This episode mixes things up between two different fights, though one of them is less of a fight and more of a lot of grandstanding and talking. Luffy’s doing his best to get things going where he is and there are some good standing tall moments to be had here. But it also turns into a lot of dialogue for a while that just feels meaningless at this point because it’s a bit of recent history and this place is so sprawling I’m starting to feel the need for a spreadsheet to start mapping out what’s connected to what and placing levels of importance on it.

The other side is the fight that Zoro is engaging with, which is definitely one of the better looking animated pieces in a while with its fluidity. I’ve loved the look of the Wano arc in general but that combined with the quality here definitely takes it up several notches. His fight with Gyukimaru definitely delivers the right visuals, especially since he’s short a blade and compensating the best that he can. Of course, all of this amounts to the last four or five minutes of the episode of any worth, as Kamazo arrives and throws the monkey wrench into things. But it’s an appealing fight after nearly ten minutes of just uninteresting and meandering dialogue between a lot of characters that I’ve not connected with at all because every episode works with too many characters.

The duel between Zoro and Gyukimaru is interrupted by Kamazo, Orochi’s assassin who came after a little girl Toko. Without Shusui, Zoro has a hard time fighting the two at the same time, but he finds an unlikely third sword to take down the enemies.

Thanks for reading! See you next week!

乂⍱‿●乂