One Piece Anime, Wano Arc: Episodes 1069-1071 [Gear Fifth]

GEAR FIFTH! Yeah, I watched 1071 and the subsequent episodes all the way back in August when it premiered, but it just took time to actually catch up with the other episodes and find the energy to write the commentary. 

Episode 1069:

• 
  I absolutely forgot that X-Drake had one final confrontation with Guernica. And... I dunno. While Izo got one hell of an extended scene and a sendoff, I still feel rather disappointed with X-Drake. For a character that felt so interesting with so much potential, he's kind of just there, isn't he? He stabs Guernica once, then Guernica uses Shigan and draws much more blood epically. I know Drake gets a short scene with Hawkins later on post-Gear-Fifth, but it really is frustrating sometimes that it's hard to say when someone's dead or not in this series. 
• We get a repeat of a lot of scenes from 1068, huh? Luffy going Snakeman and unleashing Hydra; Fukurokuju's collapse... I do appreciate Raizou's speech to Fukurokuju and mocking how he's became weak.
• Absolutely appreciate the brief flash to Oden holding up his Scabbards when Raizou rolls the flames out. It's played a bit for comedy, of course, but I always liked this moment for Raizou. Shame that it's not called out that Raizou's the only one that complained about the heat back in the day.
• Considering they incorporated Kid's SBS-exclusive backstory, it's a mild shame that Raizou's wasn't. 
• Also, I just assume Fukurokuju's dead at this point. 
• "He's bending the trajectory of his attacks? That's impossible for rubber!"
• We're all waiting for Gear Fifth, but honestly there's a lot of good animation in this episode as compared to the previous Luffy/Kaido clashes after the initial Roof Piece. There's the obvious fatigue that we've seen so many moves tossed around between the two, but I did really like Luffy's KING COBRA, as well as Kaidou briefly activating his own ability to use Future Sight.
• Yeah, Kaidou's 'Drunken Beggar' expression is... uh... it sure is something. 
• Oh, god damn, Kaidou coiling up with Luffy in his mouth, and then unleashing a point-blank Boro Breath down like a sci-fi satellite missile down towards Onigashima... honestly, with all of the abuse that the poor island had suffered throughout this arc I'm surprised it's still in one piece!
• Is Boundman the only form that can actually go and do the little 'compress and extend' rocket jet thing? Is that why Luffy switches from Snakeman to Boundman to catch back up to Onigashima?
• 
  I don't think Kaidou'll receive his flashback here, but the arguments between him and Luffy for this fake final fight, with Luffy ranting about the starving people of Wano against Kaidou who gets pissed off for the 'fake strength' and 'excuses for weakness' that the defeated samurai have, is pretty okay. Again, I would really like some context, but I do think that the framing of this particular monologue does really help to crystalize Kaidou's viewpoint on the world -- he's okay if someone wins due to strength, and that respect for strength is why he's willing to take in random former adversaries into his crew. But he's particularly pissed off at Wano for having so much of what he views as 'excuses' of the defeated samurai using their code of nobility to justify what, in Kaidou's eyes, is weakness. 
  
• GOMU GOMU NO... OVER KONG GUN!
• HORAI HAKKE!
• In the anime, as Kaidou activates his final 'bloodthirsty drunk' personality and unleashes Horai Hakke, he goes from light blue to purple. A nice little visual flair, even if it's not one that I think is particularly necessary. The glowing eyes are also pretty cool.
• And we get the wonderful tracking shot as Kaidou and Luffy face off against each other, spinning around the battlefield with some well-animated mouthing of words. Lots of epic over-the-top colours, spinning angles, and especially that aura of Kaidou's dragon form forming around Kaidou himself. 
• What a lunatic expression Kaidou has as he's about to clash this one last time, too! That spin-around as the two titans are about to clash in the eye of a gigantic storm is so, so damn cool. 
• And all of this actually ends up doing the desired outcome of... making me completely forget about Guernica and how he's about to interrupt this fight, zip in, Tekkai and latch on to Luffy's giant arm, causing Kaidou to bash Luffy in a seemingly fatal blow. 
• What a face of despair in Kaidou's face when he realizes what he's done, too, how his big epic battle was interrupted. 

Episode 1070:

• And this whole episode is just a rather simple adaptation of Kaidou rampaging as the rest of the cast (except Nami) thinks Luffy's dead, and it seems like it's the end of hope while Luffy's heart is starting to beat again with the drums of liberation. 
• Okay, Luffy deflating was hilarious with the sound effects he makes. The zoom-in to his completely hollowed-out eyes immediately makes it creepier, though. 
• And then Kaidou unleashes one hell of a Haki-infused attack on Guernica... and just like the source material, we never get a confirmation of Guernica's death. I really want this, moreso than any other death in this arc, because it really strains credulity that he would somehow survive a strike from an utterly enraged Kaidou.
• Joseph gives a cute little hat-tip before leaving Onigashima.
• Oh man, those random samurai  behind Kawamatsu that survived everything only to be annihilated with Kaidou's Boro Breath... sucks to be them. 
• We get a much extended scene of Nami's short line, but honestly, especially with her very powerful moment with Ulti earlier in the arc, I absolutely believe that Nami would be the biggest Straw Hat Pirate crewmate that's going to take a stand and defend Luffy's dream at the cost of her own life. Honestly, this undying loyalty is genuinely truly impressive. She's got some well-animated, terrified, crying expressions and some great voice-acting as well! 
• And Marco, weakened Marco, is able to create a blue fire shield that tanks a Boro Breath from Kaidou! 
• We've got a nice small moment of Jean Bart and one random Kid Pirate (he probably has a name) protecting Kid and Law from the generic Beast Pirates. Kid and Law also get several more extra scenes reacting to the situation and getting ready to continue to fight to the bitter end. 
• Yamato and Momonosuke have a whole conversation about fighting to the bitter end, of course, until Zunesha hears the drums of liberation... of Joy Boy.
• Do really love the visual imagery of the heartbeat or the soundwaves making out the katakana for 'Joy Boy'. 
• The drums of liberation could honestly go two ways -- a simple, ominous beating drum... but they went for the epic, chaotic tribal drum orchestra which I feel really does fit Luffy a lot better. 
• Yep, it's a bit more clear that the weird goopy tendrils rising up is Luffy's hair and face turning rubbery. Gear Fifth is coming!

Episode 1071:

• I don't actually find this episode as hype as the internet wants it to be, especially when I was watching it. I actually do think that the Zoro and Sanji episode, and Roof Piece, are all much more exciting in terms of hype for me personally. I do think part of it is that 1071 really does reuse a lot of animation, which in my opinion does hurt the episode a fair bit. 
• I do like some of the extended scenes of Luffy awakening, like him stumbling along with just his hair and the ribbon turning white with Gear Fifth, while the rest of him is still coloured correctly. 
• Love the ground below Luffy constantly wibbly-wobbling, fitting with his whole 'turn everything around him into rubber' thing, although at around halfway through the episode I did think that they overused the 'boingy-boing' rubber-hose cartoon sound effect a bit too much. 
• And then Luffy, crackling Conqueror's Haki and sparking everywhere, unleashes a gigantic white blast of energy that is, to him, 'so fun' as he creates a crater and cubes up some rocks. Sanji also wakes up at this point, and we get to first see Luffy's face in Gear Fifth. 
• After some reaction shots, we get an often-screenshotted sequence as Luffy fully transforms into Gear Fifth, with his body shrouded in black and yellow while his eyes and face get reduced to a glowing smile. I actually get why this still works -- it's focusing on the 'smiling' aspect of Gear Fifth and Joy Boy and the Drums of Liberation. 
• The sheer force of Luffy's transformation split the clouds in the sky again, which I think is in the source material but I never quite realized it? A bit too tired to go check the manga volumes, but he has to, right? To do the Nika pose on the moon?
• We get the Gorosei monologuing about the true nature of the Gomu Gomu no Mi.... Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Sun God Nika. Honestly, rather than reusing animation at another part of the episode, I really would've wished they combined some of the previous Gorosei discussions into this one? It is an epic scene, though, culminating in Luffy in front of the moon. 
  
• Man it's so weird to be able to think about the five Gorosei members as actual characters with names now. Notable that it's Saturn that's so willing to immediately eliminate a threat, and he's the first Gorosei to move out of Marie Geoise. 
• It's also rather clear, combined with previous Gorosei scenes, that Ju Peter is the one that's the least informed about the true nature of the Nika fruit, whereas Warcury, Mars and Nusjuro all take turns talking about their efforts to hide the fruit's existence from the world. 
• And it's really hard to take screenshots of it, but this is the first time where the animation starts to go wild, with rapid angle changes and Luffy's body wibbly-wobbly-ing. And... I have opinions about this?
• There are definitely parts where the animation was a bit too much. They were doing a bit too much in particularly that scene where Luffy flips the ground to block Kaido's Boro Breath and that really could've been slowed down a tad! It really is a bit too hectic for its own good that honestly necessitates a rewatch of some scenes but not in the good way. 
• I am actually simultaneously disappointed and relieved that the animation isn't trying to fully mimic the old-school Looney Tunes/Tom and Jerry style? It's more of a 'anime with rubber hose qualities' tossed in, but I'm not gonna lie, I did expect a bit more Cuphead-y, y'know what I mean? 
• But what I do love is Luffy's manic giggling throughout all this. He just sounds so... jubilant! Hell, I'd even call him high! The visuals are a bit hit-and-miss for me, but the audio is definitely on-point!
  
• There is some more scenes about Orochi and Hiyori which people complained about. And... these were in the original manga, and I do really think that there's some merit to be made to shuffling all the Hiyori/Orochi scenes to the next or previous episode, and to focus most of the Gear Fifth reveal for an entire episode? 
• I completely forgot the remnants of the Kanjurou Kazenbo still survived long enough to glorp up and burn Orochi. 
• And... we get a lot of scenes of Luffy just bouncing around on the rooftop which really does feel somewhat repetitive.
  
• The shots of him unleashing gigantic blasts of Conqueror's Haki lightning down onto the stage floor is fun, though, and we start getting into this mixture of different animation styles as Luffy blows into his hand, as the somewhat-CGI dragon Kaido is confused, and I love just how the 'skin' of Luffy's quasi-Gear-Third hand is rippling and wobbling. 
  
  
• And we get Luffy dragging Kaido's body out of the hall, which is cool and all, but we start to see how Gear Fifth is affecting the things around it, with Kaido's eyes bugging out and being temporarily left behind as Luffy drags the giant wyrm out. 
• And man, Luffy just sounds so ecstatic as he yells and goes all 'muscle! MUSCLEMUSCLEMUSCLE!' and bulks up like a cartoon character before starting to punch Kaido and cause cuckoo birds to appear. This is where I think the change in art style feels the most different, and... you really need to sometimes slow down and rewind a bit to appreciate brief frames of Luffy or Kaido's eyes bugging out and being left behind. Love the smoothness of the animation, the fluidity of the movement and the detailing when Luffy grabs Kaido's snake-like belly. Don't love so much the sheer hectic speed that everything's going on at.
  
  
• That shot of Luffy grabbing Kaido and spinning him around and around and around before bodyslamming him to the ground is pretty damn good -- I do think this is the perfect balance between the scattered nonsense of Gear Fifth and coherence in knowing what's going on in terms of an action scene. 
• Really did feel that the art style changes rather rapidly back and forth between something more similar to the traditional One Piece anime but with cartoon parts, and a much more simpler, cruder drawing? 
• We then get Luffy giggling at the giant cartoonish wound on Kaido's head, just giggling on the ground and clapping his feet and whatnot. Man, Luffy's having fun. 
  
• I really do wish the animation... 'snaps' back to 'serious anime' a bit more when Kaido charges up his Boro Breath, while Luffy's continue to be nonsensical? There's definitely a fair bit of The Mask/Tasmanian Devil going on when Luffy spins around in the air and his eyes bug out a lot to the front.
• ...And this eye-bugging-out sequence is another one that I felt I needed to rewatch because we jump so much from Luffy spinning around, his eyes popping out, Kaido charging his attack, Luffy, pushing the eyes back into his skull so hard they poke out of the other end... it's a great sequence if I watched it at like around three-quarters speed, because the colours and movements flash so quickly that it was actually hard for me to follow. 
  
• And it was just really hard to follow Luffy's movements -- though that might actually be the point -- as he just glorps and bounces back and forth mid-air to go down and grab the ground and table-flip it to block the Boro Breath. The spinning angles and Luffy's eyes, eyebrows and mouth just being left behind all the time as he moves around doesn't help, either. I appreciate what they're doing here, but it is a bit too hectic for me. 
  
• I think the most confusing thing is that the shot of Luffy trying to pull the ground up is extended, the shot of the Boro Breath being reflected back at Kaido is rather long, but the shot of the Boro Breath being deflected by the flipped stone barely registered for a second? Something like that, anyway. 
  
• GOD that Kaido face is going to be a meme forevermore. Going from a serious face to his eyes bugging out drawn in a sketch art? Beautiful. 
• We also get a very beautiful turnaround shot of Luffy before Kaido gets consumed by the Blast Breath and we get to see him get reduced to a traditional Japanese ink painting sketch art or something. That was really cool!
  
• And after all that hecticness, we get a fun shot of Kaido with his eyes bugging out, all charred black like Wile E. Coyote or Tom the cat as he just wiggles in place, before coughing out some ashes... then he shakes off the literal blast explosion and ashes and he's fine. That was the most 'old-school cartoon' that the episode went, and I appreciate it. 
  
• And then we get an interesting montage of Luffy's previous forms and victories as G-E-A-R-5 spells out on-screen. I didn't mind this! This was neat enough, and I actually really like the briefly nightmarish shot of Luffy's face drawn with anti-spiral squiggly lines that flash across the screen for a couple of seconds before we cut back to the typical Luffy. 
  
• We didn't really need the flashback to two episodes ago when Guernica blocked the attack, though. I'd rather have Luffy jumping in place more instead of that, thanks. I didn't mind the brief montage of all the attacks that Luffy and Kaido launched at each other, if only to see Red Roc's beautiful animation again, but it ran on for a bit too long. 
• And the episode closes off with a beautiful shot of Luffy facing off against Kaido, but Kaido's drawn without black lines and looks... interesting, and we zoom into Luffy's Gear Fifth face. 
• We also get an ending! That's so weird for One Piece, and not watching the anime outside of the Wano arc, apparently we haven't had a One Piece ending for quite a while now? Well, they should've done it and taken out a lot of the unnecessary flashbacks!
• Really do think that this episode is... just a draft away from being a great rewatchable episode. As it is, it does dawdle on a lot of reused footage and I really am baffled that they didn't just stay on the Gear Fifth and extend the scenes they've already animated but are flashing across the screen too quickly.