Episode 1161 of One Piece sets a rather languid pace to set the mood and deliver key information before ending on a high note.

Welcome to Elbaph, ladies and gentlemen. Please take your time to read our informational signs and take in the sights and sounds.

Oh, you want to hurry off? cocks gun I’m sorry, I must have mispoke: this was not a request. Take your time.

More seriously, this one’s a bit of a mosey rather than a run. That’s not a bad thing, mind you – it’s important to set the stakes, get a feel for the location, all that sort of thing. The length of One Piece arcs these days (years?) means we spend so much time in one place that it’s best to spend time setting the scene. By definition, that gives us slower-paced episodes that aren’t even necessarily information dumps so much as they are a long preamble to our stay.

This week is one of those episodes.

We get a lot of Luffy and Loki talking for one thing. Half the episode is them talking in the snow about Elbaph, and in particular, Loki’s position there. There are a few fun sights and sounds: Luffy befriending the mountain monsters, the silly Shy Guy-esque wandering human wastrels, that sort of thing. The best part was the moment Loki mocked Shanks and Luffy went Gear 4 without missing a beat. It’s a good expression of his character and respect for Shanks, as well as being a genuinely funny moment. Luffy can abide a lot, but Shanks slander? It’s on sight.

There’s a brief interlude where we get introduced to the next era of giant pirates. I liked this roll-call, but there’s not much to say really. “Can’t wait to see more of them!” is the sum of it. I suppose it is worth noting that we don’t often get new crews introduced in quite such a showy, fourth-wall-breaking manner – and I like it. Let the characters walk out on stage and strut their stuff, swing a weapon or something, it works. The typical method is to have one character talk, and others join in the conversation one after another while their names pop up at the bottom of the screen. That method sits nicely within the fiction, but I like how this method provides some novelty.

Lastly, Robin gets a haircut. I liked this scene’s emotional heft, pretty much from all vectors: what it means to Robin, Brook’s nervousness, everyone else’s reactions, etc. Though there was a huge bit of unintended comedy for me when Brook pulled off her salon cape, and it was an immediate close-up on her – ahem – prodigious Devil Fruits. I audibly laughed out loud because I expected it to be her face. All in all, great scene on a great week, so long as you can handle the slower tempo.

Rating:

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