Alternatively, I wouldn't say no to (re)watching something like Jujutsu Kaisen or Demon Slayer.
Episode 1051:
- Never been the biggest fan of Momonosuke, but that shot of him coiling up into the sky after Luffy's "is there anything left in this world that could scare you" line is pretty badass.
- Again, still YMMV on how justified Luffy recovering after eating the Caribou-food is, but the shots of the Straw Hats, Tama and even Big Mom reacting to Luffy's massive declaration of beating Kaidou is pretty badass and well-executed.
- I think this segment is anime-original? I don't remember it from the manga. But there's a shot after all the Straw Hats had their say, and Sanji and Zoro land back-to-back, facing off against King and Queen, and do a badass slow-motion flame-covered boast about how it's their captain that's going to be the goddamn King of Pirates.
- Holy shit, Kaidou launching himself into the sky, combining with a purple lightning and then doing all this Dragon Ball Z zipping around shit in his hybrid mode? Badass.
- There's also a badass samurai-facing-each-other shot as Luffy just launches a casual blast of Ryu'o at the surrounding rocks, while Kaidou just crackles with lightning. Followed by the quiet, soundless clash as we go black and white, alternate between the two combatants, and then huge giant Conqueror's Haki explosion.
- Damn, that clash of lightnings, though.
- 'The Heavens cracked open', as Yamato flashbacks to the ink-drawn clash between Whitebeard and Oden, is pretty badass!
- Oh yeah. Inuarashi and Nekomamushi's return to Sulong form bathed in the white-blue light of the Moon is badass as all hell.
- ...and Momonosuke gets reduced to silly height-fearing tomfoolery in the second half of the episode. I do 100% agree with the 'people don't change that easily' line, though.
- Oh, that shot of Momosuke rising through the flame clouds is cool.
- Damn, the animation for Neko and Inu taking down Perospero and Jack are way too good. Especially Neko and Perospero! I do really like just how different the portrayal of the two are, with Perospero panicking and waving his stupid candy axe randomly, while there's still a quiet warrior's dignity when jack gets taken down.
- We do get a bit of an extended scene with Nekomamushi and the other lesser Minks reminiscing about Pedro, and Inuarashi scoffing at Jack, talking about the rage of all Minks.
Episode 1052:
- Yeah, okay, between the multiple flashbacks to the past two episodes, as well as Momonosuke and Yamato avoiding falling rocks, I guess this is our 'filler quota' episode. The rocks just keep going on and on, yeah? I get it's to showcase the fact that Kaido's grip on Onigashima is weakening, but I really don't have much to say here.
- Oh yeah, the showcase of those drummers in the Flower Capital is definitely reused. I definitely have seen that specific series of animations a couple of times now.
- At least the second half of the episode gave us a rather fun extension of the Zoro/King and Sanji/Queen fights, with laser beams and the surroundings being cubed and everything. Once all the episodes are out, I really wouldn't mind seeing a 'Zoro and Sanji supercut' of Wano.
- Queen gets to do some wacky Queen things again! Power. Speed. AND! POWER!
- Queen does a bit more with his hair-braid and tail claws which he sells as some kind of 'secret attack' being activated. This leads to the whole 'Sanji thinks some bones are broken' sequence, which is extended out to Sanji feeling some bone break, but he's not sure which bone.
- There are some pretty fun, JoJo-esque scenes whenever Sanji realizes something is feeling off, with the colours being desaturated, as his exoskeleton or whatever is being activated.
- King got so pissed when Zoro sliced off one of his BDSM suit spikes with a 360 Pound Phoenix. He is really attached to that suit.
- That's also a badass transformation from a winged devil-man into a pteranodon-man, with an image of a fiery pteranodon in King's eyes before he summons flames to wrap around him.
- "Damn, is that a dinosaur's power?"
- A scene that's definitely added in the anime -- Queen mocks King for being so uptight, before one of King's many air blades stabs Queen right in his big brachio-butt. The anime really did realize they have a bit of a goldmine with Queen's voice actor and added a bunch of fun moments with him.
- I also love the short Franky and Zoro scene. Franky going "do you need my help", with an inflection that makes it rather clear that Franky's only really doing so out of courtesy because you know the answer's going to be a resounding no.
- FUNK!
- Was it really necessary for the corridor that Zoro and King are facing off in to suddenly have all the walls light up? No, but it's cool as all hell for sure. Particularly when you realize it's meant to be a backdrop so the pteranodon and tiger could shine brightly in the background.
- The pun on Zoro's "Clear Lance" attack is a pun on the English word "Clearance". ...they can't all be winners like Oni Giri, I suppose.
Episode 1053:
- They really could've foreshadowed the random 'bombs in onigashima' revelation here a bit earlier, couldn't they?
- Oh yeah, Guernica (I can call them by names now!) you can't pick up the phone immediately because of a 'series of unexpected events'. yeah. I mean, it's not like you guys are doing anything more pressing than sitting around in the Go-board room all day long...
- I do like the little bit of sass from Maha about how the World Government wanting to seize Wano by force makes them no better than pirates.
- Robin is just so supportive at just slinging around praise to her friends like Sanji and Brook. Considering her whole Devil Child upbringing, it's pretty heartwarming to think of the reason why.
- Okay, Jean Bart and all you Heart Pirates... you literally are just standing there doing nothing, huh?
- Diable Jambe: Bien Cut Grill Shot!
- The build-up to Queen and Sanji facing off against each other, Queen's trash-talk about the power that has ruled the Earth for thousands of years, the cutaway from each other's intense faces... then the comical 'boing' as the Brachio-snake-us gets shot at Sanji... and we immediately cut to Marco and Izo going EEEEEEEEH.
- Great cartoony representation of the sequence too.
- So the body of the brachiosaurus has some kind of metallic tunnel-thing to allow the 'snake' to get shot out, huh?
- "BRACHIO LAUNCHER!" God, Queen is a moron. This sequence was done pretty well! Queen's god a fun voice actor and they used him pretty damn hilariously!
- Okay, Sanji 'cracking' back his broken limbs into regular shape is done with him beating it like a metal plate, not the obvious, painful way of 'cracking' it with a chiropractor noise.
Episode 1054:
- The Hawkins/Killer fight isn't the most important fight here, but I do enjoy seeing the two of them fighting in the burning corridors.
- I didn't know Hawkins' Straw Sword could coil around like that and stab people from behind!
- We get an extra explanation of Hawkins gloating about the abilities of his voodoo doll to Killer and some other random Kid Pirate crewmates that show up to help.
- I didn't realize Killer's mask got cracked by Hawkins! I'm not sure if this blow is shown in the manga, but we do get the explicit strike that cracked his Jason Voorhes mask.
- Man, Law really does feel so much more impressive than Kid, I'm sorry. It's not that Kid is putting up a bad show. Not at all! He's being pretty impressive, clashing with Big Mom like this. But Law just keeps saving him with Room!
- I've always found it hilarious that Big Mom's main utilization of Prometheus and the 'Heavenly Fire' is to grab the sun and literally bash the ball of fire against her enemies.
- Oh, that Counter Shock by Law, followed by Stolen Fire by Prometheus, is pretty damn badass.
- MAMARAID! Okay, it's a bit more clear that Big Mom's lightning strike didn't really hit Law and Kid full-on, but the shockwaves are the ones that tossed the two Supernovas around.
- Ah yes, Hawkins. Just keep bashing your head against a pillar. Honestly, I guess the only reason he doesn't immediately kill Kid's doll off is to have protection against Killer. I really do wish we did get more of an explanation on Basil Hawkins' abilities. What if he makes the voodoo dolls of like, all the main enemies and just shoots himself in the head as many times?
- The flashbacks to Kid and the rest of the crew being nice to Killer is definitely much-needed here.
- You really do get the impression that Hawkins is working off some of his own frustrations over not being able to 'fight the Yonko and become the King of Pirates', huh?
- Oh shit, the clash between Killer and Hawkins, as the two of them zip around the burning corridor while Killer says the (admittedly very obvious) solution of cutting the arm that corresponds to Kid's metal arm is pretty badass!
- In the anime, we actually do get to see Kid's metal arm getting sliced off with no damage to Kid.
- Damn, they even show the droplets of blood gushing out of the wound! After the earlier parts of Wano quasi-censored blood by turning them into sakura petals, it's kind of starkly different!
- Also, the shot of Hawkins getting the final Gin Sonic attack shows a gigantic splurt of blood gushing out of his jugular.
- It is very convenient that Hawkins put Kid's voodoo doll in the left arm, huh.
- Oh, Zanshu Claw gets one of those badass kanji words in a samurai movie thing!
- I actually forgot Hawkins summoned the Straw Man death-god thing and it got one-shot by Killer.
Episode 1055:
- Yeah, the anime giving flashbacks of the Germa's worst moments is obvious padding, but it is also pretty consistent with showing just how confused Sanji is and how he's basically having a panic attack at the moment.
- Oh, right. Apoo and the first three Numbers trying to lure Drake to join their alliance. That's kinda something that happened.
- Fuck, Kin'emon's ass. Yeah. The anime's revelation of Kin'emon's survival is still as terrible as ever. Easily the one big black mark in this arc, honestly.
- Yeah, the showcase of Kaidou stabbing down at Kin'emon... it still doesn't look like it's slicing him neatly in half, no.
- Usopp just sticks Kin'emon's lower body onto Hamlet's side. That's... that sure is something that happens. Hmm.
- Okay, while I'm not a big fan of Kin'emon's survival, Kanjurou surviving and having a delirious near-death fever dream as Orochi paints this amazing picture of a theater all applauding for him, and how he needs to do an encore for their vengeful ancestors is pretty well done. The whole 'Kurozumi Suicide' thing also makes Kanjurou's death at the end of summoning Kazenbo a lot more explicit.
- It is very appropriate, now that I'm looking back at this in retrospect, that Orochi's final gambit with the Kazenbo is basically a "everyone dies, I don't give a fuck" mentality, which was Orochi's grand plan with the country of Wano in general.
- That is a wonderful Boro Breath vs. Red Hawk at the end of the episode.
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