Episode 1062 of ONE PIECE has been released, and it also lived up to the animation expectations and delivered a great adaptation for Zoro’s biggest fight so far. It came after the Sanji vs Queen epic conclusion, and the fight was also promoted as a wrestling ad through Japanese stations. The episode was directed by Ryosuke Tanaka, with Katsumi Ishizuka helping with the storyboards. It immediately opened with the fight, with King bragging about his ‘unusual constitution’ and claiming he can’t be hurt. Zoro kept thinking about how he’d managed to hurt him before and what was different, eventually realizing that it was to do with the wings on King’s back.
He manages to cut off his mask, which causes King to take out several of his own men. He explains to Zoro that he’s a Lunarian, a race that has long been thought to be extinct. We also see his backstory with Kaido, who he believes to be Joyboy. They escaped from Punk Hazard together, which is also when the the Beast Pirates were formed.
The highlight, however, was definitely the animation for the fight. With the two dropping big attack after big attack, the episode was filled with eye-pleasing scenes. One of the animators who worked on the episode was Vincent Chansard, who is already known to the ONE PIECE community for his previous involvement on the anime. While he’d previously worked as a freelancer, now he’s joined the staff full time for the final part of Wano. The scene he animated in episode 1062 was the final attacks of the two. I also found the voice actors’ to be great. Makoto Tamura voices King, while Kazuya Nakai voices Zoro. The way King says “Karyūdon” (Imperial Flaming Wings) was especially satisfying for some reason.
Eventually, we are shown that both of the fighters had promises to keep which are similar. King had told Kaido he’d make him the Pirate King, while Zoro promised Luffy he wouldn’t lose ever again. Obviously, one of them had to lose and fail to keep their promise, and Zoro wasn’t going to be the one to let that happen. He decided he’ll become the King of Hell if he has to, and he concludes the fight in a cool fashion (as always).
Several of the staff members released their illustrations after the episode, and you can check them out below:
ONE PIECE episode 1062 was definitely another one of the best episodes we’ve seen this year, and it’s creating even more hype for what’s coming. The next fights are Kid and Law vs Big Mom and Luffy vs Kaido, and we just know those will go even above what we’ve seen so far.
Episode 1063 of the anime will release next Sunday on May 28, while the ONE PIECE manga will go on break next week and release chapter 1084 on June 4. 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