“The Pirates are coming! The Pirates are coming!”
And with that loud excited announcement, commences episode three of “One Piece”, which is all about sea thieves, monsters, treasures and the wild wild adventures of Monkey D. Luffy from Eiichirô Oda’s epic series. Titled “Tell No Tale”, episode three is set in Syrup Village, whose residents are known for building fine ships, which works out great for Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) and his new friends, who are looking for a new home on the rough seas.
When Luffy falls in love with a huge ship at the dockyard, fate intervenes in the form of a young man to make his dream come true. Jacob Romero’s character, Usopp, is introduced in the episode as the best friend of the owner of a shipping business, a young girl named Kaya (Celeste Loots), who has tragically lost her parents. Usopp facilitates a meeting between Luffy and Kaya at her grand mansion, leading to a series of unfortunate events that take a darker and more serious tone. Alexander Maniatis plays Kaya’s imposing caretaker/butler Klhahadore, who looks like he up to no good, from the second he is introduced. Alexander Maniatis was intimidating and sinister in his role and it would be interesting to see him play more such roles in the future. An unlikely brief friendship blooms between Kaya and Nami (Emily Rudd), which did feel a little contrived but helps with their character curves.
The pace sort of begins to flounder and episode four titled “The Pirates Are Coming” was the slowest chapter so far in the series. It’s got over-stretched fight sequences and extended scenes. And top of all that, there’s the dimly lit cinematography again. Most of episode four unfolds late at night, so some of the battles that would’ve been more exciting in the daylight, are a little disappointing to watch with the dark tones. The only respite comes in the form of some flashbacks pertaining Roronoa Zoro. Maximilian Lee Piazza plays a young Zoro, and the throwbacks help establish an emotional back-story to why Zoro aspires to be the best swordsman in the world. However, his Batman style struggle in a well was quite boring to watch and I may have fast-forwarded just those scenes.
Morgan Davies who plays Koby, the young pirate who is technically Luffy’s first friend in his “One Piece” journey, has an interesting parallel sub-plot to himself about how he becomes a marine. Davies probably has the most growth in the show so far, considering the drastic change in his character’s trajectory, even though he doesn’t have as much screen-space as the others. Which brings me to a major problem I had with episodes 3 & 4 – it felt like Iñaki Godoy didn’t get enough screen-time, despite being the protagonist. It’s Iñaki’s zesty portrayal of the funny and sunny Monkey D. Luffy that’s the best ingredient of this show so far!
Hopefully, there’s more of Luffy in the remaining episodes. Episode four ends with a fantastic twist, so most viewers would definitely want to continue streaming “One Piece”.
Watch the series on Netflix.
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