s dedication to his captain. The epic “last stand” music was really good for Whitebeard’s valiant efforts to fight all of the able-bodied Marines left at Marineford.

Oh gods…I have been waiting a while for this, but I didn’t think he’d show up this soon…

Blackbeard.

(And just to bug me further, he showed up with his full, newly expanded crew of ugly FREAKS whom I seriously HATE because they are all so freakin’ EVIL. Lovely.)

Teach has become one of my favorite villains in this series, mostly because of his complexity. The people he hangs around with…not my cup of tea. They are all basically reflecting his inner evil soul, I believe. However…my experience with Edward “Blackbeard” Teach in One Piece history is long and rather twisted, and so every time I see him now I get a sort of mixed-feeling calmness when I look at his grotesque and horrific form.

Terrifying, unexpected, and very cliff-hanger way to end an episode.

Preview

Wow. Well, I can certainly say that the next episode is so going to be worth it. An epic battle between Newgate and Teach? Well, besides the fact that one is extremely PO’d beyond words (for good reason) and the other is a sadistic Beep who is way to enigmatic for his own good…yeah, this is gonna be a very Interesting episode at the bare minimum. Of course, I DO have a spoiler for this battle, which is unfortunate, but oh well. Can’t wait to see how they come to their thrilling conclusion…hehehe…

Next Episode: Whitebeard vs. Blackbeard Pirates. The Great Pirate Edward Newgate!

Now the penultimate battle of the 'Beards shall be put forth for the splendid watchers to...erm, watch. How exciting! Until next time, make sure to return to OnePieceOfficial.com, and maybe by here again too if you weren't scared off by our random opinions and ideas! Thanks for stopping by, and do good in the world like Luffy would (were he sane and out of his freaking-out induced coma)!