One Piece Season 2 Eps 5 to 8 reviews

The second half of the second season - time to meet Tony Tony Chopper!! 

Spoilers in the reviews from the start...

Wax On, Wax Off (wr Joe Tracz / dir Christophe Schrew)

By now we know to expect the unexpected when it comes to One Piece and this episode is a particular example of how eccentric a series it can be. Despite the tropical island setting there’s an air of Victorian macabre in the villainy afoot, a contrast to the bold heroics of the previous episode. As the gang each fall victim to sundry powers that exchange their personality or leave them isolated its at the hands of antagonists who can wield wax or paint with strange qualities. The first half of the episode seems to enjoy stretching these ideas as wide as Luffy’s rubbery abilities with a certain repetition creeping in.

The kernel of the story though lies with Usopp who has grabbed an increasingly large amount of screen time this season which has proved rewarding viewing. Not imbued with any special abilities Usopp relies on his storytelling (and a sling shot) to get through becoming the audience’s most identifiable character. Jacob Romero does the rest with a likeable performance. Usopp is the only one free to run about the island, dreaming up potential rescue plans while not believing he can actually undertake them. In a well planned manner, the writers do enable him to play a key part in defeating the Baroque Works weirdos in an inventive showdown taking place around a giant sized wax cake in which Nami, Zoro and Vivi are trapped and it something of a relief when they do get out of this contraption which is the season’s first less than convincing idea. The fight that subsequently occurs around it is much more interesting as is the behaviour paint concept which might have been better in a separate episode of its own. It’s amazing though how some china tea cups and creepy dolls with cracked faces can conjure up Victorian horror even on a beach.

 Elsewhere, Sanji accidentally ends up speaking to the elusive Mr 0 whose identity  remains shrouded in shadows and a sibilant menace. I do feel the writers aren’t sure how comedic Sanji should be but they have built up the friendly rivalry with Zoro. None of what we see in the episode though is as odd as the mega goldfish which pops up at the end for a cameo.

 

Nami Dearest (wr Alex Regnary / dir Lukas Ettlin)

A search for a doctor to help Nami, who collapsed at the end of the last episode forms the spine of this story which takes us into pure fairytale country with all the quirks that entails. When we rejoin the action she has been asleep for four days and now has one of those infections people only get in fantasy series with visible black veins creeping all over her. So the crew have to find somewhere to get treatment and the only option seems to be the snowy kingdom of Drum. Initially as unwelcoming as the climate (depicted in a glorious effects shot of the Going Merry sailing between snow topped mountains) Drum turns out to be a place on its last legs after being sacked by Captain Blackbeard and abandoned by its tyrannical king. There’s a funny double take as earlier we’d been told that handily being the only place they can reach before Nami’s infection turns fatal, there are hundreds of doctors in Drum; upon arrival they find there is only one left. She’s a witch, apparently, and lives at the top of an ice covered mountain which must be tricky when it comes to medical supplies.

Mixed in with this scenario we have flashbacks of a younger Vivi encountering the King of Drum, Wapol, a thunderous sort with a voracious appetite and as yet unexplained metal jaw (perhaps he ate too much and needed to replace his actual one!). This sets the tone for what is more of a character sketch with some simple, but effective scenes between different characters. It is really well paced with smooth switches between overblown speechifying and quieter reflection. The crew’s concern for Nami is sweet, especially the way that Sanji looks after her. I don’t want to go down the route of shipping characters but, you know, they seem to have a thing…

We also get to see a meeting of the world government an opportunity for the programme makers to raid the costume department leading to one unnamed monarch resembling Abrham Lincoln, complete with beard and tall hat. The meetingsis posturing and shouting so actually seems quite realistic.

The episode’s showpiece though is an extended sequence where Luffy and Sanji; with the former carrying Nami on his back scaling the snow covered mountain that looks like Everest. As soon as the idea is mooted- the reason being Nami may not survive till the morning without treatment- it becomes almost as big a challenge for the effects people as it would for the characters. Amazingly they pull it off, mixing and editing digital effects and stunt work seamlessly and including a couple of heart stopping moments of jeopardy. Of course in real life people could never make such a climb in those conditions but as a dramatic act of heroism it is tremendously rousing.

Turns out the episode’s’ surprises are not quite done as alongside the doctor Kureha - Katey Segal, (best known as the mother in Married With Children) channelling Cher - there is a pint sized walking, talking reindeer called Tony Tony Chopper (why hasn’t a band used this name) who has to be seen to be believed. A terrific creation who you feel has a lot of potential its so unusual that the episode finishes, not with some cliffhanger moment but with Luffy’s astonishment at such a sight.

 

Reindeer Shames (wr Elisabeth Hunter / dir Luke Ettlin)

Behind all the big wigs, strange creatures and bizarre scenarios, any decent fantasy show will have something more. While One Piece may seem to be a somewhat frivolous series this second season has seen a considerable broadening of its palette yet even that did not prepare us for an episode like this. It’s the sort of confident side quest of a background story that older series do when they are satisfied that not showing the regular cast for much of the running time is fine because people are in the groove of the show. This is only the fifteenth overall episode yet Luffy and his crew play a distant second fiddle to the origin story of the already intriguing Chopper. A young reindeer who ate a devil fruit giving him his odd appearance and the ability to speak, Chopper’s history is told to the crew by Kureha and seen by us in a series of extended scenes.

Much of the episode takes place between Chopper and Drum’s only other remaining Doctor at the time, Hiriluk. As played by the oddly similarly named Mark Harelik, he is an old, fussy quack with an extraordinary hairstyle that mimics the medical cross. He is slaving away to find an all purpose cure which he believes will also help heal the country. Chopper is reluctantly treated by him and a friendship develops which leads to them effectively developing a parent and child situation. The details of how this eventually goes wrong in a calamitous manner is there for the curious viewer to find.

I suspect some may feel this backstory is spun out for too long but I found it a delightful change of tone for a show that prefers to swiftly skip over emotions in favour of exciting action. This story has elements of fairy tales and also the more recent vintage of a Tim Burton film with a little bit of Pinnochio and a whiff of Frankenstein too.

That is works so well is also down to the remarkable visualisation of Chopper. On first sight it looks like the cuddliest, cutest thing ever but rather like Gremlins, it has a lot more about it. In fact it has all the basic emotions of a child.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen such photo realistic motion capture work as this creature with his doleful, expressive eyes, inquisitiveness, mischief, anger and lots of other emotions rising naturally from such an expressive face. When it is upset it is the saddest thing ever. Seriously it looks even better than any mocap character in the Avatar films. Mikaela Hooper provides the facial capture and voice, using both to squeeze every ounce of childlike responses from the situation. When Chopper’s rage near the end causes him to grow to human size it is fearsome. Mark Herelik is tremendous too, taking the doctor through several stages of gradually warming to this stranger in his isolated house until he realises he has to kick him out for his own good.

Ultimately the episode is about belonging and loneliness. When Hiruluk shuts Chopper outside it is heartbreaking. Also, as she tells the tale its also clear that, for all her hard -nosed cynicism about Hiruluk, Kureha cared about him just as Chopper saw him as a father. All three of them are lonely people but never got the chance to say what they really felt because they were too busy hiding behind criticising each other. Despite the awful title (surely something elegiac was required) `Reindeer Shames` switches between moods with ease, looks fabulous and tells a bittersweet story. It has plenty of sad moments yet its also about hope and perseverance, qualities we’ve seen amongst the Straw Hats especially in the previous episode. So despite the scenario maybe its not quite as much of an outlier episode as it seems.

 

Deer and Loathing in Drum Kingdom (wr Matt Owens and Ian Stokes / dir Lukas Ettlin)

A fearsome finale packed with incident this does seem a little rushed especially given they have time for several encore scenes. Even so it contrasts well with the more dialogue led previous episode and gives us the battle that a season climax needs. What a battle it is too; just when we’d sort of forgotten that King Wapol had swallowed a Devil Fruit comes the reveal of what power it had given him. He can eat anything and turn it into something else so it seems he has swallowed several members of his guard who emerge this episode as hybrid monsters who are seemingly indestructible. With only Zoro, Usopp, Dalton and a handful of plucky villagers left the fight seems impossible especially as these new assailants are immune to the Straw Hats’ usual skills. In the high castle Wapol turns up and fights Luffy, Viva, Sanji and Chopper.

The fun of writing for this series must be that however serious the odds there is no limit to what unusual methods you can use to up the threat level yet also give our heroes the win. A moment where Luffy is directly hit by a cannon shot yet survives with little more than a smut covered face is typical of this approach yet it’s not really explained how he escaped. If the fight never reaches the ingenuity of the earlier bar brawl in episode three, it is suitably epic with some well staged explosions and Lukas Ettlin’s direction drawing us directly into the centre of things.

The episode concludes (save for some additional Baroque Works plans revealed) with Chopper joining the crew after which Kureha releases Hirulek’s cherry blossom tonic into the air. Meanwhile the crew affirm their commitment to help Vivi’s kingdom providing an uplifting end to what has been a different season than we might have expected.

What can be created on paper or animation is more of a challenge with live action, there is probably no way this show could have been made even ten years ago. Yet what really bonds things together is the obvious camaraderie amongst the regular cast which shows on screen and makes them heroes you really want to cheer on.  Guaranteed a third season (there are some teasers at the end of episode eight), One Piece is a palpable hit and as a lot of shows reach a creative peak in their third year, there’s plenty of cherry blossom coloured optimism that despite the achievements of this season, the best of this series is yet to come. Just think of better episode titles next time, please.