One annoying complaint I have for Dressrosa is, like never before, I have gotten sick of the running gags. I’ve mentioned this before, but in this episode for example I wish the harem didn’t follow Senor Pink to the factory. Senor Pink himself is awesome and his hard-boiled nature is great. But every time he does something cool, I already know it’s cool, the “kyaaaaaaaaa he’s so hard-boiled” line is just obnoxious at this point, before it even happens I know I have to wait for it to end. Back in the colosseum, I noted it was often my least favorite part of the arc but I knew Oda would be doing something with everyone he introduced. Their purpose was to create the Luffy/God Usopp army that we’ve now seen for the final phase of the arc. Further, I’m sure many of them may carry weight outside of Dressrosa. But, as much as I appreciate the steps involved, I tend to not care for any of them excluding the people I already initially did, mostly Cavendish, Rebecca and Bartolomeo. When we get a montage of them beating people up, I yet again am subconsciously waiting for it to be over.
That said, I have a soft spot for Abdullah and Jeet. I may be simple, but for me, having a character which is based on two contradictory feelings, ruthless sadism and an adorable sense of gratitude for instance, or with Cavendish, narcissistic vanity and a respect for warriors which can overpower that, or with Bartolomeo, an anarchist who goes out of his way to be a nuisance and a devoted fanboy, is enough for me to start to see them as people. To begin liking them. And the fact that for a mere moment we could have thought Abdullah and Jeet were in on the trap with Kelly, planning to kill Luffy inside the well, made their role in this even better because they were able to prove everyone wrong. They may be sadistic and have no sense of honor, but they do love the guys who saved their life to the end, wishing Luffy luck. Heck yeah Abdullah and Jeet!
But taking a step back, I liked the two interactions between Luffy and Law this episode which involved their contradictory natures. Law first voicing his complaint that with the cuffs on him, he was heading into his own demise, and Luffy thinking about it for the first time since they started heading to the palace, only to say what he initially did. 'It’ll work out', with a smile on his face. That kind of spontaneous ability to move forward, not ever think about taking a step back, and to let all worries go must break Law’s mind. It’s something I’ve always admired greatly about Luffy, it’s something I try to adopt myself. As for the second interaction, it was hysterical when Robin said she’d deliver the key and Luffy responded by saying, “I told you it’d work out”. And he’s right, Luffy almost always makes it work somehow, maybe Law will eventually come to accept that. What it also shows is another reminder that Luffy hasn’t changed too much at all.
Outside of this, Bartolomeo, Robin, and Rebecca took some beetle helicopters and played fortnite on their way to the flower field, which was fun and cute to see everyone go from sheer fear to having a great time. Kelly Funk was the one to betray Luffy in the end and I have to assume it had to do with Doflamingo since he made his way to the cave himself. It certainly made for a plot twist, if Kelly chased Luffy it would be nothing to fear, but Law unable to fight and Luffy in a puddle of water, backed into a corner, facing a pissed off Doflamingo sounds genuinely terrifying. Franky and Senor Pink had a good time fighting each other and the Tontatta got an idea to help. Pica continued to get destroyed by Zoro, Zoro giving some of the most demonic smiles possible as a reminder that we should be utterly grateful he is a hero and not a villain; he’d be one of the most frightening One Piece villains imaginable, and he continued to mock Pica. His voice and his sword. It does, to me, feel self indulgent, Pica wanted to kill Luffy but Zoro is trying to become his most hated foe to get the best fight he can muster. It was super cool to see Pica get scared of Zoro and dodge him by the way which led to Zoro getting an idea of how Pica’s power worked. I should note, Zoro could be pissing Pica off to get more information about how his power worked as well. It would certainly make Pica less composed. And lastly, I always mentioned Bellamy for being MIA, but let’s not forget about Burgess either, that guy is a true wildcard. |