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One Piece – Finishing Enies Lobby ~ To the ocean, back to the sea of adventure

When you enjoy something so completely, it’s never easy to write a review about it, and, as if you didn’t know already, I love One Piece. Of course, I could just not bother with this blogging nonsense, but I can’t ignore my conscience. More people need to be watching this anime and, in my own feeble style, I need to tell you why I love it.
Earlier today I finished watching episode 312 and according to Wikipedia, that’s the official end point of the Enies Lobby saga. My initial thoughts are that this was by far and away the best arc of One Piece. That’s a remarkable feat when you think about it; after an amazing 300 episodes, it’s still getting better and better. A lot of the credit has to go to the unflinching vision of Oda-sensei, who has been crafting this wonderful story for nigh on 10 years now. I imagine he draws it with a big Luffy style smile slapped across his face.
Also, it’s worth pointing out that One Piece is the most fansubbed anime ever; every single episode has been translated, encoded and shared by people spread the world over. So through all the tragic 4Kids bullshit, the fans remained undeterred and stuck together, achieving a quite remarkable record. You cannot doubt their dedication! Here’s hoping FUNimation give us a release worthy of such a loyal fan base; even though they will be beginning production at Skypiea, I’m desperate to fill my walls with beautiful One Piece DVDs.
Why is Enies Lobby so much better than, say, Alabasta then? It’s the way the Straw-Hats worked together. In the past, it has usually felt like that as long as Luffy was around, the day would be saved. He beats down Crocodile, and that is that, the world saved. It’s not that simple with Enies Lobby though; Luffy is basically sidetracked by Rob Lucci, leaving the rest of the Straw-Hats to rescue Robin. It takes a real team effort to survive; each person is pushed to their limits, a true test of their spirit to remain together.
My favourite scene was just prior to the final moments of Luffy’s clash with Lucci; Usopp’s looking down on the fight from high above and spots that Luffy is close to defeat. He removes his Sogeking mask and starts screaming and shouting, urging Luffy to fight on, desperate for him not to give up. All this contrasts with Usopp’s earlier fight with Luffy; they are supposed to be enemies, but Usopp’s show of support gives Luffy enough heart and determination to finish the fight. It’s a really wonderful scene, a perfect ying-yang of Luffy’s strength and Usopp’s support; they need each other to survive.
It’s apt that Merry shows up in the end and carries everyone to safety. Though it may be too nostalgic for some, the boat is symbolic of the Straw-Hats bond to one-another; it represents all those past adventures, their precious memories and the dreams they’re yet to grasp. It’s not just a ship, it’s the One Piece adventure itself, Merry is the reason they are all together and ultimately, it’s the reason they survive.

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One Piece – A nostalgic comment, nearing the end of my adventure

I’m up to episode 301 of One Piece; 15 more and I’ll have finally caught up with the current fansubs. It’s taken me nearly three years to get this far and now I’m almost there, I have this weird feeling. It’s been great knowing that if I’m ever bored with anime, if I ever wanted to watch something that I knew I’d love, I could always lose myself for hours on an adventure with One Piece. Yet in a few days time, that’s all going to change. I’ll be waiting each and every week, like all the other straw-hats, for just one measly episode. Maybe it’s just me, but I prefer watching anime in bulk. 23 minutes per week just isn’t enough and having to wait so long between cliffhangers totally fades my enthusiasm. Almost just as much, I’ll miss writing about the series in this way too, I suppose my One Piece posts have largely come to define me as a blogger, so for what it’s worth, thanks for reading! I’ve had so much fun talking with you guys about the show.
Anyway… I started writing this because I wanted to sound off about Enies Lobby. Episode 301 marks the turning of the tide in favor of the Straw-hats; basically, Robin is saved, thank god! I’m not sure how much more I could take of the bastard Spandam’s violent abuse; he’s the first villain in One Piece that I’ve truly come to hate, given his unrelenting and harrowing treatment of Robin. Best of all, the one to save her, at the darkest of dark moments was, of all people, Usopp (or Sogeking, if you want to get technical!); I love that he’s finally done something to be proud of (good job on Sanji’s part, talking some sense into him) and saved a dear friend with his own two hands.
From the various CP9 characters, my favorite has to be Kaku. Not only does he have this cool square nose and an innocent sense of humor (HAHA! Giraffe!) , he was probably the only CP9 assassin to show a little humanity. Once Zoro finishes him off, we see this bitter-sweet flashback to his time in Water 7; I love that scene of him jumping over the city, flying through the clouds at such a speed with that big smirk slapped across his face.
Now, I’m about to embark on my final catch-up with One Piece. I can’t wait to see Luffy beat down Rob Lucci. Until then!

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One Piece – High gears, high drama and why Sogeking is the coolest

Prior to this evening, it had been nearly two months since I last sat down with an episode of One Piece. I’d finally reached the promised land of the Enies Lobby arc but some what worryingly, it wasn’t clicking with me. I found the plot was becoming fairly predictable and excruciatingly slow, while even the soundtrack was still rehashing the old favorites we first heard way back in Alabasta. I felt like I’d seen all of this before; I was bored and needed a break from the Straw-hat gang. Well, now it feels like I just got back from vacation!
It’s ironic that I stopped watching at episode 271, right before Luffy unveils his sensational evolution and goes bad-ass on Blueno from CP9. I loved the moment of his victory; the sudden realisation that he has knocked his opponent out cold. Luffy’s new technique was cool and bad-ass, but then, the rubber-man has always been cool and bad-ass anyway.
The real reason why I’m writing this is that I wanted to comment on the end of episode 274. Having fought their way through literally thousands of marines, the Straw-Hats (including Sogeking) find themselves at the top of a tower directly facing Nico Robin. They walk to the edge and stand in-line with Luffy, looking across the island right into the eyes of their broken comrade. Combined with the swirling and theatrical background music (a new song too!), this is a life affirming and symbolic moment for Robin; perhaps once and for all putting to bed her superficial attempts to escape her friends in order to save them. When Robin shouts across "Leave me alone, I want to die", Luffy simply retorts "if you want to say those words, come over here and say them with us". Us; your friends.
What I love about this scene, aside from what I’ve mentioned above, is that we have characters like Usopp and Nami there too. Luffy, Zoro, Chopper and Sanji are all on another level, they can stand there without feeling consumed by fear and doubt. Usopp and Nami are different though, they must know they have no chance in a fight, but they’re still there anyway, standing tall on the edge of the building, risking it all to win back their lost friend. In this scene, that’s why Sogeking is the coolest and bravest of all. And that’s also why I love One Piece.