One Piece Anime: Wano Arc, Episodes 1041-1045

Not much to say here. Just talking about another batch of One Piece Wano episodes! Really falling behind, I know, but I was, y'know, distracted by the whole array of video games I'm playing. 

Episode 1041:

• 
  Oh, we get the debut of Yamato's Okuchi no Makami fruit! Albeit her half-transformed into her hybrid mode. I didn't realize her entire skin would go all white, but I guess it makes sense. It's an all right debut, it's just that the Wano arc has kind of spoiled me on how pretty the episodes look that I just kinda shrug at Yamato's hybrid form debut. I really tried to be a bit more hyped about it, tried to rewatch the scene, but... eh. 
• The Yamato/Kaido fight this episode is animated by a different episode. It's not bad, not at all. It's just... it shows, y'know? 
• Sanji vs. Queen is extended by a fair bit, but I think it's all right, yeah? We all like to see Queen shoot out laser beams? It's a fair bit better than extending the fucking moment of the goat Mink injecting the asspull rejuvenation injection to Zoro and making a deal about not being able to find the vein because they didn't open the bandages or whatever. 
• Chopper does highlight the importance for medical staff to obtain informed consent!
• HELICERATOPS HELICERATOPS HELICERATOPS. On the other hand, I am all for the stupidity of Eiichiro Oda's dinosaurs. We actually get an extended fight between a flying Heliceratops Sasaki versus Franky with his sword. Glorious. 
• Yep, I still giggled at the General Shield gag. 
• I guess just to make sure every single person at home get the gag of Sasaki's embarrassing fuck-up of his propeller, we not only get Sasaki blushing, but also Franky going through a whole explanation about propellers. It does make the comedic timing a bit funnier, for sure. 

Episode 1042:

• I do like that Franky does acknowledge that he's not good with swords. It's just that everybody knows giant robots needs swords!
• We get a fair bit more extending of Franky and Sasaki clashing swords a bit, and him dodging around to prepare the General Cannon. Not too much that they obviously doubled the length of the fight or anything, but long enough that it's noticeable. Also... yeah, compared to Who's Who and Black Maria's takedowns, man, Franky-vs-Sasaki really did get the short end of the stick, huh?
• That flame wreath around Yamato's arms is definitely cool, though. 
• Oh yeah, the ice manipulation! Again, I think 1039 or whatever really spoiled us, because I didn't really get all that excited with the rather stiff (but still okay) showcase of Yamato controlling ice shards and breathing ice. We didn't actually get to see the fire breath and ice breath clashing, though, and that's kinda lame, tbh. 
• And, as expected, they stretch the hell out of Robin and Brook meeting their dead friends thanks to Black Maria's machinations. Not just by having our characters meet their dead friends, but also to show flashbacks from the previous arcs. Really not much to say here, I understand it's necessary, it does give the scene a bit more oomph than just a couple of seconds of seeing Saul and Clover and Olvia. But I can't say I was particularly entertained. That extra bit of getting Luffy's 'say you want to live' at the end is a nice touch, though. 

Episode 1043:

• We also get a full flashback-to-five-minutes-ago of Brook's flashback as he meets with Yorki and the rest of the Rumbar Pirates singing Bink's Sake. This one is a bit nicer to watch because it's mostly new animation instead of just Robin looking at each hallucination and remembering the relevant scene from the Enies' Lobby arc. Also, there's music!
• We did get a full-stock-footage flashback later on, but it's a bit more palatable since it's after a bunch of new animation? I think, at least. 
• The confrontation with fake Yorki also has a bit more action to it compared to Robin one-shotting the three Beasts Pirates masquerading as her loved ones. The voice acting for both Brook and Robin when confronting their past phantoms are pretty top-notch, it's just that I really could do without the filler in this case. 
• That Blizzard Slice, coupled with one of the few times that Brook makes a skull joke without going yohohoho is pretty badass, though. I think it's him making the joke without laughing about it that does it for me. 
• Okay, the Wanyudo pug... person... creature... thing is really disturbing. 
• HOLY SHIT what is that animation for Soul Parade: Iceburn, though? Brook just slowly activating his ice aura as they fall, then suddenly he flies across the entire burning corridor, which gets enveloped in a blast of cold ice, then the icy mists come up, and Brook sheathes his sword... how the hell is Brook extinguishing a bunch of flames given more epic animation than Yamato's Devil Fruit reveal? 
• Gigante Fleur! Okay, yeah, it really does look like a JoJo Stand, huh?
• Some very brief filler is showing how Shinobu and Momo, and later Caribou, ends up regrouping with Luffy and the Heart Pirates. In this case, I do agree that this does kinda explain some of the more hectic pacing in the non-Onigashima areas. 

Episode 1044:

• Okay, Black Maria beating the shit out of Robin with sakura petals exploding, while her face is enshrined in shadow, is pretty creepy. I know she's beating up on a Hana Hana construct, but still.
• Yeah, there's definitely a strong JoJo Stand vibe with Robin cancelling out her Gigante Fleur to avoid that fractured face from Black Maria.
• Okay, the Sea Serpent animation (and later on when a similar move is pulled in Demonio) in this episode with the hands crawling and scuttling towards Black Maria, almost like those creepy ghost-hands in Chainsaw Man, is well done. 
• Yeah, Black Maria's spider power can just about do anything huh? Poison, flames, hallucinogenic gases... what is she, a Pokemon?
• I'm not sure if it's just to make the violence a bit less psychotic since Black Maria's completely off her rocker, but it does make for a nice stylistic choice to show her violence wreathed in black and red colours. 
• Yeah, Black Maria's dressing-down of Robin as being completely useless other than her ability to read Poneglyphs is really kind of her biggest nightmare and not being sought out for that is the biggest reason she sticks around with the Straw Hats. In that aspect, she is a pretty great antagonist for Robin, huh. 
• Again, I also like how much this episode highlights the important part of the Sanji-asks-for-Robin's-help moment. It's not a good look for Sanji, yes, but as far as being a character moment for Robin, and how glad she is that members of her team are depending and trusting her? Pretty good stuff. 
• I love how Brook just doesn't give a shit, knows that Black Maria is completely screwed and over her head, and just goes 'Soul Parade: Ice Wall!' and yohohohos away while attacking the lesser Black Maria groupies. 
• Man, Robin really should've learned that Dragon Claw Fist from Sabo! That'd be so badass! It's nice to see Sabo and Koala back, if nothing else. It is pretty cool seeing Koala's Fishman Karate pose overlaid over Dressrosa-era Robin. Sabo also teaches Robin a bit, I guess, teaching her to find the 'core' of the enemy. 
• 
  Little confession. I've always hated the 'dereshishi' laugh from Saul, particularly in the anime. I get that it's the most ridiculous one thanks to how it works in the story. But man, the moment when Demonio enters the fray and Robin starts creepily going 'dereshishishi' like a horror movie ghost? That's a badass usage of that laugh. 
  
• Okay, Demonio's red. So there goes the Armament Haki theory. 
• There's a bit where Black Maria recovers from the shock of seeing Demonio, and goes 'you'll see hell' where her eyes have a squiggly censor bar over it. It's stylish, but I'm not exactly sure why it's there.
• Okay, that bit where the closeup to Robin's face starts to distort, that's neat! "I'll be a demon for them" is still such a badass line. And the absolute sass as she mocks Black Maria's earlier line about not needing arms and legs!
  
• GRAND JACUZZI CLUTCH! Oh god, the sounds of the bones breaking! And the fact that we're cutting back and forth between Black Maria being broken and Brook's ice being shattered down the middle! That is such a great way to really make us feel uncomfortable from pain without showing anything graphic!
• Yeah, Brook does get his Orchestra moment, but it's just not as cool as Grand Jacuzzi Clutch.

Episode 1045:

• Did Bao Huang's replacement ever get a name? I'll call her Fake Bao Huang. She sure reports on how Nico Robin is unconscious!
• Yep, of course Luffy just digests Caribou's one-month-worth of food -- which magically heals him, because why wouldn't it -- by inhaling really deeply.
• Yeah, Raizo and Fukurokuju is presumably going to continue their fight stretched out over the course of the rest of the arc, but we do get to see them do relatively cool shit with their jutsus. Cool on Raizo's part, at least. Fukurokuju... well, there's only so much you can do with fuckin' earlobe crackers. 
• Did Momonosuke get aged up so quickly in the manga? I really felt like there was a bit more buildup, but I guess we are compressing some of the fight scene chapters together...
• Killer vs. Hawkins! We do get a bit more of Killer spin-scythe-murdering the shit out of Hawkins' lives, with blood splurting out of his straw demon form. 
• Kid/Law vs. Big Mom! I do like the fact that Kid is shown to be ever so slightly losing parts of his magnetism control. It does arguably make Kid look a bit weaker, so to speak, but well, it does show that fighting Big Mom isn't that easy. I think it's worth the brief bit of struggle on Kid's part. In addition to, of course, highlighting that Hawkins has kinda got Kid as a straw doll.
• Sanji vs. Queen and very briefly King! Much more atmospheric with the area literally burning down around them. A great impact shot of them clashing right after the Concasser, too. Very cool usage of flames, especially when King swoops in!
• Yeah, Marco's just... out. I'm not even sure what did him in. Did King beat him off-screen? Did one of Queen's many haywire lasers strike him? 
• Perospero vs. Nekomamushi! Between the brief moment before Nekomamushi strikes and the screen turns black-and-white, to the absolutely on-point guueehbgahblhablhgh sound that Perospero's voice actor makes, it really does highlight what a complete chew-toy Perospero is.
• The anime also makes it a lot more clear that Nekomamushi beats Perospero all the way outside of the Performance Hall. All this while I thought they were just fighting in a corner of the room.