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alchemicinkThis week: Zeztz uses power tools; Girl Rules deals with blackmail; Akane butts heads with her teacher; and the Straw Hats finally make it to the Grand Line!
I started watching season 2 of Netflix's live action One Piece series (OPLA) with my mom this week, and decided I'd write some brief episode reviews as we go. I'm enjoying it so far!
Title quote this week comes from OPLA. It's my favorite Zoro line so far 😂
(The alternative quote I was gonna use this week was "Fujimi-Style Nightmare Shoulder Throw!!" from Zeztz)
Spoilers, as always, below:
Kamen Rider Zeztz (episode 33)
This is a great episode for people (me) who like watching other people use power tools and soldering irons 😁
Okay, but in all seriousness, I really enjoyed this episode because I love heroes who never give up. Baku starts this episode off with his busted Zeztz driver, and so he has to fight barehanded when Nightmares start showing up in real life. It seems hopeless and once again, Baku is on the brink of death, but then he arrives in his subconscious and gets to work.
"Anything I can imagine, I can realize," he says.
And that's what happens! He persists, even as spectors of his friends tell him to give up, and even though it takes him 20(!) years of work. (Sidenote: the wig and facial hair were absolutely hilarious lmao) In the end, he makes his dream come true by making a whole new belt.
From the beginning of the series, Baku grew up having his strings pulled so that he was basically manipulated into becoming an agent (and, by extension, Zeztz.) So it's really meaningful here to see him take matters into his own hands now, to create something that'll help him do what he's always wanted to do: help others.
I'm so excited to see his new suit in action!
Girl Rules (episode 8)
The Shasha/Gorya relationship continues developing. This week, Shasha attempts to fire Gorya because she's being blackmailed by her old scumbag manager. Thankfully, Gorya is the most sensible and mature person in this show, so when she finds out, she offers support instead of scorn.
It's been really lovely to watch these two get to a point where they're genuinely friends who care about each other, rather than the shallow friends-with-benefits thing that had going on before. After they cleverly deal with the blackmail (with a press conference) and settle that conflict, the scene of them hanging out on Gorya's rooftop was very sweet.
It almost felt like a good conclusion to their storyline, so I have no idea where we go from here. (I suppose we have to spend more time with the drama from the other two couples now 🙄)
Most important note: Gorya's rooftop garden is lovely. I am jealous!!
Akane-banashi (episode 5)
While the audience has known since the first episode how invested Akane is in rakugo, her teacher doesn't have that perspective. So this episode was all about overcoming the hurdle of the strict guidance counselor trying to guide Akane to a different career path.
While the teacher's perspective makes sense -- a lot of students really aren't prepared to follow through on a high-risk performing job -- it's nice to see that she does eventually go to see a performance herself to understand Akane better.
(Although I kept watching this episode and thinking maybe things would have been easier if Akane had just mentioned all the professional training she's already getting 😅)
Also, it was nice to see Akane's classmate from elementary school again, this time not as a jerk kid but a more understanding and mature high schooler. I like that he's learned to be supportive. I hope he'll pop up again from time to time.
One Piece (live action) (season 2, episode 1)
My mother thought this episode was a little boring, but I enjoyed it! I thought the stop in Loguetown felt thematically important for the season, to emphasize just what the crew is out here chasing: a story, a legacy, a dream.
Call it whatever you want, but it gives people hope. It keeps them moving. Marines like Smoker and pirates like Buggy and Alvida try to stomp it out, but you can't really stop an idea. So Luffy and the crew escape danger once again, sailing forward on their hopes for the future (and some well-placed luck!)
Overall, I thought this was a good episode to lay the groundwork for the rest of the season. It introduced Baroque Works (not by name yet technically but I know who they are) and new Marines like Smoker and Tashigi. The Straw Hats are saying goodbye to the world they knew before, but saying hello to a new adventure. I'm excited for what awaits this season!
One Piece (season 2, episode 2)
The crew gets swallowed by a whale! How biblically exciting! 🤭
I liked how simple this episode was. Luffy on dry land and the crew inside the whale, all working towards the goal of reuniting. Oh, and also there were some members of Baroque Works involved too! (But they aren't very relevant to the plot yet)
I don't have much to say about this episode other than I just enjoyed it. Zoro makes me laugh so much ("...so it's a girl whale"). It was nice to see Koby again (giving some advice to Tashigi). Singing and dancing Luffy was adorable. And heyyyy was that a cameo from Brook?!
Also, because I didn't mention it in the previous episode review, I did want to mention how much I've enjoyed all the wire stunts for the fight scenes so far. Live action One Piece is tokusatsu! 😁
One Piece (season 2, episode 3)
The Straw Hats make it to a friendly town called Whiskey Peak, but soon discover that the friendliness is just an act.
Because it's a whole town of Baroque Works members! (pretends to be shocked)
The bulk of this episode focuses on Zoro and his worries that he isn't improving his sword skills fast enough. It's sort of a thin emotional plotline, but hey, I will not complain about Zoro hallucinating Mihawk who is just as fun (and hot, tbh) as ever when needling Zoro.
And his extended swordfight was fun too. I absolutely loved that whole sequence. It has everything I want in a fight: good choreo, good use of the set, good variety of weapons. If I was not mooching off my brother's Netflix account to watch this show, I definitely would rewatch his whole fight a couple more times. I'm sure I missed a few things.
Elsewhere in the episode, we get the reveal of Miss Wednesday's true identity: Vivi, the missing Alabasta princess who'd been trying to take down Baroque Works from the inside. This will give our crew an overarching plot to focus on for a while, which is good because it felt a little aimless beforehand.
One Piece (season 2, episode 4)
And here's where things go off the rails for the Straw Hats! Because now they've got several Baroque Works members to contend with, and a couple members end up out of action by the end of this episode. (And also at least one dead friendly giant 😭)
Usopp gets much of the emotional focus for this episode, zeroing in on his fears holding him back. It was really nice to see the encouragement from Nami, and then from Brogy. I'm sure by the time this mini-arc concludes, he'll have learned something important. Maybe. (We're in the territory of things I no longer remember from my bit of watching the anime in high school.)
On a sidenote, I continue to love the effects of the show. The composite shots and camera tricks with the giants were nice. As I said before: One Piece is tokusatsu!! I know Netflix doesn't do this but I want a physical copy of this show that comes with like 3 hours of special features just so I can see how they filmed a lot of this show.
I started watching season 2 of Netflix's live action One Piece series (OPLA) with my mom this week, and decided I'd write some brief episode reviews as we go. I'm enjoying it so far!
Title quote this week comes from OPLA. It's my favorite Zoro line so far 😂
(The alternative quote I was gonna use this week was "Fujimi-Style Nightmare Shoulder Throw!!" from Zeztz)
Spoilers, as always, below:
Kamen Rider Zeztz (episode 33)
This is a great episode for people (me) who like watching other people use power tools and soldering irons 😁
Okay, but in all seriousness, I really enjoyed this episode because I love heroes who never give up. Baku starts this episode off with his busted Zeztz driver, and so he has to fight barehanded when Nightmares start showing up in real life. It seems hopeless and once again, Baku is on the brink of death, but then he arrives in his subconscious and gets to work.
"Anything I can imagine, I can realize," he says.
And that's what happens! He persists, even as spectors of his friends tell him to give up, and even though it takes him 20(!) years of work. (Sidenote: the wig and facial hair were absolutely hilarious lmao) In the end, he makes his dream come true by making a whole new belt.
From the beginning of the series, Baku grew up having his strings pulled so that he was basically manipulated into becoming an agent (and, by extension, Zeztz.) So it's really meaningful here to see him take matters into his own hands now, to create something that'll help him do what he's always wanted to do: help others.
I'm so excited to see his new suit in action!
Girl Rules (episode 8)
The Shasha/Gorya relationship continues developing. This week, Shasha attempts to fire Gorya because she's being blackmailed by her old scumbag manager. Thankfully, Gorya is the most sensible and mature person in this show, so when she finds out, she offers support instead of scorn.
It's been really lovely to watch these two get to a point where they're genuinely friends who care about each other, rather than the shallow friends-with-benefits thing that had going on before. After they cleverly deal with the blackmail (with a press conference) and settle that conflict, the scene of them hanging out on Gorya's rooftop was very sweet.
It almost felt like a good conclusion to their storyline, so I have no idea where we go from here. (I suppose we have to spend more time with the drama from the other two couples now 🙄)
Most important note: Gorya's rooftop garden is lovely. I am jealous!!
Akane-banashi (episode 5)
While the audience has known since the first episode how invested Akane is in rakugo, her teacher doesn't have that perspective. So this episode was all about overcoming the hurdle of the strict guidance counselor trying to guide Akane to a different career path.
While the teacher's perspective makes sense -- a lot of students really aren't prepared to follow through on a high-risk performing job -- it's nice to see that she does eventually go to see a performance herself to understand Akane better.
(Although I kept watching this episode and thinking maybe things would have been easier if Akane had just mentioned all the professional training she's already getting 😅)
Also, it was nice to see Akane's classmate from elementary school again, this time not as a jerk kid but a more understanding and mature high schooler. I like that he's learned to be supportive. I hope he'll pop up again from time to time.
One Piece (live action) (season 2, episode 1)
My mother thought this episode was a little boring, but I enjoyed it! I thought the stop in Loguetown felt thematically important for the season, to emphasize just what the crew is out here chasing: a story, a legacy, a dream.
Call it whatever you want, but it gives people hope. It keeps them moving. Marines like Smoker and pirates like Buggy and Alvida try to stomp it out, but you can't really stop an idea. So Luffy and the crew escape danger once again, sailing forward on their hopes for the future (and some well-placed luck!)
Overall, I thought this was a good episode to lay the groundwork for the rest of the season. It introduced Baroque Works (not by name yet technically but I know who they are) and new Marines like Smoker and Tashigi. The Straw Hats are saying goodbye to the world they knew before, but saying hello to a new adventure. I'm excited for what awaits this season!
One Piece (season 2, episode 2)
The crew gets swallowed by a whale! How biblically exciting! 🤭
I liked how simple this episode was. Luffy on dry land and the crew inside the whale, all working towards the goal of reuniting. Oh, and also there were some members of Baroque Works involved too! (But they aren't very relevant to the plot yet)
I don't have much to say about this episode other than I just enjoyed it. Zoro makes me laugh so much ("...so it's a girl whale"). It was nice to see Koby again (giving some advice to Tashigi). Singing and dancing Luffy was adorable. And heyyyy was that a cameo from Brook?!
Also, because I didn't mention it in the previous episode review, I did want to mention how much I've enjoyed all the wire stunts for the fight scenes so far. Live action One Piece is tokusatsu! 😁
One Piece (season 2, episode 3)
The Straw Hats make it to a friendly town called Whiskey Peak, but soon discover that the friendliness is just an act.
Because it's a whole town of Baroque Works members! (pretends to be shocked)
The bulk of this episode focuses on Zoro and his worries that he isn't improving his sword skills fast enough. It's sort of a thin emotional plotline, but hey, I will not complain about Zoro hallucinating Mihawk who is just as fun (and hot, tbh) as ever when needling Zoro.
And his extended swordfight was fun too. I absolutely loved that whole sequence. It has everything I want in a fight: good choreo, good use of the set, good variety of weapons. If I was not mooching off my brother's Netflix account to watch this show, I definitely would rewatch his whole fight a couple more times. I'm sure I missed a few things.
Elsewhere in the episode, we get the reveal of Miss Wednesday's true identity: Vivi, the missing Alabasta princess who'd been trying to take down Baroque Works from the inside. This will give our crew an overarching plot to focus on for a while, which is good because it felt a little aimless beforehand.
One Piece (season 2, episode 4)
And here's where things go off the rails for the Straw Hats! Because now they've got several Baroque Works members to contend with, and a couple members end up out of action by the end of this episode. (And also at least one dead friendly giant 😭)
Usopp gets much of the emotional focus for this episode, zeroing in on his fears holding him back. It was really nice to see the encouragement from Nami, and then from Brogy. I'm sure by the time this mini-arc concludes, he'll have learned something important. Maybe. (We're in the territory of things I no longer remember from my bit of watching the anime in high school.)
On a sidenote, I continue to love the effects of the show. The composite shots and camera tricks with the giants were nice. As I said before: One Piece is tokusatsu!! I know Netflix doesn't do this but I want a physical copy of this show that comes with like 3 hours of special features just so I can see how they filmed a lot of this show.
