957: "Big News! An Incident Concerning the Seven Warlords of the Sea"

[Skippy]

[goty]

So it looks to me like wg tried to cover up the death of cobra and ancient weapon info, and bb found out from the papers and the ancient weapon is what he doesn't want to fall in marines hand. Sabo is captured and wg announced his execution, like ace. Ace clone all the way?

I'm sticking with the theory that Sabo "kidnapped" Vivi, and that a future Straw Hat reunion is in order. I don't think Oda would repeat the exact same plot beats with Sabo, and the Revolutionaries saying they lost contact with them makes more sense if they're all MIA.

Anyway, truly fantastic episode. Toei usually delivers when it comes to this kind of interlude, and the anime has been on a long winning streak, so everything aligned here. Ishitani is an absolutely fantastic director; I've been anxious for more of her work ever since the DBS finale. I think people often underestimate Toei and the amount of young talents working for them,but she's certainly one of their best.

[Lord Starfish]

That... was utter lunacy in the best way. I mean the preview already indicated that this episode would be good, but damn... I can't even remember the last time I saw an episode of One Piece that was just absolutely excellent from start to finish. Even the goddamn recap segments were superb, like what even is this?!

...I know this is literally impossible because of the amount of time it takes to do an episode but can Ishitani just direct every episode from now on?

[zeff redleg]

I don't get it, why the sudden increase in quality.

Where did they get the budget from?

[puffing.cinema]

omg it was movie-like quality for the whole thing!!!

what pop up the most for me was the colour use, and how they expanded the colour palette during most scenes. really made it all feel quite different; the new angles, scene transitions, recap and fillers were really well done. amazing to watch, really. made the Shichibukooks all look cool, before their downfall.

next episode seems to be a cool one too, but has a different feeling already. hope it keeps up and build more momentum...usually the anime hits good on flashbacks, expanding them with great voice acting, OSTs and, well, a fluidity that the manga can't hope to have. let's see what will they bring out of Oden's Pandering and Roja's most expressive exposition to date.

[Devil G.]

Way to follow what has been the anime's best year so far. Absolutely marvelous board, this was one episode for the ages.

[Lord Starfish]

I don't get it, why the sudden increase in quality.

Where did they get the budget from?

It's not a budget thing. It's a "Who's working on it" thing and a "How much time did they have to do their job" thing. The actual animation makes up a comparatively tiny portion of the total costs of an episode, and the budget mostly just impacts how much animation there can be, not how good said animation will be. So this episode was as good as it was because Ishitani Megumi is a phenomenal director who hasn't worked on One Piece before, and because she was able to gather up a whole bunch of top-tier animators to work on the episode. And they had the time to make the production really shine.

[G1Ravage]

I think the most impactful scene for me was the one where the News Coos were dropping newspapers all over this poor-looking village, and the little girl was astonished by the sight, and happily running around. But it was slowly overtaken by the sounds of adults sobbing over whatever horrible news the papers brought, which is still a mystery to us.

The other scene that stood out was during the current Warlord recap. The transitions were amazing. I really liked the part where they showed the Straw Hats, frozen in pose during Dressrosa...then it cuts to a zoomed in shot where it focuses on Law. Everyone else is still frozen, with Luffy in the bottom right corner not moving an inch, while Law comes to life, turns to the camera, and starts to open his Room. It's almost like the scene is saying, "The Straw Hats aren't important here. Focus on me."

EDIT - Wait, I need to add more! More bits that I liked:

-Doflamingo's glowing eyes subtly remaining, long after the scene in his cell faded to black. Very creepy.

-The atmosphere on Coby's ship while he was secretly trying to communicate with Drake. I especially liked that shot from the hallway, where we can somewhat see Coby sneaking a peek through the door window to make sure no one was around. It was quiet, atmospheric, moody and a bit creepy.

I wonder if Crossword will have to create a special 6-star rating just for Megumi Ishitani. lol

[LightningAce]

So it looks to me like wg tried to cover up the death of cobra and ancient weapon info, and bb found out from the papers and the ancient weapon is what he doesn't want to fall in marines hand. Sabo is captured and wg announced his execution, like ace. Ace clone all the way?

Total opposite.
They attempted to wipe out the royal family of Alabasta, they succeeded in killing Cobra because he was asking dangerous questions. Don't forget he was seeking an audience with the Gorosei during the Reverie.
He had questions regarding the Poenglyphs, his ancestors and some other stuff. Plus "Im" had Vivi's picture, so its likely she was chosen to be the target to be taken out when the Gorosei asked.

I bet Sabo saved her during the assasination attempt, and has taken her somewhere to keep her safe, but in the process has been framed for the deaths.

[G1Ravage]

Oh man... I'm so STUPID!! That scene with the girl and the News Coos, and the distraught people...THAT WAS ALABASTA!!!

*leaves the fandom*

[MasterKingJC]

Megumi Ishitani is a goddess.

Unarguably one of the best episodes of the entire anime. It might be THE BEST!

[God Of Fire]

Incredible episode. The best looking episode of One Piece. Ishitani did a phenomenal job. Hoping that she would direct some major episodes of Oden flashback and to stay with One Piece anime for a long time.

[andre]

So it looks to me like wg tried to cover up the death of cobra and ancient weapon info, and bb found out from the papers and the ancient weapon is what he doesn't want to fall in marines hand. Sabo is captured and wg announced his execution, like ace. Ace clone all the way?

I think they framed Sabo for it as well. The Sabo kidnapped Vivi theory is a really cool one too.

[theackwardstation]

Actually a great episode!

[Kinomoto]

Boy this episode was amazing. That top animation and every moment was done justice.

[Kaworu]

Man. It is just a f*cking excellent time to be a fan of One Piece, in both forms. I'm fully of the opinion both are in their "second golden age". Both have had their ups and downs, but things have been on the upswing since Zou, and really started going full-swing in Wano.

As far as the episode goes, as others have said the use of lighting is really what made this stand out, really raised the dramatic weight. This is how you know we're in the end times of this series, Toei recognizes how important episodes like this are for the final saga of One Piece and is just going nuts on them.

[Kinomoto]

Man. It is just a f*cking excellent time to be a fan of One Piece, in both forms. I'm fully of the opinion both are in their "second golden age". Both have had their ups and downs, but things have been on the upswing since Zou, and really started going full-swing in Wano.

As far as the episode goes, as others have said the use of lighting is really what made this stand out, really raised the dramatic weight. This is how you know we're in the end times of this series, Toei recognizes how important episodes like this are for the final saga of One Piece and is just going nuts on them.

Yeah both anime and manga were great last year and it´s looking they will keep it up this year. (Or crosses finger, be of even better quality)

[God Of Fire]

Usually, I don't listen to the One Piece Podcast, but this week they covered this episode and the anime recap section was over 40 minutes long. So I listened to that part only. As expected they praised the episode calling it the best looking One Piece episode. But they confused and mixed up Aya Komaki and Megumi Ishitani. They said that Episode 894 was also directed by Megumi Ishitani. I ask them to atleast watch Skippy's breakdown videos which are great and also invite him to OPP in the future so that he can share his knowledge on One Piece anime staff with them.

[MasterKingJC]

Forgot to mention that this was the first episode in forever to give me goosebumps. I literally got goosebumps during the lead-up to the big news reveal.

[Sano]

This is my opinion, I been thinking the anime being getting better since the beginning of Whole Cake Island.