1x08 WORST IN THE EAST

(712-word review) This was an excellent finale to the season! I'm already in dire need of another one; I need it now! WE need it now. This is why the concept of time machines exists: to give hope in one's existence to watch the second season and every other one afterward right away. I know bits and pieces of what will likely be covered – bits and pieces of sand, even; lots of sand in two ways, not just concerning the location – but not so much the overall story and moments within that story arc, though I know certain characters who'll be introduced; two characters specifically. A woman and a man, Mrs. Hat and Mr. Hook; however, it won't mean anything out-of-context for those new to One Piece. If you're familiar with the manga or anime, you'll immediately know who I'm talking about. And, of course, the character who was teased at the end.

The second season will likely be incredible for many reasons. For starters, this one was the introductory phase; the story arcs were "tame" compared to everything that comes next, in addition to how one of the main focuses was the working towards and establishment of the Straw Hats with each character introduction, bringing them together; therefore, that's been done here, leaving plenty of room for them as a crew (but also individually) that we undoubtedly desire and will enjoy immensely moving forward. Not only that, there should be that budget increase you can usually accurately expect with subsequent seasons of a show, on top of the experience gleaned by everyone involved with this first one, from the actors to all the departments/crew, that will assist tremendously; hopefully, most of them are brought back if not all.

Everything (at face value, as anyone can look hard enough and find things to dislike or manufacture those things) landed – for me, at least. Everything was perfectly executed. Other than Zoro and Sanji's fight sequence having noticeable VFX blood at certain parts with some instances of the choreography looking like they should've had more impact, which was still easy to look past, and their banter was great, Luffy vs. Arlong was fantastic, especially Luffy's final two moves and the last move in particular – a lot of money, time, and caring effort must've gone into that – the moment when Luffy came out of the rubble and everyone's reaction, complimented by the musical motif from Nami's theme song playing, was equally fantastic.

Circling back to Zoro and Sanji's fight sequence, specifically against Kuroobi, that dive into the water and rapid movement through it and subsequent out-of-water tackle on Sanji by him was super great. My only complaint would be the lack of stuff like that: the lack of water utilization and Fish-Man Karate by the Fishmen. That somewhat diminished it, making it a bit generic; in all fairness, that had more involvement in making it stand out, not the VFX blood and low-impact-looking choreography. It would've been nice if the fight choreographer(s) devised an efficient way to incorporate more of those things with the cannon fodder Fishmen.

But the final scene before the teaser, from Luffy's gift (or the crew's gift) to Nami, then her/their gift to Luffy of the actual Jolly Roger (which I'm assuming was done by her; I don't remember that part from the manga – or Usopp may have done it), to even further heights with everyone declaring their dream and the splicing-together of their past selves, topped with Zoro's hilarious taken aback reaction (it's my headcanon that it wasn't scripted and that was merely Mackenyu's reaction) to all of them wooing/whooping, was so much better, and everything else was already good; what a phenomenal scene. And all the reactions to Luffy's bounty, from Makino to Kaya to Zeff to Buffy to Garp to Shanks, were an appreciatable addition and very anime-like.

This conclusion was satisfying; every plot thread was wrapped up nicely, and the way it ended was silky smooth, even more than Zohan's hair-dressing, allowing that same smoothness to be present with the transition into the next season. And hell, I'll bump up my rating for this finale to a nine out of ten; an eight got the point across, but nine was right there – ripe for the taking.