One Piece (2026-)

Episode 1169

Episode 1169 of One Piece is a slow-burn introduction that telegraphs the outcome from a mile away and sticks the landing regardless.

Scopper Gaban is the main feature for this week. It's pretty clear what's happening throughout the episode. The crew meets a mysterious old man with a lot of knowledge about Elbaph. Luffy comments on how Sanji will be just like him when he gets older, and the entire middle portion of the episode is a series of mythological recaps about a legendary figure from Roger's crew. Gee, I wonder if this mysterious old man who just so happened to appear at the beginning of the episode might be him? Eh? Will he?

Obviously, yes.

Scopper Gaban arrives with plenty of buildup. It makes for an interesting, if not terribly exciting, episode because this is mostly setting up for what is to come. I will say that an entire episode dedicated to hyping up a character we've never met before could have seemed boring, but I was pretty well engaged throughout. I think this comes down to a couple of factors having to do with the episode's visuals.

There's a lot to look at and enjoy even while the on-screen happenings aren't high-octane. The usual interesting details of Elbaph always give you something to look at. Castles floating in the sky, dark stony paths into the depths, treasure rooms full of empty treasure chests; there are neat visuals that stick out in the mind while the legendary tales wash over you.

Additionally, there's lots of great expression work in this episode. Probably 25% of the episode's runtime is Nami making an absurd face at the nonsense her captain and others are getting up to, but that's not a bad thing. The expressions are fun, and Nami is a cutie pie, so it's more than welcome. Usopp and Road also do quite a bit of expression work, mostly of the runny-nose-shocked-look variety. Again, it's nothing novel, but it is fun, and the voice actors always give believable shocked screams at various legendary reveals.

The best bit is that Scopper Gaban is an antagonist with a big ol key. Keys as weapons are always cool (well, I'm mostly referencing Kingdom Hearts here, but that makes us two for two, so I'm sticking with my prior statement). And building up this legendary figure who is nominally an ally or at least not related to an antagonist of Luffy, only to have him turn around and oppose the crew, is a great capstone moment. In a way, this positions him as a sort of polar opposite to someone like Rayleigh - at least for the time being - and that's an interesting spice to add to the mix.

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