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Sailing away from this season’s filler the anime is back on track with the new Arc; Punk Hazard. Because this is my first post I'm going to also pack in a few thoughts and observations I've made over the years. Reader beware?
- Luffy sees something interesting and wants to keep/explore it or possibly broke it.
- Much of the crew is freaked out by whatever it is. Normally Chopper, Usopp, Nami, and Brook.
- The crew is forced to comply with Luffy’s wishes and splits up.
- Someone’s in danger and needs help.
- Food is normally involved somehow.
*Unless one of the crew members is kidnapped or runs away.
Here’s looking at you Robin and Nami.
Now because of which over time the dialog and all around plot of
these episodes tend to be repetitive, but considering One Piece as a whole is
much like a RPG game it’s to be expected. After all this time I can’t help but
to be disappointed with the fact that the crew has had two years to develop and
yet their reactions have become routine. I guess I can’t blame Oda for not
wanting to change the heart of his characters, if it isn’t broken then why fix
it? Seems to be the idea here. Given the fact One Piece has some of the coolest characterization in Shonen, I find this to be forgivable.
Main Idea
Back to the episode, and spoiler free for the non-manga
reader. Out of the Panz and into the fire as they say Punk Hazard
is a lovely bipolar island with a 4 year old government restriction, on the
crew’s side we see a sea of fire and on Smoker’s side, oh yes he makes an
appearance in this episode, we see a winter wonderland. Luffy drags his crew
into the fire to answer a distress signal Via DenDen Moshi from a location
which is supposed to be cold. But while being on the fire and brimstone side of
the Island they won’t be helping anyone.
There is quite a bit of establishment in this episode for the arc; Samurai are mentioned, the crew is split in two with Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, and Robin exploring the island and the rest on ship guard duty. Smoker and his party will be obvious subjects in this Arc once Smoker decides to pay a visit to Punk Hazard with his obsession in hunting Luffy down.
Impressions
My personal favorite
moments in this episode would be Robin feeding Luffy, animated Luffy and
Zoro stripping~ (No stripping Sanji is disappointing but he’s too used to the
heat anyways.) But I find the moments when the crew members are intimate to be
my favorites. There really aren’t enough of them considering they all live on a
ship together yet you can sometimes forget how long they’ve been together and how
close they are. Quite frankly we need more of them, mostly with Franky, at the
moment he’s simply that big lego robot that just watches the ship while the
crew has fun. Personally, I find his new design so annoying I really don’t mind
not seeing him, but I really want to like him! Help me out Oda!
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| Well.. Someone has to watch Sunny. |
The episode concludes with a cliffhanger, leaving the rescue team in eminent danger of an unnamed mythical creature. Because you know if it’s enough to freak out Robin, it’s something big. None the less, the episode hasn’t introduced any new characters, only a new setting with the promise of screen time for old favorites (Smoker) but nothing that can’t be summed up in the lengthy episode recaps. A new year, a new arc, a new opening would be greatly appreciated as well!
That's all for now! More adventures next time.
First off, welcome to One Piece at a Time, Nessa.
ReplyDeleteSecond, you are not alone in your opinions of the post time skip makeovers, particularly Franky. Back when I was writing for Toy-TMA last year, I wrote a review of all the straw hats makeovers, and many of the things you mentioned I did point out.
http://www.toy-tma.com/hot-toys/anime-cartoons/new-straw-hats-review-2/
I believe there are many of us who are a bit peeved that Oda has not given the cast any huge character development post time skip, but I can understand that it would be difficult to balance when to place drastic personality shifts with a series that still probably have a long way to go. For all we know, Oda could still be writing One Piece for another 15-20 years, if he develops his characters too much now, there wont be much left for them to go in the future.
Another thing I agree with you is that we need more personal interactions between the crew. Oda could stand to let his characters have some time to breath before rushing them off to another trial. I had the idea that Oda could have written a few chapters where all the Stawhats gather around a camp fire together and take turns telling each other about their adventures when they were separated the past two years. I still think it would be a good idea.
In fact my Number One Favorite Episode of One Piece, thus far, is Ep.384 It is a filler episode that takes place in between the Thriller Bark and Sabaody arcs, and is all about Brook trying to find his place on the crew. There's this wonderful moment when he sits down and listens to each of his crewmates working in different areas on the ship, and has the epiphany that he is no longer all by himself on that quiet lonely ghost ship in the Florian Triangle. He then performs the most beautiful violin solo of Bink's Sake that the show has ever had.
Now I for one am very much looking forward to the anime rendition of Punk Hazard. This episode in particular moved at a very decent pace, and as much as Usopp groaning half the time has gotten old by the 579th episode, I will admit the, "Hey you're finally eating!" "I'M STRESS EATING." line did make me chuckle.
Also, the one point where Usopp expresses concern about trespassing onto Marine evacuated Territory, only to be reminded they are already Marine targets, I couldn't help but think to myself "Yeah...remind me Usopp. WHO was it that burned down the flag of the World Government at Enies Loby, thus declaring war on the entire world?"
Hey Gus, what is your opinion on the Post-Alabasta episodes where everyone has their own little adventure and Robin gets some time with them all?
ReplyDeleteMost of them were pretty good. Chopper's was cute as hell, and it was the beginning of this very sweet kinship between him and Robin that started to reoccur through future filler episodes. Next to Nami and Usopp, I feel those two have the best chemistry with one another of the straw hats. (Keep in mind I mean this is in completely platonic terms.)
DeleteI loved the moment when Usopp pretended to speak as that little girl's parents when she visited their graves. While Usopp's past isn't nearly the saddest of the Straw hat's, in my opinion it is the most relatable (Sick mother, neglective father. P.S. Yasopp has a lot to answer for.)
Sanji helping the marine kid cook the gumbo without telling him exactly what to do was probably one of his most awesome moments. I find myself liking Sanji the most whenever his cooking skills are involved: the contest in Loguetown, infiltrating Marineford, gathering the salt at Water Seven after the Aqua Laguna. I'm not so much a fan of the love struck swooning side of him at all, in fact I find it way more annoying than any of Usopp's running tangents that everyone complains about.
Nami's was alright, but I just wish there was a moment when she would actually show us her progress in whole. I want to see how much of the world she's been able to map out so far, and to show us occasionally so we can see a progression as more and more empty area's of the world get filled up. But so far she's hoarding it all to herself as if it's some big secret that only she's aloud in on.
In short her map is a freaking tease (just like everything else about her)
Zoro's was...meh. I guess it was kinda funny to see Johnny and Yosaku as rookie bounty hunters with Mohawks and all, but other than that, it was pretty forgettable.
Where American animation tends to be geared primarily towards children, there are actually many types of anime, geared for many ages and interests.9anime.to
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