ONE PIECE Episode 1137 premiered today, and it brought us to the endgame of Kuma and Bonney’s tragic backstory in spectacular fashion. This entire arc has been phenomenal, showing just how important Kuma has been for the entire story while giving us one of the heaviest emotional hits yet, and that’s something considering how many came before it.
Episode 1137 opened with a cinematic ratio for Bonney’s flashback to when Vegapunk gave her the sun brooch and she learned the truth. This was already heavy enough, reminding us that Kuma firmly believes in Nika (and Luffy) while he would probably never get to see him in action. It then jumps back to the present, where Saturn is about to off Bonney.
We also get to have a quick look at the revolutionaries, where Dragon shows that he’s well aware of where Kuma probably headed to. With the wind potentially subtly teasing his still unrevealed ability, the episode quickly moves on to the main part, where Bonney fails at using her Distorted Future ability to recreate Nika.
As Saturn explains, she has started doubting Nika is real, and she still hasn’t made the connection with Luffy’s Gear 5 form. This part felt like there was no chance she’d really die before actually showing us what the ability is, so I was just waiting for who would save her. Luffy getting mysterious food made it seem like he might be the one, but well there was a bigger plan coming.
The powerful depiction of Bonney giving up on Life set up her savior for an even more impact moment. Finally, after all that time, Kuma has arrived and is rushing to where Bonney is. The animation for his sequences was incredible. Even though we’ve already seen the lengths to which Kuma would go for his daughter, we are shown yet again that his love for Bonney goes beyond common sense as he brushes off any damage in his pursuit. The soundtrack that accompanied him was perfect as well.
Bonney also reverts back to her real age/personality, and she starts crying as the kid that she actually is. When you think about it, this girl went out to become a pirate as a kid, and she has been acting as an adult for years. In the final moments, it makes sense that she’d break down, and so it also makes sense that her father would be there to protect her.
In the best moment of the episode by far, Kuma reaches Saturn just in time to protect Bonney. While everyone else is paralyzed and helpless, we also get a few flashback scenes of Kuma and Bonney before he jumps in. Toei Animation has done an incredible job on adapting the emotions of their story, and Kuma’s punch filled with years of anger also felt incredibly satisfying. Defying logic and seemingly his self-destruct switch, Kuma goes black and white on Saturn with what’s no doubt his final act.
Before delivering the hit, we are yet again shown a quick timelapse of how Saturn was behind pretty much all of Kuma’s suffering, and the fact that he probably didn’t take much damage doesn’t take away from the satisfaction of seeing him horrified at Kuma’s appearance.
And finally, that transition into the opening song at the end was hard. It drops us into the happy days between Kuma and Bonney with “Beyond the heavy rain is a rainbow,” with the lyrics symbolizing Kuma’s relationship with Bonney. The title of the song is “ANGEL & DEVIL,” and the lyrics also mention “What do I look like? An ANGEL or a DEVIL…,” clearly referencing how Kuma is one of the kindest people in the entire series who was labeled a tyrant and reduced to a cyborg.
The lyrics showing “There’s so much I want to tell you” before showing Kuma writing his letter to Bonney and then “that can’t be written down in a letter” was also brutal. This man will likely not have a chance to speak with his daughter ever again, yet we know he will go peacefully knowing that he protected her. He is finally done running and should be able to rest now. We can only hope that he also gets to see Luffy in his Nika form before passing.
All images via Crunchyroll
© Eiichiro Oda / Shueisha / Toei Animation
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