One Piece

Episodes 981-982

Jinbei joins the Straw Hat pirates at last, and is greeted by a round of hugs and cheers from those aboard the Sunny. We get a short flashback of prior encounters between Jinbei and Luffy, from Whole Cake Island to Impel Down to Marineford. Jinbei takes the helm, and he and Franky exchange compliments. There's a call for a toast, but there is no booze aboard. Thankfully, Zoro's boozehound sniffer smells alcohol coming from Onigashima. While Kinemon tries in vain to hold a strategy meeting, the minks and Hyogoro's troops arrive to join the battle.

Soon the strategy meeting begins in earnest. Kinemon and the others begin to detail their strategy to approach Onigashima and deal with its various defenses. It quickly becomes clear that Kinemon's plan is not up to snuff, and Law declares the “real” plan – one which involves taking the idiocy of Luffy and Eustass into account. While Kaido's troops rush head on to fight the two captains, the others will make their entry from the lightly-defended mountains.

The assault on Onigashima begins. Jinbei steers the Sunny towards the main gate, with Franky slinging a hook to allow them to slide and avoid defensive gun batteries. The Monster Trio leap into action and engage with Kaido's forces. Cannonballs, regiments, giants – none can stop the Straw Hat pirates. The rest of the crew follows, with Brook, Robin, and Franky each getting a chance to show off before Luffy jumps into the fray once again and the episode ends.

The fabled final assault on Onigashima, a battle more than twenty years in the making both textually and metatextually, has commenced. Most of this episode is a preview of what is to come, with haphazard plans sent awry by goofballs and villains, massive exchanges between armies and navies, and powerful personalities unleashing devastating special attacks. It's hard to overstate how momentous this battle is; even though this is the “end”, it feels like it is only just beginning.

The anime once again does a terrific job of bringing the source material to life. I was particularly pleased to see the various (non-baby) Straw Hat members get their own lavishly depicted special attack moments, and I am especially overjoyed to see Robin get the spotlight – though I will simply not comment on her enormous Gum Gum no Step On Me attack. The visual flourish added to the icy snowflake under Brook's strike was another great touch, with the slow climbing icicles and fade to black in the background.

There was also a lot of One Piece's characteristic joy in this episode. The hilarious subtext of Kinemon being a single-brain-celled goofus re: his “plans” was great fun, especially the back and forth with Raizo. Law's admission that Luffy and Kid ruin everything got a nice big belly laugh out of me, and the sequence with Brook sliding around on the deck gave me a big smile. Even in the face of the Ultimate Battle to End All Battles, the show doesn't forget to include these moments of levity, and they are quite welcome.

But there won't be much to laugh about for a while. Buckle up folks, Onigashima is here.

Rating:

The Akazaya Nine plan their approach to the front gate. But before they can arrive, it appears that the Thousand Sunny has disappeared. From the smoke, the Monster Trio emerges to unleash destruction on the Beast Pirates, wiping out the gate defenses in an instant. The Straw Hats then decide to have a toast and relax as the dust settles. The Akazaya Nine are overwhelmingly impressed by the Straw Hats' power, and glad to have them as allies.

Within Onigashima the partying has commenced. The Shogun is enjoying the company of many young ladies, while the other pirates drink and make merry. Even Queen is gorging himself on buckets of red bean soup. Kaido demands to know where his son is while waiting for the arrival of Big Mom, and soon the Tobi Roppo show up as well.

We are then treated to a concert by Queen, and the golden festival is soon filled with lights, fireworks, and the cheers of the Beast Pirates. As Queen announces the various forces of Kaido's, we cut to the Shogun certain of his victory, and then join the Tobi Roppo lounging together.

Back at the main gate, the Straw hats have gathered enough alcohol to have a drink. At last, Luffy goes to toast Jinbei joining the crew. In the middle of this, the Akazaya Nine excitedly ramp the ruins of the front gate and head towards Kaido and Onigashima. Luffy decides to hold off the toast until the great banquet that will be held once everything concludes, and instead joins the Kozuki samurai. The To Be Continued card flashes and the episode ends.

One Piece is a triumph.

I don't know how else I can put it. One Piece remains of the most popular series of all time, heading towards events over twenty years in the making, with an anime adaptation that consistently defies what one would expect from a weekly anime series.

The visual fidelity and cinematic language on display is pure excellence, full stop. If I sat here and listed all of the amazing cuts and brilliant direction in this episode, I'd just end up describing every frame. The burning flame of Luffy's Red Hawk, the buoyant joy of the crew shouting “I'm in!” in unison, the creeping liquid snuffing the fuse in Orochi's chamber, the glorious entrance of the Tobi Roppo… every shot is a tour de force.

And the thematic depth at play? The Queen Golden Festival dance number cutting to widescreen when he's on stage? The horizontal glare of the burning red in Onigashima's eyes juxtaposed against the gleaming blue steel of the Kozuki samurai? The glare of Onigashima's eyes being blocked out by Luffy entering the frame and smiling at the viewer? The slow soft pan of all the crew members as they shouted “I'm in!”? The shot of Luffy's cup slamming down then a match cut to Oden's marching foot falling?

I had to fight back tears and I lost that fight.

I think what gets me is how my estimation of One Piece's anime adaptation has changed just in the course of the Wano production. I will always recommend reading the manga – it is One Piece in its purest form, after all. But now, I starting to think that if you're not watching Wano, you're actually missing out on part of the experience. This isn't an adaptation, but a celebration. This is a swan song for one of the greatest action-adventure stories ever told. In fact, I'd say that if you like animation at all you should be watching Wano; “film quality” doesn't even begin to describe it.

Megumi Ishitani and the entire Toei team have my deepest thanks for thier loving rendition of a franchise I care so deeply about. On to Onigashima and the battle that will rock the pillars of the world.

Rating: