Offically and easily surpassed to the 2nd best arc. I won't say it's better than the world building, or character development, or villains of Arlong's arc. But despite that, this one's got some incredible world building itself; almost as good as Arlongs. Better supporting characters than Arlongs in the form of Hiriluk, Doctorine, and Dalton. And Chopper's backstory is magnificent.
Before One Piece, I had really thought flashback backstories were a lazy way of exposition. That the objectively better way to let us know a character was to show us how they act and let us infer why, as well as by piecing little pieces of their dialogue together. Now, I have to question that. One Piece backstory flashbacks are some of my favorite short stories in anime.. ever. When done well it's so perfect... So, maybe I should alter my view. Rather than show don't tell all the time, I think telling us can be just as good or even better if told in a masterful way such as this. Of course, It also comes down to the tone and atmosphere of the anime. If it's not as up front as One Piece is about this stuff, or if it jams the flashbacks in for an ulterior motive it is, or it can be done extremely poorly. But again, One Piece is incredible!
I remember someone mention that a reason why Nami's backstory was more sad than this was because she saw her mom get shot in front of her own eyes. But, we now see that Chopper had a vaguely similar experience... Even if it was at the hands of Hiriluk himself. In fact, Hiriluk even referred to Chopper as his son.
The montage of Hiriluk making his cherry blossom potion with Chopper in mind, and Chopper gaining the strength to walk through the reindeer horde and fight with the alpha with Hiriluk in mind was absolutely amazing. If he was going to die anyway, I suppose appreciating Chopper's journey and struggle and taking his death into his own hands was a good way to do it. The last scene where Hiriluk made a stand against Wapol was one of my favorite in One Piece, up there emotionally with Sanji saying goodbye to Zeff.
"When does a man die, he dies when he's forgotten!". I take it that even though Hiriluk understood it was a trap he went there for a few reasons. 1. To confirm that it is a trap, he was ecstatic that they were all okay. And 2. To create a miracle alike that with cherry blossoms, one that speaks to, and heals the hearts of those in the country. The soldiers were unable to execute him, and Dalton broke down in tears. Even if you didn't create the miracle that you had hoped for, you still cured their hearts Hiriluk. And it was absolutely glorious. You were the inspiration that allowed a new country to form, and the protest of Dalton against Wapol. Oh my gosh. And Dalton stopping Chopper from dying meaninglessly really secured him as a favorite of mine.
To say something negative to stop glorifying One Piece... the only real thing I have is that I still don't like how formulaic this is.
1. Find person to be on the crew.
2. Sadly they can't join due to a complication, nor do they want to.
3. They see the straw hats fight the villain and get inspired.
4. The villains defeat both removes the complication and ensures the new member that they want to join.
5. They join.
I really doubt this one will go different, and maybe it's not inherently a bad formula, but I kind of want a new member to join who doesn't go through with this. And, if this arc ends up going differently somehow I'll eat my words.
I cried so hard I went through an entire roll of toilet paper(since I didn't have tissues).
edit: my friend mentioned that Vivi and Karoo joined the crew not following the formula, and I realize they kind of have. I was viewing them as supporting characters for this arc, but even if they're just temporary they have a wanted poster so I think it counts. However, I still think my formula point stands if they're just temporary, and for any cases after this. |