I was a little disappointed by this episode. Not that it was bad by any means, but after such a tension building episode last time, for one that is mostly rule of cool and fun without much worry until the very end was, I suppose, underwhelming. That said, it gives me a good reason to talk about Doflamingo and his family in more detail, something I didn’t want to bloat last thread with, so that’s good!
I just want to say how cool I think this introduction to the Don Quixote family is! Doflamingo himself has a build up comparable to Blackbeard. We’re told he’s this underground broker that has his sticky fingers all over every transaction in the underworld and honestly, we hardly needed to hear that because we saw it! We’ve seen him since Skypiea as he was over Bellamy and then in Sabaody with a slave auction under his name if I recall correctly, and then in Marineford trying to get Crocodile under him. This is his proper introduction but we’ve felt his presence and seen his actions in the background the whole time and it makes this super exciting. Further, the humanity that’s been given to his family is quite notable. Death of named characters in One Piece is rare, especially characters that were introduced in the same arc. Yet, Monet should absolutely be dead, and what were we shown with that? Her last attempt to anything was suicide with faith in Doflamingo. Vergo? He dedicated like, 10 years of his life to being marine for Doflamingo’s sake and when he was to die, he smiled without regret. Then we have Baby 5 and Buffalo fail time and time against the unstoppable General Franky and they gave that speech about being under Joker and therefore refusing to give up. All of which, to me, sells the Doflamingo family as one that is dedicated and loyal. To give them humanity and strength in their last moments gives us empathy for the opposing side and sells them as family. It makes Law’s betrayal feel heavier and intriguing, he’s the inverse of these other members who give their everything for Doflamingo, and he was said to be seen as a little brother to Doffy. And it makes comments about Joker’s past and the “heart seat” he’s still holding for Law fascinating. It also works as a more personal stake in this rather than only ruining a plan.
So for the actual episode, Franky proves that although he doesn’t often get fully fledged fights, when he does they are always so much fun. It was hysterical how much of a blast Franky was having when showing off his Iron Pirate’s capabilities against these foes who he didn’t even understand. Stuff like the faking of being hurt by the flame thrower Ivan style, “GENERAL I’M-OKAY!”, or the “this move has never been beaten” last words where he tossed them and shot his general canon and only then realized Caesar is even outside, it’s so funny. “Okay, I praise you… for your power - you made it through this General body! But this is like a mantis going up against a warship!” and “SUUPER MUDADA” were fantastic.
The other part of the episode was super Nami and Usopp centric! Nami blasting the gas out of the exit with a gust sword for the kids(honestly at this point I’ve lost track of the crews capabilities) and that glorious Nami and Usopp finish of Buffalo & Baby 5. This was probably my favorite part of the episode, being a huge Usopp/Nami fan as a duo, them standing up and dropping cool lines to denote how awesome and courageous they are for taking down fleeing enemies was great, especially with Zoro cutting them off twice. “WE ARE NOT AFRAID OF ENEMIES THAT ARE FAR AWAY AND HAVE NO INTENTION TO FIGHT”, “ON TOP OF THAT, THEY’RE WOUNDED AND TURNING THEIR BACKS ON US”! This form of fighting is like badass to them. To top it off, using that weird piranha plant star and adding in sea prism cuffs to catch Caesar at the end was genius!
It’s a bit of a shame the most we saw out of Sanji x Baby 5 that I caught was him blushing in the cool “they’re my enemies!” zoom out. Also, is Aokiji coming to Punk Hazard?!?!?!?!?! WHAT! Or, I suppose we call him Kuzen now, huh? Aokiji was his admiral name and he’s not an admiral, it should be so cool to see Kuzen no longer against the Straw Hats due to affiliation. Oh my gosh, and his connection with Robin?! When was the last time they even met? Water 7? And why does he even know what’s going on. I cannot believe we’re getting this on top of Doflamingo. The Punk Hazard conclusion gets more and more insane. |