「仲間達の行方 巨大の墓標とパンツの恩」 (Nakama-tachi no Yukue – Kyodai no Hakajirushi to Pantsu no On)
“The Friends’ Whereabouts! A Huge Tomb and the Panty Debt!”

So as Zoro was running through the giant castle, I was thinking maybe he got sent here to improve his directional skills… but man, Zoro trying to get back to Sabaody is just plain impossible no matter how you think about it. Because of Zoro’s dumbness when it comes to everything except swordsmanship, Perona believes she can manipulate him into getting her back to Thriller Bark. Why is she so attached to that place anyways? In any case, Zoro’s sense of direction has never been this bad, as he couldn’t even follow another person without going in a different direction… but it’s hilarious that you actually feel bad for Perona, who actually has some sense in her (although in One Piece, that may be a bad thing).

So the giant cross from the manga cover story is explained to actually be a gravestone. The surrounding is like a battlefield, so my imagination tells me that maybe giants used to be here? Then again, why would they be in such a creepy atmosphere? It seems like an epic battle happened here, and the gravestone was part of an end result.

However, before Zoro and Perona get cozy, a bunch of primate looking enemies appear and are quite fast. They’re also apparently good with weapons. Maybe Zoro gets some training techniques from these primates? At this point, I’m starting to think that some of these guys are really not going to get much out of the islands, other than “not being with Luffy”. However such a cliffhanger of Zoro’s story arc begs the thirst for the inevitable sequel. I still don’t have an inkling of how Oda’s going to bring them all back in the story.

On the other flip side of the coin (which makes no sense), Brooke’s island really makes no sense at first (so I guess that phrase worked). With an explanation of a “kingdom” being oppressed by another, and consequently them resorting to black magic and coincidentally Brooke landing in their circle… It seems some of these arc stories are rather nicely developed. It’s weird how they all dress like a satanic cult, even though it seems as if they just thought of black magic as a their last desperate move against the other tribe. Anyway, being a musician myself, I found it quite funny how Brooke can write perfect sheet notation with just a quill. I thought perhaps maybe the song is a new battle technique, but has Brooke ever battled with music before? I think he lulled some people to sleep in the past, but battling with music kind of oversteps the boundaries of realism even in One Piece. And again, another cliffhanger. Why’d they have to end both Zoro’s and Brooke’s story arcs with cliffhangers?

As for next week, I actually don’t remember there being a flashback somewhere before the Whitebeard arc, so I have no idea what it’s going to be about.

Note: Having written over 4000 words today for finals, and now being almost 6 AM, I decided to finish up this post. So if it’s a little sloppy and nonsensical, I think that’s just my deliriousness and me slightly losing it spilling over. Expect the manga post later today… *yawn*

 

Preview

20 Comments

  1. Yeah you remember right, there is none…i too wonder what’s this about, but it’ll surely be good to see Ace in his childhood (in anime, i think we all had enough in manga 😀 )

    raklaron
  2. I thought the animation for this episode was quite good. At least we don’t have a sketch of faceless Ivankov in the background. Hopefully the quality of the animation for the Marineford war will be as epic as Water 7/Enies Lobbies, or else, it wouldn’t do the arc any justice! Based on the preview caps that you posted, I can safely say that the animation looks pretty crappy for next episode…I mean..who’s that throwing Luffy? I can hardly tell that it’s Ace…

    Chris
    1. Well to be fair, that was an inbetween frame of an interval of about 1 second. Normally the human eye can’t catch that it doesn’t “look” like Ace, so the animators can be lazy about it. Having every single frame be high quality would take a superbly long time. You’d be amazed at what some studios can do however. ..yeah animation is also something I study as a hobby :]

      1. At least we get to see Perona’s “Enel WHAT THE!” face again. Still, I’m rather glad it’s not like that escape from Impel Down episode where all they did was repeat cannonballs 150 times over, as well as that stupid rocking of the boat. That was a excruciating episode to watch. In fact, the anime version of the Impel Down arc was probably the worst that we have seen so far…I don’t want to say it again but..I sure hope Enies Lobbies doesn’t mark their pinnacle in terms of quality animation wise, cuz Water 7/Enies was just superb in both manga and anime form. Other studios eh? I like how Bones did FMA: Brotherhood, and how the animation and action scenes stayed so consistently throughout the entire 64 episodes…but I can only that Toei up their game eh? Haha.

        Chris
  3. I really want to go watch the episode now! Looks interesting… abd i’m assuming the next episode is going to be a flashback on Ace and Luffy’s past. I guess it’s to build up Ace’s character or something like that.

    alia
  4. I was thinking about all these side-arcs. So, I came up with this…

    The reasons why they’re on their respective islands are because…

    * Zoro – I was a little confused at first but I think that this island may have a connection with Mihawk since he’s one of the only One Piece characters characterized by a cross. Maybe this is his birthplace? Training ground? Past battleground? Maybe that’s his creepy castle? Who knows? I was also thinking why Zoro’s with Perona. Well there might be the reason of him needing someone to heal him since he was the most injured when he was sent off by Kuma. Another reason is maybe Perona will help Zoro train with spiritual powers? Idk, that’s a maybe. Also, I think it’s definitely fitting that Perona has ghost powers and that giant cross thing being a grave. Maybe she can talk with the dead? Who knows.

    * Nami – This should be obvious. She’s there to train and learn about weather.

    * Sanji – Pretty hilarious how Sanji got stuck on this island, haha. Anyways, I was thinking Sanji will probably learn to combine some of that okama-kempo with his own fighting style.

    * Usopp – I think the reason why Usopp is on this island is simply to become braver. That Heracule guy seems like he could teach a thing or two about heroism to Usopp.

    * Chopper – This island is also a puzzler. I was thinking that maybe this island is to help chopper get in touch with his “animal side”. What I mean by this is that the mainstay of Chopper’s abilities are in his humanistic powers. In the whole course of One Piece, Chopper’s ability to talk with animals has been downplayed. But really though, this is actually one of his most important assets! Ah who knows really about this island, haha.

    * Robin – Awww, Robin always gets such harsh treatment. Well Robin’s pretty powerful and intelligent as far as One Piece characters go. I mean if she’s a pretty formidable character even from the first time she was introduced. I’m really not sure what she’s got to improve upon. So think she’s on her island to gain connections with the revolutionaries. Also, Tequila Wolf is a really mysterious place. I’m almost certain there’s a reason why they’re building that bridge… hmmm, maybe to connect the East Blue with the Red Sea? Ah Idk.

    * Franky – This one’s pretty obvious. Franky’s there to learn from the old inventions of Vegapunk.

    * Brooke – Hah, I think I’ve got this one figured out! Brooke is there to train his musical abilities. He has used music to fight before.. i.e. his sleeping sword technique thinger. Also I’m pretty sure it’s worth noting that the Long-Arm tribe is the tribe from which Scratchman Apoo is from.

    Hen
  5. I hadn’t thought of the cross as a giant’s tombstone but that actually could be very plausible.

    Has Oda been helping them with these episodes?

    Show Spoiler ▼

  6. Gomu Gomu no FAIL… ashsuhuahus next week we’re gonna see a little part of the flashbacks that the manga is having now. They put a little part of the flashback in the middle of this arc, and we’re gonna see some Chibbi Luffy & Ace action. It’s going to be awesome!!!

    Thiago
  7. horo horo girl misses Thriller Bark because she’s a GOTH and that place reeked of it, plus as she mentioned in a previous ep she liked having luxury’s brought to her like “warm bagel sandwich and hot cocoa in the morning..LOL” …..BOOOOOOOOOOO!!! to zoro and 30secounds of action, NEED MOAR!!!!!

    BROOKLYN otaku
  8. Is it me or did they gave Perona clown shoes ? They look huge. I have to go back and re-watch some thriller back I think they were more normal size. Zoro needs to forget Kuina and perona fits the bill *shipper alert lol.
    As for brooke he got more than he bargain for asking to see underpants… guys underpants that hould teach him 😛
    I have lost some steam after the impel down arc and the up coming white beard arc. I really want to see the crew together and the thousand sunny. I have my own theory will that Show Spoiler ▼

    Island Esper
  9. Eh… I guess they’re going to do the beginning stages of the flashback arc now, so they can have Luffy reminisce about Ace a bit before officially kicking off the Marineford Arc.

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Jaysus
  10. I thought the writer just didn’t know how to story would go, so they left it as a cliffhanger. :S To send them to each place, the bear guy (Akuma? not good at remembering names) must be really smart.

    ciq666
    1. Er, I’m not Divine. Never noticed there were different bloggers on RC? Also, Scratchmen Apoo’s music battles are a result of his devil fruit powers.

      Brooke making just plain music and that affecting people would be a little weird. However, the fact that Apoo is from the Longarm Tribe, Brooke may learn a thing or two about music (and maybe learn to battle with it).

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