1x04 THE PIRATES ARE COMING

(853-word review) As the climax of the previous episode, this one was bound to surpass it, which it easily achieved, to no one's surprise, especially myself. It was understandably better and more exciting. Alexander Maniatis stepped up his acting even more, giving Kuro a fiercer presence and deeper depth, albeit in the category of capricious and extravagant villains, and there were two fight sequences/action, making up for the prior lack of that element.

Luffy vs. Kuro was undoubtedly the best because (one.) we get to see Kuro receive his comeuppance at (two.) the hands (and head) of Luffy, and (three.) a glimpse of a serious attitude, more than when he nearly lost his hat two episodes ago, which unsurprisingly stemmed from his crew/friends being in danger; that grin while pulling Kuro's arms away from each other was peak cinema – Luffy's a complete menace.

Zoro vs. Sham (whose actress is undeniably hot, especially as the character; her actual (pirate) outfit also looked great) and Buchi was a little weaker but still decent; it was even more riveting in some ways, thanks to the execution of the choreography, which was good, with Mackenyu being the highlight, as he's trained, in addition to that fight sequence serving as a moment for Zoro to shine. But, under the surface, some parts of it revolving around Sham and Buchi, relating to their characterizations, were silly, and the choreography itself would've benefited immensely from a tiny amount of improvement: their characters knocked it down a notch.

However, from what I've seen, those who disliked the first installment of this two-parter also felt similarly regarding this episode. I can't quite put myself in their shoes to comprehend where they're coming from, at least concerning its entirety. But there were two points that I agreed with, which were mentioned by some and likely felt by the majority of individuals who weren't fans of these two episodes.

Here are those points: Sham and Buchi were extremely underwhelming (but perhaps it's the same in the manga: there wasn't much that could be done to elevate their characters in live-action), and their quirky, argumentative dynamic was dull and awkward, whether the cause was the performances by Bianca Oosthuizen and Albert Pretorius or that those types of characterizations usually don't turn out well, particularly in live-action media, while Audrey Cymone's (Shimotsuki Kuina) acting was noticeably weak, following that same reality with Colton Osorio (Young Luffy) and Kevin Saula (Young Usopp), specifically the latter; however, Maximilian Lee Piazza's acting as the younger version of Zoro was better, not to mention there's still the young versions of Nami and Sanji to judge, who could end up being the best ones out of those actors.

Besides that, I'm going against the grain concerning how it seems the other way around for many people: this episode was better than the previous one. The final 10-12 minutes, or so, in particular, once the Syrup Village Arc concluded, were fantastic. But overall, there were many things to like, starting with the score cues; Sonya Belousova and Giona Ostinelli popped off.

These were the most notable ones: the one during Zoro and Kuina's fight, especially the energetic end of it as their battle concluded, the one when Zoro found out about her death/took her sword/as he was climbing up the well – the flute was excellent or whatever instrument that was; I've heard it before, and I know it's used frequently in Japanese or maybe Chinese music, and that score cue felt both reminiscent of their work on the first season of The Witcher and reminiscent of the music in Naruto/Naruto Shippuden (the climax, while Zoro made it up, was particularly fantastic); the one when the crew gets the ship (that middle part of the "I'm Gonna Be King Of The Pirates / We Are!" track is phenomenal), and the one when they sailed off, including the montage of everyone and how they're settling in, which could be that same track but a different part, and it sounded even more like the score in S1 of The Witcher.

The remaining things were specific scenes: Luffy throwing up on Helmeppo and his reaction, Helmeppo's look of resignation at Zoro's appearance, knowing he's about to get bullied again, then getting knocked out – his character, who's more so the butt of the joke (but lowkey HIM) has been a treat and portrayed fabulously by Aidan Scott; Zoro's backstory was excellent, not to mention the primary highlight of the episode; Luffy smiling at Nami after he won the bet of getting a ship; the scene at the end of the crew where Nami laughed, then Zoro followed was great – "This is what it's all about" is the truth! Thank you for saying it, Luffy! And we love it!

Honorable mentions: Celeste Loots (Kaya) gave a stand-out acting performance, going even further than initially, following in the footsteps of Alexander Maniatis. She was an unexpected highlight of these two episodes in that department. And the cinematography, most notably the lighting/sunlight and beauty of the ocean, looked incredible. Real locations and natural lighting win every time.