Episode 1074 of ONE PIECE was released today, and it showed some insane animation as Luffy continued to demonstrate the wild abilities that come with his Gear 5. The episode began with the new opening, which features the theme song “The Peak” by SEKAI NO OWARI. The video was directed by the incredible Megumi Ishitani, and it features beautiful visuals as well.
The first part of the episode focuses on the situation below the roof. Raizo and Jinbei dealt with the fire, and none of the Straw Hats has given up (and Usopp is just running for his life). Then we see Momonosuke and Yamato, and the young future shogun is still doubting himself and thinking he can’t do what he needs to do to save everyone. Although Yamato keeps encouraging him, it seems like he just can’t get over his negative thoughts, and we then see a flash back to when Toki sent him to the future along with Oden’s retainers.
Momo’s character has always been meant to show major development from a scaredy-cat to a reliable shogun. Although his body was aged by Shinobu’s ability, it’s important to understand that Momo is still an 8-year old child, and the burden he’s carrying is immense. Seeing the way he came to terms with what needed to be done after Kin’emon’s speech was very emotional, and it feels good finally seeing him about to fully move on from his undermining thoughts and actually giving it his all. As he finally decides he can do it, we move on to the main part, which is of course Luffy’s fight against Kaido.
As has been the case with every major episode of this arc, ONE PIECE delivered insane animation for Luffy’s lightning maneuvering. The fluid movement was just beautiful to watch as Luffy demonstrated more of Gear 5’s crazy capabilities. Admittedly, it feels like the fight is already over and that there’s just no way Kaido has any chance any more after the previous K.O.s he gave to our protagonist. Still, he did land some seemingly good blows today, although they didn’t seem to do much. Still, there were so many cool frames, some of which can be seen below:
An interesting point he made was that haki is the one thing that can stand above everything, notably mentioning that Gol D. Roger wasn’t a devil fruit user. He also thought back to Oden, another beast of haki. After some more beautiful animation for the back and forth, Luffy decides it’s time to end it and encourages Momo to move Onigashima away from his gigantic fist. The “I trust you” hit hard, reminding us of the previous times Luffy gave Momo the needed confidence that pushed him towards becoming the man Wano needs.
Speaking of Wano, we were also reminded of their strong mentality. There isn’t a single one of them fighting there who wouldn’t die if it meant Kaido was defeated. This was shown with Hyogoro throwing the question at them – would they prefer if Luffy won even if it meant they would all die. Combining this with the Flower Capital citizens sending their wishes to the sky makes a happy conclusion of the fight where the samurai can actually reunite with their families all the more anticipated.
ONE PIECE Episode 1075 & Chapter 1091 Release Date
Episode 1075 of the anime will release next Sunday on September 10, while the ONE PIECE will return from its break and release chapter 1091 later today. You can watch the anime on Crunchyroll, while you can catch up to the latest manga chapter for free on either the VIZ website or the MANGA Plus website.
Netflix has also released all 8 episodes of the ONE PIECE live-action on August 31, which you can also check out.
Images via Crunchyroll
© Eiichiro Oda / Shueisha / Toei Animation
