First Impressions / One Piece

OP13 Sequence

OP13: 「One day」 by THE ROOTLESS
Watch the 13th OP!: Download, Streaming ▼

I’ve liked almost all the openings of One Piece dearly, which is surprising considering how much I don’t seem to like songs used in other openings of anime. The only ones I didn’t like were the second and the last opening. I was so sick of the last opening, and never really thought it fit in. That probably compounded to the detachment I felt for OP for a while now. While the song for this new OP doesn’t sound bad, it just feels weird with the action in the background. With the upcoming episodes that will be filled with said action, this moody song just doesn’t fit in. That said, the animation showcasing the powers of each character was excellent, and is something I feel is a good measure of the animation to come.

 

One Piece – 458

「海軍本部直前回想特別編 集結! 三大将」 (Marinfōdo Chokuzen Kaisou Supesharu – Shūketsu! San Taishō)
“A Special Retrospective Before Marineford! The Three Navy Admirals Come Together!”

Yeah.. again another 90% flashback. Though you have to give some credit to having some thought given to these flashbacks, instead of just pushing them in random places. Although most of the flashbacks weren’t anything “new”, I’m surprised they had one for Donquixote Doflamingo. It was a bit intriguing since there’s almost no information on the guy, but they didn’t reveal anything either. If anything, they did remind the audience what his powers can do. I think his scenes were also reanimated, since I don’t remember OP going widescreen until episode 218 (pulled this straight out of memory because I watched that new widescreen episode so many times) or so. Other than that… there’s not much content to blog about, so I attached it to the next episode.

 

One Piece – 459

「決戦の刻迫る! 海軍最強の布陣完成!」 (Kessen no Toki Semaru! Kaigun Saikyō no Fujin Kansei!)
“Ticking Down to the Time of Battle! The Navy’s Strongest Lineup in Position!”

Now here’s the episode that many of us have been waiting for! With the semi fillers finally over, the new and quite possibly the best arc in One Piece history begins. Although this episode mainly served as exposition, it was still incredibly exciting to see. I mean, I’m caught up with the manga, but this episode had me giddy like a kid on the day before his birthday (trust me, I’ve been there).

I’m not sure if there was this much exposition in the manga, but I’m pretty sure the children’s song about Whitebeard wasn’t in there. That was pretty surreal if you think about it. More realism injections with parallels to our universe I suppose. About halfway through the episode, I kept thinking, “this is really happening isn’t it?” With the thousands of marines, the Shichibukai, and the three Admirals ready in their positions, one can’t help but feel that the shit’s gonna hit the fan. I feel like One Piece is finally getting back on its feet, like how it felt during the Enies Lobby arc. When the Gate of Justice was shown, the whole thing just hit me like a sack of bricks. The war is coming people! This entire arc is almost nonstop adrenaline once it snowballs into a gigantic epic- yeah, I’m going to stop there to avoid spoiling. But it’s going to be one hell of a ride.

They had a pretty good atmosphere going on through this episode, making the weight of this entire predicament pretty imminent (which it is, and which it should be). The anime always does things like this to make the story with an extra punch to make it worth seeing along with the other obvious reasons such as animation and sound. However, before anything really happens, they’re going to explain a lot of things about Ace, since he IS the main x-factor of the arc. The reveal that Portgas D. Ace is Gol D. Roger’s son still had me gaping in awe, even though I knew the reveal a while ago due to reading the manga. With the first of many story changing revelations out in the public (literally), the snowball has officially started rolling. The reaction of the reporter was right on the money, as it is probably exactly what everyone’s thinking of right now… “The bloodline of the Pirate King continues?”

Note: With Ace finally being in the spotlight, I’m wary about the comments that will follow. Please avoid talking about anything even remotely related to this arc’s future storyline. We’ve finally reached this point in the anime, and it would be a ridiculously selfish move to ruin the fun for others.

 

Preview

36 Comments

  3. As much as I am looking forward to the coming war, I am am like fiending for some Straw Hat CREW mischief. I need it like a drug addiction man. Oda is a true genius, depriving fans of the complete crew for so long is like torture. To me Fighting always took a back seat to the comedy in this series and without usoop shooting his rocket eyes at every badguy and stupid comment, without nami’s coin eyes and fickle attitude, without the constant battle between sanji and zoro, and without their idoit captain to make them all look smarter it just isent the same. The last few chapters reminded me of how much I missed it 🙁

    will
    Reply

    2. Im thinkin about the pacing on these upcoming episodes.. i hope the pacing speeds up a bit cuz if this 1 ch = 1 Ep pace continues we wont see even a hint of the the rest of the crew animated until damn near 2011 give or take a few fillers…

      also i understand that my hope is a false hope.. smh..

      royceHOLLERED
      Reply

  5. OMG…and I thought that knowing who Luffy is related to was always surprising. To think that Ace’s lineage was so much more unbelievable and the biggest shocker of it all. Can’t wait to see what happens next.

    Riko
    Reply

    2. thats where flashbacks come in.if they feel that they are getting too close they can just include some flashbacks that werent in the manga.plus they can also add in recap eps after the deaths

      godslayer
      Reply

  22. hahaha i like the new opening song actually, it fit the arc pretty good…. however, those sort of character introduction scenes in the opening didn’t really fit the song… but the overall song fits the arc quite well

    anywho…. oh god….. let the most beautiful part of One Piece begin!!!!!!!

    ThePotatoGod
    Reply

  23. You don’t like the second opening “Believe”? Whaaaat!? I like most of the earlier openings, especially Kokoro No Chizu and Brand New World (Enies Lobbies arc, hell yeah!)

    I’m surprised you did pick “Crazy Rainbow Star” over “Believe”, especially when “Believe” is so old-school for One Piece fans…glad that all of us agreed that we are glad to see the end of Opening 12…yep, hopefully the standard of animation will be as high as the action sequences!

    Chris
    Reply

  24. DAMN! HIS SON!?!?

    Crazy shit. I always thought they looked a little similar. But Ace also looks similar to Luffy. Maybe they’re all related. Or Maybe Luffy is related to Portgas D. Rouge.

    Eamon
    Reply

      1. It was said that the island Rouge was on had special properties, so if she wanted to, she can delay the birth, but apparently, it took too much of her strength and vitality to do so, resulting in her death when Ace was born.

        Chris
        Reply

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