The premiere episode of One Piece’s Elbaph Arc is streaming now on Crunchyroll.
From its opening minutes, the return of One Piece for its Elbaph Arc feels like a monumental achievement. It starts with a flashback to the end of Little Garden, with Luffy and Usopp cheerfully vowing to one day travel to the Land of Giants together, singing a little song about Elbaph. This was the moment the pair cemented their bond as friends, as well as when Usopp decided what his ultimate dream in life was. That was way back in 2001 in the anime, and after 25 years, the crew is finally on their way to that fateful land.
It’s fitting, then, that the Netflix live-action adaptation of One Piece just covered Little Garden a few weeks ago, adding to the achievement of the anime finally getting to this point. A lot of things have changed since Little Garden first aired back in 2021. For starters, One Piece is no longer a weekly anime, instead releasing a maximum of 26 episodes per year. Those expecting this new seasonal format to mean One Piece would condense the story may be disappointed, as the premiere covers only one chapter from Eiichiro Oda’s manga. That being said, there are still noticeable improvements.
The opening scene is a great example. Like we saw throughout Egghead and the third act of Wano, Toei Animation is embracing original scenes that add to the story rather than just reusing animation to save time. The flashback is newly animated, with crisp visuals and fluid movements, and it adds to the emotional undertone of the crew heading to Elbaph. Likewise, the first act of the episode is full of little extended scenes that show the Straw Hat Crew having a moment to catch up and relax before the plot really gets going, with funny interactions and visual gags that welcome audiences back to the world of One Piece after a long hiatus. A clear standout is the scene where Brook performs New World for the crew, the first time we hear it since Sabaody, reminding us that Brook is the crew’s musician (and a world-renowned one at that).
The premiere looks great,particularly around Blackbeard’s arrival at Fullalead and our re-introduction to his crew. The fluidity and weight of Blackbeard’s movements give him a gravitas worthy of an Emperor of the Sea. Additionally, the episode seems to finally offer up new sound effects, a very welcome change after decades of the same sound design library.
Though we do not get to Elbaph just yet, the episode gives us a look at the larger world of One Piece and some of the big players in the race to find the titular treasure. We see Shanks continuing to obliterate fan-favorite pirate crews, while Blackbeard gets ready to go on the hunt. It is clear from this episode that everyone is making moves as we’re entering the story’s end game, a once unthinkable notion. As the anime expands its world to make it feel lived-in and fleshed-out, it’s nice to experience the wider scope of the episode before we focus on our main characters and their giant adventure.
One of the most highly anticipated arcs in all of One Piece is finally here, and we get an appropriate start to it. There’s worldbuilding, some action, delightful crew interactions, and also some classic One Piece shenanigans. And make sure to stick around until after the credits for a tease of possibly the weirdest little adventure in the show’s history, one that seems to involve actual LEGO.
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