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.

One Piece Season 2 Eps 1 to 4 reviews

 

Sophomore seasons of a successful tv show always face a dilemma. Do they try and simply reproduce the signatures of the first season or do they strike out in new directions? Luckily for One Piece, the map was already drawn. The debut season, two and a half years ago now, established the world, brought together the Straw Hat pirates and only by the last episode did they have the capabilities to try and realise Monkey D Luffy’s ambition of becoming king of the pirates by claiming the One Piece. So the second season was always going to be different. If none of this makes sense, then you probably do need to watch season one before delving into the follow up. In fact the One Piece story, as told in the comics, is so vast and on going perhaps we will never see this quest end.

This first half of the second season delves deeper into the lore of the story, introducing some bizarrely attired and strangely superpowered characters while seemingly playing with a bigger budget. A show not to be taken over seriously but never to be underestimated, One Piece is close to perfect.

 Spoilers in the following reviews...