One Piece
Episode 1011

by Grant Jones,

How would you rate episode 1011 of
One Piece (TV 1999) ?
Community score: 4.3

This week's foray into Wano has more ups than downs and manages to be one of the more exciting connective tissue episodes. Despite lacking much in the way of action, we still get a lot of new developments as well as check-ins with several important crewmembers.

Firstly, Jimbei's scene was a delight. We have waited so long for him to officially join the crew and, at last, he has. It's easy to forget that while he has known Luffy for a long time and has a strong sense of the lad's heart, the same could not be said for the other Straw Hats. Watching him go on about excellent planning and seeking out heroic battles as – let me check my notes here – Sanji blasts off in a cloud of horny smoke is hilarious.

The Sanji-centric parts I am more mixed on. It's no secret that I'm not his biggest fan. On the one hand, both the noble prince shtick and trying to save damsels are in keeping with his character. Furthermore, Sanji doesn't do anything wrong here by my judgment: he hears someone in danger and leaps to their rescue. And he's right that there's a loss of dignity when it comes to assault. That said, we don't even have to go that far back in the Wano arc to see Sanji running around a bathhouse fully invisible so uuuuhhhhh, you know, those who live in glass houses and all that.

Speaking of glass houses though, he and I can both agree that Black Maria is mesmerizing because she exhibits important qualities like being huge and being evil.

But the episode has lots of other nice little touches. Sanji skidding to a halt being accompanied by a sort of Flinstonesy sound effect was great. Plus I dig the really funky 70s riff going on in the background of CHOPPER's inspiring speech – it fits Wano's throwback vibes very well. Lastly, the rising of Onigashima from the land is, to my mind, one of this arc's more enduring visual spectacles yet.

So another solid episode that once again heightens the scale and excitement of Wano. If you thought the arc was slowing down any time soon, I'm afraid you were wrong.

Rating:


Grant is the cohost on the Blade Licking Thieves podcast and Super Senpai Podcast.

One Piece is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.com.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of Anime News Network, its employees, owners, or sponsors.
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