Gotta show love first, then conflict. Flashback failed to show the love part between Bellemere and her daughters before they fought and they’re only show of love was in the climax. And having Bellemere explain the backstory instead of Genzo ruins the tragedy of them fighting being the last thing that happened before dying.
Forgot to say this in episode 6, but I think the Fishmen look fine. Works a lot better than I expected. That said, Arlong Park is the weakest set so far. I get the vibe they wanted to have it be theme park like, but the building itself is too CGI looking and the pools are still too small.
Jeff Ward’s a delight. Him and Emily Rudd are MVPs of the show. Nami’s low point was wonderfully acted. Just a lot of the things around it here and there bug me, including Luffy’s response.
Hate this characterization of the village not knowing Nami’s intentions. Feel like Nami would’ve made sure the village had enough money, especially if she was in charge of collecting it. And Nojiko having the tattoos is left insignificant because of it. There’s a bunch of touches that are being butchered.
Luffy caring about Nami’s backstory bugs me a lot. All he should care about is Nami asking for help, that part’s good. But knowing what she’s about was never part of Luffy’s personality.
Good on Sanji to get on Nojiko’s good side. That was a nice touch. But bothered with the adaptation means they don’t try to help the village when it’s being attacked to endear them. Again, another Usopp L. Guess though Marines talking to people is a lot cheaper than showing Fishmen terrorizing a town or having Moomoo appear.
I don’t know the backstory here like maybe they had 10 episodes at first and it shortened to 8. But wish Syrup Village and Baratie were condensed into 3 episodes and the Marine stuff was cut to let Arlong Park breathe.