Episode 1100 of One Piece is another visual powerhouse that tops off a milestone episode with enthusiasm and interesting new developments.
First off - 1100 episodes! Wild. I mean, it's easy, not surprising exactly, given that One Piece had a reputation for being one of the longer-running series (not the longest I know, hence one of) around. But I think it's easy for true believers such as myself to forget how astounding it is that anything has lasted this long, in any format, let alone across multiple concurrent media while moving from strength to strength. One Piece is more beloved globally than ever, and millions of us are tuning in together to see it cross this landmark of 1100 episodes. I think that's wonderful and humbling. Hats off to not only Eiichiro Oda, but the countless other creators, artists, and talents across many disciplines who have worked to bring this story to life week after week for decades.
The content of the episode itself is largely about a fight. It's amazing fighting, of the caliber we have come to expect as the norm in One Piece despite being anything but normal. A stupendous array of vibrant effects, stunning keyframes, and fluid animation is on display, all held together by Lucci's aggressive cat faces and Luffy's silly boy energy. Underscoring all this is more brilliant sound design work, including the very slapstick Looney Tunes-y sound effects that were made so popular in the golden era of US animation. This is the ultimate cat-and-mouse cartoon fight and a bone-crushing action slugfest - a beautiful blending of two disparate worlds.
Lastly, we get Vegapunk's revelation about the origin of Devil Fruit's powers. Specifically, they are manifestations of human belief and desires to be more than we are. This is not a new idea in sci-fi or fantasy stories, and I think it's welcome and exciting here. The most interesting wrinkle to me is that it is set as being opposite the desires of nature and the sea. That key aspect sets it apart and makes total sense for a pirate-adventure setting.
Excellent episode all around - here's to another 1100 more!
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