One Piece Anime: Wano Arc, Episodes 1031-1035

We had a brief break from Wano thanks to the little Uta/Film: Red tie-in. But now we're back to more Roof Piece!

Episode 1031:

• 
  This episode's mostly just... in-between stuff? Basically the moment where Big Mom takes out Page One, while Nami, Usopp and Tama runs around? And the much-maligned 'Mothering Mode'? It's done well for what it is, but it's kind of unfortunate that this is the episode we come back to after a break.
• Pretty sure Law realizing that Zeus would be troublesome for Luffy and then teleporting him down is something off-screen in the manga. But Law being smart is definitely in-character!
• Okay, yeah, Page One is totally being bullied. Poor Page One, you get absolutely no respect from anyone. 
• Huh, so we actually get to see an extended scene of Nami and Usopp being brave to protect Tama. We even get a brand-new named attack from Usopp, the firework flower, right before the manga's pinecone bombs. And... well, Big Mom is still the one that ultimately takes down Page One, but this is a nice extension that gives Nami and Usopp a much-needed badass moment here. 
• UGH, mothering mode. Yeah. It's just as bad as it was in the manga. 
• Yeah, speaking of the manga, we really still need more payoffs to this part of Big Mom's characterization. From a narrative or character development standpoint, this part really needs to get addressed. 
• Wait, Big Mom remembers 'cat burglar' but not 'god'? 
• Oh yeah, the anime did really play up the fact that fucking Holdem burned down Okobore Town, and Big Mom getting pissed off, huh? That shot of Tsuru's hair being blown away by the flame... was it a last-minute change to have them survive? Honestly, this is probably one of the bigger weaknesses of the arc as a whole. All the fake-out deaths. 
• Oh, hey, new ad eyecatchers.
• Good fucking mother, though, that was way too pretty of a special effects sequence for Big Mom taking out fucking Page One. (The anime team deciding to goldenify Conqueror Infusion would lay a lot of debates to rest, I think, about who has what sub-sub-type of Haki). 

Episode 1032:

• Yeah, okay, I guess there's no better place to slot it, but having the flashback to the day Oden and Izo disappeared slotted after the Izo/Kiku conversation is kind of the only appropriate way to do it. I feel the scene works pretty well, at least as far as the present day scenes go -- having Kiku admit that, yeah, Izo going with Oden is the right thing for a samurai to do is pretty neat. 
• Haha, Izo and Kawamatsu talking about how Wano will be like in the future. Haha, that's harsher in hindsight for sure. 
• I don't remember if it's in the manga, but having Kin'emon order the Scabbards to scatter, while Kiku decides to tag along to finish off Kanjurou, is pretty neat. 
• Was Yamato dicking around with the little fake decoy Momonosuke something in the manga? Eh.
• Okay, at least the animation in Luffy-vs-Kaido is pretty cool as always. The instant flashes to their eyes, the rocks crumbling as Kaido kicks off it...
• Hawk Gatling! Grizzly Magnum! 
• The arrival of crucified mummy Zoro! And somehow, even the random Beast Pirate goons know how to rile Sanji off with bounties!
• Okay, so Monster Point Chopper gets to lay off a couple more extra hits on Queen. And also Katakuri gets some candy arrows on Chopper.
• There is some D'arby-level ham in GOOOODBYE, MR. RACCOON DOG!
• "Big Mom is starting to look like a goddess!" Haha!
• Okay, that is one cool shot of Nami's angry eyes as she zaps Ulti.

Episode 1033:

• Yep, Sanji's voice actor's ranting about how the 330-million man has to drag around the 320-million man is actually pretty fucking funny!
• I was about to say that the flashback to Sanji finding Zoro and the others are unnecessary, but they brought in a different animation team to show Kid fighting a bunch of mooks and... it's pretty fluid! I like it! Like, shit, I didn't think Kid gathering scrap metal from a bunch of Waiters and tanking bombs would be particularly interesting, but I am proven wrong!
• Trafalgar Law sitting like a boss as Sanji catches him is such a mood. "At least have the decency to be a girl!"
• Yep, 'twenty or thirty broken bones' can be healed up by turning someone into a blunt. At least use your magic Operation Fruit, Law, jeez. 
• I don't think that short scene where Sanji is tying up Zoro ('like a ham') is in the manga, but it's a nice little manly bonding moment between the two when Sanji basically is just a bit worried in his tsundere way about Luffy in the rooftop. 
• Back to the Roof Piece!
• Damn, Luffy's conqueror's haki blasts exploding as he keeps punching Kaido -- black-bordered-with-red in the blue-tinted background -- that looks so amazing. 
• That Raimei Hakkei explosion! The red-black scythes flying everywhere! The brief black-and-white shot! Black lightning undulating like tendrils! This is so awesome! 
• Damn, Luffy raising his arms to block the Raimei Hakkei, and the eruptions of black lightning from the singularity in the space between his arms and Kaido's kanabo...
  
• And then that crater being created by the sheer force of their haki explosion!
  
  
• Oh that is a beautiful shot of Luffy with the moon behind him. And then he rockets back down at Kaido, makes a giant fist that is right in front of the moon, and activates Ryu'o with all the glorious red and gold... fuck this anime is pretty. 
• RED ROC!
• Kaido talking about how joyful it is to land a punch on someone stronger than you, and how being on the top, it's a scene where no one is stronger than you... I'm... I'm actually not sure if this is in the manga? It might be. If it did, it certainly didn't quite have the oomph that the anime version of the scene has.
• Oh yes, that Conqueror Infusion or whatever the fuck? That subtle golden aura around Luffy as he blocks the Ragnarok attack?
• Back to Nami, and... yeah, ultimately it's not going to change the fact that she's not the one to take out Ulti, but I absolutely love the added scenes of her just standing up, being a badass, taking no shits from Ulti or her Gifter minions and just summoning tornadoes and shit. 
• Yeah that elephant Gifter with his human face on the tip of the truck... that's fucking disturbing.
• Oh yeah. Ulti is absolutely my favourite member of the Tobi Roppo now. Her taking aboslutely no shits from any of the Straw Hats and even talking about how she's going to beat the fuck out of Big Mom for bullying Page One? She's a lunatic, but I like her. 
• 
  Holy fuck, the Maser Cannon. The over-the-top combination sequence, the zoom-in to Prometheus and Hera's absolutely nightmarish faces, the music... yeah, Big Mom's Maser Cannon is already my favourite of her attacks thanks to the Godzilla reference, but damn, this one's cool!
• Yeah, poor, poor Zeus. You know, it's always kind of fun just how much personality Oda gave little Zeus despite only really having him tag along as a plot device or a power-up, so much that his fake-out death here actually feels like an event. 
• Holy hell that shot of Luffy being tossed through some rocks, before he bounces up and the sakura Ryu'o petals swirl around him. Another very cool shot. Then the rotoscoping shot as he lands a hit on Kaido... and another, and another, and another... damn, this arc really made Luffy feel badass. 
• The screen becoming purple as Kaido... activates his Conqueror's Haki, I think? Or just his aura of badassery, I suppose, as he stalks towards Luffy. And that badass shot of Kaido with the Conqueror's Haki lightning...
  
• Oh man, their clash, their clash! It's just, I think, maybe a couple of panels or even just a single one that the animation team expanded, but it looks just so damn good. 
• The music, the lights, the exaggerated shading all really make the joy of battle really scream out as Luffy and Kaido clash against each other, really highlighting Kaido's 'joy in the midst of battle' credo while this is all going on... and then the sudden stop as one of Kaido's blows hits and Luffy never strikes back as he gets tossed into the ocean.
• And, hey, we actually see the series of blows that finally causes Luffy to lose for the third time, which I felt is definitely quite important in terms of pacing! I actually like the anime's version of this scene a hundred times more than the manga's version, which was just a cliffhanger panel for shock value's sake. 

Episode 1034:

• "Gomu Gomu no what was it?" Oh, how prophetic, Kaido. 
• A little bit less crazy after the Kaido-vs-Luffy fight, but that's okay. I could use a bit less crazy at the moment just to fucking breathe.
• It is kinda weird that Big Mom needs to order Hera to eat Zeus instead of... instantly ripping out his soul? I get that it's necessary for the story to flow, but still...
• "At least make it up to one person! Then I'll die!" Ah yes, having Zeus's 'final' moments be a bit more drawn out with a monologue that lasted a bit longer does make his sacrifice a bit more impactful, even if it is still a bit jarring coming off of the Kaido/Luffy fight. 
• ...shit, it is still funny as hell how easily Big Mom just catches Zeus and switches off all the epic music and visual effects. 
• For how little he ended up mattering in the story proper, Perospero sprouting candy arrows from his palm is pretty cool.
• Hell yeah Monster Point Chopper tossing Queen around. I mean, sure, he doesn't get to beat him and it's Sanji that defeats Queen, but I do appreciate that Chopper's big moment in the Wano arc is extended a bit more. 
• Shit, there's a Gifter with a very worried-looking hamster as a hand. That's adorable. 
• Another gifter has an ostrich as a lower body (with the ostrich head coming out of his crotch) and his hair is a burning candle for some reason. 
• I actually laughed at the scene when the Gifters take a look at the fake Momonosuke doll and actually go "that is Oden's insolent son!"
• Okay Eustass Kyaputen Kid, that's actually a pretty cool rescue. How long did you hide under that rubble before Big Mom swung the burning sword down at Usopp, though?
• Actually, did Kid never try to magnetically control either Napoleon or Hassaikai? Huh.

Episode 1035:

• The anime does add a couple extra scenes that really make it clear just where Shinobu and Momonosuke are hiding -- in the attic above some random corridor. 
• Caesar Clown is a complete jackass, but I do think his points do have merit. Especially when the side effects are something that Chopper bears with his own consent, not something that's done to random kidnapped children. That's the big part of taking a risk, I guess -- you have to be the one voluntarily taking it, not someone else.
• I still find it so dumb that "Black Coffee" is the name of Queen's attack. I get the bura- pun, but still, it's so charmingly dumb.
• You know, we give Chopper a lot of flak for taking so much screentime with the Ice Oni thing, but I really do appreciate just how badass our little reindeer is for having the cojones to stand up to two Yonko commanders. His brief flashback to how Luffy left that floor to the rest of his crew, his conviction... and him faltering when Bao Huang's message is spread across Onigashima... pretty well done. 
• Oh, Kanjurou, you dick. Kudos to Momonosuke's voice actor, too, for really selling this kid's desperation in face of logic. It's a bit more of a dick move that Kanjurou's doing it to the man's kid as opposed to the other samurai. 
• Yeah all things considered, it's a good thing that the anime extended Kiku's first slaying of Kanjurou, though I do still think that she does deserve to 'amend' her mistake, so to speak. Shame she got stabbed through the gut here. Actually, a mutual-kill between Kiku and Kanjurou would kind of be epic, too, especially since Kiku's words before falling unconscious with the fallen snow melting and all that is kinda neat. 
• Oh shit, okay, Kanjurou using his brush to set up his and Kin'emon's final confrontation to be on a kabuki stage? With Kanjurou narrating the fight like a play narrator? Fucking awesome. Okay, yeah. The two are the Scabbards that we've known and seen for the longest, and seeing them fight like this in a proper confrontation is definitely very well-done. 
• Damn it is cathartic to see Kin'emon finally cut down Kanjurou. I'm pretty sure the manga version had none of the epicness of the confrontation of this scene. 
• Also damn, Kin'emon's last stand is fucking epic. "Get out of my way, samurai of Wano!" "I will not!" Shame what came next.
• The anime, at least, goes the manga route and goes from a close-up straight to showing Kaido smashing Kin'emon down, with the club and the smoke obscuring what actually happened. I'll talk about what happened when it does happen, but at least this episode was actually pretty well done on the Kin'emon front.