The One Piece anime is having a six-month break and will be returning on April next year. The break is to give the production team a much-deserved rest time, as well as preparation for a better adaptation of the Egghead Arc. However, fans of the anime aren’t simply left hanging. A remaster of the Fish-Man Island Arc will air in its place.
The original Fish-Man Island Arc ran for 58 episodes, but the remaster will only have 21 episodes. Furthermore, the remaster will also enhance the original’s art, animation, and effects. And so, here are some moments to look forward to rewatch.
The Straw Hat Pirates’ return after the timeskip
The Fish-Man Island Arc marks the long-awaited reunion of the Straw Hat Pirates after two years of separation. Seeing them get back together as a crew for the first time was undeniably thrilling, and doing so for the second time surprisingly offers the same excitement. Naturally, however, there won’t be much surprise this time around, since we already know how the Straw Hats look after their long training. On the contrary, it does allow us to focus more on details we may have missed during the first run.
As their debut post-timeskip, the Straw Hats made an explosive showcase of their skills during this arc. Each one gets a chance to hog the spotlight as the crew fights and escapes from the Marines.
More than the Straw Hat Pirates, I am very much looking forward to seeing some of my favorite One Piece characters get more air time — Demalo Black and his crew. If you don’t remember who they are, that’s no skin off your nose. They are the ragtag group that posed as the Straw Hats, even advertising a recruitment campaign. While they don’t offer any narrative importance, they are, in my opinion, one of the best gags in the series.
Straw Hat Pirates VS the New Fish-Man Pirates
The Straw Hat Pirates have a long history with Fish-Men, most notably through their previous encounter with Arlong. Arlong has always viewed Fish-Men as a superior race. While Luffy stomped his face to the ground, the Straw Hat wasn’t able to extinguish that ideology. Hody Jones, who had long idolized Arlong, inherited that belief and aimed to rule Fish-Man Island himself. As such, he and his allies became the arc’s main antagonists.
Interestingly enough, Hody Jones and his army of Fish-Men weren’t motivated by any tragic experience. They were products of bred hate, making them nothing more than terrorists. Even so, their numbers were nothing to scoff at. They had a hundred thousand members, though they only served as a testament to how much stronger the Straw Hat Pirates had become.
Luffy and the others didn’t have that much of a hard time kicking Hody and his henchmen’s asses. In fact, Luffy easily knocked half of their numbers with his Conqueror’s Haki, then proceeded to beat up Hody like a sandbag. The other Straw Hats also proceeded to unveil their new arsenal.
Chopper unleashed his new form, the Horn Point, while Franky debuted some of his new inventions. Usopp and Nami also brandished their new equipment, knocking down a number of enemy Fish-Men along the way. Furthermore, Robin, Brook, and Zoro showed some of their new moves. Unfortunately for Sanji, his greatest contribution to the arc is his gigantic mermaid-shaped nosebleed.
Queen Otohime’s sacrifice for the future of Fish-Man Island
Queen Otohime might be weak and frail, but her determination to pursue her vision of unity between humans and Fish-Men is beyond outstanding. She was a leader who firmly believed in peaceful coexistence, despite the longstanding hate prejudice the two races harbored against each other.
Otohime relentlessly gave a speech on the island, trying to convince her fellow sea dwellers to sign for her cause. Even though she had seen notable success initially, the Fish-Men and Mermaids slowly withdrew their signatures after a series of unfortunate events. First was the death of Fisher Tiger, who was known as the hero of Fish-Men. Another turning point of her campaign was the arrival of Donquixote Mjosgard, a Celestial Dragon.
The ship carrying the World Nobles crashed into the island. Queen Otohime rushed to the scene amongst many others. But being the despicable creatures that they were, Mjosgard was not only ungrateful for the help, he even held the queen at gunpoint. Even so, Otohime only showed him kindness, even pleading for Aladine to help tread the Celestial Dragon’s wound. Eventually, Mjosgard and the others left the island safely, though still with no remorse or gratitude. But given the recent developments in the anime, this scene will elicit different emotions when watching the second time around.
After returning from her trip with the Celestial Dragons, Queen Otohime’s cause saw some progress. Unfortunately, it once again regressed upon her tragic end.
Jimbei, the Sun Pirates, and Koala’s backstory
Fisher Tiger was another believer in co-existing with men and Fish-Men. But while Queen Otohime wanted to unite the two races, Fisher Tiger firmly believed in having them living separately. Nonetheless, he and his Sun Pirates were important historical figures for the Fish-Men. His experience as a slave in Mary Geoise had left him with a deep-seated resentment toward humans, and while he did not seek revenge, he harbored no desire to mingle with them either.
Fisher Tiger’s most significant act was leading the raid on Mary Geoise to liberate the slaves — both humans and Fish-Men — who were suffering under the World Government’s brutal rule. Among the freed slaves was the young Koala, though her meeting with the Sun Pirates wouldn’t occur until three years later. When the Sun Pirates docked into the island where Koala was staying, the inhabitants asked Tiger to keep the girl with them.
Tiger ultimately agreed, and the Sun Pirates made Koala do chores for them. Arlong was obviously hostile toward the human child, though Hatchan kept holding him back. With her tragic experience as a slave, Koala didn’t shed a single tear, begging to be kept alive as she didn’t cry. Seeing this, Fisher Tiger and the others slowly warmed up toward her. Tiger also told her it was fine for her to cry.
Unfortunately, the Sun Pirates also didn’t have a better ending than Queen Otohime. After bringing Koala back to her hometown, the Marines ambushed the Sun Pirates with the help of the island’s inhabitants. The scruffle ultimately resulted in Fisher Tiger meeting his end due to blood loss.
When the Fish-Man Island Arc first aired, this tragic backstory simply weaved together Tiger, Jimbei, and Arlong’s relationships. But a handful of arcs later, we learned that this arc also set the stage for Koala, who eventually became a key member of the Revolutionary Army.
Published: Oct 20, 2024 09:39 am