Anime: Post Marineford Arc- Episode 515

 

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Thoughts

This was a great episode to watch the first time through. Every scene felt meaningful and added another layer of depth to the characters that were focused on in this episode.

Then I had a second viewing of this episode. It was not as fun to watch and I wanted to skip to the highlights. This does not occur often when I re-watch episodes. Maybe it is because I know that cool things are in store very soon and that all of this is just set up.

The revelation at the end of the episode had the same impact through both viewing. I will get to that later in the post.

Also a reminder, next week is the premiere of Opening 15, We Go.

Summary

Brook, Robin, Usopp and Zoro ponder the message from Luffy.

Zoro explains that Luffy wants everybody in the crew to become stronger and reunite in two years at Sabaody.

Thoughts

Anything but the Bare Bones

Brook starts off the episode pondering Luffy's message. He is taking it seriously because he wants to put all he has into helping Luffy. When you think about it, Brook has only been with Luffy's crew for what seems like a week, yet he has already developed bonds that are just as strong as those he had with his old crew. Luffy fought hard against Moria so Brook could regain his shadow and join his crew. Not many people would do that for some stranger that they met on an abandoned ship.

Things don't look good for Brook, who is stuck in a cage. It looks like he will be stuck there for a while entertaining the people of the Three Elbow Tribe. The people of this country don't seem to travel often as people with a single elbow populate most of the world. Are people with a single elbow joint that much of a rarity for these people? I wonder why Apoo decided to leave this place. That is if it was his choice to leave. Apoo at least is used to the world outside of his island, remaining non-plussed by the single elbow jointed people on Sabaody.

The flashback scenes of Brook’s past were not reanimated. There was no reason to reanimate the scene, because it originally aired in 16:9 ratio. I didn't expect them to reanimate Brook's introduction, but I was wondering if we were going to see anything new.

It was nice to see the events that lead to Brook joining the crew. It was unfortunate for Brook that he had finally officially joined the crew after 50 years of loneliness,  and within a matter of twenty minutes he was separated from them.

""Loneliness" is no longer a part of my vocabulary!"
-Brook

The statement above can best describe why Brook is positive despite separation from the crew. Brook was alone for most of his life. Suddenly, a group of people found him and were willing do anything to help him. Now Brook knows that no matter where he is there will always be somebody to help him. He doesn’t have to be alone anymore because they will be there to support him. Brook now has to do the same for Luffy and the rest of the crew.

This whole scene was cool until Brook ruined it with a lame skull joke. The worst part was that the skull joke wasn’t meant to be a joke.

It will be interesting to see how Brook will improve. Currently he is almost a blank slate as we haven’t seen as much of his abilities compared to the rest of the crew. He can either develop his swordplay or his musical abilities. Brook could also develop abilities we’ve never seen from him. The sky is the limit with Brook. It will be fun to see what Brook comes up with.

Robin and the Wonderland
The Revolutionaries are getting more than they bargained for as Robin demands things of them. Robin doesn't want to go inside and the Revolutionaries have to readjust all the preparations made for her. Then you know that Robin is doing this just to mess with them.

Robin isn't doing  this to mess with them of course, well maybe a little bit. Shebrings up a good point concerning the relationship between pirates and revolutionaries. Based on what Robin said, the two groups don't have a friendly relationship with each other. I wonder if pirates regularly interfere with revolutionaries or vice versa. Do the revolutionaries even like pirates? I would guess the pirates could harass them because pirates don't care who they pillage from as long as they pillage something. That would make the pirates an unknown factor for the revolutionaries’ plan because you never know when they will strike. Just imagine what would happen if Luffy matured on an island that the revolutionaries controlled before they knew he was Dragon’s son.

One line that got to me was the one below.

"We didn't know that you were allied with Crocodile."

-Some Revolutionary

There is a high chance that I am reading too much into the line, but it sounds like the revolutionaries know of Crocodile. Is this guy saying that they could have easily talked to Crocodile and take Robin away from him? That would mean that Crocodile is  willing to negotiate and trade with revolutionaries. I know that conflicts with everything I said in the previous paragraph, but we do know that some pirates have worked  with revolutionaries before. Kuma was a pirate who had ties with them. This could mean that Crocodile is a member of the Revolutionary Army and his plot to overthrow the Alabasta Kingdom was part of their plans. Perhaps that was the secret that Crocodile  want Ivankov to keep. Then we see some sort of wing design on their ship that reminds me  of the Baroque Works’ Jolly Roger.

Now I am grasping at straws.

The other thing that line could mean is that the revolutionaries would either infiltrate or overpower Baroque Works to retrieve Robin. That would be a good theory too.

 

I have never seen Robin's flashback or much of Enies Lobby animated. I have read both stories in manga volumes but never watched it. I do know one thing, hearing Robin forcing back her tears as she laughs while slowly floating away from her home island is one of the saddest things I have ever seen. Even if there was no foreshadowing, it was still sad to watch.

SniperKing Begins

Usopp is already busy trying to grow stronger for Luffy's sake. He is working off the extra pounds that he has gained staying on Boin Island. I wonder if it will become muscle or Usopp will go back to skinniness. You can hear the determination in Usopp's voice as he works off the fat. The guy says some powerful stuff too.

"To make you the King of the Pirates. I'll become the real King of the Snipers!"

-Usopp

He is slowly making his lies into truth. It is now a matter of time before we will all know him as the true King of the Snipers.

 

Reanimated scenes from pre 16:9 ratio look nice.

I am not really sure what you could have shown as important “Luffy and Usopp” moments but I guess these scenes are good enough. Both scenes illustrate the friendship between the two characters and how much they mean to each other. Usopp in the future isn't just going provide Luffy with motivational support but support him in battle.

I wish that we saw these Pop Greens utilized prior to this moment or some  hint that Heracles was using them. I understand that they wanted to keep them mysterious, but it feels like they came out of nowhere. I believe that the plant life has to be hostile as we saw  the plants attacking Usopp. I wonder if these are the seeds of those plants.

The Pop Greens are going to be an awesome part of Usopp's arsenal. I can already see him shooting these things from his Kabuto. Usopp just gets cooler with each passing arc.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Zoro

"When a man like you swallows his pride, it is always for somebody else."

-Mihawk

Mihawk is one of the few people who have watched the Straw Hats grow up. He met them back in the East Blue and later fought Luffy at Marineford. Now he has Zoro bowing before him asking for training. He must have a good idea of how strong the crew is after seeing Luffy at Marineford. Mihawk has an interest in the crew  that was his reason for attending the Warlord meeting during the Jaya arc. It is these moments that have given Mihawk an insight that  many people in the world do not get to see. He knows that Zoro is full of pride. It says a lot if Zoro  swallows his pride to ask for training by the guy he wants to defeat.

That Zoro defeated a bunch of powerful baboons that had already beaten him twice. He did all of this for Luffy. Now Zoro will undergo training by his ultimate rival. That is one hard pill to swallow for both Mihawk and Zoro.

Mihawk  decided to train the man that will beat him. Either he believes that even with his training Zoro won't be able to defeat him, or he knows that there are better people then himself for Zoro to fight. This is a very interesting situation. I wonder how this will play out.

The humandrill leader is anime filler by the way. Its only purpose was to provide a backdrop for Zoro’s flashback. It was a nice touch in the episode, but nothing special.

 

Zoro Explains It All

Did anybody found it strange that Zoro who explained the meaning of the tattoo and the purpose of what Luffy did at Marineford? Please remember that Zoro was struggling to understand it in an earlier episode. Apparently, Zoro got the message as he is willing to stay on Mihawk's island to train.

Luffy’s message to the rest of The Straw Hat was that they will be separated for two years. All the other actions had no meaning. A very cunning plan created by Rayleigh.

This was a surprise because we know that Luffy likes to rush into trouble. Rayleigh suggested this plan to Luffy and normally, Luffy would have ignored it. This could be a sign that Ace's death affected Luffy's decision making. Moreover, during the war, Luffy saw many powerful people.  This experience could have told him that if he wants to compete in the New World, then his crew has to be stronger. They have two years to do that and Luffy won't be idle.

Final Thoughts

Two years; a lot can change in that amount of time. Do you realize that the Straw Hats have been apart for that same period in real time?  We won’t have to actually wait another two years because it will be two years in anime time.

Overall, it looks like we are going to enter a time skip pretty soon in the anime. This could mean so many things. We might view new designs, new attacks, and new personalities in the future. These last two episodes have shown us how each crew member may become stronger. Now it is up to them to show us what they will have in store. Things will be exciting pretty soon.

Preview

It looks like Luffy will undergo his own training with Rayleigh. What does the elderly pirate have to teach Luffy? Surely it has something to do with surviving in the New World.

It would seem that we will see what the others in Luffy's crew are doing as well. it’s probably nothing too big but a little something for us to see.

The next episode will probably be emotionally moving. Two years can go by fast or slow. Next week's episode will show us what Luffy will have to endure in the next two years.

Next Episode: Luffy’s Training Begins! See You At The Promised Place In 2 Years! 

Make sure to not miss next week's episode!

Written by: Mikey
Edited by: Dsaftler