The pacing for the first two thirds had me cringing whilst watching. But the excitement of that last third is that of the One Piece I know and love, which just goes to say that if Toei can condense such intensity in three minutes with not that much content to work with, they still got it. The declining pacing of the series is quite not gradually ruining my anticipation for this series every week, and that is a tragedy in itself. :(

@LucciCP9:

A few more episodes to get through. Can't wait for some decent animation.

Feels bad going from watching the new Hunter x Hunter episode with the gorgeous Uvo fight and then switching to One Piece to watch clunky scenes from the past few weeks.

Hoping for something better once the fights begin for real.

I've been thinking the same thing from even before this episode. Been looking forward to Hunter x Hunter more than One Piece every week for a while now. And while Hunter x Hunter is amazing, it feels wrong since One Piece is the favorite…

@Demonicpoodle:

People, moderators included, wanted Fishman Island to take at least 2 years (100+ chapters) and be One Piece's best arc. But we're about to get One Piece's best arc with either Punk Hazard or whatever's coming up with Big Mam so it doesn't really matter, water under the bridge for me.

So true. And what a great part of One Piece fandom history. It makes me nostalgic, really.

Obligatory epic for the Shirahoshi scream leading to the Luffy kick scene. (GIFset I made for it http://l3reezer.tumblr.com/post/25807045518/one-piece-553-shirahoshi-no) I thought this episode has been the best in a decent while, finally giving me the hopes I had for this arc when they first arrived. Those hopes kind of diminished… until this point, that is. And now I'm ready for some great ol' shonen action. Comparing this episode to the chapter, I liked it better overall. A few exceptions go to Luffy's face in the manga after the kick looks better, Nami is drawn much better in the manga, and the group shot at the end in the anime was less dominant. It was drawn slightly below expectations and I expected it to stay on the group shot even when Luffy said the words "You decide for yourselves!"

Assuming Hody's voice is the same as Kotomine Kirei from Fate/zero, I wonder how the seiyuu feels about getting his ass handed to him two weeks in a row in different series with different characters.

Great episode. The amount of emotions I have accumulated for Fisher Tiger in just these past two or three episodes is amazing. The animation was good, mostly because of its consistency. There were a couple of shots where I thought Jinbe looked really awesome. When Fisher Tiger denies the blood in that exclamation of his, I think he looks better in the anime than he does in the manga. It seemed to show more emotion in his expression. Utterly melancholic. Koala is so adorable. I too hope she makes a re-appearance in the series. Completely deserves to be a Straw Hat even.
I think this episode is an example of how creative Toei could be with filler material. Would've been awesome to show a nice-ass brawl between Tiger and the marines. I was really expecting a fight to follow when Jinbe arrived at the scene and that explosion happened upon impact of Jinbe's fist to Strawberry's defense. I wish even Oda would actually portray those fights. So much potential!

That Luffy x Franky awkward silence was hilarious. I wouldn't have even minded them stretching that pause twice as long if it saved them from the pacing issue even a little bit. Completely agree with the Arlong flashbacks being a good watch just to see the reanimation, but with the animation quality as of late, the anticipation kind of dies. Thought the Nami reaction to Jinbe was somewhat melodramatic. The fast motion focuses on his tattoo and stuff made it seem like Nami is completely traumatized from it, but I would figure she has come to terms with it, especially after acknowledging Hatchi on Sabaody.

Sanji's scene was hilarious. Did not feel extended that much. I felt sorry for Chopper even and his desperate attempts to stop Sanji. Thought the rope was pretty funny, they could've portrayed it as comedic irony better if you ask me. It would've been just as funny as the audience suspecting Luffy of kidnapping Shirahoshi and then Shirahoshi actually appearing out of Megalo. I think Luffy is initiating Gear Second too much as well. For something that is suppose to affect his life span, he seems to use it without even gauging his opponent's strength properly. The Zoro vs. Hody scene was pretty irksome. I would have preferred Zoro dominating some of Hody's minions as a means to extend time on the episode.

Didn't especially like the art style in this episode until the latter part with Usopp and Heracles, which was great. I'd have to say the best elements were those little touches such as Usopp's fire-star(s) falling into the pit of the mouth and exploding in the background, the shimmering light effects, and the perspective of Usopp's tears falling towards the screen almost. That was spectacular.

I still haven't adjusted to Bepo's seiyuu; it just doesn't fit well with me still.
Was delighted to see Shakky and Kuma again, but I'm definitely mourning the fate of Kuma now

(?) Does anyone know where Jean Bart is at this time? Or was… Just chillin' in the submarine(?)

@whoever that was
Usopp was crying for Luffy because he felt helpless as a nakama. I myself was kind of questioning when Usopp would stop feasting on the delicacies of the island and actually start training or doing something progressive (like the others are), and this episode initiated that by showing him the utter need to do so in order to reunite with his friends and console his captain. It reminded me of their fight at Water 7 for some reason and how much of a pair of Bro(s) they are.
Actually made a graphic of it if anyone's interested

http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lojmcizW1r1qzk4cro1_r1_500.gif

One of the few who like Robin's appearance, not to say that it's superior. I love the way Nami looked in this episode as well. But that art style for Robin just doesn't faze me at all, I like it.
On all other notes, the episode was a great refresher. I was just happy to see the crew again, and in that manner, the episode successfully breezed by without seeming slow-paced.

@Saturnchild:

Oh come on. The next episode is going to be a flashback as well? For fuck's sake there are entire animes that are shorter then this freaking flashback. If they are so desperate for a filler they could have at least given us some cool new storyline instead of stretching the Luffy ,Sabo and Ace storyline into infinity. Thank god at least the manga is here

Well that's funny, at what point did One Piece need to change its standards to be like other anime series? The length of this arc is completely reasonable. Other than the Naguri encounter, there have only been minor elongations, spanning about 2 episodes extra worth, or .05 Gomu Gomu(s).

Regarding the episode:
I'm surprised so many people were and are bothered with Ace's cry. As someone said, it expressed his raw feelings and how sad he really was, it was his first time crying as far as we know so it's justified to be completely full of anguish. Personally approve of it. It was contagious actually.

Personally believe Sabo is alive. Love the arc as it's going. Can't wait for next episode. Can't wait for Strawhats' episodes. Can't wait for reunion. Aww yeahh