And here we are, the end of season 1 of Netflix’s One Piece adaptation. They condensed several arcs into eight episodes, cutting out and shortening certain scenes and moments where necessary, but maintaining the overall story and characters more often than not. Now we wrap up Arlong Park and see how the show ends the season, whether it sticks the landing or falls flat at the last moment.
1. Straw Hats vs Arlong Pirates
Naturally, the biggest action in this episode comes from Luffy and company fighting Arlong’s fishmen pirates. And, keeping in line with how the rest of the fights have gone this season, it’s a great battle.
Each member of the crew gets a chance to do something awesome. Zoro and Sanji get the most opponents to fight, with the two of them getting plenty of wire-work stunts to pull off some fun moves that make short work of the fishmen they fight. However, this is in lieu of Zoro’s fight against Hatchan from the anime and manga, which… makes sense, considering the amount of makeup and effects that would have to go into an octopus fishman wielding six swords. Instead, the two of them fight Kuroobi, with Sanji showing off his kicking-focused fighting style to finish him off. (This also leads to a nice callback to Luffy’s line about how “all the greatest fighters call out their attacks,” which Sanji echoes.)
We also see Zoro struggling after the fight goes on, since he did just get cut nearly in half not too long ago. This is a little reminder that he really needs a proper doctor, once more setting up Chopper’s eventual appearance in season 2.
Usopp, meanwhile, only fights one fishman (Chew, a smelt-whiting fishman), which is understandable considering he isn’t a fighting powerhouse like Zoro and Sanji are. Fortunately, what he lacks in foes his fight makes up for in personality, showcasing his initial cowardice, then his trickiness, cleverness, special slingshot bullets, and accuracy, in that order.
Oh, and Buggy is here too, but he ducks out as soon as he gets his body back, rather than participate in the fight, to the surprise of no one.
Of course, the major fight is Luffy vs Arlong, which takes place inside the map room. We’ve seen before that Arlong is more than a match for Luffy in a physical fight, and much of this fight emphasizes that, down to Arlong growing his teeth back when they’re punched out. But true to Luffy’s character, what drives him on is Arlong treating Nami as a thing to be used, and as the show has long since established, Luffy doesn’t let anyone get away with hurting his friends.
In the end, what defeats Arlong isn’t a physical attack, but the destruction of everything he’s built (and a boot to the head, but mostly the destruction). This is in-line with One Piece’s usual style of how people are truly defeated when their dreams or ambitions are destroyed, not just because they lost a fight. But not only is the destruction of Arlong Park symbolic of Arlong’s defeat, it also represents Nami being freed from her past and the shackles (both literal and metaphorical) that held her there.
It’s all capped off with Luffy shouting “Nami, you are our friend! We are your crew!” Which serves as a wonderfully emotional moment to end the fight on.
2. Nami’s Arc
Arlong Park, as stated before, is Nami’s main arc – it’s the thing that truly makes her a part of the Straw Hat crew. So the episode had to spend a little time wrapping that up for her, and it did it well. Earlier in the episode, Nojiko told the people of Coco Village what Nami was doing for them, and they asked for forgiveness. But it’s closer to the end of the episode that we see she got her Arlong Pirates tattoo replaced with a pinwheel and tangerine tattoo, reflecting the tangerine pinwheels she used to make with her family.
(This is a small change from the original, where Genzo put a pinwheel in his hat to make a young Nami smile, and continued wearing it ever since.)
Nami gets closure with her sister, the villagers, and even herself. (She even got to knock out Nezumi.) As she talks to Bellemere’s grave, she shows how much she’s grown as a character, allowing her to properly follow her dream. It even includes an original song written from Nami’s perspective, which plays both during that scene and the end credits for the episode.
Continued below3. Luffy vs Garp
But even after Arlong is defeated, the episode isn’t over yet. In fact, there’s still an important subplot that needs resolution: Garp’s Marines chasing down the Straw Hats. So of course that has to come to an end this episode as well.
Essentially, the Marines arrive after the fighting is over, leading to a one-on-one fight of Luffy vs Garp. And despite everything we’ve seen from Luffy so far, he doesn’t stand a chance.
But, as established, a fight in One Piece isn’t about defeating the other person, it’s about defeating their dreams. Luffy states that he’s always been a pirate, and he’s never giving up on his dream. This is backed up with every punch he throws and every attack he comes up with, ineffective as they are.
So eventually… Garp agrees and lets Luffy go. The moment is set up with Luffy laughing in a way that reminds Garp of Gold Roger, until Garp starts laughing as well. The importance of laughing in the face of defeat, especially for those with D. as their middle name, is something the series builds on later, but for now, it serves as a way of showing us how the two are alike.
In the end, it turns out that everything Garp did – chasing down the Straw Hats, firing on them, and using countless Marine resources, was all a test for Luffy. He knew Luffy would never change his mind, but needed to make sure he was ready, and reminds Luffy what it means to be a wanted man.
It feels slightly anticlimactic, but it wraps up that subplot for now. More importantly, it also serves an important purpose for two other characters: Kolby and Helmeppo, who refuse Garp’s orders to arrest the Straw Hats after they saved Coco Village from Arlong. It’s a good moment that shows how far they’ve come since the start of the season and their initial encounters, to the point where Helmeppo even admits he sees Kolby as a friend.
This, in turn, results in their punishment: personal training from Garp. As fans of the original know, this leads to them growing significantly as fighters the next time we see them. So they’ve undergone character growth, now it’s time for physical growth to match.
4. The Bounty
At the start of the season, Luffy had a scene where he looked at a wall of wanted posters and wanted his face among them. So of course that comes around at the end with the issuing of his own bounty, and it’s an impressive 30,000,000 berry, making his the highest bounty in the East Blue.
This is a triumphant moment for Luffy, the culmination of his work to be recognized as a proper pirate. Yes, being wanted dead or alive by the World Government is a cause for celebration. Although for all the celebration, Zoro notes that this means bounty hunters will be after his head (something that doesn’t really happen in the anime or manga that often, admittedly).
Receiving the poster from Kolby is a nice touch as well, as it brings the two back together for a moment as friends before they go on their separate ways. Each of them wishing the other to become a good pirate or Marine also parallels one of their earlier moments, where Luffy addressed Kolby’s concerns about corruption in the Marines by saying that there are good and bad Marines, just as there are good and bad pirates.
This also leads to a series of moments where we get to catch up with other characters from across the season and see how they react to seeing the bounty. Makino, Kaya (who obviously spots Usopp in the background of Luffy’s picture), and Zeff, who even hangs it up under “Employee of the Month.” It’s all very touching.
But the most notable reaction is when Mihawk delivers the poster to Shanks, not just because of how Shanks and his crew cheer and celebrate Luffy’s piracy debut, but for the conversation they have before that. Shanks jokes about how he can beat Mihawk even with one arm, and Mihawk doesn’t seem to disagree – this is the same Mihawk we saw defeat entire crews of pirates with a single swing, and made a fool out of Zoro. So how strong, exactly, does this make Shanks? (Yes, those of us who follow the anime or manga know, but this is foreshadowing for the Netflix viewers.)
Continued belowAll in all, it was a nice moment to help viewers catch up with everyone the crew had encountered along the way, with a healthy bit of building up plot points to come.
5. Dreams and What’s to Come
As we near the end of the episode, we get a wonderful moment from the crew as they set their feet atop a barrel and re-proclaim their dreams: to find the All-Blue, to become the King of Pirates, to be the world’s greatest swordsman, to draw a map of the world, and to become a brave warrior of the sea. For Nami, this is also the first time she can really follow her own dream, rather than being forced to create maps for Arlong and work to try and buy back her village. With each of them, we get a quick flashback to their younger selves, as they remember who they once were when they first set out for their dreams. And as they do, we truly believe that they can do it.
Dreams, as stated in an earlier review, are a major theme in One Piece. One of the first things Luffy asks anyone is what their dream is. He encourages his friends to follow their dreams, and would never do anything to get in their way. The only thing that makes him mad is when someone tries to crush someone else’s dreams. And as mentioned, characters are only truly defeated when their dreams are crushed.
It’s this kind of optimism and enthusiasm that makes us as viewers want to cheer for these characters and see their dreams come true. Not only that, it makes us want to shout and follow our own dreams as well. (And you know what? It works. Screw it: my dream is to be a beloved writer! There, I said it, now let us know your dream in the comments.)
But as they sail towards their dreams, we’re also reminded that there are obstacles in their way, with a bit of foreshadowing for what’s to come. We see Buggy and Alvida meet over their shared hatred of Luffy, who will eventually team up in a future arc. We know that Kolby and Helmeppo are about to start their training (as mentioned before). Nami notices something off in the Grand Line map, which appears to be a river going up a mountain. And we see the skies turn to smoke as it transitions to a shot of Captain Smoker, a major character in the seasons to come, as he burns Luffy’s poster with a cigar.
Clearly the show is setting up for season 2, and thankfully, it got it. One Piece did the seemingly impossible task of properly adapting the beloved anime and manga series, and it did a great job. While it did have to cut and condense some material, it was all done in a way that keeps all the important story and character beats intact and remains true to the core of the series. The actors all embody their characters wonderfully, the practical effects look great, and it’s clear that everyone who worked on the series has a deep love for it, and wanted to be as true to the source material as possible.
It also didn’t hurt that Oda himself had the last word on everything, so he made dang sure it met his approval.
So well done, One Piece, I look forward to season 2.
