One Piece Anime: Wano Arc, Episodes 1001-1004

More One Piece! More Wano commentary!

Episode 1001:

• I've always felt like the Tobi Roppo vs. Queen drama felt like an afterthought -- no, an afterthought to an afterthought in the manga. Like... was it something that had to be drastically scaled down to reach chapter 1000 in the manga? But the anime has a bit more freedom to do more with it, actually showing Drake's monologues and some intrigue between Hawkins and Drake. Drake trying to get a feel of Hawkins' loyalty and getting him to turn on the Beasts Pirates, as well as Who's Who trying to manipulate Drake to help him fight Queen. It's definitely a sequence of events that felt super truncated in the manga, and I do like that the anime staff actually allowed it to breathe a lot more in the anime. 
• The anime also explicitly notes that the "1%" line that Hawkins is reading in his tarot card actually refers to Drake, because he got roped into a fake 'hey, let's betray the boss' scenario between Who's Who and Queen. 
• It is kind of interesting, I feel, that despite the constantly-bickering dynamic between King and Queen, Queen actually acknowledges King as 'sounding like a leader'. 
• One thing that I do appreciate is the anime giving the four yakuza bosses from Udon prisons and the ninjas under Fukurokuju a bit more screentime. I'm a huge One Piece geek and even I don't know their names, but them and this one He-Man looking samurai do get to recur a fair bit in the background. 
• Okay, I like it, sure, but was it necessary to have a two-minute flashback to the Oars fight? Especially since we already had one in episode 998 or 999? 
• That is a pretty Boundman transformation as Luffy beats down Number #5. 
• That Kong Gun + Excalibur combo attack on Number #5 and the purple Number is way too pretty for what's ultimately an insignificant enemy takedown. 
• You'd think giving the Numbers uniquely coloured skin would make me be able to remember which is which, but I'm sorry.

Episode 1002:

• I love that all the other Straw Hats are suspicious at Drake, and the first words out of Sanji's mouth are "he's the pervert that peeked at Nami and Robin!' Brook, immediately, reacts with "that's unforgiveable!"
• Nami: "Don't try to pass off your nosebleed as something cool!"
• I still love that Zoro, Jinbe and Franky all call out Luffy simultaneously for being an overly-trusting idiot. 
• Ulti's antics and fake-tantrums are approximately 50% more hilarious now that we actually see her rolling and the floor and shit. 
• Usopp impersonating Nami as the 'lizard exterminator' to rile up Ulti is approximately 110% more hilarious with voice acting and constant zoom-ins to Nami's face. 
• Page One is just the punching bag of the Tobbi Roppo, isn't he? That's a pretty cool Usopp scene, too, launching a smoke bomb seed into his mouth. 
• NIGERUNDAYOOOO
• Zoro is actually fighting with Drake to discern his motivations. It is notable that back in pre-timeskip days, Zoro was the one that's the most distrusting of Robin. 
• I love that the thing that makes Zoro decide to tolerate Drake is that they're both part of the Scratchmen Apoo hate club.
  

Episode 1003:

• They really do drag out the Ice Oni scenes, huh? I really don't care for the Ice Oni virus, but at least it's a decent plotline running in the background of this raid. Which is more than I can say about Big Mom's amnesia...
• Those cheeky Toei bastards, having Shinobu say that Yamato 'can't be Oden-sama' while the camera zooms in on her boobs...
• They do some zoom-in comparisons between Yamato and Oden, which... I really don't think goes anywhere? I know Yamato and Momonosuke become buddies after this, but still...
• Shishillian totally got to take out that one broccoli-haired flesh-skinned Number.
• Jack gets to stomp around in his cute mammoth elephant form. I like elephants. He really does kind of go down like a punk, though -- Neko and Inu speed-blitzing him and dealing the eye-slash and cutting off his tusk doesn't even look anywhere as impressive as their initial Sulong transformation. 
• It is badass to give Jack-vs-Neko/Inu an actual episode to play out, but between this and the previous episodes where we get to see the Minks fight the Beasts Pirates... it does really show that the Scabbards and Kaido are just... kind of literally just standing around. 
• That is an angry Carrot face when she realizes that Perospero is around. 
• I love Perospero's flailing around when he realizes that... oh shit, Big Mom did form an alliance with Kaido even though he's been doing his best to attack Kaido's forces. Ah, the Big Mom pirates and their incompetence... never change. 
• It's still so strange and weirdly heartwarming to see that Kaido's actually protective of Jack and even explicitly spends time to defend Jack's honour and tell him that he did a good job. Kaido's such a... weird character, isn't he? I really do want to see that flashback to know what exactly makes him tick. 
• I still really do like how unexpected Marco's speech about 'remnants' and freedom is. 
• God damn, Kin'emon. "I didn't even think about [dodging]", before the badass flame rend attack, and actually slicing the underside of Kaido's eye. The Blast Breath in this particular scene had some Dragon Ball Z exaggeration too in its impact of blowing up the ocean behind them. 
• ...did Kin'emon learn Flame Rend specifically to counter Kaido?

Episode 1004:

• Yamato chasing Shinobu and Momonosuke get extended a fair bit in the previous episode and this one, and... and it's starting to get a bit annoying at around this episode. I get that they're trying to play up Shinobu's cautiousness and Momo realizing that there's something different about Yamato, but... eh?
• I did really like that one glowing-eyes psycho face Yamato makes in this episode, though.
• I did say it when I reviewed this manga chapter a while back, but I just know that Black Maria's singing and the scene cutting to her and then back to the Scabbards fighting Kaido in the rooftop would be so good in the anime. It is pretty damn badass and framed pretty well. There's this one shot of a shadowed Kaido coiling in front of a blood moon? That one's a beautiful shot. Then there's the zoom-in to a glow around everyone's eyes as the shamisen music gets faster and faster...
  
• Absolutely love the juxtaposition between one of Black Maria's strings snapping and the Scabbards unsheathing their blades.
• Kin'emon kicks a piece of rubble to avoid being eaten by Kaido. Mid-air. Before proceeding to freaking run up Kaido's back to attack his head. We all know it's not going to be him that takes down Kaido, but by god I love that the manga and anime really hammer home that the Scabbards are giving it their all. 
• When did Kaido's Boro Breaths turn from fire to... to freaking Hyper Beams from Pokemon? I'm not complaining, it looks so much more over-the-top and cooler this way. 
• Getting a flashback of Oden teaching Kin'emon the Oden-style Nitoryu while he reflects on his journey of being a tagalong and now he's inheriting one of the badass-est sword styles ever? That's a good flashback right there. It's mixed between old and new animation, and we even get a comedic bit of the Scabbards bickering over Kin'emon's little fantasy of being the sole inheritor of the art. 
• Kawamatsu does have a good point, though -- Raizo uses shuriken, he has no need for the Oden Nitoryu. 
• The anime adds this scene of all the Scabbards getting up while arguing about which oden topping is the best -- something that the anime's version of the Oden flashbacks really emphasized as a running joke. It makes this scene extra memorable, I think. 
• ...why the fuck hasn't Raizo used his Devil Fruit more? No, why doesn't he even use it in his big moment against Fukurokuju? I mean, standing in fire is cool and all, but you'd think that his uniquely powered Devil Fruit would actually be the basis of his huge moment. 
• Is Kaido really the only person we've seen actually be injured on-screen with a Boro Breath? Via Raizo's scroll? I think almost every other time he tried to use that attack, it's dodged or deflected or cut or merely destroyed terrain. 
• I remembered when I reviewed this chapter and I think I complained that some of the attacks are just 'well, it's just a regular slash, but they added a name in front of it so it's automatically cooler'. NOT SO FOR THE ANIME! I really, really feel like the Scabbards fighting Kaido is one of the coolest parts of the raid because of how technically hopeless they are. It's no Roof Piece, but by god, they're giving it their all. And the anime makes it badass. 
• Look at Nekomamushi's absolutely badass Super Saiyan spinning tornado thing sending out shockwaves while he glows bright blue, before creating a giant grinning cat face made out of flames and causing a fuckton of slashes in the screen that culminates in the mother of all uppercuts. So much more of a "Crimson Cat Dance" for sure. 
• Kawamatsu's Kappa-style River of Sea gives us a badass still shot as the green explosions and the shockwave from the slash explodes out, before Kawamatsu lands in the foreground while Kaido bleeds a little. 
• Okay, Inuarashi's Canine Scourge, Kiku's Fallen Snow Scythes and Izo's Slicing Rounds are a bit less elaborate, but they're at least extended more than the single panels that they were in the manga. 
• Ashura Doji does a fire blade swing and Denjiro does a lightning blade swing that culminate in a huge X-cross that slam onto Kaido's cheeks.
• RAIZO OF THE FUCKING MIST, still one of the coolest and most unexpected feats ever, just rolls up a Boro Breath, summons giant-ass scrolls as long as Kaido's body, and returns the blast back to Kaido. "I'll give it back to you. Boro Breath: Restoration!" That explosion looked painful!
• Then we get Kin'emon's little narration, berating their weakness, berating themselves and cursing how they were nothing before Oden found them, and how they would at least die as Oden's samurai... as the animation causes him to explode into sakura petals and then Kin'emon unsheathes his second sword. 
• Then we get the high-quality animation as Kin'emon, Denjiro, Ashura Doji and Inuarashi all strike the Oden Nitoryu pose. A giant spectral image of Oden appears behind them. We get amazing animation of Ryuo being applied as flashes of their pain and suffering flash in the foreground... 
• Just to add more spice, Kaido unleashes a bunch of smaller fireballs, but like four meteors, the four Scabbards burst out of the smoke and charge towards Kaido...
• Kin'emon cuts a fireball; Neko, Kiku and Izo launch ranged attacks at Kaido to distract him...
• Kin'emon cuts a Boro Breath with a glowing blue Flame Rend, blowing it apart in a beam clash that would make Dragon Ball Z proud...
• A ghostly Oden speaks to Kaido as he remembers his final conversation, before we go back to the four Scabbards. ODEN NITORYU! TOGEN TOTSUKAAAA! It culminates in the blood-red sword slashes combining into the twin swords of a giant spectral Oden made out of flames.
• The slash hits Kaido, the kanji flash across the screen... and we get the appropriate slow-motion shot of the dragon being wounded. Oden's image fades into sakura petals, we get the closing 'to be continued' without the usual drums. End scene. 

..if you can't tell, I really liked this episode, so this is where we'll end for now. I... the Scabbards fighting Kaido have a special place in my heart due to how well done it is even in the manga. As the audience, we know it's hopeless. From a storytelling perspective and even a power-scaling perspective, the Scabbards won't be able to kill Kaido. But the story has taken the sheer time to really develop the sufferings and the struggles of these Scabbards as a whole, to develop their status as ghosts avenging their dead lord... and honestly, shit, they really gave it their best shot in this episode, really throwing everything they can. It's not enough, of course. But One Piece could have just had Kaido instantly curb-stomp them like how Crocodile curb-stomped Pell and Chaka in less than a minute. They fill the role of the 'secondary protagonists that get beaten down to set the villain up for the main hero', sure, but... but god damn, are they giving Kaido a run for their money. The amazing voice-acting and animations really do work, too, really selling the rage and pent-up frustration and desperation these samurai have. Really great stuff. Now excuse me, brb, rewatching 1004.