Episode 1076 of ONE PIECE was released today, and it delivered a great adaptation to the conclusion of Luffy’s fight against Kaido. We got to see some more of Kaido’s backstory, and the World’s Strongest Creature was wreaking havoc from very early on in his life. The Navy tried to recruit him, and he had been captured a bunch of times. However, he always escaped and built his reputation over the years. Him telling Luffy that he’d be betrayed came from experience, and it became clear that Kaido aimed to be the strongest to create what he believed would be a fair and free world.
It was interesting to see a young Whitebeard and Big Mom, as well as hear Rocks’ name and them mentioning the God Valley incident. That’s something I’d really like to see, and hopefully Oda writes about it either in the main storyline or as some side-story in the future. Moving back to the present, we again see the difference in opinions between Kaido and Luffy. Kaido wants to create a world where the strong can live freely, but at the cost of the weak who deserve to die. Luffy on the other hand, wants to create a world where all his friends can eat as much as they want. The episode is titled “The Luffy That Luffy Wants!” and it makes sense that Luffy said this just as he finally beat Kaido. Kaido remembering Oden at the final moment also hit hard, and the impact to the punch was insane. I always love the black and white sequences, reminding me of when Luffy hit the Celestial Dragon.
The animation for the main parts of the episode was great as usual. Momo also finally managed to conquer the Flame Clouds and save everyone. The last interesting part was the fact that King is waiting for Joyboy, and that Kaido had known about this. He had told King the person who beats him would have to be Joyboy, which translates perfectly into the present where we already know that Luffy has somehow become a person that Zunesha recognized as Joyboy after activating Gear 5. I can’t wait to learn more about that, probably along with the Void Century. But for now, Kaido is finally defeated, and Wano Country can finally recover.
Some commemorative illustrations from the animators who worked on ONE PIECE episode 1076:
Episode 1077 preview is already out, and the anime will release next Sunday on September 24. The ONE PIECE manga will return from its break and release chapter 1092 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 also released all 8 episodes of the ONE PIECE live-action on August 31, which you can also check out. Season 2 for the live-action series was confirmed as well.
Images via Crunchyroll
© Eiichiro Oda / Shueisha / Toei Animation