“Ticking Down to the Great Battle! The Straw Hats Go into Combat Mode!”

With this episode, we basically get the end of Act 2 of the storyline and there’s a good bit of background material coming into play with things. The focus on Zoro and his group at first is pretty welcome and we get a nice look at the blades that are there that belonged to Oden-sama, and because of Momonosuke’s position in things, he has to decide what to do with them. You can see how things will be held for him for some time, but it’s also good to see Zoro gaining one of the swords, Enma, and getting a handle on the blade.

Especially since once given it, he strips off the top of his outfit, walks to the waters edge, and basically becomes one with the blade. It’s pure fanservice in a way as the power oozes out of the thing and Zoro masters it, but it’s beautiful fanservice that’s deserved.

With Luffy, he’s been training a good bit and he’s now in sleep mode as he recovers from all of that, which is pretty normal. So we get a decent roundup of some of the numbers that support what Kin’emon is putting together and the rallying of forces is nicely done as it touches on various areas. There are a lot of little things covered here as it moves across the various groups and there are nice little moments to be sure, but it’s also interesting to see the ties that Zoro has to Wano as we learn about who founded the island he came from and how they came from Wano, crossing to Blue East ages ago, and that there may be more ties that bind there for him.

In Summary:

Kin’emon, Momonosuke, and the others can’t fight back tears when they hear that Hiyori is alive. Zoro is stunned by Enma’s demonic power and its ties to him. And as the day of the Fire Festival is finally in sight, Kin’emon and the others head out for the rendezvous point.

Thanks for reading! See you next week!

乂⍱‿●乂