© Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha, Toei Animation
One Piece 1091 is a series of mystery and constant exploration of the wonders of a new island, mainly working to entice the audience to want to know more.
This is a fairly common stage when the crew arrives on a new island. There are some strange creatures in the sea and strange weather events, the crew meets new people, then they reach the island and discover the unique rules that govern life there. In this particular case, the subject is the magical potential of technology and its ability to create things that shouldn’t be. There are holograms of food, strange cityscapes with futuristic architecture, and air conditioning that makes the climate tropical while the surrounding ocean completely freezes over.
It is not a novel concept in itself. In terms of the future context, this is a classic ideal of the future. Tall towers with large domes, holograms, and food generators. It’s bright, colorful, loud, and meaningless but it works, especially in the context of One Piece. It fits into the larger context of One Piece as a place full of animated islands and over-the-top climatic events.
Vegapunk’s revelations were a big deal, although the impact here was somewhat lessened. After discovering that Lilith is just one of many Vegapunks, the final reveal that Atlas is also a Vegapunk is… less shocking.
Much of the episode’s antics were initially fun but a bit overused. Seeing Luffy, Bonney, and Chopper dive into the food once was exciting enough, but replaying the scene is a bit tiring. The crew talking about Lilith is pretty funny—Franky focusing on the robot is the coolest thing—but it allows Robin and Zoro to show off their determination and focus even in these silly moments, so that’s great. The animation is also fine, although the shot of Lilith being lit from the robot cockpit is lively and fun. It’s annoying to have that quality juxtaposed against the Straw Hats with less detail.
Rating:
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One Piece is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.com.
