© Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha, Toei Animation
One Piece episode 1098 brings more exposition and the return of old villains.
I wish I could say I was captivated by this episode. Sadly, the exposition didn't do me much good this time around as I felt that arguing about adding new details didn't leave me as fully enthused as it could have been. The revelations about the revolutionary army were mediocre, and the small insights into Vegapunk's perspective on events did little to help my understanding of the world or the characters. I have a feeling that Dr. Vegapunk is spending some World Government money to build his Mall-of-Tomorrow island, and confirming that is neat but not that compelling that I feel motivated.
The biggest reveal in this episode is Lucci and the robot. The giant robot was an ancient machine that was cool and I wanted to know more. The story of ancient, obscure technology from a bygone era is outdated, and I tend to enjoy it every now and then. The design of the robot is cool, being a giant mechanical knight, and it inspired Luffy to want to become a robot superhero and that cutscene was fun. Rob Lucci and the Cipher Pol gang also return with many new activities. The masks were a nice touch and brought back some of the mystery that Lucci gave up when he started talking. It's hard to fear them, since the Straw Hats have defeated them once before and the Cipher Pol organization is just hanging around the edges of Wano. But I am sure we will see epic things from them to come.
However, we did get one great character moment, and it was from Sanji of all people. It's so sweet that when Sanji heard that Lucci was coming, he immediately tried to comfort Robin and vowed to protect her at all costs. That was certainly the better side of his chivalrous nature.
Rating:
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One Piece is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.com.