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One Piece Chapter 977 Review/Recap

At long last, for the first time since the Dressrosa Arc, the Straw Hats are reunited! And just in time for the biggest party Wano has ever seen! With the Alliance now at full strength, the heroes sail at full speed to Onigashima. Their goal: take down Kaido and Big Mom, kill Orochi, and free Wano once and for all. Now, the enemy may know they’re coming thanks to Kanjuro, but the Alliance has a plan for this party!

At least, they did. By the way, this will be longer than normal, as I want to explain the strategy in detail. I like this kind of stuff.

Recap

On the Thousand Sunny, the Straw Hats welcome Jinbei, who explains he had to get the Sun Pirates to safety, hence why he’s late. As for Kin’emon, he explains their battle plan to Law and the other Alliance leaders: Hyogoro leading the samurai, and Shishilan leading the Minks.

The plan is this: Onigashima is surrounded by mountains. There’s only one official entrance at the mouth of a gate at the front. However, the plans for the island reveal a rear entrance. The Alliance would travel the mountains and hit Kaido from the back while he’s drunk.

Too bad that’s the plan that Kanjuro heard. So Law comes up with a new plan: since Luffy and Kid are idiots who will charge right in, they’ll send them to attack the front gate. While they’re drawing everyone’s attention, the Alliance will take the original routes, each with one of the Scabbards leading them. Law will take the others on his submarine, bypass the whirlpools surrounding the island, and get them in place at the rear. A four-pronged attack to surround the enemy.

Fortunately, the Straw Hats already took out the front gate while the soldiers were throwing a party. They had smelled alcohol and wanted to celebrate Jinbei joining. Luffy, though puts a stop to it and says they’ll wait until the enemy’s defeated. Then they’ll throw the biggest party ever.

Inside Kaido’s fortress, the party is already underway with everyone getting drunk and celebrating. As Kaido waits for his son and Big Mom to arrive, a crew member reports that the Flying Six, the strongest of the Headliners, have arrived.

Review

I think we all knew that there was no way the Straw Hats would stick to any sort of plan for this party. At least, Luffy wouldn’t; he’d charge in and the Straw Hats would follow. Fortunately, Straw Hat is a one-man army, so I knew that things would work out in the end. It’s still funny to see them do exactly what Law predicted, though. If all goes well, the Straw Hats and the Kid Pirates will make it to Kaido’s base as the same time as everyone.

As for the Samurai, I thought it’s hilarious to see how everyone’s overestimating Kin’emon when really, he just got lucky. But Japan’s history has been influenced by luck in the past, so I think it’s appropriate. Plus, it will make for a heck of a story later!

Battle Plan Analysis

Regarding the new plan itself, I think that this is the best strategy they can come up with, for two reasons. First, if the bulk of the Alliance travels through the mountains to attack from the rear, and the Straw Hat and Kid Pirates attack from the front, the enemy will have to divide their forces. The Alliance may be outnumbered, but they may come close to matching the Yonko in quality; dividing their forces will give them an advantage.

Alternatively, the Alliance could also attack from the mountains themselves. As a result, the numerically inferior Alliance can encircle and trap Kaido, Orochi, and Big Mom’s forces. That’s every military strategist’s dream come true!

I read a lot of military history in high school and college, so I know what I’m talking about. This is a good plan.

Party Time

There’s still factors that have yet to be accounted for, though. For one thing, we don’t know how drunk everyone at the party will be, nor how long before Kanjuro warns them. If they want to win, the Alliance has to be in position either before or right as Kanjuro warns Kaido.

There’s also the Flying Six, strongest of the Headliners. They’ll be a problem, for sure. In addition, there’s the reveal that Kaido, apparently, has a son. If he’s anything like his dad, then Luffy’s in trouble!

Sadly, we have to wait two weeks for the party to start for us. Shonen Jump is on break next week. Oh, well.

I Give “The Party’s Off” a 3.5/5. Good Battle Plan

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DuckTales Season 3, Episode 3 Review

Since its inception, the reboot of DuckTales has not shied away from calling on the works of past Disney cartoons. To be more precise, it’s full of references to the cartoons of the Disney Afternoon Block of the 90s. At first they started out with simple easter eggs, but now they’ve imported characters from many of the big names from that famous TV block. As of the latest episode, “Double O Duck”, I’d say DuckTales is a Disney Afternoon Universe!

A F.O.W.L. Spy Plan

In this episode, Dewey and Launchpad try to win a James Bond inspired AR game at Funso’s Funzone’s, only for Launchpad’s stupidity to make caused them to repeatedly fail. However, the pizza place also doubles as a secret for Black Heron and Darkwing Duck alumni Steelbeak. They think Scrooge’s is on to them, so they seek to eliminate the group for F.O.W.L.

I never got to meeting Steelbeak in the original Darkwing Duck. Thus, I don’t know much about his original personality. However, this version seems to be the Nappa to Black Heron’s Vegeta. He’s deadly, arrogant, but isn’t that smart. Black Heron, meanwhile, doesn’t seem to have learned from her defeat at the hands of Scrooge, Webby, and Mrs. Beakley. Her latest evil plan involves using a ray gun that can enhance or diminish someone’s intelligence to make Scrooge dumb.

That plan manages to backfire not once, but three times on Black Heron, each in a hilarious fashion. Firstly, Steelbeak turns on her after she calls him dumb one too many times, and her ray ends up sapping her intelligence. Secondly, the same ray hits Launchpad, only it makes him into a James Bonds-esque genius that kicks Steelbeak’s butt. Finally, it ends up creating another component of the Disney Afternoon Universe, the Rescue Rangers.

Rescue Rangers Shoehorned Cameo

As with many other characters from the Disney Afternoon Block, the Rescue Rangers from the titular show make their first appearance here. Thus, they get added to the Disney Afternoon Universe of DuckTales. However, this appearance feels more shoehorned in than the likes of Steelbeak or Darkwing Duck.

In this instance, Black Heron’s directly responsible for the Rescue Rangers creation, as she tested her ray out on the animals that became them. As a result, they end up helping Launchpad twice during the events of the episode. Beyond that, though, they have little to offer the plot and seem to only be there as a shout-out. Not a good way to use them, but I hope they return as the season progresses. They could be big help in the fight against F.O.W.L.

F.O.W.L. Remains a Secret

In the end, Launchpad stops Steelbeak from making the entire city dumb, but it costs him his newfound intelligence. Since he and Dewey thought the whole thing was part of the AR game, they know nothing about F.O.W.L.’s return. Well, Launchpad does, but he forgets it all. As for Scrooge, he was too distracted by his newfound obsession with skeeball. As a result, F.O.W.L remains in the shadows.

I did enjoy seeing Launchpad being a suave super-spy for a short time, and it reinforces the fact that F.O.W.L. is going to war with the Duck Family. However, I think the whole “I thought it was fake” plot wasn’t that interesting. In addition, I think the Rescue Rangers introduction to the Disney Afternoon Universe could have been given more importance. With all the characters to be introduced in this new season, hopefully they handle them better the next time around. In the meantime, I want more Darkwing Duck!

I Give “Double-O-Duck In You Only Crash Twice!” a 2.5/5

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