We’re moving past the halfway point and on to episode 5, with the introduction of Sanji. As always, we’ll see how the episode stands on its own as well as how it compares to the original, while trying to analyze any themes or motifs that might pop up. So I hope you’re hungry, because we’ve got a five-course meal of thoughts as we “Eat At Baratie.”
1. Meet Sanji
This episode is the introduction for Sanji, played by Taz Skylar. By now you’ve probably heard all about how he learned to fight and cook specifically for this role, and even cooked for his fellow cast members and crew. Well, it clearly paid off, because the man embodies the role.
The episode hits all the key points for Sanji’s character: his love of cooking and desire to create new dishes, the way he butts heads with Chef Zeff and Patty, how he instantly turns on the charm as soon as he sees Nami, and of course, his fighting skills as he disarms and knocks out two fighting patrons before they can kill each other. We also get to see one of his most important character traits, as he feeds a starving pirate who stumbles in without question or hesitation (in the anime and manga, this pirate is a member of Don Krieg’s crew, who goes and tells Krieg about the Baratie, but he doesn’t really have the option of doing that in live-action).
His backstory is going to have to wait until the next episode, but it still serves as a good introduction for the character. And, of course, we get a moment to learn about his dream of finding the All Blue and cooking the undiscovered fish from there, which brings us to…
2. Dreamin’ (Don’t Give it Up)
First off, I apologize to everyone who got the opening from the 4Kids dub stuck in their head from this section’s title. But regardless, pursuing one’s dream has been an important theme throughout this series, and that really comes into play here.
It starts with young Luffy as his grandfather (Garp) tries to crush his dream of becoming the King of the Pirates. Even the starving pirate tells Luffy to give it up, after his own crew was utterly wrecked while searching the Grand Line. So with everyone telling Luffy his dream is a fool’s errand, of course he’s the one who supports others wholeheartedly.
We’ve seen it before as he asks Koby what his dream is, and supports it even if it means they’ll become enemies. And again with the other members of his crew. Now we see it with Sanji, as Luffy supports his soon-to-be cook’s dream of finding the All Blue, to the point where he not only encourages Sanji to quit the Baratie, but even tells Zeff off for getting in the way of Sanji’s dreams.
However, we also see how this can perhaps go too far, as he supports Zoro’s (perhaps drunken) decision to duel Mihawk to the death, because it’s necessary for Zoro’s dream of becoming the world’s greatest swordsman. So we have to give Luffy credit for consistency, if nothing else, as this is pretty much a literal “ride or die” situation.
3. Internal and Familial Conflicts
Now, there’s plenty of conflict in this episode, and not just between the pirates and Marines (although there is that too). We see it play out in multiple ways across the episode to act as a driving force for the plot or characters.
While we begin with Garp’s Marines shooting at Luffy’s ship, seeing their flashback and understanding that the two are related makes the clash suddenly feel like less of a battle of opposing forces and more of a familial disagreement. The way Garp laughs “Oh, not bad, boy” as the Going Merry escapes them adds to that, even as his own ship is damaged.
But this in turn leads to internal conflicts between both sides. On Luffy’s side, Nami is now quite upset to learn that Luffy’s grandfather is a Vice-Admiral, although Zoro and Usopp don’t share her concerns; this leads her to nearly abandon the Straw Hats, especially when she argues with Zoro about his decision to duel Mihawk. But to her credit, she does come back, accepting that they are, in fact, friends.
Continued belowOn the Marines’ side, the conflict becomes more of an internal one for Koby, when he learns about the Seven Warlords of the Sea. He’s faced with an issue of ideals versus reality, and the compromises the World Government makes. It’s also another indication that the lines between pirate and Marine aren’t as cut and dry as he believed, and while Garp does talk him through it, it’s clearly causing him some concern.
Additionally, we have Sanji’s own clashes with Chef Zeff (who is basically Gordon Ramsay with a peg leg and spectacular facial hair), which at first glance is entirely antagonistic, as Zeff demotes Sanji to a waiter and Sanji insults the chef, but we start seeing hints that there’s a deeper level of respect between them. On Sanji’s part, he refuses to leave the Baratie when invited. Meanwhile, when Luffy tells Zeff about how Sanji fed a starving pirate, Zeff actually reacted with “what a good kid.” Of course, we’ll learn more about them in the next episode, but for now, that’s what we get.
Obviously, conflict is key for moving the story along, but in this case, it’s not just a matter of fights (though we get those too). It takes form in matters of trust, internal conflict, broken ideals, and clashing views. Now we get to enjoy seeing how they all play out.
4. The Seven Warlords of the Sea
This episode introduces the concept of the Seven Warlords of the Sea: seven pirates that were so fierce and deadly that the World Government agreed to give them free reign in return for carrying out some dirty work that the Marines can’t be seen doing. As mentioned, the knowledge of this agreement cracks Koby’s idealism and faith in the righteousness of the Marines, but we already touched on that.
More importantly, this introduces us as viewers to one of the higher power levels in this series, a peak that Luffy and his crew will have to reach and surpass (before they get overshadowed in turn by the Four Emperors, but that’s beside the point). We get to see it in action with Mihawk, first by showing off what he can do against an entire crew, then seeing how Luffy’s crew can compare to him.
This is one of the most anime-esque action scenes we’ve gotten yet, with Mihawk swinging around a almost comically oversized sword with ease, sending pirates flying an insane distance, slicing cannonballs in half, and cutting an entire ship in half just from the shockwave of his swing. We also see him take down an entire crew without breaking a sweat, although notably, it’s Don Krieg’s crew, who normally Luffy and company would fight at Baratie first, so it looks like they’re getting downgraded as the episode shifts some events around.
Praise must also be given to the costume designers and makeup artists, who made actor Steven John Ward look the part perfectly. Ward himself did a great job bringing the character to life, giving him a bit of mild amused interest in Luffy and his crew, but also a commanding presence as he dominates his duel.
Oh, and speaking of said duel…
5. The Duel
The episode ended with Zoro’s duel against Mihawk, which was a key scene for the character and worldbuilding in the original. So how did the live action version handle it?
In the manga and anime, Mihawk wasn’t out searching for Luffy – he just happened to arrive at the Baratie. In the Netflix series, he’s intentionally hunting the Straw Hats down at the request of Garp. This does add in the issue of “Why doesn’t he beat and capture Luffy after beating Zoro?” but the show explains it off as his deciding “this world could use a few more wild cards” and walking off.
Since Mihawk intentionally makes himself known to Luffy’s crew in this version, Zoro has a chance to issue a proper duel challenge for the next morning, giving the show time to build the tension of his inevitable defeat. Although since the characters also spent the past several hours drinking, it also feels like Zoro got drunk and picked a fight he can’t win.
As for the fight itself, it keeps up the series’ track record of having excellent fight choreography. There’s plenty of wire work, with Zoro being tossed several feet backwards and using his swords to stop his sliding repeatedly, but there’s also some great swordplay and acrobatics at work when they get up close. Like in the original, Mihawk starts off by fighting with a tiny little dagger (although it doesn’t include the line where he apologizes for not having anything smaller), before switching to his big sword as a sign of respect. And when Zoro stands to bravely face death, it’s an impactful moment.
So the show handled one of the series’ more iconic and important moments nicely, even if they shuffled around some events and characters to make it happen in this episode. We’ll see how it gets things back on track without the Krieg Pirates next episode.
