I LOVE MARINEFORD WOW! I don't watch One Piece for how it looks but these last episodes have looked amazing. I see why they were saving the budget in Impel Down now! Hahahahaha.
So, I was wondering why Kizaru didn't just crush Luffy but it seems reasonable to me. Luffy is an ant in this war, anyone whose actually afraid of him has to be insane at this point. Kizaru presumably has more important things to do. And, Kizaru was having fun seeing him struggle of course! So, I am not so surprised anymore.
There's two scenes in the first half of the episode I want to mention. I'll start with the first, Ace's resignation. It really hit me hard when he said, "I'm ready". It's moments like that where I think an animes pacing can be an amazing addition to a manga series. I have sympathy for Ace, he has an army under Whitebeard capable of defeating the entire navy all fighting for his sake and risking their lives. He's had a friend die in front of his eyes and he doesn't think it'll be the last, he knows he's risking WB and Luffy too. The last thing he wants is for them to die for his sake and join him, they are two of the most important people in the world to him. In fact, he's already shown he was hoping no one came for him. So, for him to finally be moved by Luffy's call to him, "ORE WA OTOTO DA!!!!!", makes sense, he cannot stop Whitebeard or Luffy. Both are his family whether they're blood related or not, his father and brother. I think it was when he was forced to realize they won't stop until they save him or they die he resigned his fear and sadness. He was resolute and decided he was ready to die, as to end this battle. That's how I took it and its so FREAKING SAD!!!
To change the tone a little, the Buggy bit made me laugh incredibly hard. It was probably one of my favorite Buggy scenes yet! He's way too in over his head but he feels like he's gone too far to stop now so he faked bravado towards Whitebeard, omg. Honestly, unlike Usopp who lies to give himself genuine strength, I think the fact that Buggy is such a cockroach that he never ultimately gives up his arrogance is part of the reason he's survived and stuck around with the greats so long. Like I've compared him to Luffy before, no matter how stupid he is you can't stop him. Maybe temporarily but not forever. It's inconceivable for him to not think of himself as the greatest person in the world. At first I thought WB was giving him a break because he knew him as 'Rogers' brat but it makes sense he doesn't wanna waste his army fighting an unnecessary battle when facing the navy like this. It was great how Mr.3 picked up on it a little too, "HE CALLED YOU BRAT!!!". Going off that point a little bit it was cool to see Sengoku and WB playing such deep strategic games with each other and predicting their responses.
Next the second half of the episode had some amazing character moments and fights. I specifically found the Jimbei fight with Moria super awesome. Jimbei is so confident, and swift, and composed, and each blow of his seems like it's equivalent to a freaking gum gum bazooka. I loved seeing his dodges using the minimal amount of movement he needed and then how he totally TIGER DROPPED Moria's aggression and followed it up with a throat punch. It was legitimately insanely cool. Whitebeard and Jimbei on the same side is crazy, they are both so strong and tactically intelligent.
The smoker encounter was powerful too. That first hit he got on Luffy was so impactful I felt it and the aerial encounter was maybe some of my favorite animation in the anime?! I wasn't expecting it to look anywhere near as pretty as it did. Well, Smoker wins again anyways. Then it led to Hancock showing that super badass angry side of her so that's super good too!! Wooo. I do wonder why Smoker didn't turn to stone though like the navy men she kicked. I suppose it's because even though she can hit him, he's still a mist man.
I wonder what Doflamingo meant at the end. It could be a metaphorical death of course. Or maybe a literal.. I'm not sure what to think about it. At first I had an unlikely thought that since we've seen Kuma go that meeting so long ago with Doflamingo that maybe Doflamingo is controlling him like he can control others. Yet we've seen that Kuma definitely has his own thing going, saving and meticulously sending all the Straw Hats around the world, so.. I guess we'll find out. |