One Piece Log: Fish-Man Island Saga

Episode 9

Episode 9 sets up the major antagonists for us by showing their motivations and powers in detail.

But before the villains, we get yet more Straw Hat shenanigans. Zoro, Nami, and Usopp manage to, well, kidnap/capture King Neptune? You know how it goes: you show up to a new place, one thing leads to another, and before you know it you've stormed the castle and apprehended the local nobility and their entourage. We've all been there. Luffy and Shirahoshi have a bit more of a heart-to-heart with, once again, Luffy telling Shirahoshi to get her big act together. Brook wins out with a great display of his expert swordsmanship, a real highlight for him (which is astonishingly rare).

The real focus though is Hody and Vander Decken. The duo have their meeting interrupted by Hatchan who berates them for not doing things like he and Arlong used to do. But obviously, they don't really care much for the comparison. Hatchan is quickly arrowed by Vander Decken's Teen Girl Squad-esque powers (that's what they pay me the big bucks for: Homestar Runner references in 2024). This scene does good by this pair, as it sets them up as villains without necessarily making them feel unthinking or bloodthirsty. Sure they're ruthless but they've clearly thought a lot of this through and have seen unsuccessful villainy in the past. Vander Decken's power is particularly great in an oddball way, a mix of superheroic and weird limitations that makes it come off like a Stand power straight out of JoJo's. I know murder is bad and all but not washing his hands for years just so he can commit murder is extremely unhygienic and probably the evillest thing about Vander Decken in my opinion.

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One Piece Log: Fish-Man Island Saga is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.