One Piece Anime: Wano Arc, Episodes 906-920

As with before, I'm rewatching through the Wano arc of the One Piece anime! It took kind of a while for me to collect enough of these. Again, less of a review and more of my commentary as I re-experience the story once again in anime format! It's a collection of my commentary about the cool scenes and additions as the Wano arc goes on.

This isn't written in a single long sitting or even a continuous one -- I sometimes watch one episode a day, I sometimes watch five or ten... I just type this up in a small Notepad file as I go. 

I'll try to be a lot less talkative this time around per episode, since I actually do want to see this through!

Without further ado...

Episode 906:

• That is a pretty Hiken, and a rather well-animated one. I'm going to assume the animation studios really liked Ace! It's a pretty little flashback scene that I don't think was necessary, but juxtaposing Red Hawk and Hiken does make it pretty sweet. 
• I really do like Law's little straw helmet thing! 
• The Law/Hawkins fight gets extended just a bit. Not as much as the Hawkins/Zoro one, but it's cool to see Law use abilities like Injection Shot and Scan which don't get too much usage in the manga. I'm also pretty sure Hawkin's goons didn't get Tacted around in the manga, too. 
  

Episode 907:

• As the 20th anniversary celebration episode, this is an adaptation of the original Romance Dawn, the precursor to One Piece. It's neat, but I really don't have a whole ton to say about this one... though it's pretty weird that the villain is a straight-up sorcerer. (So I say, right after an episode that features Basil Hawkins and Trafalgar Law...) Pirate Garp is also somewhat surreal to see. x

Episode 908:

• We actually see Luffy steal the giant bucket of water in the anime from Batman, (I assume) Snakeman and Rabbitman, in the manga I think he just shows up with it. 
• Law lampshades how odd it is that Speed is with the group, but he and Zoro just brush it off as "Luffy won her over". 
• One of the more surprisingly dark scenes in the manga -- a mother about to kill herself and her baby in Okobore Town -- is censored, for obvious reasons. The shot is still animated, but the knife is gone. 
• You can just feel the frustration bleeding out of Law. 

Episode 909:

• ...we actually see how Zoro got lost? Holy crap! He got distracted by a tiger with a sword, and the others just let him go off on his own. Unfortunately, I actually like the manga version better where Zoro just inexplicably goes missing despite riding on a giant dog with the others. 
• They really stretch out the 'ghost' misdirection for a bit, huh? From the cliffhanger in 908 to the animated spectral Kin'emon? I think back in the manga days we just had a regular One Piece is on break.
• I'm going to assume that Law is intentionally trolling Luffy with the whole 'our samurai allies are dead' obliqueness as payback for Luffy's fuck-up in Okobore Town. 
• The Sarahebi teacher scene is such an unimportant scene in the grand scheme of things, but I've always felt like it's one of the biggest world-building pieces that really hammer home the danger of isolationist propaganda. The anime adds an additional scene of an old man sweeping up the ground outside of the school, lamenting that they can't do anything to the brainwashing of the children. 
• It is so weird that this is how we're introduced to Kyoshiro, huh? Knowing what we know about him now, it's so interesting that his first introduction is shit-talking Orochi and shit-talking how putting faith on the Akazaya Nine is pointless... 
• Speaking of Kyoshiro, man that opening is a huge spoiler. 

Episode 910:

• I keep forgetting just how many hints of the Oden flashback we get in the early stages of Wano. It's actually very cool seeing glimpses of these events now that I know the full scope of what happened in the past... but knowing that this was like, three pages in the manga (and most of the depictions of the events that happen in the past is inaccurate), this episode does feel pretty padded out. 
• Oden gets significantly less silhouetted these flashbacks, too. I mean, he's still in silhouette, but we get to see a bit more details compared to the solid-black-body-with-a-smile from the manga. I guess they kinda need to, because they used Oden beating up random Kuri gangsters as filler in this episode. Speaking of the flashback... I guess they haven't reached that part of the flashback when this manga was airing, because the brief glimpses of Oden dying is completely different. 
• We also get to see Ashura Doji basically in his full body with his full colours, which sort of negates the 'Shutenmaru' twist later basically. Of course, it's a twist I personally never really cared about, so no huge loss here. 

Episode 911:

• 910 and 911 really could have been a single episode -- it's perhaps one of the more obvious padding out in these episodes? I know that Wano is a lot better at it compared to the previous arcs, but they really stretched things out with scenes of Momonosuke crying or Kin'emon just taking his sweet time in monologuing. 
• What this episode does well? When Kin'emon was recapping what the team did after leaving Wano, he has this over the top "RAIZOOO!" "MOMONOSUKE SAMAAAA!" "KANJUROOO!"  yelling every time someone in their group got separated. That was genuinely funny! I liked that. 
• Kin'emon recapping what's essentially the New World saga and how everything connects to Wano and Kaido is from the manga and certainly relevant. The subsequent deluge of miscellaneous scenes from the previous arcs, however, took a bit too long. 
• Sanji gets a bunch of extra scenes of flirting with Kiku. Considering what we know of her, it's kind of interesting that Sanji at the time of writing this doesn't know Kiku's a crossdresser.
• The Wano outfits are very colourful! I like them a lot. 

Episode 912:

• So Ashura Doji being Shutenmaru is basically explicitly exposited by Kin'emon and Kiku to Sanji. It's a bit odd, because I remembered it being a surprise when Inuarashi sees Ashura Doji in the manga, but I guess it's a bit harder to keep the surprise when they show both Ashura and Shutenmaru's full profiles a bit more prominently in the anime? 
• Yeah, Ashura, stealing the food from Okobore Town is kind of a dick move, as is waving a sword around and bullying that grandma. I know he's disillusioned and everything, and there's that great Sunacchi/graveyard scene later on, but... yeah, I knew there was a reason I like him the least out of the Scabbards.  
• Speaking of Ashura's flashback, we see a glimpse of it in this episode when Ashura shit-talks Jack. 
• Shutenmaru and Jack's fight gets extended a bit more! It's nothing too over the top, just them clashing swords and jumping around, but it's pretty cool. 
• Kaido's transformation into dragon form is pretty cool! The voice actor has a great time hamming it up, and I love the quite funny gag of seeing Kaido's teeny-tiny legs attached to his long blue dragon body before they get replaced by the dragon tail.
• It does kind of make us lose any sort of ambiguity on the identity of the dragon, making Law's "that's Kaido!" line a bit less impactful, but that transformation scene was pretty cool.
• That is a very cool shot of just a single one of Kaido's dragon arms extending out of the clouds in the sky above Jack and Ashura. 

Episode 913:

• I've always wondered, was it a fun coincidence that Hawkins told Kaido to attack Kuri Castle? Is he that good at bullshitting, or maybe it's just a simple 'what is the best thing to say' fortune-telling?
• Holy shit, Kaido swirling around the skies around the town is pretty cool!
• Holy shit, Kaido's Boro Breath is fucking awesome! I love the zoom-in into the eyes and the glowing effect on the initial fireball. And, of course, the blast itself piercing through the skies. And the sights of the Straw Hats being reduced to line-art as the blast 'consumes' them. 

Episode 914:

• It took me almost a month between watching 913 and 914; real life stuff got in the way. 
• That is a very nice Boro Breath animation. It's reused animation that took up a couple of minutes and is obvious padding, but I for one am not unhappy to see this particular piece of animation. 
• So does Kaido have drunken rampages often? I actually wonder, it seems pretty cataclysmic when he just coils around and the simple act of moving causes entire streets to collapse. 
• I very vividly remember Luffy's Gear Third Elephant Gun being the cliffhanger for the equivalent chapter in the manga, so it's pretty interesting for the anime staff to have the 'Luffy punches Kaido' be the opening act of this episode, and for the Elephant Gatling (which was just a mid-chapter attack) to be the cliffhanger for this one. 
• That is a very cool impact on the Elephant Gun. I wasn't really feeling it with the rather prolonged buildup, but when the massive black fist slams down on Kaido? The Wano animation team really likes to have those brief flashes of bright light to emphasize the impact and they really make it pretty. They also really like to have the background and foreground explode into cubes, as shown when Kaido slams down to the ground. The rest of the episode has pretty great animation overall, too, honestly, particularly the action scenes, but the Elephant Gun one is easily my favourite.  
• Arguably a cheap and simple trick, but Luffy's eyes glowing red all throughout the motion is also very effective. Later on, the casual Conqueror's Haki flash is also very well animated.  
• Speed is just casually blown away by Kaido slamming onto the ground is a lot more clear in the anime. In the manga I think it's just a one-off panel that I missed the first time I read through the manga. Though did she really survive a point-blank Boro Breath? 

Episode 915:

• 
  After the Elephant Gatling, instead of transforming back to his human form like in the manga, Kaido just stops his fall and... breathes on Luffy, blowing him and his noodle-arm away. It's probably meant to be a badass 'dragons control the weather' moment, but the way it's shown makes it look like Kaido's just unleashing one hell of an alcoholic breath... which honestly, makes just as much sense in this context. 
• I really do appreciate how Oda basically 'nerfs' Kaido's first fight with Luffy by making him drunk, since Luffy's subsequent fight with Kaido has him get a lot of help. 
• Elephant Gun! Giganto Stamp! Grizzly Magnum! And later on, Kong Gun! Double Culverin! Kong Organ! I love the barrage of attacks that seemed to push Kaido around but we all know they aren't doing jack shit to him. I bet the anime adds more attacks, though I didn't check. 
• Drunk Kaido stumbling about after standing up is such a mood. 
• Okay the landscape just being blown away by Kong Gun is pretty damn badass. Again, it's just more cubing and more flash-to-white and random Conqueror lightning effects, but I'm an easy man to please. Hey, I did a proper, serious review a couple years back when this came out in the manga. The anime is just me fanboying and going 'oh it looks so good in motion'.
• The slowly-building-up ominous chanting in the background music after Luffy knocks Kaido halfway through the city is so good at building up hype and telling the audience that, no, Luffy has most definitely not taken down the big K. 
• That swirling whirlwind of clouds in the sky heralding Kaido opening his eyes and having it glow bright with the power of seriousness is pretty damn boss. 
• Holy shit, the zoom in to Kaido's pupils. I think it's in the opening too (I skip the opening in most of these episodes) but damn it looks good. 
• RAIMEI HAKKEI! That is yet another pretty shot, even if I'm not a fan of the 'wiggly camera' as we pan up Kaido's body. 
• The anime actually shows why Law doesn't use his Room superpowers to escape with Luffy, actually showing Hawkins attacking Law when he's in the middle of doing just that. 

Episode 916:

• I don't really have all that much to say about this episode, actually, although having a more decompressed time between Luffy's defeat and the end of Act One does make it feel a bit less rushed and hectic -- which can arguably be a good thing or a bad thing. 
• (Oh, right, Kid also has Conqueror's Haki)
• Ah, yes, the very casual reveal that Kin'emon realizes that Shutenmaru is Ashura Doji. Actually, how did no one realize this? It's not like Ashura really put much effort in making his new persona look particularly different from his original one...
• I checked the manga, and apparently Chopper turning into Guard Point to hold everyone else up is something that is from the manga. I didn't realize that! 
• I feel like the Straw Hats' voice actors could definitely pull off a hammier 'HA?' than what we got, but I guess it's meant to be a more confused 'huh?' instead of the longer, more bombastic one that my mental image had of the scene in the manga. 
• I did like the overlapping katakana bit to symbolize Luffy and Kid saying the same things. It's so colourful!

Episode 917:

• Oh, right, the between-Act chapter! Oh man, these are the best parts of One Piece. I love the little introductions and the narrator talking about these characters we haven't seen in a while, although I'm not a big fan of the flashbacks. 
• Perona does see Moria as basically her surrogate dad, right? And Mihawk's kind of her new surrogate dad, sort of? Honestly, I've never really thought about Perona all that much after Thriller Bark ended and she kinda-sorta became buddies with Zoro and Mihawk, but they do really make me like her antics in this one. 
• Mihawk speed-cutting up cucumbers is hilarious. Of course the world's greatest swordsman would be great at all cook-cutting techniques. 
• Speaking of Moria, it's also honestly quite heartwarming that someone that we generally remember as being a lazy and nasty person all around would single-handedly storm Blackbeard's base of operations to get one of his crewmembers back. 
• Moria is a huge guy, isn't he? I keep forgetting just how gigantic he is. 
• I have never noticed that Pizarro has a cat motif, between his pupils and saying 'nya'. Though to be fair, I've never really noticed Pizarro at all. 
• The Gura Gura cracks on the 'to be continued' screen is pretty badass. 

Episode 918:

• I really love the Komurasaki music in-between acts! The transitions are already pretty unique in the manga, but the anime really plays it up for all it's worth and I approve wholeheartedly.
• Oh, okay, the confrontation between Inuarashi and Ashura Doji just happens abruptly. I thought that the manga left it kind of sudden so the anime can fill in the gaps, but nope, they just went straight into already being mid-battle. 
• A bit off-topic, but I actually really kind of feel slightly robbed that Ashura Doji turned out to be cooperative in the end. When this segment of the story showed up first in the manga, I had thought that we might be getting a story arc with one of Oden's retainers actually becoming genuinely disillusioned with Oden. And, sure, we had that powerful moment with the graveyard later on, but Ashura's character really did kind of felt rushed. 
• Kin'emon uses his fire sword to stop Inuarashi and Ashura's fight. I'm pretty sure he just yelled a lot in the manga. 
• We get an extra scene of Raizo BAMF-ing into the middle of Kin'emon's group to report of the Udon mine situation, which is a nice bit of transition. 
• We get an actual flashback to someone being man-slayed by man-slayer Kamazo. 
• Bepo with a giant bucket helmet is a gem. I also love that his kimono just very blatantly has the Heart Pirates' jolly roger with a bunch of cartoon fish around it. 
• That's not what I expected to be King's voice. Though honestly, I expected King to sound basically super-duper creepy, so...

Episode 919:

• Franky eating soba with his mini-palm-hands is both bizarre and hilarious. 
• 
  We get a fair amount of extended scenes in the prison, the Nami/Shinobu mission, Sanji's soba stand and... they're all right. I don't particularly care about them, but they're also the exact sort of stuff that I felt would add a buffer between the more exciting stuff. At least the voice actors are having fun hamming it up. 
• At least the effects of Shinobu's Ripe Ripe Jutsu is pretty cool. I don't think the manga actually elaborates on how she traces a line with her finger and it causes the decay. 
• Shinobu is kind of an idiot, isn't she? I feel bad for her, especially after the whole flashback sequence where she got a bit of a focus, but man she's an idiot. 
• Dobon is a pink hippo. This is more ridiculous and more gross than I expected him to be. 
• Frankly, for a prison ran by pirate despots, it's hilarious that the guards actually took the vice warden's stash of food because they wanted to pay Luffy and Kid's fair work. Or that they would care for the 'it happened in the hippo's mouth, you have no proof' excuse. 

Episode 920:

• Sanji's soba stand hijinks really made for some really easy anime episode padding, huh?
• I genuinely didn't remember Franky being so utterly happy (and hammy) to join in suplexing the Kyoshiro yakuza goons. 
• Toko's debut! I forgot her first appearance was with the soba stand; I associated her with Komurasaki and Yasu too much. It's so interesting that she's just introduced as what really seemed to be just another One Piece character with a weird quirk of just laughing a lot. 
• We also get to see the exact scene of Toko buying toad oil from Usopp in a brief flashback, which is mentioned later on in the series.
  
• I don't remember if we had such an exposition in the manga, but Franky being confused about terms like 'oiran' and 'kamuro' ends up with Robin's old lady boss showing up to give the audience some exposition about geisha culture. 
• Raizo blending in as one of the prisoners is so much funnier in the anime where his entirely-bright-blue clothes stand out even more amongst the shirtless prisoners. 

And that's it for my Wano-kuni anime commentary. It's a bit dry and it mostly revolves around the Luffy-vs-Kaido fight. Pretty cool! It's also kind of nice to see a lot of the buildup for Wano being decompressed like this. I honestly did think that the beginning parts of Wano are super-duper necessary but they also kind of lost me when I read it weekly in the manga. It was a lot better when I finally sat down and read them in tankobon format, but the arc really shines a lot more with the anime, something that I never actually thought I'd be able to say about One Piece.