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One Piece Chapter 1018 Review/Recap

Kaido may not know it yet, but he’s already screwed. Thousands of his men have turned on him, Luffy and Momonosuke remain alive despite his best efforts, and many of his best officers have gone down. As for the ones who haven’t, several of them look set to fall very soon. Case in point, Jinbei faces off against Who’s Who of the Flying Six in a battle of the martial arts.

Recap

As the island erupts into chaos thanks to the Gifter’s defection, the CP0 are left stunned at what’s going on. The Beast Pirates started off with a 6-1 advantage. Now, though? They have less than a 2-1 advantage! However, CP0 doesn’t care about who wins, so long as Who’s Who of the Flying Six falls that night.

As for Who’s Who, he and Jinbei unleash the full extent of their respective martial arts in an epic battle of skill. All the while, Who’s Who rants about his grudge against Shanks for stealing the Gum-Gum Fruit, and how it extends to Luffy for eating it, and the Straw Hats for being his crew. However, then he switches to asking Jinbei about a mythical warrior that slaves of old prayed to: the sun warrior, Nika. It was that story that inspired him to escape from prison. When Jinbei asks why Who’s Who is asking him, the pirate says it’s because the history of the Fishman is one of slavery. Incensed by this and his other racist remarks against the Fishman, Jinbei wipes the floor with Who’s Who with his ultimate technique.

Moral of the story: racists get pummeled.

Review

I’ve always known that Jinbei is strong, but it’s great to see him cut loose for the first time in a long while. He’s a worthy addition to the Straw Hat pirates. In addition, I also applaud him for putting Who’s Who in his place for his broad statements about the Fishman. Their history isn’t one of just slavery; it’s one of resilience in adversity. But I’m not going to go down that rabbit hole here. However, that story of Nika had me intrigued. A warrior who would free slaves and bring laughter to their lips sounds an awful lot like Luffy. Could Nika be another name for Joy Boy?

Regardless, I’m more interested in what CP0 said about the numbers. As of this chapter, the Beast Pirates number at 16,000. Meanwhile, the Alliance has grown to 9,000. The Beast Pirates are down to half strength, while the Alliance is getting stronger. The Alliance is winning! If Luffy can take down Kaido and Big Mom, then the Alliance will win!

For now, though, another member of the Flying Six is down. Only two are left! I can’t wait to see what happens next!

I Give “Jinbei vs. Who’s Who” a 3/5

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Star Wars: The Bad Batch Episode 10 Review

Whatever happened to the Separatist’s after the Clone Wars ended? We saw Anakin slaughter the high command on Mustafar, but what about everyone else? What happened to the other people who supported the Separatists? In the old Expanded Universe, many of them went into hiding, died, or moved on. However, a few holdouts went on to join the rebellion against the Empire. And in this week’s episode of The Bad Batch, we get to see one such holdout join the infant rebellion. However, first the Bad Batch has to come to terms with their past and find common ground with a former enemy.

Finding Common Ground With Former Enemies

The episode opens on Raxus, which Clone Wars fans will remember served as the Separatist capital during the war. Now, it’s under the boot of the Empire, and despite their claims of being there to help unite the Galaxy, no one buys what they’re selling. Least of all Avi Singh, a Separatist Senator voiced by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine alumni Alex Siddig. The Empire wants him to convince everyone to back the new regime. Instead, he speaks out against them, and gets arrested. Even if he wasn’t part of the Separatists, this means he’s screwed. However, his faithful droid gets a message out to Cid to rescue him. Thus, Cid sends in the Bad Batch, minus Omega, who’s stuck at the bar to keep her safe.

The Bad Batch makes it clear that they don’t like helping out someone who, not long ago, was considered the enemy. Echo, in particular, is very vocal about his distrust. Considering how his original squad died fighting the droid army, though, that’s to be expected. As a result, several members of the squad spend the entire episode trying to trust Senator Singh, thinking that he’s going to leave them to dry first chance he gets. Thankfully, not only does he refuse to do that, but he plays a big role in their escape. By the end of the episode, the Bad Batch realizes that they can’t let their old grudges stop them from seeing the bigger picture.

We All Hate the Empire

We know that the higher-ups of the Separatists were evil. Dooku was evil, Gunray was a slimeball, and Grevious was a hate-filled cyborg monstrosity. However, when it comes down to it, the Separatists were all pawns of the Sith. The regular people who backed them thinking it was the right thing to do were played like chumps, just like everyone in the Republic. In other words, both sides have common ground on something: hating the Empire.

The birth of the Rebel Alliance is still a long ways off, but the seeds to it are already taking root. We see them in Rex’s new mission, the Martez sisters, and in the former Separatists. This is a pivotal period in Star Wars, and it’s nice to see former enemies bonding over their shared hatred of an evil regime.

Omega The Strategist

As everything’s happening on Raxus, Omega’s left moping and feeling sorry for herself. As good as she’s getting, she still doesn’t know how to make herself useful to her adoptive family. That’s when Cid discovers another hidden talent to her: strategy. Even though she’s never played the game before, Omega proves to be a natural at Dejarik, AKA Star Wars chess. She’s so good, Cid has her play people for money and she wins every game. In the end, Omega single-handedly wipes out the Bad Batch’s debt.

This is big for the Bad Batch. Not only does this mean that they don’t have to work for Cid unless they want to, it hints at what Omega’s true role may be for the squad. Some may argue that being good at a chess-like game doesn’t mean someone’s great at strategy. However, in this case, I think it does mean that. The ability to analyze every possible move and outcome is one of the most valuable skills a person can have. And if Omega has this in spades, it means that she can help her family get the upper hand on the Empire.

I’m just saying.

A Nice Break

Some people may be upset that this episode doesn’t do anything to advance the overall plot of the series. They want to see more of the squad running from the Empire or taking the fight to Crosshair. However, without these self-contained adventures to keep a story grounded, then viewers will quickly find themselves drained by excitement of what’s going on. In other words, sometimes it’s best to take things slow.

The Bad Batch still has six weeks left to it. That can be more than enough time to continue the overall story. I’m perfectly willing to wait on it.

I Give “Common Ground” a 3/5

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