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The Best Panels of One Piece, Baratie (chapter 42-51)

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Drifloon is perhaps the poster child for creepy Ghost type Pokédex entries

Buneary is VERY cute, but doesn't really execute its concept

Mega Lopunny is solid design craft elevating its base form

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The Best Panels of One Piece, Syrup Village (chapter 33-41)

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Life raft + otter + weasel - Buizel is a heck of a thing!

Cherubi falls into the Mascot Pit pretty badly

Shellos and Gastrodon do some lovely ocean alien design

Full scripts below the cut

Buizel:

I really like Buizel, what a clever way to design a water Pokémon. As the name suggests, it's designed to look somewhat like an otter mixed with a weasel, using warm umber and cream colors for the fur, which then contrasts brightly with the yellow floatation ring around its neck and the blue fish fins on its arms. The fins especially, along with the double tails, push it towards almost a supernatural or magical feeling creature, but not so far as to lose the sense of being an animal. It's a good balance.

Floatzel just takes all of that and pushes it even further, doubling down on the weasel-like expressiveness, and turning its floatation ring into a full-body ring, making it essentially an otter-weasel which is also a life-raft. And seriously, using life-jackets and pool noodles and swim wings and the like as part of the design inspiration for a pokémon? That's cool, that's a whimsical fun idea.

If I have a criticism, I think maybe the fins are a little overkill? They're there to add blue and fish vibes to make SURE the water theme gets across, but I don't think it needs them. Buizel and Floatzel just work, they look the best companions you could ever have to the beach or the waterpark.

Grade: A

Cherubi:

Cherubi as a design has always felt a touch too literal to me. Like, it's literally just a pair of cherries with faces painted on them, and tiny little squishmallow legs. Because they express almost nothing beyond "I am a cherry with a cute face" they end up in that generic mascot design space where you might as well see them printed on a pack of fruit snacks as show up in a Pokémon game. There's just nothing distinctive or distinguishing about them, they don't have any clever idea about what to DO with the idea of a Cherry Pokémon.

Cherrim does a lot better, though, with its overcast and sunshine forms incorporating the idea of dormancy and bloom, plant lifecycles, into the design. The Overcast form in particular has a charming air of sleepiness about it, very "me when I stayed up too late gaming" relatable. The Sunshine form, meanwhile… the idea is good, but I think it looks a bit messy, between the many petals, the orbs on its head and the yellow and pink color scheme that doesn't do a great job of contrasting with itself. It's not terrible, it fits the sunshine vibes, I just don't think it pops very well, it's indistinct.

Grade: C

Shellos:

Shellos and Gastrodon are based on sea slugs and nudibranches, a profoundly weird group of sea creatures which I wish even more pokémon would take design inspiration from. The Shellos forms play to the idea of ocean environments shaping the physiology of species that live there, which is a neat little trick, and I do like the way that it's expressed, not as changes in the fundamental morphology of the creature, but in "accessories" like hair or horns, and spikes or wings along the shells. It's cute!

What I really appreciate about Gastrodon though is that with their triple eyes and downturned slit mouths, they look a bit weird and a little bit alien, which I think is a lot more interesting than if they had just continued the humanoid faces and big adorable eyes and smiles of Shellos. And again I do appreciate the way that East Sea Gastrodon seem designed to try and hide among seaweed, while the West Sea type looks more like it lives among rocks and sand.

It's a solid design line, even if none of its forms ever get particularly exciting or spectacular, it does lack a little bit of that "wow" factor.

Grade: B

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The Best Panels of One Piece, Syrup Village (chapter 23-32)

Full video scripts under the cut

Chapter 23:

Which are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 23 sees the introduction of Usopp, who… wow, remember when his nose and eyes used to be this small? Huh.

Most of the action is about introducing him and endearing him to the audience by showing us his shenanigans, all his comedy cowardice, his ridiculous lying, and his trusty crew of village kids who look up to him.

But it also hints a bit at the bravery that Usopp can display, when he stands his ground and lies to the Straw Hats, despite clearly being pretty scared. It shows us that Usopp is someone who, when backed into a corner, has the guts to at least go for something, to swing for the fences in desperation. And it's a trait that will save his life many times over the next 25 years.

But the best panel, I think, doesn't even have Usopp in it. It's right near the end, with Kaya in her mansion. It is a bright, airy, mostly pure white space with barely any shadows anywhere, which suits her as a frail, "pure hearted maiden" sort of character. And then in the background there is the stark, pure black shadow of Klahadore looming behind her. It's unsettling. He looks out of place and ominous, and that, kids, is good visual foreshadowing.

Chapter 24:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

In chapter 24 we get to meet the villain of this arc proper, Klahadore or spoiler alert Captain Kuro of the Black Cat Pirates, and the chapter is mostly about establishing his character, especially as a counterpoint to Usopp. Usopp is an honest man who presents himself as a liar, while Kuro is a liar presenting himself as an honest man. They make good foils for one another. This panel in particular is a great microcosm of the story - on the one side Usopp and all his friends, on the other Kuro, alone, and caught in between them Kaya, the person whose trust they're fighting over.

Speaking of, Kaya also gets a pretty good panel here, when she has her first outburst. See how Oda applies a fish eye lens, bending the window around her shouting, emphasizing it? It's just good technique. But no, the best panel is the punch. It's the first time we see the easygoing Usopp use violence, but it's also just a gorgeously dynamic shot, look at that foreshortening, and then the clever little trick of extending the line of his punch through the strap of his bag, it really emphasizes the motion, and it just looks great.

Chapter 25:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 25 is one of those chapters that feels even darker in hindsight, opening with Kaya questioning Kuro about why he tries to isolate her from her friends, and why he keeps making her feel guilty about it. He then feeds her his fake sad backstory and turns it around that it's only because he cares about her SO MUCH, play-acting emotional anguish which gets Kaya to back off. It is the textbook dynamic of an abusive caretaker relationship.

That said it's not a chapter with any clear standout panels. Arguably it doesn't need any, it's not a bombastic chapter, nothing needs to be high impact. If I had to pick, I quite like this one where Zoro and Nami are sitting with the village kids, because of the way Zoro is sitting EXACTLY like the kids while Nami is up on the fence by contrast. It’s cute! But… y'know, although it's a bit flat, this panel of Usopp sitting on a cliff looking out over the ocean - the way his head rises just above the horizon line, that sense of how he's drawn to the sea… that's pretty good too.

Chapter 26:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 26 opens with some awkward exposition, a classic "characters telling each other what they both already know" which is… efficient if inelegant. It gets Kuro's real motivation established quickly and sets the stakes, but it's a janky way to storytell. Oda does a visually clever little callback, repeating the exact same set of three panels for Usopp's now terrified truthtelling as when he told his prank lie and it's a bit funny because you can see Usopp's character design already changing a mere three chapters after his introduction.

It's another chapter without any strong standout panels, though, nothing that really rises above the rest. Usopp's terrified face when he realizes what Kuro is up to is good, as are his horrified reactions at Luffy's brashness, but if I had to pick… it's probably this one. It's not exceptional, but there's a subtlety of despair under the cartoony artstyle that comes through in the furrowed lines on his brows, the squeeze around the cheeks up under the eyes. If you look at it for a bit, you do feel his desperation.

Chapter 27:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

In chapter 27 the action finally kicks up. Usopp's fight with the guards at Kaya's mansion is a standout little sequence, Usopp diving out of the way of a gun while loading his slingshot and firing is dynamic as hell, albeit, jesus christ, they're pulling guns on a teenager pretty casually. What are these guys, American cops?

I also quite like this panel when Usopp realizes that he has no chance to convince anyone that he's finally telling the truth. The use of the screentone to literally have a shadow pass over him sells the feeling well, along with that raised face barely holding back the pain. This moment where he's hiding his injured arm from his friends and lying to keep them out of danger is also good. But the killer panel comes at the end, with Usopp holding up his bleeding arm and declaring that they can shoot him and chase him and hurt him, but he loves the village and will fight for it. It's the moment Usopp really becomes a hero. It's the moment he becomes a Straw Hat.

Chapter 28:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

In chapter 24 we get to meet the villain of this arc proper, Klahadore or spoiler alert Captain Kuro of the Black Cat Pirates, and the chapter is mostly about establishing his character, especially as a counterpoint to Usopp. Usopp is an honest man who presents himself as a liar, while Kuro is a liar presenting himself as an honest man. They make good foils for one another. This panel in particular is a great microcosm of the story - on the one side Usopp and all his friends, on the other Kuro, alone, and caught in between them Kaya, the person whose trust they're fighting over.

Speaking of, Kaya also gets a pretty good panel here, when she has her first outburst. See how Oda applies a fish eye lens, bending the window around her shouting, emphasizing it? It's just good technique. But no, the best panel is the punch. It's the first time we see the easygoing Usopp use violence, but it's also just a gorgeously dynamic shot, look at that foreshortening, and then the clever little trick of extending the line of his punch through the strap of his bag, it really emphasizes the motion, and it just looks great.

Chapter 29:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 29 opens on a really strong panel, Usopp alone at the top of a hill facing down the Black Cat Pirates. It's a great dramatic opening, and a reminder that he was never ACTUALLY a coward, he just gets scared, and those aren't the same thing. This chapter has lots of fantastic action panels, like this shot of Usopp taking a blow to the head, or Nami saving Usopp and blocking that sword stroke - you can really see how overmatched she is from her posture and the way the staff is buckling.

But the best panel still goes to Usopp, clinging on to the belt of a pirate, dripping in blood and unwilling, even at the cost of his life, to let them go. He cuts, in this posture, both quite a pathetic but also a profoundly heroic figure. These are the sorts of moments that define the Straw Hats as heroes, and Usopp will have them more than once on the adventure.

Chapter 30:

Which are the best panels in One Piece?

Well, let's not mess about, in chapter 30 it is ABSOLUTELY the Gum Gum Gatling Gun. The sense of scale, the converging action, the way Oda hatches speedlines into the geometry of each hand to give it weight and momentum, while still making sure every line follows the action, it's just so good. The pirates who are the targets are tiny pinpricks against the overwhelming force of Luffy’s assault, one glance and you KNOW the kind of power he’s unleashing.

There are other good panels, like the follow-up where the entire panel is a chaos of sound effects and crashing bodies, all framing Luffy as the stable center, the literal last man standing. And the panel when the pirates get hypnotized and spring back to life has a lot of charm too - one of Oda's less talked about skills is how good he is at drawing a lively panel full of characters in compelling poses.

But yeah, no, it's Gum Gum Gatling Gun, god DAMN this panel is good. What a way to introduce a special move!

Chapter 31:

Which are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 31 sees Kaya finally discovering Captain Kuro's villainy, and one of the quite good panels in the chapter is the discovery of Merry's bloodied body: the body itself is in the foreground, rendered in rock-solid flat black, while the entire background is scratched and indistinct, drawing our eye to the shocking sight we're meant to focus on.

But I think the best panel is a quieter thing. One of the key traits of Kaya is that she's sickly, she's frail and vulnerable - the threat she's under is the source of dramatic tension for this entire arc. She's about to exert herself a lot, trying to save the village and her friends, so this chapter spends quite a bit of time establishing just how hard that is for her, how much she struggles to do what she's about to do.

And this panel, where she's hunched over, the sweat of fever drenching her body, idly clutching the blanket around her and her hair falling all over her face… yeah. That's what it's like, being sick and feeling alone. Clammy, clenched and claustrophobic. That's the posture of that kind of misery.

Chapter 32:

Which are the best panels in One Piece?

Ooh man I don't like the Nyanban Brothers. They're on the F-list of Oda's character designs, and their fight with Zoro just isn't very interesting. In fact the whole chapter is kind of mid when it comes to the art, if I'm honest. The Meowban's character designs don't lend themselves very well to dynamism, and some of these compositions really feel rather rushed. Which maybe they were! Working for Shonen Jump is a pretty relentless gig.

Regardless, it does mean the chapter is light on banger panels. Zoro's slash through Siam here gives him a gorgeous action posture, and the brothers do get ONE good, dynamic action panel when they smack Zoro to the ground here, but eeeh.

No, I think the best panel is more of a technical accomplishment. It's this one, of Zoro shouting angrily at Usopp for trying to interfere. It's shown from below Zoro's body, hunched over on the ground, using him to frame the people he's shouting at in the background, which is a genuinely INCREDIBLY clever way to show both his posture and the desperation of his situation, show visually who he's shouting at, AND communicate the geography of how far they are from each other, which is going to matter when Nami runs for his swords later. It's just very good use of composition.

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Burmy is just a really well-constructed take on its real-world inspiration

Wait, hang on, the Combee line is AMAZING!

Pachirisu is where Pikaclones begin to have their own ideas

Video scripts below the cut

Burmy:

Burmy is an interesting one. It's based on bagworms, which make their sheltering cocoons out of materials they find in their environments as camoflage, hence the different forms it can take on. The body itself is neutral black with bright yellow eyes in large part to create a neutral canvas on which its various cloaks can provide a high contrast, which is quite effective design.

Wor-madam does much the same thing but More, and dials up the femininity of the presentation by adding "pigtails" out of its materials and taking on a top heavy "fancy lady with a fur coat" sort of profile, again reflecting the way female bagworms remain in their larval stage their whole lives. It's solid stuff.

Mothim, then, gets the traditional bug pokémon final stage, subtyping into flying and growing wings. The black body remains and is used the same way, as a means to create contrast, but it adopts a bright yellow orange and white scheme, with especially those antennae giving its face a sharp, slightly dangerous-feeling character. It's a honey thief, according to the pokédex, which is perhaps why it has those "fingers" on its wings?

This whole line is just solid design craft, I have no complaints.

Grade: B

Combee:

I've never really given Combee a second thought, but upon re-examining it for this review I realized, hang on, these are freaken brilliant. It's a bee made of hexagons that are fused together into one body, quite literally embodying the way that a bee hive is a kind of gestalt entity, a unity composed of thousands of individuals joined together into one organism. The bees ARE the hive, in this case quite literally.

Vespiqueen takes the metaphor one step further, being a queen bee who is quite literally her own hive. I do feel like she ought to be designed to be way bigger, but the idea here is killer, and if you made it even slightly less kid-friendly, it would make for a killer horror monster.

But this is Pokémon and it's not going to go that far. Still, the top half of the body literally carrying a bee hive around beneath it, shaped in a way to evoke a big regal gown, that's clever, and the blood red eyes and sharp mandibles make a sharp contrast in deadliness with the cheerful adorableness of Combee, visually communicating the scale of difference in power between the two, but also that Vespiqueen isn't ruling by consensus, it's pheromone mind control and she is a tyrant. It rules.

Grade: S

Pachirisu:

Oooh, they keep trying to make Pikachu 2 happen, and Pikachu 2 just isn't gonna happen.

That's not Pachirisu's fault, of course, and does a much better job of distinguishing itself from Pikachu than Plusle and Minun did last generation. It's a squirrel rather than a mouse, and gets its electric theming from that bright blue streak on its body, as well as from sharp spikes in the blue fur that contrast with the soft, round adorableness of the rest of the design. I kinda feel like it woulda been better if it hadn't gone for the bright yellow cheek pads, because, again, that just reminds of Pikachu's iconic red cheek pads and invites comparison, but also, it confuses the color scheme a bit. Am I meant to understand the blue color and spikes as representing its electric power, or is it the yellow? Even the Pokédex gets a bit confused whether it stores its electricity in the cheeks or in the big fluffy tail. Electric cheeks is Pikachu's thing, so focusing on the tail and designing that out would have given it much more of its own identity.

For all the comparisons I'm making though, it's not fair to call it just a Pika-clone, it does have its own ideas, and frankly I would have loved to see an evolution for it that really leans into the static electric fluffy fur concept.

Grade: B

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The Best Panels of One Piece, Orange Town (chapter 16-22)

Full video scripts below the cut

Chapter 16:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

In chapter 16 the first big crew vs crew battle of the series finally kicks off, and thus there's a solid few contenders for best panel. There's Kabaji and Buggy shielding themselves with crewmates, which is an excellent evil boss move, really establishes their menace. Then there's really satisfying panels like Luffy kicking Mohji in the head, this is just a really good composition, or Zoro staring down Kabaji across the edge of his own sword with that heavy shadow from his bandana really intensifying his stare.

But… let's be real, it's this one. Not just because Zoro injuring himself is a shocking moment, but because of the storytelling. Look at the sweat pouring off him, look at the tremble in his body as he cuts himself. It's such an idiot machismo moment, the kind of behaviour that will eventually make Chopper extremely mad at him. But it's also… yeah, it's very Him. It establishes that Zoro is every bit as chaotic and extreme as Luffy is. They're a good match, these two.

Chapter 17:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 17 concludes the duel between Zoro and Cabaji, and Oda's storytelling shows a bit of perhaps unexpected subtlety. Throughout the entire fight, Cabaji is constantly doing circus tricks. He's breathing fire, kicking up dust clouds, throwing around spinning tops and, somewhat impressively, unicycling up the sides of buildings. Zoro, meanwhile, spends most of the fight basically st ationary, mostly just responding to Cabaji's moves and staying on the defensive. Until he gets tired of the game, reads his opponent, and ends the entire duel in a single strike. It's a brilliant way to establish the difference between a posturing amateur like Cabaji who relies on tricks and a real swordsman like Zoro. It's a very well told fight.

And the best panel, I think, is this one, where Zoro just casually kicks Cabaji off his unicycle. And it's the casualness of it that works so well, he knocks the guy off with basically the demeanour of someone kicking a can down the road. It establishes the difference between them, and the fact that if Zoro had not been injured ahead of time, this wouldn't even have BEEN a fight.

Chapter 18:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 18 begins the big fight between Luffy and Buggy, and like many of Oda's action chapters it's got a bunch of really solid action shots. I'm personally quite fond of Buggy popping his head off to dodge Luffy's Gum Gum Sickle, just because of that huge dumb grin on his face. There's also this panel, where Luffy takes his first real injury of the series. Not physically, but mentally. As we've discussed, the first conflict between Luffy and Buggy is in part over the question of what can and cannot be a "treasure," with Buggy representing the belief that only money is treasure. For Luffy, the hat is his treasure, and here, Buggy injures him thematically. And Luffy takes that very seriously.

But the best panel, still, does have to be… this. Oda knows how to draw a goddamn hit, and he puts it all to work right here. All the crosshatching follows the direction of action, emphasizing the power of the move, and Oda renders the anatomy of the characters more realistically to really drive home the seriousness of the attack. And then there's Buggy's face, of course. Those popping eyes, that's pure One Piece.

Chapter 19:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 19 takes a break in the middle of the fight to give Buggy some backstory. It doesn't do much for the fight itself in the moment, but, well, twenty years later it turned out to give context to a major character in the story. One Piece is like that a lot. It also re-emphasizes the clash in values the story is establishing. Shanks and Buggy have stark differences in what they believe piracy is about, with Buggy being all about the money and Shanks articulating a romantic vision of freedom - but both of them agree that they're willing to die for the vision of piracy they believe in. It establishes an interesting dynamic between them that will come back, again, literally decades later.

The best panel, though? This one. The little silent joke beat between the moment when Shanks startles Buggy into swallowing the devil fruit and everyone reacting to it. It's so simple, it's so cutesy, just this little frozen moment in time surrounded by white void. It's a moment for the joke to land, that makes it so much funnier when Buggy freaks out.

Chapter 20:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 20 is the end of the fight with Buggy, and for me more than anything, this is the chapter of The Buggy Face. His character design uses his clown makeup wonderfully with Oda's already extremely exaggerated faces, and this chapter is full of bangers. We also get a fantastic action shot of Luffy launching Buggy with the Gum Gum Bazooka, and this fantastically composed shot of Buggy's upper body collapsing after a crotch shot - look how dynamic this is, with that fish eye lens effect, that's a really technical shot just for this.

But the best panel is still… the Buggy Face. Specifically, it's this panel where Luffy tickles his feet and he does this. Oda twists and deforms his jawline and whole head, and Nami's terrified reaction just makes it that much better. Because let's be real, you'd piss yourself too if a clown face came floating at you laughing like THAT. One Piece's cartoony expressiveness isn't for everyone, but god dammit it is for me.

Chapter 21:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 21 is the denouement of the Orange Town arc, wrapping up all the narrative stakes and letting the Straw Hats engage in their favourite activity: running away when people try to thank them for toppling a tyrant; and it introduces one of the Luffy's best traits, which is telling the truth even when it's a very bad idea.

But Mayor Boodle gets the starring role here, waking up and becoming incandescently upset both that Luffy knocked him out, and that the Straw Hats are trying to run away before he can thank them. And I love how Oda does his acting here - as he rushes to the docks he quite awkwardly sheds all of his battle gear, pulling it off to go faster, and taking off the armor like that is a symbolic representation of the fact that he's realizing that he's safe now, that the town is safe, that he doesn't have to be angry and fight anymore. And so when he gets there, all the anger falls away from him, and everything that's left is joy and gratitude. It's a great sequence, and this panel is the best one of them.

Chapter 22:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 22 is a complete side-story. Unusually for One Piece, nothing that happens here comes back to be critically plot important two decades later, and that self-containedness serves its story pretty well. It's a fairly low stakes personal emotional drama involving a single character, it's well balanced, and Oda works in a bit of geography to establish the world and the menace of the Grand Line. Good stuff.

Gaimon is the main character of the side-narrative, and he also gets the best panels. A highlight for me is his stubby little chest body taking off running, but… he also gets some really good acting and body language, which is weird for a design like that. Oda gives him some really evocative little hand gestures, and of course, when it is revealed that his treasure is empty and he has wasted twenty years guarding it… he gets the emotional climax of the story, and despite him being a weird little treasure chest goblin, Oda sells it. The lines on his forehead, the clenching, and, again, the hand gestures. The emotionality lands. And that's hard to do with a character like this. One of Oda’s greatest talents is getting emotionality from even his silliest cartoon characters.

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Is Arcane canon?

full video script below the cut

Arcane season 2 makes a lot of very big things happen, and some of you may be wondering if all of this is canon to the main League of Legends universe.

Well, yes and no. Riot Games has insisted that Arcane is the main canon, and have said that they are going to change the broader League of Legends universe to fit it, so that people who watched Arcane can play League of Legends and not be confused by different versions of the character running around.

So in that sense, yes, Arcane is canon.

Now, Riot has said they're going to do that, but also… they haven't actually done that yet. To be fair, it's not something you can just do overnight, I'm sure it'll take a while, but for the moment, the reality is that the overwhelming majority of published story that actually exists… contradicts Arcane, almost entirely. And despite having three entire years since season 1 to start making things fit… even the champions of just Piltover and Zaun have not yet had new material published that would make them fit with the story of Arcane.

So, is Arcane canon? Technically, yes. Practically? Absolutely not. And don't hold your breath for that to change anytime soon, last time Riot did a big lore retcon was over a decade ago and they still haven't finished that one either.

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I just don't think Shinx is a very good design

Cranidos and Rampardos are the perfect Mobster Goons of Pokémon

Shieldon is a bit simple, but Bastiodon brings the party

Video scripts below the cut

Shinx:

I'm gonna get yelled at for this but I don't really like Shinx. It's sort of supposed to be an electric lynx cub, but the face with the big ears always looked mouse- or monkey-like to me, and between those double circle eyes and the tail and the markings in the ears and the big round head, it feels like it's trying way too hard to be cute and appealing, and in turn completely failing to feel electrical, at least to me.

Luxio fares better. The wild black mane makes it feel less like it's a mascot trying to sell me plushies, and it gets a lot more cat-like, although I still wish they'd do something more interesting with the yellow color in the design, something more evocative of electricity than just bands around the legs. Spiky yellow accents on the fur, a lightning bolt design on the head, just anything.

Luxray, in the end, does kinda find a hook. The wild spiky mane and fur gives the vibe of being scorched by unleashed, sparking electricity, and the intense red and yellow eyes give it a real sense of power and menace. But I still think the use of yellow is weak here, it feels so perfunctory and vanishing under the pitch black, like it's embarassed of the color, and the little spark tail, that identifying feature from the first stage, just doesn't work anymore because now Luxray looks way too edgy for it.

Grade: C

Cranidos:

Has there ever been a pokémon that looks more like a goon than Cranidos and Rampardos? Cranidos looks like a cute goon, like the dim-witted sidekick to some cartoon bully who gets a redemption arc when it turns out he just doesn't know how to make friends. The big round skull, the flat dopey eyes and those lines coming down from the mouth suggesting a cheek full of baby fat, it's just, ooh, it has so much character.

By the time it evolves into Rampardos, it fully has cartoon mobster enforcer energy, it looks like its only voice lines in a movie would be "yes boss, you got it boss, you want I should take care of him boss?" and the vibe is substantially enhanced by the dark rim around its blue skull which now suggests almost a kind of bowler hat shape. Combine that with the greater sense of danger from the many spikes and the sharper jaw shape, and you got a pokémon with some goddamn personality.

I love these guys!

Grade: A

Shieldon:

The thing about Shieldon is that the face is like 90% of the design. The body is there, sure, but it's just a generic sorta vaguely dinosaur shape in yellow and grey, utterly generic. it's the big oval face shield that's the star of the show, rendered in black to create a strong contrast with the bright colors on the rest of the design, and with those two light ridges creating a "mail slot" for the eyes to peek out, which created a feeling somewhere halfway between a shield and a helmet. I think the body could do a little more to be interesting, but it's functional and very memorable.

Bastiodon takes that feedback on board, cranking up the detailing and armoring on the body to match the now MUCH more elaborate face-shield, which, and I really like this idea, is now designed to evoke the idea of a fortified castle wall, complete with towers, ramparts and window markings, and its eyes hidden behind horns and teeth again create that vibe of a knight's protective visor. It's a very coherent theme, and really decent design, even if I think the colors are a bit boring.

Grade: B

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The Best Panels of One Piece, Orange Town arc (chapter 8-15)

Full video scripts below the cut

Chapter 8:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 8 is the introduction of Nami, and what an introduction it is. Oda pulls a clever move narratively, separating Luffy and Zoro. Zoro, and thus the audience, learn from some pirates he picks up that Nami is a devious swindler, but Luffy encounters her separately and doesn't know that, which means we as an audience are predisposed to distrust her, but Luffy can meet her with no prejudice. This allows him to demonstrate his honest nature to her, which will become important to their relationship.

But the best panel in the chapter, right. It's not a chapter with obvious bangers, I think. The introduction of Buggy's ship is a quiet little technical masterpiece of character design, but doesn't really relate to the story that much.

No, I think it's this one, with Nami trying to strike up a partnership with Luffy after using him to take care of her pursuers. It's a great bit of compositionional storytelling, with her perched above him, literally looking down on him, as she gears up to try and use him once again. She's in a position of power, which makes it hard to trust her, and it sets up a dynamic between her and Luffy that won't be resolved until over 70 chapters later.

Chapter 9:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 9 finally sees the introduction of Buggy, who is a massive improvements as a villain design over Axe Hand Morgan. He has a gimmick, he has a solid consistent theme, clowns and pirates kinda work together and by the way anyone who says he doesn't deserve to be an Emperor of the Sea is dumb and wrong, Buggy is the best.

But here this perfect idiot is being introduced as one of the first major villains, which means we need to build up his menace. So we get his introduction, manspreading on a throne whose crown looks like the top of a circus tent, all gangster energy and dressed in an opulent fur-lined coat, and that does do a pretty good job making him look cool.

But the menace happens on the next page, here. As he walks away from the explosion of his cannon, blasting one of his own crewmates to cinders, he's illuminated in stark black and white shadows, giving his face a horribly evil look while his form is hidden in the deep shadow of that cape. He may be a clown, but here, for just a second, he looks truly demonic. Buggy might turn out to be an ineffective idiot, but this panel sells him as a villain.

Chapter 10:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Well Chapter 10 is honestly full of bangers on that account. We've got a classic Oda pirate party scene - these are just always some of THE most fun to look at, absolutely bursting with life. Then we have wild technical masterpieces like the blast from the Buggy Ball, folding an entire row of houses up like paper - like, I can't overstate how impressive it is to do this kind of creatively distorted technical artwork. It's hard! And then there's Nami literally scorching her own hands to save the life of someone she insists out loud she hates and doesn't care about, which is a fantastic character moment for her.

But no, the best panel, by far the most striking is this Buggy face. Oda crosshatches all these ominous shadows onto him, making him look like he's lit from below, and there's such a striking contrast between the cheerful clown makeup trying to drag his face into a smile, and that murderous, contemptuous, cruel grimace, all the folds and lines of his face converging to communicate the reality of the situation. It's a loyalty test. Either Nami kills Luffy, or Buggy kills Nami.

Chapter 11:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 11 features a cavalcade of truly excellent Buggy faces - his clown makeup and nose work together so naturally with Oda's hyper-exaggerated style, and I find them all so charming.

But no, there's not contention for the best panel of the chapter. It's this. It's Zoro doing what he will always do for the Strawhat Crew: shouldering the burden, even at the cost of his own life. This panel really encapsulates everything of what Zoro is: his incredible feats of strength, his utter dependability, the total trust between him and Luffy, and his propensity for self-sacrifice. There is no pain Zoro will not take on for his friends, there is no hurt he won't go through. And if his guts spill out of his stomach for doing it, he'll just shove them back in again. That's the kind of vice-captain he is.

Chapter 12:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 13 only really has two contenders. The first is Luffy confronting Mohji after he has burned down Chouchou's store. Luffy opens with his trademark big goofy grin and maintains that attitude while swinging Richie around… and then he drops the mask, and we see the genuinely frightening person he becomes when he is confronted by injustice. It's the first time in the series we see this side of Luffy, and it hits, although, again, translators, please stop covering up the art with sound effects, oh my god.

Speaking of which, the actual best panel in the chapter. Oda and his team worked really hard to render the stark awfulness of Chouchou's store burning down, but gotta have that big "fwoosh!" on there I guess. But this is a good rendition of heartbreak, this tiny dog way too close to the fire, lit up by its glow, just barking out its anger and pain at the flames. A tiny little thing, powerless against the tragedy that's been done to it. If you don't engage with Chouchou's story, obviously it rings hollow. But if you do… ow.

Chapter 13:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 12 is another exposition dump. The plot beat of these chapters is all about developing Luffy and Zoro's relationship with Nami, showing her that piracy isn't just a means to abuse people but a means to claim freedom, which is important to her. And this is done partly through Chouchou, the silly looking ultra-loyal dog protecting his beloved master's pet food store. Visually the big impactful panels go to Mohji and Richie, with Oda having a lot of fun over-rendering the lion, but… honestly I think it might be these two. Chouchou grabbing the key to Luffy's cage and eating it.

It's such an out-of-left field ridiculous moment. It's so silly and dumb, and it is done so matter-of-factly by this very silly looking dog. Chouchou eats the key because he's actually literally starving himself staying by the store, of course, but it's such a blindsiding comedy moment. All the drama and danger of escaping Buggy's crew and Nami stealing the key and then the dog just goes chomp and it's gone.

Not that it matters, Mohji gets Luffy out anyway, it's just Oda gleefully trolling the reader, and I do respect that.

Chapter 14:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 14 is another exposition dump, all about establishing the stakes for the mayor, and giving the audience a reason to care about the town and its buildings. It's all worldbuilding, establishing the very real danger and menace that pirates pose to ordinary people. Nami doesn't hate them for no reason, and we kinda need this perspective to see things from her point of view and understand why she instinctively hates Luffy so much.

And for my money the best panel here is this one, with the mayor's face in profile and a montage of moments from the building of the town arranged in floating images. It does a fantastic job of visually showing him gazing into the past, remembering all these moments from his life so vividly that they come to life. Flashbacks and exposition is hard to do in an engaging way, and here Oda gets the whole thing out of the way in a single page so we can get back to the action, and he does it by using good visual shorthand like this.

Chapter 15:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 15 is the lead-up to the big fight with Buggy, and this chapter is all about setting the stage. It introduces Cabaji, who will be fighting Zoro, it reminds us of Buggy's powers and his cruelty and establishes his ideological position. Buggy believes that the only treasure worth caring about is gold and jewels, that only money and power matters, while the Mayor stands for the idea that anything can be a treasure if it means something to you, which is also Luffy's position. That's why he has the straw hat after all.

But we're also still establishing Luffy's character, so Oda has him crack an old man's head into a wall, because if he was conscious he would just get in the way and this is the most straightforward way to keep him safe. And this is the best panel, because it does establish something about Luffy's character, and how brutal he can be, even when he's technically trying to do a kindhearted thing. Luffy does not feel bad about doing this, at all, as with everything else in life, he acts violently towards his friends when he thinks it’s the right thing to do.

[tbshorts]

Starly turns a tiny cowlick into a powerfully proud pompadour

✨ Bidoof ✨ ... and Bibarel, I guess.

Kricketot and Kricketune are good, if unspectacular, costuming

Video scripts below the cut

Starly:

Why hello there, Gen 4 Pidgey, what is your deal?

Well, Starly isn't much of anything, it's a fairly literal translation of a starling, albeit with a quite compelling graphic design on the face and a good use of that one white tailfeather and the little cowlick on the head to give it some uniqueness.

Staravia mostly doubles down on those ideas, hardening the face mask into a star and REALLY curling that cowlick into a spitcurl that, along with the severe expression, gives it some strong confrontational energy.

And all of that comes to a head culminating naturally and very smoothly in Staraptor, which moves basically all of the design detail to the head and face. Its face crest now spreads out in sharp spikes, the eyes are red and focused and serious, and it's grown what's always seemed to me like a Bōsōzoku hairstyle, that particular brand of youth counterculture so embedded in Japanese pop culture. The blood red that it's tipped with gives it some much needed color and more menace, almost as though it's daring you to comment on its silly hairdo.

I feel the rest of the design is a bit neglected here, it could use some more detail, but all in all, it's effective, it looks powerful, it works.

Grade: A

Bidoof:

You know, if Bidoof didn't evolve, I might genuinely put it in S-tier.

Every generation needs its Rattata, right, a mostly weak, somewhat cute but usually quickly discarded Normal type with an early evolution, entirely designed to be left behind. Bidoof is that for Gen 4, but… who could ever abandon this precious child? Look at him! I struggle to even really articulate it, because its sweetness is so obvious.

Bidoof's shape language is very simple, all circles and rounded shapes, which then contrasts with the sharp rectangles of its teeth. And that enormous overbite combined with the tiny little red clown nose and those sweet little button eyes that are just a little too far apart… god it looks precious. It's so fucking cute! What dark alchemy did they pour into this beast to make it so fucking appealing??? If you can put him in a PC box and leave him without feeling guilty, your soul will not see Heaven!

The evolution, though… I mean Bibarel is fine, it's cute enough, but between that weird eye mask, the pinprick eyes which just don't work on it and the loss of a lot of its wooly fluffiness… some of the magic is lost.

It's still cute, it's still good, but it's just not Bidoof anymore.

Grade: A

Kricketot:

I don't usually give bug types much attention because, well, they tend to be weak and I don't like their type matchups, but Cricketot is a deceptively adorable little thing. With its wide collar and markings on the chest, it looks like it's wearing a fancy olde timey outfit, and depending on if you see the round shape on its face as a mouth or a nose it looks various degrees of awkward and shy. The color scheme is maybe a bit drab, but what a dapper little gentleman.

This all comes very much to a head in Cricketune, with its big imperious moustache the wings hanging off its body like fancy coat tails. Going by its pokédex entries it's supposed to evoke the idea of a virtuoso composer, playing on the idea of grasshoppers and crickets as violinists. And, yeah, I can see that idea. I think maybe the markings on the body could have evoked white tie dress a bit more explicitly, or maybe have its antennae shaped like musical notes or something, but, no, yeah, I buy it.

As a design, this is… perfectly effective. It's not exciting, but it's a fun idea and it works… well enough.

Grade: B

[tbshorts]

The Best Panels of One Piece, Romance Dawn (chapter 1-7)

Full video scripts below the cut

Chapter 1:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 1, being the very first one, obviously has quite a few contenders. Luffy's very first Gum Gum Pistol is an obvious one, setting the tone of One Piece's battles with its mixture of goofy and badass. Plus, god damn, even in chapter one Oda knew how to do an epic splash page.

I also like this panel, where Lucky Roux shoots a mountain bandit in the head. This too is a major tone setter, driving home the seriousness and danger of pirate life. The story up to this point mostly plays as fairly lighthearted comedy, and seeing the jolly cartoon fat guy casually murder a man shocks the audience a little bit. Despite the cartoony artstyle, this isn't a kiddy pirate adventure.

But the crown has to go to the passing of the straw hat from Shanks to Luffy. It's a panel that has only ever taken on more meaning as the story has gone on, and the symbol of the straw hat has taken on more and more importance. It represents the promise between Luffy and Shanks to meet again, Shanks recognizing Luffy as an equal, and it's the passing of a torch. That straw hat means something, and Shanks is passing it on to someone who he feels is a worthy heir to that significance. “Romance Dawn” indeed.

Chapter 2:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 2 is all about establishing Luffy's character now that he's grown up, and especially the scale of the odds he's up against. What does his dream to be king of the pirates really mean?

And this is where Oda shows his skill not just as an action and comedy artist, but as a storyteller. He introduces Koby the Cabin Boy, a character who mostly exists to contrast Luffy. Scared, self-defeating and cowardly, even his body language is Luffy's direct opposite.

When Luffy says he will be king of the pirates, Oda drops the angle down low, playing Luffy's chill, unaffected sitting posture against Koby's shouting. His arms are wide, foreshortening even out of the panel as the nervous boy tries to communicate the jaw-dropping scale of what Luffy has said he will accomplish. "Don't tell me you're after the One Piece"?

We feel the weight of Koby's astonishment here, the monumental nature of what Luffy has promised to do. The One Piece isn't a silly bed-time story for children, it is a real thing, and to go after it is to march to almost certain death. And the fact that Luffy is so casual about it, because he has accepted death, is not normal. Luffy is not normal, and Oda establishes this visually through acting in every interaction he has with Koby.

Chapter 3:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 3 introduces Zoro with this amazing panel, which, given how much of a martyr he is for the crew and Luffy, WOW what a hell of an establishing shot. But it also establishes one of the great running themes of One Piece, which is the abuse of power, and the value of freedom. Helmeppo lords his status as a navy failson over the townsfolk, abusing his position and status in a way we will see villains in the story do over and over again.

And Luffy does what Luffy will always do to those who use their power in this way. When he learns that Helmeppo lied to Zoro, let him believe he would be free if he survived a month tied up, only to plan an execution behind his back…

This happens.

There are many reasons One Piece is a fun and satisfying narrative to follow, Oda's dynamic and exciting art is a big one for me, but the thing I love the most might the vicious delight the story takes in showing us the ruling classes getting the ass-kicking they so richly deserve.

Chapter 4:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 4 gives us perhaps one of the weakest villain designs in the series, which is Axe-Hand Morgan. His obsession with power and control foreshadows many of One Piece's best villains, but… hoo boy, not Oda's best character design.

On a better note, though, we're getting one of the most important recurring story beats in the narrative, which is the effect Luffy has on people around him. Koby, who not two chapters ago was a cowering appeasing wretch, walks into the execution grounds to free Zoro because he can't stand to see the navy oppressing people this way. He accepted abuse from Alvida, but no more. Luffy changes the people around him, and the most important thing he does is set them free of their fear. He teaches people to pursue their freedom, even if it costs them their lives. He will do this many times throughout the story, and Koby won't be the last person who almost dies to chase the dream Luffy kindled in them.

Chapter 5:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

In Chapter 5 the obvious choice might be Luffy taking bullets for his friends in the nick of time, which is a very Luffy thing to do, but I think the best panel is something much quieter. We get a flashback to Zoro's backstory, and his rivalry with childhood friend and swordfighting prodigy Kuina, who is idly one of the most transmasculine characters in anime history.

The panel that strikes me the most in this chapter, though, is this one. It's just a little transitional panel, Kuina lying there, dead, with the words "humans are fragile things Zoro" hovering above. Oda uses crosshatching to just barely hint at the eye sockets under the cloth, which otherwise erases Kuina's face, erasing identity, erasing life. It's such a quiet and disquieting panel, such a matter-of-fact reminder of cold mortality in the middle of all Zoro's hotblooded shouting. It's a death that is so meaningless, and Zoro, in taking Kuina's sword with him, is trying desperately to make it meaningful. If he becomes the greatest swordsman in the world, then everyone will know that Kuina was his greatest rival.

I think it's the same reason so many One Piece fans want Tashigi to turn out to be Kuina in the end. Because the idea that people can just vanish from our lives, so coldly and so pointlessly… it's a scary thought to have.

Chapter 6:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

In Chapter 6, the easy answer, I guess, is the big epic Oda splash page of the Gum Gum Whip taking out a dozen Marines, but… I mean you know it has to be the introduction of the Three Sword Style. Dear Zoro, with his cool bandana and his intense looks and his tragic backstory… and here he is with a sword in his mouth.

This is the power of One Piece. Because on the one hand, this is stupid. This is objectively stupid. Holding a sword in your mouth is dumb, this looks dumb, this doesn't work, this is cartoon nonsense that doesn't make any goddamn sense.

On the other hand… this totally fucking rules. Oda presents it so perfectly with that hunched over power pose blocking ten swords at once, and the black bandana over his head, although I'll never forgive the translators for covering this much of the art over with sound effects. You miss the rope still falling from his body and the scabbards still in the air from Zoro unsheating them so fast. This panel bypasses every critical neuron in my brain, and speaks to the primal, stupid lizard and monkey part of my man brain that goes "ooooh, three swords cool!" And nobody does that like Oda.

Chapter 7:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 7 sees our first parting of ways, with Koby remaining behind to enlist in the Marines. It's mostly an exposition chapter, a cool down from all the action with Axe Hand Morgan, but Oda once again uses what could be boring exposition to do good character building. Because Luffy and Zoro are pirates, they can't stay in a navy town, and as they leave, Luffy begins to spill the beans on how Koby was a cabin boy for a pirate, which might ruin his chances to enlist. And Koby, desperately torn up about saying goodbye to his first real friend… punches Luffy to shut him up. Which then becomes evidence that Koby isn't with them, isn't a pirate, so he can enlist.

It's the first moment Koby fully asserts himself, it's the first punch he throws for his dream as a Marine, but it is also a moment of revelation. However simple-minded Luffy seems, so straightforward and oblivious, here he reveals a deep understanding not only of other people but of the things they need, the push they need to find their courage. He pushes Koby's buttons to force him to commit to his dream, to force him to renounce piracy, and when Koby does… Luffy couldn't be more proud. And maybe a little smug.

[tbshorts]

Turtwig and Torterra are almost perfect. Grotle........ is also there.

Chimchar really doesn't look like much, but Infernape absolutely rips

Piplup is easily the best gen 4 starter, Empoleon is practically a legendary

Video scripts below the cut

Turtwig:

Ah, the worst gen 4 starter - I'm kidding! I'm kidding. It's only second worst. It's a simple concept, executed well: what if a tortoise was also the seed of a plant, and as the tortoise grows, so does the tree on its shell. It recalls the idea of world turtles, the best cosmological concept, which is also hinted at in Torterra's pokédex entries.

But, right, Turtwig - like most starters it's mostly designed to be cute, with its broad smiling jaw and oversized upper lip and chibi proportions. The lil' twig with the two leaves on the head is just adorable, it's the pokémon version of a propeller hat, and I'm really charmed by it.

As for Grotle, well, middle stages are often awkward, and with its weird almost caterpillar body shape and two… bushes(?) on the back, it looks a bit half-finished. It really could have done more to imply a flowering garden on its back, it looks too barren.

Torterra, though? Fuck yeah, Torterra, this pokémon is so fucking cool. A giant tortoise with legs like tree trunks and claws made of boulders, and hills and trees perched upon its back, that RULES. My only criticism is that it is way too small in-game. If it was Wailord sized, it'd be S-tier.

Grade: A

Chimchar

Chimchar is probably the weakest design among the starters, both it and Monferno never really transcend just being… monkeys with fire on their tails. Chimchar has the… well it's supposed to be the shape of a small ember on its head, but let's be real, it looks like a poop, and there just isn't enough THERE to make it more than what it seems on the surface.

Monferno at least has the blue and red face markings, slightly recalling the idea of a mandrill, which is cool, and a bit of that wild white collar, which, okay, that's something, but it still barely looks special - if anything it looks like a first-stage evolution, honestly.

Infernape, thankfully, makes up for a LOT of lost ground. The billowing fire hair gives it a sense of dynamism, the powerful red crest on the face makes it look tough, the bright white is striking and the decorative gold pads on its body recalls how divinity is often decorated in Asian art. It's trite to compare every mystical monkey to Sun Wukong, but it does feel like some of him or Hanuman is in here, the design has a ton of charisma. And I really like that it remains slim, it looks agile, quick, clever, and more than a little mischievous. Weak pre-evolution designs are worth it to get to here.

Grade: B

Piplup is easily the best gen 4 starter, Empoleon is practically legendary

Piplup is the cutest gen 4 starter and also the best designed, this lil' guy is such an instant and immediate charmer. Being a baby penguin, how could it not be, but also the way that its blue markings are "fastened" on its beak and cascade down into a cloak hanging over its shoulders gives it a real "preschool kid in a raincoat" vibe that I love, and the two "buttons" on the tummy like it's wearing overalls just… god it's cute.

Prinplup avoids the awkwardness of middle stage evolutions, looking both cute with its plump little body, buttons and tailcoat, like a kid wearing his first fancy suit, but also like it's fast and powerful, thanks to those sleek fins and the head crest.

Empoleon, meanwhile… like holy shit, this thing looks like a LEGENDARY. The beak extending into a shape which is both a crown AND a trident is genuinely brilliant design, the picture of a nautical ruler. The stippling on the white marking makes it look like a fancy cravat of a king or prince, the hard edges of its collar look at once regal and dangerous, like it could slice you to piece with it, and together with those shield-like hard fins gives it an air of invulnerability almost. This thing is INTIMIDATING, it's regal, it's powerful, it's amazing!

Grade: S