One Piece anime is getting closer to the Wano Country climax, and episode 995 showed some huge scenes! With Orochi executed, Kaido gives a chance to the samurai and ninja to join him. We see more throwbacks to Oden, and his importance cannot be stated enough for this entire arc. The man Kaido acknowledged as a worthy opponent, and the man who gave him a permanent injury. Now his will lives on through his retainers, children and Yamato, and it’s exciting to watch!
One of the major scenes this week is Momo’s breakthrough of bravery. The boy is 8 years old and has had to endure a lot of hardship after everything that happened. It’s natural that he can’t deal with it, and Kaido offers him a chance to denounce his family and live. If not for the ending, this would have easily been the best scene in episode 995. Momo, voiced by Orikasa Ai, declares that ‘Momo’ stands for peerless, and that he will become the Shogun of Wano Country. With ‘Luffy’s Fierce Attack’ OST playing in the background, chills go down your spine as the boy has one of his biggest moments so far. This scene was so important for him, and he needs to grow a lot more to live up to his words.
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Besides more adorable Yamato expressions, the raid officially begins with the Akazaya samurai facing Kaido. American animator Henry Thurlow, who recently joined the in-house One Piece anime staff at Toei Animation, had a major hand in animating the black & white sequence. It was definitely the highlight of the episode, and you can check some of it out:
You can follow Henry on his Twitter or Tumblr. As they get to Kaido, we see more Oden’s influence as his face appears before Kaido when the Akazaya samurai attack him. Oden knew that Orochi going down meant nothing, and now everyone realizes it as well. While we know Luffy and co. will have to fight the major part, it’s awesome to see the Akazaya guys get some spotlight!
One Piece Episode 996
You can and should watch One Piece episode 995 on either Funimation or Crunchyroll! Episode 996 titled “Onigashima in Tumult! Luffy’s All-Out War Begins!” will premiere on October 24 after a confirmed break. We’ll finally see Luffy face Big Mom, Kaido vs the Akazaya and Yamato facing Ulti!
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You can also catch up to the latest One Piece manga chapter for free on either VIZ website or MANGA Plus.
All images via Crunchyroll
©Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha/Toei Animation
