One Piece Progress: CP9 Saga

[C4 Karura]

Yep, I'm finally done with Skypiea. It wasn't that great, and it didn't really have that much effect on the story. But I am an unabashed Nico Robin fanboy, and I know from spoilers that this CP9 Saga is all about her origins. Hopefully this one is better.

Also: Traditionally, I've put all my reviews in edits on the first post until it got too large and some stuff got temporarily deleted. From now on, each arc will be it's own new post. (For 50-episode arcs, it'll probably be broken down more.) That way, the people who kind of follow me will know when a new set has been put up for them to check out.

And finally: Please post replies. I get tons of views (a total of 3,654 on the first two threads), but hardly any replies. Part of the reason I do these is becuase I don't know anyone else in real life who likes manga, so I want to get to discuss all the stuff on here. Please? :)

(Finally, here's the first two threads: East Blue and Baroque Works (http://naruto.viz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31760) and Skypiea (http://naruto.viz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40075). Enjoy!)

[C4 Karura]

Davy Fight Back Arc:

Episode 207: This episode was basically one huge reboot, tying off any of the few remaining Skypiea Saga subplots within the first ten minutes, and then allowing the Straw Hats to discover some brand new Wacky Grand Line Island for the first time since they made it to Skypiea 50 episodes ago. As far as Wacky Themes go, I guess everything being looong is alright. Still, I'm a little worried about the new characters. Guy On Stilts seems like a vague copy of every Cheerful Old Guy on this show. I'm pretty sure he's gonna turn out to be yet another Innocent Quirky Loner Guy Who Loves Animals who the Evil Pirates attack, and the Straw Hats have to stop. I really hope I'm wrong about that, becuase it would just be a straight up copy of the Jaya arc, but the 40 episodes I've seen since my return have not exactly taught me to expect the unexpected on this show.




Episode 208: Ugh. Somehow this canon arc feels more like a filler arc than the actual filler preceding it. For starters there's this arc's Old Friendly Stranger, a blatent copy of Zenny from the Goat Island filler 80 episodes ago. There's the sudden shift in focus onto a bunch of "zany" new characters instead of the Straw Hats themselves. There's the desire to wallow in every challenge the characters could possibly get involved in on the way to their goal.

I spent most of this episode sputtering in disbelief along with Nami as everyone rushed to join the Davy Back Fight. For starters, I couldn't believe that Luffy would actually listen to Foxy instead of immeaditely punching him after he shot Old Guy's Hooorse. He hasn't exactly shown that kind of patience with villains in the past. Plus, no one in the crew actually knows any of the rules of the Fight. For all they know, it could be that the crew with the most Fox Hats wins. And yet they're willing to place their loyalty and ship on the line to... make sure their honor isn't offended? Why not just challenge them to a regular old fight?




Episode 209: This arc is suffering from a wierd desire on the writer's part to have it simultanously be a Serious Gripping Drama and a Light-Hearted Whimsical Comic Adventure. The Foxy Pirates are genuinely cruel and evil one moment and Team Rocket-level Wacky Villains the next. I have no idea whether I'm supposed to be angry at them or not. And while the Straw Hats' decision to build their ships for maxinum comedic potential instead of actual sailing potential makes sense in the context of the comedic scenes, it stands as a huge plot hole in the scenes where someone starts seriously angsting about (possibly) getting taken away from their crew.

With that said, I did actually like the comedy in this episode, from the announcer's meta-announcement about the Generic Henchmen in the race ("And here's... a regular boat full or regulars!") to Luffy's instantly quotable "What's a boobie?" And any episode that sees new Nico Robin moves can't be a bad episode. Let's just hope the writers stop trying to make us think of the Foxy Pirates as a serious threat and instead embrace their camp potential.