One Piece Episode 626
What They Say:
Smooth seas stretch out before the Straw Hats as they leave Punk Hazard far behind — but while they fear Donflamingo’s return and prepare to face him, another foe lies in wait, whose powers could be their downfall!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Though it hasn’t been long really, putting any distance between the Straw Hats and Punk Hazard is a good thing. While the arc started off interestingly enough with the way the island work, it didn’t take too long to make me cringe at times and just want it to be done and over with. A good part of that was just Caesar himself, who while not a bad villain, had a laugh that just made me hate to have him on screen along with his other associated sounds. Bringing him along at this point with Law hasn’t been too bad yet since he hasn’t been able to do much and it’s been fun just having Law around for awhile since he adds something a little different to the crew and band of friends that exists.
With a lot of things going on in the world that’s advancing the larger stories nicely, we get some decent fun for this episode that has a kind of lightness about it even as it starts off dark by having the ship attacked from the air by a strange group of creatures in all black with dayglo green rings about them. What they signify is the arrival of Breed, a peto-peto fruit eater how has thrown the ship into a bit of chaos as they rescue Caesar. Breed is certainly one that feels similar in style to Caesar with his own quirks to be sure and his quick debut and escape with Caesar sets this next little arc pretty well. It’s good to see the Straw Hats make their pursuit quickly in going after Caesar since he’s a big part of their overall plans, but the split in forces isn’t the best since it’s mostly Devil Fruit users that head off underwater to get him while the rest stay on the ship in case Doflamingo shows up since he’s expected to be in pursuit.
Giving us a part of Luffy, Law and Chopper definitely has a lot going for it, especially since two are loud and Law is unnerved by their style and the way that Chopper seems to cling onto him at times. It’s a really fun little grouping overall, even if Law fills in some of the Zoro role. As they make their progress, we do get some stuff with what’s going on with Breed and Caesar, but I love the callback that Luffy gets as he deals with the Dugongs in the lair as one of them is one that Luffy defeated and befriend ages ago in the Alabasta arc of the story. The two have a great relationship and seeing that brought into the present is wonderful to see. Even if Chopper and Law can’t really fathom it. It’s all light and fun material before we see Breed make his debut as we see how he’s dominated and controlled these underwater residents and others with the green rings around their necks. Which is something that obviously will not fly with Luffy, even if the main goal is to get Caesar. And knowing the kind of control that Breed has, it’s not a surprise to see the Straw Hats get attacked and taken in by it, which through Chopper we see just how little control the wearer has when Breed is directly involved.
In Summary:
The “filler” arcs of One Piece can be really tricky things. Having been marathoning various DVD sets over the last year and seeing both previously released episodes and new to DVD ones for the first time, there are some very different styles applied to them. The standalone episodes tend to do less for me overall, and especially the quirky alternate reality type ones, but some of those have been good as well as the other arcs. With this one, we’ve got some great looking animation, a new villain whose laugh will either delight or annoy and a callback to some characters that I really like seeing again. With its immediate focus on Chopper, Law and Luffy, it has a great dynamic that I’m looking forward to seeing more of. While I’m always cautious with this kinds of arcs, this one has me feeling more engaged and interested in it with a kind of optimism.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.