Warning: Contains spoilers for One Piece episode #1118.One piece Episode #1118 was one of the most hotly anticipated episodes in weeks for one reason: it was set to be the first time Imu would speak in the anime. Everything about Imu’s character was kept deliberately vague, so episode #1118 was finally a chance to learn something about them, even if it was indirectly.
One piece Episode #1118 ended exactly where people thought it would – on Imu’s first proper voice line – and the anime did a great job with it. Between the direction around their appearance and how the issue of their voice is handled, One piece Episode #1118 perfectly handled the reveal of Imu in a way that was notably dramatic while still keeping to the aesthetic of the manga. Even if episode #1118 wasn’t as definitive about Imu’s true identity as people hoped it would be, it still had great handling of the character, and it was great to see it play out.
One Piece’s Anime has a brilliant way of hiding Imu’s gender
One of the biggest questions about IMU remains unanswered
One of the biggest questions people had about IMU’s identity from the moment they first appeared was about their gender; Imu was always depicted in silhouette and did not speak with gender-specific pronouns, adding more mystery to their identity. Rather than giving a definitive answer, though, One piece Episode #1118 hides Imu’s gender by leaving their voice actor uncredited and filtering their voice. The bit that can be heard from their voice also sounds somewhat androgynous, so it is not yet possible to tell Imu’s gender.
As strange as it may be to go to such lengths to hide Imu’s gender, it makes sense that the One piece Anime would do that. Even with the recent manga events, very little about Imu has been revealed, so the anime making a statement about their gender when the manga isn’t yet would be a major spoiler. Because of this, One piece Episode #1118 Making it impossible to figure out Imu’s gender by their voice actor helps maintain the ambiguity of their characterAnd overall, that’s probably the best way to sell the idea.
One Piece’s Anime continues to perfectly sell Imu as the main villain
Imu’s appearance in episode #1118 has them doing little more than walking up and sitting down on the empty throne, but The way One piece Episode #1118 pulled it off with impressive camera work and a haunting soundtrack that did a great job of selling Imu as an imposing and villainous figureEven before they spoke. Even with IMU not actually doing much in it One piece Episode #1118, it did a perfect job of making their moment as big as possible, and with any luck, the rest of their appearances will follow suit.
One piece Releases new episodes Saturdays on Crunchyroll.