Another fantastic episode to end up what has been a fantastic batch of episodes.
On the animation front, Kenji Yokoyama started the episode with a really solid adaptation of the Elephant Gun clash from the manga, nice to see someone whose worked on the show for 20 years can still produce something worthwhile like that. Though not as notable, I found his work for the middle duration of the fight, with the Grizzly Magnum and the axe to be also extremely solid. Aside from that, the most notable bit of animation from this episode by a mile came from Katsumi Ishizuka, whose work this episode, though more conservative than his usual output, was still absolutely fantastic, very much hope he continues doing bits of action for the big fight.
Directionally, Komaki did an absolutely stellar job, with her unique sense of lighting and compositing, as well as timing, giving every scene they impact they needed. I particularly liked her use of lighting in the Katakuri vs Luffy section of the fight done by Ishizuka. Her decision to surround Katakuri in ominous coloured lighting, really gives him some really presence on screen.
Overall, couldn't be happier with how things turned out, with the exception of the cliff hanger they chose to end on. Seemed like a very strange place to end the episode considering.
Not sure what to expect from 853. I thought I saw Dennis Cablao in the preview, and handling the Luffy vs Katakuri fight no less, but I think next episode will almost certainly be a drop in quality.