Now that we’ve had two longer breaks from the One Piece anime, I’ve really started to appreciate how nice it was to have the same show airing almost every single week for about half my life. Let’s not think about that too much, I think I just took damage to my life points from realizing how old that makes me. With opening 29 we enter the Elbaph arc in all its glory and for those of us reading the manga, there are a ton of little easter eggs throughout this episode so please beware that you do not read this post if you aren’t up to date on the manga. You have been warned. Seriously, I’m talking about everything we see in the manga, so do not read this!
We open on Luffy’s Elbaph outfit and immediately jump into a lovely shot of the Harley at the bottom of Yggdrasil. The prophetic wall paintings were a huge deal in the manga and have resulted in tons of speculation about what the final arc of this show might look like. With Egghead being the way it is, we’re almost certainly going to learn that the void century was a time of technological prosperity the world hasn’t seen again since then. Speaking of the void century, the shot of the Harley is interrupted by a shot of Joyboy standing next to Emet before we’re shown the important people that traveled the world before Luffy donned the Straw Hat that has become a vital symbol of freedom throughout the world.
With the weapons reflecting the sun and the sky we’re reminded that Dory and Broggy only returned to Elbaph to pick up some new weapons. These two – I love them to death – are about as stubborn and dumb as you can be. After a hundred years of fighting for a cause that they long forgot, they broke their weapons, the world is in turmoil and all they can think about is returning to Elbaph, grab some new weapons and get right back at it for another century. Men, am I right? While the Sunny is parked nice and safe on land, we see three tiny dolls in Rodo’s room where the clothes he’s made for Luffy, Nami and Usopp are sitting, ready to be put on his livedolls. We’re followed by a shot of the underworld that could almost be mistaken as a bunch of mountains, but instead shows us the chains that bind Loki, prince of Elbaph and the next member of the Straw Hat pirates. Maybe.
Luffy marvels at the bar that Shanks frequents, where the giants often drink with any visitors they have, although I can’t imagine they have too many in this part of the world. We’re then shown a shot of the New Giant Pirates, who of course are part of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, but first we see them as children, in a very pencil-drawn style. Of course this is to show off St. Killingham’s ability to turn nightmares into monsters, but here we see the young children looking happy, perhaps portraying a more kind dream than the ones we see throughout the arc. We’re then shown what they look like now, with their captain Hajrudin at the center.
From here we go quickly so stay with me. Harjudin leaves our shot and is replaced by his brother, Loki, who looks away. We’re then shown the library and the children happily studying at it, as well as a quick shot of Chief Jarul with the weapon stuck in his helmet. Next up is the abandoned Elbaph Castle where disaster struck when Harald gave control over to Imu, not quite understanding what he was doing and dooming the nation of Elbaph to subservience. At least that would have happened if a certain someone didn’t prevent tragedy.
We see some shorts of the Straw hats in their Elbaph gear and yes that’s right, she’s there. Nico Robin with her old haircut. Ever since we left Punk Hazard behind, I don’t think the crew’s outfits have missed at all, but I really like their Elbaph garb. Franky’s long beard really suits him, Usopp and Luffy with viking helmets look great and as an official member of the Nico Robin fanclub, seeing her with her old bangs, showing them off to her old friend, is such a sight for sore eyes. Speaking of sights for sore eyes, here comes the sun and with that I mean Nika, the sun god. We see him in a book before the watchful eye of Imu, alongside the Holy Knights that appear during this arc, looks at us.
Here we move into much darker shots although if you haven’t read the manga yet, their meaning might be lost. We see the children drawing their biggest fears, which of course get turned into reality by St. Killingham’s powers. We see the thorns that St. Sommers employs as well as the arrows that St. Gunko uses. All of these are combined to force the children to walk off the cliff and into the hands of the world government all while Collun puts on a brave face. Meanwhile Loki rages at the world for treating him unfairly and for what they did to his mother while Hajrudin – presumably – rages at the fate that put him against his brother for all these years. Hajrudin’s had a rough life, especially with being turned into a toy at Dressrosa, but with the big reveals throughout Elbaph it seems like he might finally get into a better place. I also don’t really think Loki will join Luffy’s crew directly, he’ll probably join up with Hajrudin’s crew.
Finally, we end with a montage of shots that don’t hold a ton of meaning from what I can see but are mostly there to show us all of the fun characters we’ll get to meet throughout this arc. We see a quick shot of Gunko and fake shanks – I mean Shamrock – as they’re on their way to deal with Loki, before we’re shown all of the Straw Hats, the New Giant Pirates as well as the two captains of the old Giant Pirates. Finally, we’re ending on a shot of Luffy transforming into his form where he is the most free, while the sun shines brightly upon him. * symbolism *
With everything we’ve discussed so far, I think it’s safe to say that after the last few openings, Toei studio is continuing to cook with this one. It’s not going to be my all time favorite, nor will it be a top five entry, but having listened to the song a lot on repeat over the past week, I do think it’ll be one to remember. At least it’s a lot more memorable than a lot of the openings in the 10s which are all serviceable, but some of them I cannot tell apart. AiNA’s husky voice tickles my ears just right – you might recognize her from the latest Dandadan opening – and the song itself is a fun tune that builds up well then crashes into you with all the force of the pirate crew that will free the world from 800 years of oppression. Thanks for reading!
Opal Kaharis 