aaaaaaand that’s it for rewatching season 1 of OPLA! I’ll definitely add comments anywhere I forgot to make them, provided that I don’t hit the character limit

gonna try to watch at least the first season 2 episode, which ought to only cover Loguetown

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- lmao @ Buggy running off the minute he got his body back. all that was missing was a little Yackety Sax music

- LMAOOOOO @ Nami running past an open-armed Sanji. probably the hardest I’ve laughed this whole time, the comedic timing was impeccable

- I guess Luffy’s “YOU MADE OUR NAVIGATOR CRY!” line *did* make it in after all? how the fuck did I memory-hole that, that moment is pretty iconic

- will cherish that mischievous shit-eating grin on Godoy’s face when his Luffy figures out that destroying the map room is how he’ll defeat Arlong

- both Gum Gum Gatling and Gum Gum Battle Axe were spectacular! the original anime/manga version of the Arlong Park arc will always reign supreme for me overall, but Godoy’s strong performance really made the changes work

- guess I also memory-holed that all of the Arlong Park pagoda’s floors were basement level, so the map room was the top floor after all! guess the joke’s on me

- I don’t think I can touch on the MASSIVE spoiler when mentioning the plot significance of Luffy smiling with sunlight streaming behind him after having emerged from the rubble >>;

- Nojiko shutting down Sanji after he attempted some pickup artistry…honestly, good for her lmao

- got a little nervous over Koby and Helmeppo refusing to arrest Luffy, but it turned out the punishment was (of course) rigorously training under Garp. welcome to Hell, boys!

- could help but notice Luffy holding back tears when Garp was tossing him around. I think because the power Garp has over him isn’t just physical, but emotional? which tracks because Garp was pretty abusive, even if his intentions were to “toughen” Luffy up into a proper Marine

- as hokey as the Gold Roger/Luffy laugh overlay was—and I think it might give the wrong impression to OPLA-only fans as to *how* the two are related—I liked that it stopped Garp dead in his tracks. like I recall a few times where it came up and he refused to hear it, but it makes sense that much of this was denial…

- …so I guess I ended up liking that he decided to stop pummeling Luffy and more or less accepted it? the tune change gave me whiplash, but I think he realized 1) to allude to a major spoiler, fate got him beat, 2) Luffy’s every bit as headstrong and unbreakable as he is. it was a surprisingly sweet little moment

- Nojiko and Nami’s last scene together felt gratifying, especially the added bonus that Nojiko modified her shoulder tattoo. 🥺👏 also happy that one of the tangerine pinwheels was stuck at Bellemere’s grave, even if it wasn’t Genzo’s

- Koby and Luffy’s goodbye scene still gets me tearing up every time I watch it 🥺😭💕

- adored the entire finale sequence of everyone reacting to Luffy’s wanted poster (with Usopp in the corner, natch). personal favorite was Zeff hanging it under “Employee of the Month”

- the barrel toast was flawless, even having the kids mouth their adult selves’ dreams

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- just like how my attachment to Usopp affects my view of OPLA’s rendition by of the Syrup Village arc, have mixed feelings about the changes made to the Arlong Park arc due to my emotional investment in Nami. now, these changes aren’t *quite* as vexing to me, but the tone and angles taken do affect the overall execution in wags that I’m still not super thrilled about

- the way Sanji guessed Nami’s situation out of pure thirst is very in-character, as is him bickering with Zoro. I liked that he still calls Zoro mosshead/marimo like in the manga/anime

- lol @ Zoro dropping Buggy’s head into a barrel when he tries to sing a bawdy sea shanti about Nami

- “we don’t lie about money on this crew” <— faaaaaaamous last words, dear fucking lord dude

- I haven’t had a chance to praise McKinley Belcher’s performance as Arlong! he nails Arlong’s calmly smug yet quick-tempered demeanor, every word spoken to any human with dripping content and hatred. he’s even got the heavy footfalls down. I found his tongue clicks unsettling too

- the decision to have Nami’s map room at the bottom of the Arlong Park pagoda was a little odd to me, but it makes sense not to want to build all of those unused floors just to put it at the top for accuracy. in contrast to the cluttered, tiny map room in the manga/anime, the wider one with its sea chart barrels is equally lonely and oppressively dark. the ankle chain anchored to the floor alone manages to say a lot

- OPLA Bellemere strikes me as just a *touch* too feminine—not overtly so, but I couldn’t ever see her wearing lipstick—but that could be my personal taste talking here? she was a kinda butchy in the manga/anime. which doesn’t really come across much here?

- the tangerine rind pinwheels are really cute. I liked this nod to the pinwheel in Genzo’s hat that he used to make baby Nami laugh in the anime/manga

- Garp arriving at Baratie and Zeff placating him with an offer dozens of more-rare-than-medium steaks on the house…like grandfather like grandson lmao

- seeing Cocoyashi Village completely dirt poor and cowering at the sight of Nami was heartbreaking, as was the mournful look in Genzo’s eyes and the resentful way that Nojiko spat at her feet

- on that note, this is a major change I feel conflicted about: Nojiko—and by extension, Genzo and the rest of Cocoyashi’s villagers—not being in on Nami’s plan to save up millions of Berry to buy the village free them all from Arlong. their knowing all along was such an emotional moment for her after Arlong inevitably breaks his promise. it’s not detrimental, but idk it doesn’t sit right for me

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- had such a massive heart sink hearing Nami try and fail to stop the Straw Hats from fighting Arlong. I’d hate to think about how many people Nami couldn’t let herself get close to because she knew Arlong would kill them :’(

- completely forgot about Buggy hiding one of his ears in the band of Luffy’s hat

- the Arlong brawl was pretty fun. my favorite parts of the soundtrack are the fast-paced jazzy ones with a bunch of saxophones. feels reminiscent of the anime OST’s own battle music. I’m thinking specifically of 「負けられない!」 (https://youtu.be/ffmGEHpdAJA)

- Nami telling Arlong to drop Luffy into the ocean instead of killing him directly sounded cold and cruel, but I’m guessing she did it knowing that someone would save him? kind of like how in the anime/manga, she pretended to stab Usopp and let him fall into the Arlong Park pool that carried him out to the ocean alive

- between Luffy trying to communicate to comatose Zoro and Nami’s betrayal, I think this episode’s the closest we get to him crying on-screen. you can see his face trembling and eyes beginning to water, but the dam doesn’t outright break

- Luffy jumping onto Zoro and yelling in his face with joy counts as another moment I could easily see happening in the manga/anime. Luffy’s a very *physical* character, so it really helps his performance when Godoy replicates that aspect. ZoLu shippers had a feast off these past two episodes for sure

now, onto the last two episodes of season 1!

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