The Post-War arc is a hodgepodge of different arcs, ranging from Luffy’s transport to Amazon Lily, his flashbacks to Dawn Island and the Goa Kingdom, and the return to Sabaody. Since it’s too much to focus on each micro-arc, some of them only a few episodes, I thought it would be worthwhile to talk about the important Flashback mini-arc. Besides, I need to kill some time at work anyways. I’ll give a quick one-paragraph review, and then jump into the Arc Awards.
(For an overview of the awards I give out and their criteria, look at my first Arc Awards post here.)
First, this arc was phenomenal. It showed us the important and everlasting bond between Ace and Luffy, and it also introduced us to Sabo (finally explaining Ace’s tattoo with the “S” crossed out). We also caught a glimpse of Bartholomew Kuma as a member of the Revolutionary Army, finally confirming what many were already suspecting. We finally learned who Luffy was raised by, and we finally get an understanding of his youth. It was a great flashback arc, and I never considered skipping anything during it.
Now, for the awards:
MVP: The MVP goes to Curly Dadan. She raised Ace and Luffy fully, and even took custody of Sabo, too. Being responsible for the upbringing of the Pirate King’s son, as well as Garp’s, is a phenomenal task. There are some other contenders: Dragon D. Luffy saved almost the entire population of Grey Terminal, for example. But I think there’s no greater feat than somehow containing the antics of Ace, Sabo, and Luffy.
Most Evil: This one is no contest and will go to the elite class of Gao Kingdom, specifically Sabo’s parents. Of course, the entire elite class is at fault for burning down Grey Terminal and the lives there, but Sabo’s parents were especially cruel in prioritizing status over their child. Even the pirates were shown to be one step lower in evilness, as the elite class out-eviled them by tricking them into burning down the Grey Terminal.
Most Improved: I don’t think there’s a contender for this award, since this took place in the past. Pretty much every character is new and not as powerful as they are now.
Fight of the Night: Dadan and Ace vs. Bluejam. Dadan is stron – she’s a mountain bandit, after all – but she’s no pirate. Nonetheless, she fought her heart out against Bluejam. Ace, too, though completely outclassed, went head to head against him. They managed to win, and Dadan proceeded to sacrifice herself to get Ace out of the fire. This entire fight sequence was nothing short of heroic.
Shaqtin’ a Fool: Porchemy. This guy captured a KID, couldn’t get him to talk, and proceeded to beat him up. Even his fellow pirates couldn’t stomach it. Nonetheless, he still failed his mission, causing him to get killed by Bluejam. Honestly, if an adult pirate can’t get a small kid to tell them their secret, I’m not sure how they’d survive the rough seas. Porchemy was needlessly cruel and just plain incompetent.
Those are my picks for the “Flashback Arc” awards. As I’m watching through the rest of the Post-War Arc, subscribe for more updates of my One Piece anime watch-through!
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