© Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha, Toei Animation
Episode 2 brings non-stop laughter and excitement.
Anytime the Straw Hats get to be jerks is time well spent. Nearly all of this week's runtime is spent circling around each of our beloved crew members and watching them engage in games of hide-and-seek. This is both an affirmation of the character qualities we already know and a subtle way to add new twists to existing themes. But it's all done through really fun comedic beats with some fun action scenes thrown in for good measure.
The disguised impostors gag has to be one of my favorites. What's great here is the dramatic irony as the audience is caught in the joke from the start. The impostors' disguises are so obvious, so painful, so laughable, that it's impossible to love them. Even someone new to the series will immediately realize that there's something off about the cast upon seeing one or more of them in promotional material or key art and the like. So the fact that these disguises continue to fool the main crew is so silly that it's brilliant.
I also like Franky's completely pointless transformation. His post-timeskip design has always been a sticking point for some people and I understand that. His pre-timeskip design was iconic and this is—in some respects—more of a downgrade than an upgrade, especially from a less-is-more mindset. But him turning himself into a giant walking toy and all the fun that comes with it is so much fun. I especially liked the scene where Usopp and Chopper pressed on his nose to make his hair show. The entire episode is just an excuse for the Straw Hats to be stupid together and that's always a good thing.
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One Piece Log: Fish-Man Island Saga is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
