One Piece Episode 672
What They Say:
The Tontattas are devastated by Trebol’s furious attack, but as Usopp tries to convince Leo to abort the operation, Leo tells him about their commander Toy Soldier’s stunning true identity! Meanwhile, with the help of another Tontatta group, the Toy Soldier finally shakes off Lao G and gets moving again!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With a lot of time given to one arc the last time around and mostly just quick reminders elsewhere, One Piece made some minor progress overall but largely treaded water for the most part. There’s a lot going on but the series is one that knows how to slow down and draw things out so that it feels like there’s real progress but it’s just nudging things along little by little. The progress is certainly good but at the same time you wonder what the show would be like if it wasn’t as laid back as it is in the pacing department sometimes. A good bit of time spent with everyone, showing what’s going on with the fairy people, the Tontattas, also helped to further establish that it’s really those that are of Dressrosa that must truly take it back. The One Piece crew is just there to help spur it along a little bit.
This episode gives us the reminder at the start of where most of the cast are within the island itself and there’s a bit of fun with a few of them along the way in small doses, especially with Luffy and Violet as they make their way through, literally, their stone opponent that’s all around them. Giving time to that, to Zoro, to Rebecca in the arena, it works well. Rebecca gets a decent little bit here as she recalls the past a bit and it’s all about circling back to the Toys or the Tontatta. They’ve been a persistent part of the arc since things got underway on the island, but their importance has been growing steadily and they’re making more of an impact, though unrealized by many at this point. With Sugar and Trebol dealing more directly with them now, we’ve seen them get smacked down hard by them, but it’s great to see that they’re completely standing up for themselves at this point and are resisting in a big way – even if it panics Usopp a whole lot.
While a good bit of time is given over to that, we also get some time with Toy Soldier, who has been continuing his struggle as best as he can. This time we get a bit more flashback to some of the earlier days of when Dressrosa was taken over and Rebecca was a bit more tender within the arena walls as Toy Soldier watched over her and wanted to do right by her, but she was so focused on avenging her father and surviving the competition. There’s a good concerned and stern side to him with her that’s welcome to see, but with what Rebecca is feeling, the lashing out definitely hits him hard, especially when called out as little more than a Toy. The two have a long and complicated relationship and this is just one more cog within it that made things more difficult for both of them. Giving us this, and having one of the Tontattas talk about who Toy Soldier was before he became a toy, elevates his level a whole lot, but it feels like a bit late in the game to be revealing that.
In Summary:
One Piece goes the long way around to introduce a potential hero into the mix, one that we knew was going to have an important role no matter what based on what we knew of him already. Adding more to his legend isn’t exactly a surprise, but that it takes as long as it does here to get to it makes the episode a bit of a chore. There’s some decent material, particularly with the Tontattas and Trebol and Sugar with the back and forth between them, but mostly it’s just a lot of wheel spinning here with a bit more background brought into focus that doesn’t feel critical or needed in a lot of ways. It’s decent, but it’s not exactly memorable.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
