The hugely hyped episode 1061 of ONE PIECE has been released, and it lived up to the animation expectations and delivered an incredible adaptation for Sanji’s biggest fight yet. The fight was even promoted as a wrestling ad through Japanese stations, and the episode immediately opened a quick reminder of Germa 66 and the fact that Judge tried to create cold monsters from his sons. Sanji then destroys his raid suit, signifying the fact that he decided against that route and that he would remain as human as possible. This angers Queen, who reveals that his goal was to defeat Judge’s son at the peak of his power and prove that he’s the better scientist.
From here, we realize along with Sanji that Queen is copying the Germa abilities. He uses each of the brothers’ trademark moves, which meant Sanji had to overcome those right there and then in order to win this fight. We also saw the scene with Osome again, and the girl who got injured turned out to be one of the best geisha around. She lied to Queen to avoid him in the past, which is why he got mad after seeing her. He then hit her using Sanji’s suit’s Stealth Black ability, but Sanji himself was too out of himself to notice anything weird and later believed it might have been him. However, with his determination now set, he kept getting the upper hand on Queen.
Eventually Osome runs out to save her mouse Choji, which is when Queen notices it and realizes she’s alive and well. Deciding to punish her again from his stealth, he walks towards her while Sanji is using his speed to remain invisible. However, Sanji’s head is clear now and he realizes it was Queen who hit the girl. Accepting his new powers and combining them with his previous skillset, Sanji goes on to use his Ifrit Jambe combo in what is definitely the animation highlight this week. Ryota Nakamura directed the episode, with Tu Yong-ce and Shigefumi Aragaki as the animation supervisors, and Nagisa Nishida as the art director. They delivered an insane episode, and Sanji ended up defeating Kaido’s top commander after breaking through his Germa fears and becoming completely free as the first-rate cook of the Straw Hat Pirates.
Finally, he made peace with Osome, saving Choji and remembering that he used to feed mice as a child. We were also reminded of his sister Reiju’s words, who claimed he was the kindest of all and the only one of the brothers who kept the humanity their mother died to protect.
ONE PIECE episode 1061 was undoubtedly one of the best episodes we’ve seen this year, and it’s creating even more hype for what’s coming. Next up is Zoro vs King, though there will be a recap next week and it will be releasing on May 21 instead.
As written above, episode 1062 of the anime will release on May 21, while the ONE PIECE manga will return from its break and release chapter 1082 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.
Images via Crunchyroll
© Eiichiro Oda / Shueisha / Toei Animation