Netflix's One Piece S01E07 Review: Luffy, Help Me

One Piece, Season 1, Episode 7: The Girl With the Sawfish Tattoo

So we begin the final two-parter as we close out the Orange Island arc, and there are a lot of interesting changes made here. Due to the build-up of Arlong being this 'big bad' seeded throughout all of East Blue, we get a more bombastic 'time to raid the bad guy's base' vibe to the entire assault, and like the rest of the fandom, I am a huge fan of Jeff Ward's Buggy tagging along for the assault... though obviously he's not going to be in a particularly helping mood. There's a very One Piece esque quality to how Buggy as a decapitated head just gets dragged around the Sunny, and it reminds me to luckless defeated antagonists like Caribou or Caesar Clown being dragged around by the Straw Hats. In a larger dose I would probably have a bit more problem, but in smaller doses of Buggy being a little shithead before being shoved in bags or tossed away, I do really like it. Oh, and the streamlining of the Straw Hats all arriving at the same time actually works for the betterment of the plot, particularly with them cutting out Johnny and Yosaku. 

And, just like the Sanji flashback last episode... a significant part of this episode is taken up by Nami's flashback. Which I feel that, just like the original source material, they really do earn by having Nami travel with us and have a mysterious attitude and goal all series long. They do still trim the details of the flashback down a fair bit -- Genzo gets reduced to a funny-looking extra, for example -- and I do think that the flashback suffers a little because of it... but not by much. 

The main point of the flashback, of course, is to sell Nami's bond with her adopted family Bellemere and Nojiko. And... in this case, I actually do think that the race-lift for Nojiko makes a huge, thematic sense to really emphasize the whole 'found family with bonds as strong as a regular blood family' themes of Nami's flashback. I do like that the first shot of Nami's flashback family has them play cards as a happy family... and then we cut to the all-business, cutthroat, angry fishmen (fake Hatchan) playing cards with Nami on Arlong Park. There's only business there, and it stretches things to say that Nami's even friends with these people even before the audience is introduced to the fact that these guys invaded and tore apart Nami's hometown. 

And, of course, a major bit of contention here that I'll point out is that... Hatchan is completely cut out of the story entirely. There's not even a cheeky 'he's off-screen somewhere' like Jango or Pearl were. Some people think that the spiky-haired fishman playing cards with Nami is Hatchan, and I honestly wouldn't have minded that -- that in this continuity, Hatchan's just a background member who simply didn't get to fight -- but while I understand why he's cut, it is kind of worrying, a little bit, for any potential future seasons and what else they would cut from it. Because I really wouldn't mind even just giving some lip-service and have him off-screen or something.

I do really like, however, the restructure of Arlong Park into a real theme park... something that I don't think Oda really planned out until he crafted Sabaody and Fishman Island. There are actual games and stands and booths on the little theme park, including the rest of Buggy's body which I thought was a fun visual gag. 

While Nami's map-room being a prison isn't given as much focus as I would've liked it to, I do like the how the show handles Nami's constant flashes to her backstory, with her flipping maps in the prison-room in the present day cutting back into her younger self flipping through the book she stole. And while Arlong's visual execution is still arguable, I do really enjoy the integration of his sadistic side and his bit of racism-driven motivations. They added a fair bit more of his desire to be the superior race of the world, his views on humankind and the deigning of allowing Nami a special place that humans, in his mind, would not normally deserve... and the clearly emotionally abusive relationship as Arlong forces Nami, despite her clear reluctance, to collect tribute from Coco Village. 

Speaking of which, they combined some of the villages, with the Straw Hats arriving at Cocoyasi and finding just a single house flipped upside-down. It fits the dread that the manga counterpart of the scene has. They witness Nami getting into a confrontation with the villagers... and here's probably a brief spoiler of the next episode but here's one of the worst changes to the show, where they kind of cut out the fact that the Coco Village villagers have known all along that Nami's trying to buy their village back, and that they're just 'playing mean' to make it less hard on Nami. The villagers to come around at the end, but I felt like that's a bit too big of a change? Eh. 

Nami tells Luffy off and tells the Straw Hats to screw off, maintaining that façade of anger and detachment, and I do like the contrasting opinions between the suave Sanji who quickly points out that Nami's hiding something, while Usopp just wants to get the hell out of dodge before the super-powerful fish-monsters come back. 

I also love the bit where Zoro interjects when Luffy is about to talk to Genzo, intercutting his "I'm a pirate" with "...hunter", which is a nice bit of worldbuilding that fits into the accelerated pacing and the lack of time that would've otherwise been spent to them arguing and winning the villagers' trust. We already get that scene later on as the Straw Hats visit Nojiko's house, Sanji wins her over with some cooking, and Nojiko spills the tea about her backstory. 

And it's at this point that we get to see the full backstory, and while the actual gunshot is surprisingly censored, everything else about Arlong's invasion of Coco village, Bellemere hiding the two girls, Arlong figuring out that there are three people in the house, the tribute hunting and the connection to money, and Bellemere refusing to say a lie like "these two are not my daughters"... all of it are done amazingly well. Honestly, other than Usopp's flashback (which, I'm sorry, was always the weakest of the original five) I felt like all the flashbacks were done exceedingly well. Nami's and Sanji's are a great standout from the rest even then, though. The tension in these scenes are really palpable, and they actually got a really good child actress to play little Nami. 

I do really like the show actually focusing on Luffy's reaction to that story. Usopp is dumbfounded, Sanji's quiet and pensive, and... Luffy goes up onto the roof of Nojiko's house, followed by Zoro. And there's a nice little discussion as Luffy insists that he knows Nami, the real Nami, while Zoro is a bit more cynical... and Luffy brings up how his gut feeling about Nami is the same one that told him about Zoro. 

Arlong's dealings with Nezumi is done a lot more smartly here. Nezumi still walks around in a gloriously dumb-looking reproduction of his manga counterpart's rat getup, but he's built up a bit more. Nezumi and his cronies show up earlier in Arlong's party, and the later discussion takes place in a dark, secluded room. Arlong doesn't just simply threaten Nezumi or make a show of his strength, but actually goes on a really well-delivered rant about how despite all of the supposed efforts by the World Government to make sure the Fishmen were given equal rights as regular humans, it's really just little more than lip service... and I don't want to just write the entire conversation here, but it's one of the better rewrites in the Netflix adaptation in my opinion. 

Nami then goes to Bellemere's grave to dig up her money, leading to a confrontation between her and Nojiko. It's an interesting confrontation between the two, and the desecration of Bellemere's grave adds an extra sense of anger on Nojiko's part. In the midst of all this, we get the final part of the flashback -- of little Nami making a deal with Arlong, leading to her lifelong goal of her entire teenage years of stealing, cheating and hoarding enough money to buy back Cocoyasi Village from the fishman. Of course, Nezumi interrupts it and seizes Nami's treasure. What a dick!

Nami running around in the dark, in desperation, after her lifeline has been cut, after her last hope, her lifelong effort, has been completely torn asunder... all the while Arlong is giving a speech about retribution and vengeance to his fishmen army. And with all of this rhetoric going on, I actually do appreciate a lot of the additional world-building hints that not all fishmen are cruel -- with the fishman staff in the Baratie and the brief mention of Jimbei. 

And the clinching scene of the East Blue saga? Nami ranting "ARLONG ARLONG ARLONG ARLONG ARLONG!" while she cuts up her own deltoid with a knife to get rid of the mark of the tattoo? The sheer moment of desperation before Monkey D. Luffy, the bringer of hope and the dumbass who doesn't know how to distrust his friend even after a life-shattering betrayal, comes in? I have to admit that I actually didn't really feel that this moment was as impactful as some of the others down the line (Robin's "I want to live"; Zoro's "nothing happened"; everything about Brook's original joining) but it's pretty up there as one of the scenes that this show needs to get right. And... it does. Out of all the scenes here, I think this is the one scene that Eiichiro Oda himself notes that they needed to get right. 

Now I'm not going to lie and say that this is a transformative scene that really blew my mind away or anything like that. And honestly, for a Netflix adaptation, I really thought that they'd use some better makeup on the wound on Nami's arm instead of what looked like three clean cuts. But it's really competently done, the acting between Emily Rudd and Inaki Godoy really works, and considering this is Nami with all her walls broken down and Rudd is now able to show Nami's more genuine side? It's well done. 

And with us seeing all the way to the future of these stories? Seeing how Nami is at the lowest point in her life in this arc. She betrayed the people that have been nothing but selfless and helpful to her. She betrayed her village, her family, even her real sister. She tried to bear all the burdens on her own, but whether it's pirates or the marines, they have all betrayed her. There's no way out, and the very same people she tried to push away? Just like Bellemere when Nami was all angry and said some nasty things about how she's "not [her] real mother", Luffy comes back, and is willing to help. No questions asked. Because that's what family does. 

And I've been watching the Wano arc in the anime... and I've honestly never quite realized it. But this is exactly why, in the face of certain doom when facing off against Ulti, this is why Nami refuses to deny that Straw Hat Luffy is her captain, and that god damn it, he's going to be the King of the Pirates. Because to deny Luffy at the pain of death would be equivalent to doing the antithesis of what Bellemere did

And honestly? This really does play into Luffy's character, doesn't it? He knows people. He doesn't care why Nami betrayed him. Why Robin left him. Why Vivi deceived him. What the politics behind Momonosuke's kingdom, or Tama's starvation, or Law's backstory, or Rebecca being trapped in the prisons, or why Hatchan is so afraid of Celestial Dragons, or that characters like Franky or Mr. 2 used to be an enemy. What Luffy sees is that they're his friends, they need help, and whatever the reason is? He's going to lift his hands into the air and yell "of course I will!" Badass.

And the episode ends with the village on fire, as the Straw Hats, well, assemble for one last fight. 

A great addition that takes place in the background of this episode, by the way, is the usage of the Baratie set. I've been focusing on the Arlong and Straw Hat side of things, but there's a B-plot going on as Garp and his company arrives at Baratie, leading to a giant steak-filled conversation as Garp and Zeff talk to each other. Two of the best actors, and I love the little tension as Garp clearly knows that Zeff knows about Luffy, and Zeff is just maintaining his nonchalant 'I know nothing' excuses. Their dialogue mostly talks about the typical 'new age' theme that One Piece likes so much, but the performances of the two older actors are amazing to withhold. 

These are two characters that never interacted with each other in the source material, but it makes perfect sense as they're both from the same 'generation' of sailors and while they don't exactly know the specifics, they are parents (well, grandparent in Garp's case) to two of the Straw Hats. Again, it's this nice little moment of detail that feels so nice where we get to see short bits and bobs about what happens in other parts of the setting after our heroes left. 

Koby and Helmeppo also have a fun little discussion about their internal reveal that Koby's found out about Garp and Luffy's connection, and I absolutely adore this scene that really highlights their bizarre friendship. The little dork Koby drinking alone in Baratie's bar, and Helmeppo's even got a fair bit of comparison as Koby realizes that there's some similarities between Helmeppo and Luffy, having grown under the shadow of powerful Marines. 

One Piece Easter Egg Notes:

• The back side of the playing cards Nami is playing with has the symbol of the Sun Pirates, but with a shark jaw in the middle of the 'sun'.
• There are arguments here and there, and some people think that the guy with spiky hair that Nami's playing cards against is meant to be the cut Hatchan, but he actually corresponds to a recurring background member of the Arlong pirates.  
• Our heroes find an upside-down house that is revealed to have been flipped by Arlong's immense fishman strength during the original attack on Cocoyasi. In the manga, our heroes find the entirety of Gosa Village with upside-down flipped village as part of the Fishman Pirates' rampage. 
• While we don't see Gosa Village, Nezumi still mentions that it was recently attacked in this version of events. 
• Sanji says his 'mosshead' insult at Zoro, which is a running gag in the manga. 
• Zeff mentions hunting boars on the island of Jaya, the island where, well, the Jaya arc takes place. 
• Nezumi name-drops Jimbei as a Warlord of the Sea, and Arlong is immediately pissed off at hearing him -- which is more true to the dynamic of Fischer Tiger, Jimbei and Arlong as established in the Fishman Island arc as compared to the now-retconned line of Jimbei being Arlong's "boss" in the original East Blue saga. 
• In the same vein, the fact that Arlong Park now looks like a theme park is also taken from the revelations in the Sabaody arc where Arlong modelled his park after Sabaody Park where the Fishmen were not allowed entrance. 
• The book little Nami flips through has a map of the Oykot Kingdom, the war-torn country where she and Nojiko were originally from.
• During the party when Chew does his archerfish trick, one of the Fishman is wearing a Criminal shirt -- extra-appropriate considering that Criminal is a brand that originated from the Fishman Kingdom.