Warning: Contains spoilers for the One Piece manga.
One pieceThe anime continues to deliver one excellent episode after another, and its newest episode features one of the most anticipated battles in the series. amazingly emotional. The long-awaited showdown between Garp and Kuzan on Fullalid has finally been animated, and the anime sheds new light on the confrontation, leaving plenty of long-term consequences in its wake.
Episode #1121 One piece adapts the battle between Garp and his former student-turned-pirate Kuzan, making the battle much more emotional than it originally appeared in the manga. While the fight seemed as exciting as any in the Egghead arc in the manga, the unique direction of the scene in the anime coupled with the swelling music paints the scene as a highly emotional confrontationhighlighting Kuzan and Garp’s reluctance to fight each other.
One Piece talks about Garp and Kuzan’s bond
Episode #1121, “Garp and Kuzan – The Clash of Beliefs between Master and Apprentice”
Although the confrontation between Garp and Aokiji is only a small part of episode #1121, it is certainly highlight of the episode and one of the battles that fans eagerly awaited, along with fights such as Kid vs. Shanks, Law vs. Blackbeard, and Luffy vs. Lucci. This episode is mostly an adaptation of the manga, with the only addition of Kuzan questioning the Navy’s justice after the Ohara Incident, which may have been a very nice touch.
However, the anime portrays the battle in a different tone than the manga, thanks in large part to increased focus on Garp and Kuzan’s memories in the middle of the battle. While the flashbacks are fleeting in the manga, the anime takes time to flesh out the scene and better establish the deep connection between Garp and Kuzan.
Aside from being visually stunning, the overall execution of the flashback scene, with the warm, dim rays of sunlight streaming through the windows and the wistful music playing in the background, evokes a strong sense of nostalgia. As a result, a memory that would otherwise be an unwanted distraction from an exciting encounter ends reimagining combat as a whole from a character perspective.
One Piece Continues to Hint at Kuzan’s Wavering Loyalty
Chapter 1126: Garp suspiciously survived the battle
Overall, the latest episode highlights that even though they are on opposite sides, both Garp and Kuzan clearly don’t want to fight each other. Although Garp excludes Kuzan as his student, and he clearly calls himself Garp’s enemy, both are still painfully aware of their history. The fact that Garp somehow survived the battle, as shown in chapter #11266, also hints at this. Kuzan may have been lenient towards Garpcontrary to his claims to Blackbeard.
Kuzan’s loyalty to Blackbeard was called into question. the long duration and surprisingly emotional nature of his fight against Garp further confirms these doubts. It’s too early to tell what Kuzan’s motives might be and whether he might actually end up betraying Blackbeard, but it’s clear that Kuzan won’t find the justice he sought from the Fleet from Blackbeard.
Connected
Generally, One piece is full of complex characters, each with their own set of ideals and complex relationship dynamics with other characters, even when it comes to relatively minor characters like Garp and Kuzan, and the final episode is all about opportunity to explore these complexities. Above all, Garp’s emotional showdown with Kuzan is a great example of how not every fight has to be all about action and combat, which makes for a very refreshing change.
One piece available on Crunchyroll and Netflix.