Episode 1055 of One Piece manages to swing the pendulum back in the other direction vis-à-vis my interest level and deliver a solid mix of stories with action, pathos, and comedy.
The most important element is that Nico Robin is present and we see her smile, and this is not at all biased on my part.
In terms of other elements that I guess appear in the episode too, we get a fair bit of focus on Sanji. Queen is chasing him about and zapping him with lasers—and hey, if you can't enjoy a cyborg dinosaur pew-pewing the place up with laser beams, then what can you enjoy—in addition to being a big goof. More than that though we get Sanji partaking in a bit of body horror and psychological torment at the thought of Judge's experiments on him. I think that this angle with Sanji is the most effective for me by far; there's no fear quite like wrestling with the trauma your parents have foisted on you, and the impact is even greater when you realize it was purposeful. It gives the mid-fight power-up a sinister edge and opens the door to interesting character development for Sanji (something he sorely needs, among other things).
Kanjuro's moments are well-handled too. He's not exactly an admirable character, yet at the same time, there is an understandable sympathy for what has happened to him and the anger he bears toward the Kozuki clan. The level of commitment he has when running his brush across the floorboards, envisioning the shadow-faced crowds cheering for him—it's a poignant and dramatic moment. Definitely one of the more memorable villains in an arc full of them.
And Kinemon talks to Usopp and Nami using nothing butt but farts. Folks: this is what anime is all about.
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