First Impressions / One Piece

「起こせ最後の奇跡 正義の門を突破せよ」 (Okose Saigo no Kiseki – Seigi no Mon o Toppaseyo)
“Come, Final Miracle! Break Through the Gate of Justice!”

This was probably the slowest episode in weeks for me. I don’t know if it was just plain slow with all the emphasis on flashbacks and Bon-kurei, but it was incredibly repetitive to see those marines shooting cannonballs for two-thirds of the entire episode.

Now I’m well aware that some may call One Piece a “kids” show and it was or still is intended to that particular audience, but I’m usually intent on emphasizing that it is only shallowly as a “kids” show. Generally, yes, it definitely appeals to kids, but to the older audience, we can pick up in depth so much more and really appreciate the well written over arching plot line and the wonderfully developed characters. I also like to point out that while it can be called a “kids” show, there is a “kids” genre label that it isn’t associated with. It’s a shounen, and that is still a step above “kids” shows in Japan, targeting towards 12-14 year olds.

I’m bringing this up because so far, I have never really been provoked by the show into thinking “wow, this is so juvenile”. However, with the massive emphasis on Bon-kurei and his deeds, with the whole friendship thing, I just couldn’t get “juvenile” out of my head. Of course, I may just be “old” to acknowledge such things anymore, and that kind of thinking is often made fun of in kid shows (like “those adults just don’t understand how to be a kid anymore” or something similar). There’s also the issue that this whole friendship thing is just how Bon-kurei is portrayed, and is just one of those things you accept in anime, let alone Japanese culture. I don’t know, but in the end, I felt there was too much focus here. Then again, it’s entirely possible that because I’ve seen it in the manga, with the addition of it needing to be dragged out in the anime, it just lost its magic on me. I did feel some sympathy in the manga when it was revealed, but it was somehow much less cheesy… Actually, after thinking about it, One Piece’s biggest themes is “Nakama” and Bon-kurei is a perfect example of sacrifice for friendship. HOWEVER, I still believe it could have been less cheesy, but given Bon’s character, I guess it can’t be helped.

Episode-wise, there’s not really much to analyze or go in depth about. The crew gets through the gates with Bon-chan’s help… and that’s it. Surprisingly, it was nice seeing the old crew in the flashback, which shows how desperate I’ve become to wanting the old crew to come back. The symbolism with the “last cherry blossom petal” was nice, BUT THERE ARE NO CHERRY BLOSSOM TREES ON THE OCEAN. Oh, and there’s STILL 4 hours left till Ace’s execution. Wasn’t it four hours… 2 episodes ago?

Oh and that baby den den mushi is ridiculously cute. That is all. Till next week~

Note: Okay I guess I wasn’t clear enough (I edited some parts to make myself clearer), but I also don’t agree that One Piece is a kid show either, I just merely meant that it can be called a kids show (if one really wanted to) if only because kids are able to watch it and enjoy it. I also didn’t belittle his sacrifice as something to be laughed at, since that’s what some of you are trying to get at. All I’m trying to say is that it seemed much cheesier to me in the anime than the manga. I think I’ll bold the part where you guys don’t seem to be reading… Sorry if I loosely threw the word “kid” and “juvenile” around, as it seems most OP fans see a massive negative connotation with OP being anywhere near the word.

 

Preview

33 Comments

  2. RaYsh is gay and they can be as cheesy as they whant bon died and he was in many episodes lately remember how they where saying goodbye to the flying lamb or those crapy episodes with nico robin beeing captured you just accept it because one piece is one of the greatest things ever not only in anime.

    gnomtastic
    Reply

  3. I don’t read the manga, so it did took me by surprise to see how Bon Kurei disappear all of a sudden. Then to see history repeat itself was bone chilling. I do agree too many cannon balls 🙁 that was lame. Now you got me confused by saying this is a kid show. Did you mean Teen by any chance? It seems to me that a six year old kid watching a show full of okama is not the real audience. Even though is not shown (I hope I’m wrong) RIP Bon-chan *sniff

    Island Esper
    Reply

    1. I don’t think he means kid show that specifically. It’s just that One Piece is intended for all audiences. There are moments it can be pretty mature and other times you think to yourself, “Um… I’m not 10 years old.”

      This show is pretty successful since it has like a movie every year, orchestrated soundtrack and awesome animation. So, I’m guessint the producers don’t want to change their target audience for business reasons.

      Eamon
      Reply

      1. I agree OP is for multi audience. One of the things I love about OP is how eventually they tie up people and events from the past and connect them to the currents events. This type of series with so many episodes is bound to have one or two controversial episodes. This one is shaping to be one. Personally this whole impel down arc is my second least favorite. Thriller bark being the first. I have said this in previous post: Bring Nami and Nico back!! make this fan boy happy :0

        Island Esper
        Reply

  6. You think the death scene of someone who’s helped Luffy and everyone else escape from prison (and their own deaths) is childish or juvenile? I’d much rather see an emotional episode like this than the 2-3 follow up emo episodes that other shounen anime do when someone dies.

    Kiz
    Reply

    1. I understand how you feel, but technically Bon Kurei isn’t confirmed dead!
      After the WTF moment with Pell I think it’s pretty much confirmed that in One Piece unless it is stated explicitly, death is never assumed.
      This doesn’t make Bon Kurei’s sacrifice any less meaningful or noble, but still I’m pretty sure this isn’t the last we’ve seen from him.

      Darklord
      Reply

    2. Like Darklord says, noone is ever confirmed dead in One Piece until they’re actually shown to be dead. Also, I’m not going to repeat this anymore on later comments, but it seems to be confused that I think his sacrifice is the childish thing. No, his sacrifice is brilliant, and works for his character, but I’ve always felt his extreme emotions with Luffy were a little bit awkward. When it was pushed to the extreme in this episode, the emotions just felt a bit cheesy to me, that’s all. I also pointed out that I did not feel this way at all during the manga, and I have never felt this way in past anime episodes, such as the Merry viking burial scene, and talking to Robin at the tower of Enies Lobby.

      Kiiragi
      Reply

    3. Kiiragi, I reckon its BECAUSE you’ve read the manga and you knew what was coming up, it must have felt rather cheesey for you. For me, it was the complete opposite. I actually felt rather touched by the scene =)

      I don’t read the manga, so I had no idea what was coming up and I actually thought the final scene was pretty emotional. They went through hell to get out of Impel Down and he decided he’d sacrifice himself so everyone else can escape.

      We don’t know if he’s dead or not. But if he’s not, I hope it’s not the last time we’ll see Bon Clay.

      Now, I want to know wtf Blackbeard wants to do in Impel Down. He probably survived the poison using his darkness ability. I wonder how many eps we’ll have to wait before we find out.

      Eamon
      Reply

    4. Yeah, I mean I’ve pointed it out that my manga knowledge could be the culprit at hand here, but it doesn’t seem like anyone’s bothered to read the entire paragraphs :/

      For Blackbeard, I’m not sure if info about them was revealed during the Impel Down arc, or right afterwards in the manga, but it may be revealed next episode.

      Kiiragi
      Reply

  7. WORST BLOG OF AN EPISODE EVER, i can’t beleive the only person that blog one piece is someone who don’t understand it at all KID SHOW KID LABEL WTF the drama and feeling that this episode show are PRICELESS, if one piece is a show for kids i can’t think a label for shows like naruto and bleach.

    i am 100% agree with you kiz.

    battler
    Reply

  8. @Kiiragi..dude u don’t gotta defend the “cheese” moments on this show, it is what it is and it’s long been a staple of OP for the characters to wear their emotions on their sleeves and express them in a simple and apparent fashion..waves of cannonball attack was corn “made my ass feel like i was watching G.I joe..or some other shit cartoon” but AT LEAST THEY GOT HIT mad times. for my money that Bon.c “MAN UP” scene at the end was bad ass!! regardless of the corn, id say OP has corn ratio of 1:50 episodes and dat sh!t aint nothing to scratch ur nuts at……ooohhh and THANKS for blogging this yo!

    BROOKLYN otaku
    Reply

  9. “Episode-wise, there’s not really much to analyze or go in depth about”
    jajajaj are you really bloggin one piece???? a nakama sacrifice himself staying in hell to be tortured or die and you said there’s not really much to go in depth about?? stop blogging one piece please.

    kira
    Reply

    1. In an episode where 15 minutes were almost purely cannons being shot against the ship, with everything else being either flashbacks or the notion that Bon-Kurei has sacrificed himself, I think I’ve hit the nail on the coffin that there isn’t much to talk about this episode.

      Regarding Bon-Kurei, I’ve already spent 3 paragraphs talking about him and what I’ve thought about it.

      Kiiragi
      Reply

      1. i agree with everything you say Kiiragi, it feels like they just didn’t do this episode right. All the needless padding, 90% of it having nothing to do with what should have been this episodes focus, really ruined it for me, and i came into this episode ready to be sad knowing what was coming.

        I don’t understand how they can convey enough emotion to make me cry man tears for a boat, but not make me feel anything at all for an important supporting character and friend like Bon Kurei.

        DSSeraph
        Reply

  13. I didn’t really find it cheesy. I think people have to realize that seeing a still image from a manga is VERY different than seeing an animated scene with voices. It seems less cheesy in the manga due to how the images are depicted and layout.

    This episode was fine and the emotions that were presented were handle fine as well, given the characters involved.

    Mania Lyssa
    Reply

  17. ok, so aside from the cannonball scenes that everyone seems to hate, i pretty much enjoyed this episode myself.

    the OP anime has always been a big complement to the manga, rightly as what Mania Lyssa had already said about still images and animated scenes. it’s much more emotional when music and voices give life to the characters. for example, i was in near tears when i read Brooke’s back story, but i was positively crying nuts during the animated episodes, especially with Bink’s Sake playing in the background.

    so while the manga can’t give Bon-chan the cheesy scenes he deserves, at least the anime can.

    naixil
    Reply

  19. wtf with people and manga raw spoilers.. jjeeez… i dont know what they r trying to prove…

    anyway.. this chapter was boring with all the cannonball and flashbacks..

    im happy that impel down is over.. it felt like took forever.. so dragged… so slow.. thanks god.. toei have to do something to improve this anime… i hope they manage to do it better in the next epic arc..

    neko
    Reply

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