Anime: Straw Hat Reunion Arc- Episode 522

                                              

Apparently “fake” ladies aren’t Sanji’s forte. Get real ladies (and fake ones) only at OnePieceOfficial.com. They could be somewhere else, but it is not likely.

First Thoughts 

First things first: so glad to be back in the review business! I missed this so much, and am overjoyed to have returned to this near-regularity once more. Things should get moving here soon, and more is still to come, so keep looking out for these Anime Reviews! Now, onto the episode, one of my favorites in this short arc.

The best part of watching this episode was the animation of Sanji’s nosebleed. That and Luffy’s reaction to his crew members made the episode excellent. To someone who had not read the manga in advance, this episode was filled with surprises and excitement, all of which were impressively brought to life from their ink and paper origins.

I tried something new for this review: I watched the episode then I read the chapter afterwards.  I will turn this into a habit in order to improve my understanding of the episode and my ability to convey what the anime improved or elaborated on from the manga.

Summary
In a mad dash to his ship and his crew, Luffy is assisted by friends old and new as the Marines close in, with each of the Straw Hats’ alliances made over the past 2 years paying off, as friends they’ve made during their training stall the approaching Marines.

Together again, the crew quickly catches up as Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro each react differently to seeing the group together again. Sanji has several major incidents with women involving the loss of blood, much to his pleasure.

The reunion complete, Luffy and company depart from the island of endings and beginnings, on their way at last to Mermaid’s Paradise, and the New World!

Thoughts

Grandfatherly Boss-Man 
Melancholy background music greatly enhances Rayleigh’s flashback. Training Luffy must have reminded him of the old days. Bitter-sweet is the word that comes to mind when watching these flashbacks. Very well done on the animator’s parts, giving a brief look into the training to show the connection Rayleigh feels. An almost fatherly relationship, as though Rayleigh felt Luffy was like a grandson. Very good appeal to viewers, plus some sweet character development which the manga doesn’t detail as readily as anime flashbacks do.

This hippo is adorable. I want this hippo.

Pride in Luffy’s accomplishments over the last two years is the highlight here, and Rayleigh is obviously proud to have passed all of his skills onto Luffy. A teacher’s pride in their student is the phrase which accompanies Rayleigh’s actions.

I was wondering what Sanji did with his merchandise. I am glad to see he didn’t just toss it away or lose it. Nami would kill him if she saw all that money wasted, and I doubt he would enjoy losing all of those cooking supplies either. Speaking of Nami, Sanji has yet to lay eyes on either female in the crew, so seeing his reaction animated should be entertaining.

Directions and Reactions
Perona’s sudden appearance is very sudden and surprising, and the blatant threat she is holding over Zoro’s head is amusing. Sanji’s interaction with her is definitely the best part of this scene. I believe that the best parts of this episode have been witnessing Sanji’s various reactions to females, as they are so elaborate and over-the-top.

Though I do wonder after this scene and Perona’s hesitance, if she perhaps has a soft spot for the green haired swordsman after this time they spent together. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if she did. Any positive addition to her character is good, as it keeps her from fading into obscurity or worse, seeing as Oda has proved that he has the guts to kill off central characters now. Any humanity she can gain will benefit her survival in the series.

The animation of her Gothic Lolita clothing is well done, and her stuffed animal Bearsy has returned from before she met Hogback. I like the curls in her hair as they are very similar to my own. The pink bat tattoo on her arm is new as well, so that is entertaining to see. It looks like a Brick Bat that Moria used from his own shadow. It looks as though she is the one who got Zoro to Sabaody with that Log Pose on her arm. I wondered how a guy who gets lost walking in a straight line could navigate his way to an island and locate Shakky’s Bar so quickly before the others.

Zoro does not like this.

Now Zoro has had two irritable, pink-haired, female pirates yell at him on Sabaody. I wonder if this will become a trademark of his.

Sanji’s seclusion is causing major side effects. Side effects such as his inability to recall proper treatment and mannerisms regarding ladies. I foretell that he will be in terrible pain as this episode progresses if he cannot control his urges, whether by the females design or by his own failure to calm down.

Sanji has “no-women-for-two-years” syndrome, one which makes men irrationally crave women after a long absence of the opposite gender. Very dangerous. To the male.

Sanji should never make that face with the huge nostrils again. It is extremely creepy, though the scene was exceptionally humorous.
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I approve of this picture. He deserved this.

Return of the Straw Hats
I am glad to see that Brooke has not changed too much, though I had hoped that he had gained more maturity after becoming so famous. It seems as though only a few of the boys grew up at all, though none of them could resist overreacting to the sight of Franky’s new robotic body.

I cannot find words strong enough to express my joy at seeing them all together at long last. It is great, having the family together again. The music compliments the mood well.

This beautiful, heartwarming moment is ruined by Sanji’s reaction to sight of Nami and Robin, with results as expected. I believe even Zoro’s eyes bulged out of their sockets in surprises.

The Easily Impressed and Free Parking
This is easily the most impressive flight I have ever seen an anime character obtain with a nosebleed. I believe he should be dead. That looks to be at least two thirds of his entire body’s worth of blood.
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Luffy is too excited by Franky’s new body. Nami is absolutely right that nothing’s changed. It’s good, because I missed them as they were. It would have been sad if they became completely different, or lost their distinctive spark after two years. Luckily, my fears are gone upon seeing the group’s dynamics back on full blast.

I was unaware that iron cannonballs could turn into stone, and that said stone is capable of immediately losing all inertia upon impact with arrows. The laws of physics baffle the mind sometimes.

Why do Marines place their battleships in Boa Hancock’s path? I suppose they’ll never learn. Silly Marines, when Boa Hancock decides to park her ship somewhere, they had best not protest.

As the first time the crew has ever seen Boa Hancock, they run through the basic routine of how each person reacts to news of a Warlord. Robin states who they are, the more nervous Straw Hats panic, and the more rational ones watch patiently to see what occurs.

The reactions are hilarious. I cannot be more pleased at this part, for the sheer hilarity of the scene and the way each man plays out his reaction. This is my new favorite episode in terms of humor.

Luffy’s obliviousness still amazes me.

I was wondering when this topic would be brought up, and more importantly, how Sanji would respond to where Luffy was sent. This is the same reaction Sanji had in a fan-fiction I read the summer of 2009, long before this scene was penned for the manga.
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I have been waiting two years for this scene.

This scene is even better than Sanji bleeding to death over numerous females. The proof that Perona does have feelings for Zoro is better than Sanji meeting Hancock face-to-face. From her actions and her odd demeanor one can deduce that she is holding back stronger feelings for the man than she lets on.

It warms my heart to see them all so pumped up and ready to go! It is a pet-peeve of mine when one person is privy to information and he or she does not share with the others, or at least with the person or persons who really need to know.  This is a good thing that they are all heading out at long last. The opening playing in the background is a really good, up-beat effect as well. This is the triumphant return of the Straw Hat pirates, and it makes be proud to be a One Piece fan.

Set Sail for Fishman Island

It is good to see that many of the allies the crew made during their respective trainings have reappeared at Sabaody to assist in taking care of the Marines for the pirates. This gives them more flesh than just being in the opening panel of the beginning of a manga chapter.

Nami knows Luffy and Zoro so well; when they say, "Ah, we understand" with a straight-faced and serious, it is a blatant sign that they do not understand and never will. So there is no need to waste time with an explanation.

Final Thoughts

Undeniably this episode proved to be a work of genius on the parts of both the animators for bringing this piece to life, and the great Oda for devising such hilarity. This episode was great from top to bottom. Perona’s feelings towards Zoro lying under her hard exterior were shocking, and Sanji’s fated reaction to Luffy’s recounting of his time on Amazon Lily brought tears to my eyes. Through and through, this episode never let up on levity, yet went unrivaled in closure.

Though miniature hippopotamuses and Marines having their back-ends handed to them by cameo-characters was adorable, my favorite part the animators added was easily the nostalgic training sequence based around Rayleigh’s relationship with Luffy. It was wonderful seeing such a memorable scene in the anime, though it was more succinct in the manga. That is the perfect example explaining why the anime is sometimes better than the manga: a picture conveys a thousand words, but an animation gives those words form and brings the characters inside those pictures to life.