We’ve reached the halfway point of the season, with Luffy’s showdown with Captain Kuro and Usopp’s official addition to the crew. This follows up on the last episode, where the specifics of the story have deviated from the original, but the key beats remain intact. So let’s continue to see how the story progresses, and if it can keep the momentum from the first few episodes.
1. Usopp and the Marines
The last episode ended with the unexpected addition of Koby and Helmeppo finding Usopp (along with two other generic nameless marines who just kind of stand in the background). However, this did not divert the episode from the original story too far, because the Marines also fail to believe Usopp.
Now, the villagers didn’t believe Usopp that Klahadore was actually Captain Kuro because he spent every day shouting “pirates are coming!” while Klahadore was a respected member of the community. The Marines don’t know either’s reputation, so instantly dismissing Usopp wouldn’t be as reasonable, except for the fact that Usopp mentioned Captain Kuro in Helmeppo’s presence. An earlier episode established that Axe-Hand Morgan was credited as the man who killed Captain Kuro, so of course Helmeppo believes it to be true (although this show didn’t give us a scene where a younger Morgan is hypnotized into thinking he killed Kuro, so perhaps it was just a body double he killed). At the same time, Helmeppo also… doesn’t really care about Usopp or anyone in the village, he just wants to capture Luffy, preferably in a way that makes Koby look bad.
And while Koby does at least do a little questioning when he speaks with “Klahadore,” and admits that something feels off, the presence of the Marines really doesn’t really impact Kuro’s plans in any way. However, it would be a greater deviation from the original plot if it did, so this isn’t a negative, and we’ll get to its story impact momentarily.
2. Zoro’s Backstory
When we last saw Zoro, he was knocked unconscious and tossed down a well. However, the Black Cat Pirates didn’t bother to make sure he was dead, and a little fall won’t kill him (actually, it was a pretty big fall, but he’s still fine), so a good portion of this episode is spent with him climbing his way out.
As he climbs, we’re treated to flashbacks of Zoro’s past, as he gets trained in swordsmanship. On one hand, it feels out of place to put Zoro’s backstory in the middle of Usopp’s introductory story arc. On the other hand, it matches up nicely with his climb out of the well, and hits all the right emotional beats up until he emerges from it, so it doesn’t detract from anything.
His backstory matches up with his manga and anime counterpart nicely. Kuina and their sensei both look spot-on to their 2D versions, it conveys his rivalry with Kuina well as it builds from an antagonistic to supportive one, and the emotional beats hit hard. Plus, the fight scene between young Zoro and Kuina looked great and was very well-choreographed, but that’s not surprising at this point. The flashback also establishes the importance of Kuina’s sword, Wado Ichimonji, not just to Zoro but also as “a rare blade,” foreshadowing its importance as one of the 21 Great Grade Blades.
As with the manga and anime, Kuina’s death serves as a stark reminder to Zoro about how fragile people are. While her death in this version is only described as an accident, the original was more specific about her falling down the stairs—a sudden and unexpected end to someone training to be a master swordswoman. (Mind you, Zoro is already easily surviving falls that would severely injure anyone else, and eventually goes on to take ridiculous levels of punishment, but death comes more easily in backstories than anywhere else in the series.)
3. Straw Hats vs the Marines
While Koby and the Marines going to Kaya’s manor doesn’t help in the fight against Kuro, it does carry on the subplot of them chasing after Luffy. In this case, “Klahadore” is more than happy to hand over the poisoned and barely-conscious pirate to Koby and Helmeppo, just in time for… Luffy to throw up the poisoned soup all over Helmeppo.
Continued belowLook, I enjoy seeing Helmeppo get his pre-character development comeuppance as much as the next guy, but a wave of purple vomit felt distinctly off. But I’ll let that slide, since it means Luffy could get the poison out of his system and get another scene with Koby.
While Zoro makes short work of the two nameless Marines (they get knocked out incredibly easily offscreen) and Helmeppo (with a very satisfying backhand punch), what really matters here is the violence-free clash between Koby and Luffy. It’s an interesting scene, as Koby clearly wants to complete his mission in spite of his friendship with Luffy, but Luffy in turn reminds Koby about his desire to protect innocent people, which includes Kaya. It also further establishes Luffy’s devotion to his friends, as he won’t let anyone or anything stop him from going back.
It was a good scene.
However, the conflict with the Marines has only just begun, as the episode ends with Garp closing in on the newly-formed Straw Hat crew. This leads to the big reveal that Garp is Luffy’s grandfather (something well-known to fans of the original at this point, but a surprise to new viewers). This adds a new dimension to Garp’s pursuit of Luffy, although we’ll have to see what comes of that next episode.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s get back to the main conflict of this episode…
4. Straw Hats vs Black Cats
As mentioned last week, this episode changed the showdown between Luffy’s crew and Kuro’s from a battle on the outskirts of town to a fight within the manor. This changes the tone of the battle, giving it more of a horror vibe, which Kuro really leans into.
The moment Kaya turns 18, his crew locks down the manor, and he begins chasing her down in a very serial killer-esque manner, including slashing the walls and calling out for Kaya to taunt her. It’s creepy and builds on just what a nasty piece of work he is, while adding tension and a sense of danger to the scene.
Once Luffy and Zoro arrive, however, it turns back into a series of fights relatively quickly. In fact, locking down the manor didn’t do anything more than mildly inconvenience them, as they could lift the iron gates and kick the door open easily enough. (The lockdown may not have done a good job keeping them out, but it kept Usopp, Nami, and Kaya locked in, so it served its purpose there.)
So this gives us two fights, the first of which is Zoro against Buchi and Sham, who are now wearing their Black Cat Pirate uniforms, which really lean into the cat theme. These are more accurate to their 2D counterparts, and while their outfits may look a little goofy in real life (especially Buchi’s), I appreciate the accuracy. The fight is also a lot of fun, carrying on the excellent choreography we’ve seen so far while showing off each characters’ strengths. I particularly like how Zoro has been starting fights with one sword, before moving up to more as the battle goes on.
However, we don’t see him finish either of them off, because the real focus is on Luffy vs Captain Kuro.
This battle is as much a clash of philosophies as it is a fight, with Kuro lamenting that all his plans and successful raids have earned him nothing but a bounty and “a lifetime of looking over [his] shoulder.” He says his crewmates are expendable, and even they could betray him at any moment. This is in stark contrast to Luffy’s outlook, where piracy is about freedom and adventure, and he trusts his crew to have his back as much as he has theirs. This builds on Luffy’s core character trait of how he will always stand by and stand up for his friends, which is important for building the bonds of his crew, but it also makes the battle an ideological one, where victory comes not just from beating the opponent (which Luffy does) but proving them wrong.
Oh, and Luffy relying on his senses other than sight to keep up with Kuro’s super-speed is another early hint at the existence of Haki (Color of Observation Haki, specifically), but that’ll come much later down the line.
Continued below5. We Are
With Kuro defeated, a grateful Kaya gives Luffy the ship he saw last episode. Since Merry is actually dead in this adaptation (getting stabbed five times through the chest at once then tossed down a well is pretty hard to survive, admittedly), Luffy’s the one to give the ship a name in his honor: the Going Merry.
Usopp also joins the crew, and to Luffy it wasn’t even a question, it was just a natural assumption. Kaya sees him off with a kiss before she goes off to pursue her own goal of becoming a doctor, so Usopp can follow in his father’s footsteps and become a great sharpshooter.
But that’s all the buildup to one of the biggest milestones in Luffy’s early piracy career: the Going Merry setting sail. It’s only appropriate that this moment is when we finally get an orchestral version of the One Piece anime’s first opening theme: “We Are.” And it hits hard, brief though it is before shifting to something more akin to the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack.
This is the moment they truly become a crew, and the show takes a moment to let us relax and see them at work. Nami navigates, Zoro makes himself comfortable, and Usopp creates his own flag before arguing with Luffy over who gets to be the captain. Luffy himself gets a moment sitting atop the Going Merry’s masthead, shouting out in delight as they sail forth.
Of course, the moment of relaxation and camaraderie gets cut short as the Marines open fire on them, but that’ll carry us into the next episode. For now, it was a great moment to wrap the episode up on, and a welcome addition to the musical score.
Phew, there was a lot to go over this episode. Some changes worked better than others, but Netflix’s One Piece continues to impress with its fight choreography, the accuracy of the character and settings, and how it maintains the core elements of the series even with the changes it makes. As always, we’ll see if it continues at this pace next week when we get to Sanji’s introduction.
