Anime: Post Marineford Arc- Episode 493

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Thoughts
Hey hey! Mikey back to doing the anime post and it just so happens to be the one with the new opening! Damn! I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing but either way I am here to discuss the new opening along with the new episode.

The opening just happens to start as we begin Luffy's flashback. So the two kind of  goes together in a way as the opening gives a look at Luffy's past and story so far while we are currently looking at Luffy's past. Something interesting to think about.

Mikey's Note: Due to the new opening, this post will be image heavy.


Summary
(Flashback)

Garp takes Young Luffy to live with Dandan and her mountain bandits clan. Young Ace also lives there as well.

Young Luffy spends three months trying to follow Young Ace. Eventually arrives to a place call Gray Terminal.

Thoughts
Opening 14: Fight Together

 

So here we are with a new opening. Almost less then a year since the last one where it covered the Marineford arc, this one seems to be covering all that is Post Marineford.

This opening is very awesome. The song is very happy with it's techno-y beat and the animation that goes with it is nostalgic due to the clips of where Luffy met and connected with each member of his crew. The only bad part in this opening I think was in the beginning where you see Luffy in the forest right after that little montage of Roger, Shanks and Young Luffy. He looks very awkward and I wish they would have shown him with some sort of expression on his face instead of that serious awkwardish look.

 

Let talk about the song for a little bit. The beginning of the song was a bit strange with the birds chirping was surely strange as it felt like it didn't belong in the opening. When I first heard that part I didn't understand what was going on and thought that my volume was acting up until I heard the beat playing when the Sunny appeared on screen.

The song then jumps to a nice techno-like beat as the singer takes us on a journey of what just happen within the story. The animation goes smoothly with the song as nothing seems out of place with the tone. Personally I admit that this opening is becoming one of my favorites considering that it has been replayed several times before the typing of this post.

Side note: The singer of this song, Namie Amur, claims to be the 'Queen of Hip Hop' (or is it 'hip pop'?) but it is hard to tell by the tone of this song. I guess Japanese hip hop is a bit different compare to American hip hop but personally I like this song if it is hip hop. haha I wasn't expecting a hip hop tune but this song surely doesn't feel anything that is.

Anime only watchers, you don't know how spoilery this single scene is. This single frame may not mean anything right now but by the end of this arc you are going to realize how important it is. It is very impressive how sneakily this scene is since it looks like it means nothing but for those that follow the manga it just gives us a sign of where we are going.

Got to love the details on the hat. First off it is back to the yellow coloring that it is normally is back from before Amazon Lily instead of that off color yellow that was a pain to look at during Marineford. Then does anybody see those three marks on the top of the hat. Does it look familiar? Incase you forgot, those are the slashes that Buggy gave the hat all the way back in the Buggy Arc. Just something to note.

 

 

 

"THE HAT! i loved seeing the hat on the rock! and the opening finally acknowledging that they are separated."
-AllyLuvsU13

This is of course the first time that the opening has acknowledge that the StrawHats has been separated and it looks like everybody is working hard in wherever they are at. They also all mostly looking cool doing whatever they are doing. The one that was overdue in looking cool is Sanji though seeing that the last time we saw him was in a dress. Now he is doing the coolest attack.

Small little detail that is easy to miss but apparently Usopp has modify his bag to fit his new bigger body. He has clothes tied to his bag since it looks like the strap must have been too small for him. This little part is just making me want to know more about what they are doing on their individual islands and I can't wait to see what is going on since they are all due for a check up soon. Especially since we know that Sanji is going to eventually meet Ivankov pretty soon.

 

This scene is a bit of a spoiler as it shows a bit of Luffy's past but you have to admit that Young Luffy is kind of cute here. haha It looks like Ace, Luffy and this other kid had a bunch of fun as kids.

Also it would seems like pipes are the number one weapon for young kids. haha

"I am looking forward to the first opening with the (MAJOR SPOILERS!)  time skip character designs."
-hisuiRT

Me too! If they are looking this cool right now then I can't wait to see how the next opening will incorporate this. Still that is for later on. If anything the next opening has some high standards to fill seeing what will happen next and this opening as well.

 

 

 

 

Then cue the nostalgic as we look back to when Luffy met and touched everybody that has joined his crew. The Usopp and Zoro moments were really awesome considering that the two joined Luffy crew but didn't have their awesome moments till later on in the series. Robin kind of got gipped a bit since she was another crew member that joined but had her moment later on but the moment they choose summed her up nicely. Personally I would have liked a moment from Luffy vs Usopp but it was still awesome as we saw Luffy and Usopp connect at Ennis Lobby.

The Nami moment I think I felt the tears beginning to come up as we they showed the climax of the whole arc right there as Luffy called out to her. It was literally amazing to be able to look back at how far we have came in the story while showcasing each member of the crew. This opening kind of makes it worth watching these series for almost five hundred episodes.

 

If I was to cry during this opening then it would be right here. The moment that Ace pushes Luffy forward was maybe one of the most touching moments ever in a One Piece opening. It was as if Ace was telling Luffy to go on and move ahead to fulfill your dream.

"I love it the song was beautiful as was the animation that went with it. I loved the look back at what they've been through & especially loved Ace pushing Luffy ahead started crying like crazy. I think my fav op. Bon Voyage has been beat."
-StrawHatPirate9

I feel the same way too. This opening feels as if it could be a top opening due to all the looking back and emotion behind it. Fight Together was clearly made with where we just came from and where we are going in mind. An almost perfect balance of the two and a reminder of what we have gone though with this series.

Opening 14, Fight Together, is maybe the most perfect opening to have right now as we cool down from Marineford and prepare for what is coming ahead of us. Currently we are heading in Luffy's flashback but are also looking into the future of the series. It provides a sense of nostalgia for any One Piece fan who has been with this series from the very beginning from the moment that Luffy busted out of the barrel to the moment where Luffy watched his own brother die in his arms.

Opening 14 is maybe the best way to close off this chapter of the series as we head into a new world and a future that will be one piece someday. 

Mikey's Note: Special thanks to StrawHatPirate9 for providing the screencaps from Opening 14.

Episode: Luffy and Ace! The Story of How the Brothers Met!

So we enter Luffy’s flashback. Some of the major players include Luffy and his grandfather Garp. Watch as these two go back and forth about what they want to do. Garp wanting Luffy to becoming a Marine while Luffy wants to become a pirate. How sweet as we watch these two go in witty banter.

Now we meet Dadan and her left and right hand man. Doesn’t Dadan look lovely? Sure looks like Garp has something on her seeing how scared she is of disobeying Garp. Seems like she was the one that mostly raised Ace and it looks like Ace is one hard kid to raise. Is raising a single kid worse than going to prison? Apparently Dadan and her men think so seeing that they weren’t too eager to the idea of taking care of another kid. Much less one related to Garp.

So hello Luffy

Yo

One thing that I notice was that the bigger guy with Dadan looks like a roster with his hair and goatee being red. That is something you couldn’t tell in the manga due to the use of the shades of black and white. Another reason why I love the anime. Haha

Now enter Ace, the little kid that seems to hate everybody and spits on other little kids. Boy does he looks like an angry little kid. I am guessing that spitting on other little kids is how you say hi up in Mt. Corvo.  Remind me to never go there for vacation.

So it seems like we got most of the major players for this flashback of our hero. Crazy grandpa. Check. Lady that watches over kids. Check. Main hero as little kid. Check. Angry kid that looks like he has ants in his pants. Check. Now we see where we go with this.

Also now that I am done trying to do whatever I was trying do in the paragraphs above I can mention this. This was an awkward start to the episode. We had a happy opening theme song with the new Opening 14. Then we went right into the recap with Luffy crying over the realization that Ace is dead. Then the set up for how horrible Mt. Corvo is. Then we go into the funny routine between Grap and Luffy. In just the first five minutes of the episode we went from happy, to feeling sad to laughing. Kind of made me feel bad that I was all smiles before watching Luffy bawl his eyes out then laughing at him a few minutes later.

 

 Isn’t it cute how the straw hat doesn’t fit Luffy? haha

This episode is really taking advantage of Luffy as a little kid. They gave him so many little moments to make him look cute and this is only the first half of the episode. All the fangirls that love Luffy must have melted into puddles of goo just by all these little cute moments. They gave him actions that made him look cute. They gave him facial expressions to make him cute. I have no problem since it as just plain funny to watch Luffy act like a little kid especially since we saw him earlier crying over the death of Ace.

Frogs? Mushrooms? Forest? Snakes?

You know what Luffy? Your childhood sucks. First off you tried to cut your face off to prove how much of a ‘man’ you were. Then you saw your hero lost an arm right before your eyes. Your grandpa threw you into the forest to beat you up as well have monkeys beat you up. This flashback has only just began and we know that something traumatic is going to happen based on what we know what happens in past flashbacks. It is amazing that you grew up to be a happy go lucky guy that we know you are today.

Worse of all…you told us all of that stuff with a smile on your face. Boy, you take happy to a whole different level.

And this is how Ace says good afternoon

Yeah….Looks like Ace was a very angry kid that didn’t like to be bothered with. Really makes you wonder what happens in this flashback that got him and Luffy to become ‘brothers’.

So far Ace spitted on Luffy, threw a tree at him, and knocked Luffy off a bridge.  Something major must have happen during this flashback that made Luffy grow on him as well made Ace a bit happier.

Then again maybe Ace is happy throwing trees at Luffy. That is how he gets his jollies.

 

The worse scenes in the episode.

The Ace taking a bath scene was so confusing to look at. The camera angle in this scene made it look like he was lying down on the ground instead of standing up in a barrel. Confusing to watch since I swore I saw smoke moving around. It wasn’t until we saw Ace looking into the water that I figure out he was taking a bath. Had to watch the episode three times to finally see that thing that Ace was in was a barrel.

Then you got to love seeing scenes that we already seen five times already. Yay for wasting time! Not like we haven’t seen this guy before claiming to want to see a child of Roger screaming in pain.

 

It is a good thing that Luffy was thrown into a forest before. Surely he enjoyed eating all those frogs and snakes to survive. Guessing now Luffy can add being chased by a pack of wolves to his list of things he did during his childhood.

Yeah…Luffy’s childhood sucks.

 

 

 

And Ace is a jerk!

Surely Ace is up to something since he is trying to get Luffy off his tail. What that something is we don’t know. Then again maybe Ace really doesn’t like Luffy because of his happy-go-lucky self. Ace has lived a life where everybody around him says that he shouldn’t be alive. Then here comes Luffy who is happy as a calm and see no wrong in the world. Both are kids of world class criminals yet Luffy has had a much happier life compare to him.

Such different backgrounds. One kid has had nothing but people happy to see him while the other has had people who wanted him dead. Wonder what will happen when these two finally get to meet.

 

This was a confusing moment. The whole part with the tiger and bear is all filler but it fits in a way. Surely Mt Corvo has some crazy dangerous beasts living there. The confusing part was what Ace wanted to do. For a minute it looks like he wanted to help Luffy but he never acted upon it. Then he smiles a bit. Was Ace happy that Luffy was able to escape or was he happy that he got Luffy off his tail? Makes you wonder if Ace has a nice side under all that angry.

For those that like Luffy and enjoy all the little cute moments from Young Luffy. haha

At least we know that Luffy has always been a determine kid. If he was willing to go though all that stuff again then the kid has guts.

Then after going though all of that, Luffy finally made it to the edge of the forest where Ace has been going too this whole time. The Gray Terminal. What adventures await Luffy here as he enters this area of waste? Just have to wait till next week to find out.

So we begin the flashback to Luffy's past. It is strange but we have never gotten a good look into Luffy's past. We always knew a little bit but never too much of it. During the Marineford arc we got bits of pieces of Ace's past so I have a feeling that Luffy's is going to be tied into Ace's a bit. It is strange though since we saw when Ace and Luffy became brothers so we know that sometime during this flashback we will see what made Ace respect Luffy. For now I guess we just enjoy this flashback.

Preview

So looks like next week we are going to explore Gray Terminal. Looks like people do hang around this place. If they are nice or not, we find out next week. Either way looks like a good part of the episode will be in Gray Terminal.

The other part of the episode seems to take place in a forest where we will meet another kid with blond hair. Seems to be friends with Ace so it makes us wonder what he has to do with the story. If anything he was seen in Opening 14 so he must be eventually become friends with Luffy.

Still before all of that friends stuff, looks like Luffy is going to get beat up a bit by some big guy. A big guy with spiked gloves. This is going to be fun to watch.

Did I mention that Luffy's childhood sucks? Yeah...

Next Episode: Enter Sabo! The Boy From the Grey Terminal

Come back next week as we learn more of how Luffy's childhood could be consider one of the worse in anime hero's history.