One Piece episode 1087 is something of a return to form for the series at least in terms of the focus of its content.
Once upon a time, One Piece had scenes where high-level pirates were running around causing mayhem. The frequency of such vignettes has lessened over the past few years what with our extended stay in Wano country. Nevertheless, with our horizons broadening again we get to see more of the conflicts that typify the setting: powerful outlaws facing each other down with out-of-control super abilities in a quest for power and treasure. In the opening scene on Wano aside, most of the episode lives in this space.
For 1087 we have Blackbeard and Boa Hancock coming back into the limelight. As is so often the case in a series with a cast list that numbers well into the thousands territory: your enjoyment will vary depending on how connected you are to who is in focus. I personally love both Blackbeard and Boa as characters - they are amazing villains with iconic looks, cool powers, and a swagger all their own. Seeing them face off is one of those moments I've been looking forward to.
It's interesting how their particular battle plays out. This feels like a typical high-level fight between titans whose abilities have gone past the blow-by-blow stage and are all-or-nothing abilities. Boa just removes Blackbeard's entire crew and the navy from contention. Meanwhile, Blackbeard can just nullify her power but without her, he can't free his crew. It's the opposite of the Kaido and Luffy showdown where hundreds of blows get exchanged, and is instead straight to the resolution and high lethality. Good stuff in my opinion, I am rooting for Hancock to win (I gotta be me, folks).
Also, Koby and Helmeppo are there. I'm… not enamored with their additions to this conflict. I've never really been the biggest Koby fan though I don't dislike him or anything. He just fulfills a need in the story and I understand that intellectually but I don't resonate much with him emotionally. I feel that his presence here is much the same: he serves as the Navy/World Government representative for this battle and Helmeppo is there too. They do get a great comedic beat with the pan that reveals Helmeppo was turned to stone, but that's about it.
The PX Pacifista is a big deal reveal in the sense that there's a resemblance to King and we are expanding on the idea of what a Pacficista can be. At the moment there's not much else to go on so we'll see how it pans out. If nothing else, that sword slash animation was dynamite and we got some terrific expression work from Koby as well.
Rating:
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