One Piece episode 1041 continues the trend we have seen across the past few weeks. That being: the fighting on Onigashima continues, and your enjoyment of the episode depends on how invested you are in the fights on screen during any given week.
This week everything came up Milhouse, because I was invested in these particular fights.
The Yamato versus Kaido fight is the most emotionally resonant of the two we get this week. It's a testament to Oda's skill at writing new characters that Yamato stands out as one of the best characters in Wano – and Yamato really only showed up partway into the Onigashima fight. That's a rather short duration for making such a big impact, but I think it's safe to say that Yamato is a fan-favorite character community-wide. This battle feels titanic, but not in the same way that Luffy's battle with Kaido has been up until this point. Luffy's fight is one of achieving greatness and justice, but it's a path we've been treading for literal decades at this point; it's important, but well-worn. Yamato's fight with Kaido is much more visceral and emotionally raw, the stakes vastly more immediate. The powers and blow-by-blow don't hit anywhere near as hard as the struggle between parent and child, nature and nurture – the most primal of conflicts.
The other big battle is Franky versus Sasaki, which I also enjoyed but on an entirely different spectrum. The sheer absurdity of a soda-powered cyborg in a giant robot fighting an evil triceratops that can fly around like a helicopter… it's pure Looney Tunes, and I adore it. There are missiles and slashing and mechanically-infused bladed weaponry, but the outrageous spectacle never relents.
Sometimes One Piece is the eternal drive of a child to break free from the bonds of their parent's limited worldview. Sometimes One Piece is smashing toy robots into toy dinosaurs and going POW KERPOW BOOM. Both are amazing.
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