Gintama - Episode 365 [Review] & One Piece - Episode 854 [Review]

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Gintama - Episode 365 [Review]

After three consecutive episodes of classic Gintama hijinks, the series once again puts on its serious face as the real final battle's stakes are laid out. Now reunited with Takasugi, Gintoki reveals what he's been up to the past two years. Never convinced that Utsuro was truly gone, the silver-haired samurai searched for signs of him at every Altana gate in Japan. While visiting a seaside Golden Dragon shrine, the head priest revealed the existence of an infant version of Yoshida Shoyo, who had gradually materialized in the gate the shrine worshipped. For a period of months, Gintoki traveled with the child as he rapidly aged into a mute young boy. When the duo was ambushed by a group of Naraku, the boy spoke and revealed that he remembered Gintoki from his previous life before being captured and entrusting Gin with his heart.

Gintoki isn't the only one with important info to share. As Takasugi reveals, in the closing moments of the war, he'd attempted to finish off the deformed, undying remnant of the Tendoshu before being mortally wounded by some Liberation Army remnants who quickly made off with the Tendoshu's remains. In order to survive, Shinsuke stabbed himself through the heart with a sword laced with Oboro's ashes, thus imbuing himself with the latter's healing abilities. However, as was the case with Oboro, said abilities are gradually weakening, and Takasugi is slowly dying.

Back in Edo, Shijaku briefs Donald Zarump on the Tendoshu's master plan. In the years following the war, the Tendoshu have been experimenting with Utsuro's immortal blood in the hope of finding the key to immortality. Taking advantage of the countless people who lost loved ones during Utsuro's initial Terminal attacks, the Tendoshu have founded a new religion that uses a phoenix as its symbol and promises its followers eternal life. The terrorist incidents occurring across the galaxy can all be tied back to this religion, and large amounts of Altana have been stolen during each attack. With an attack on Edo imminent, Gintoki and Takasugi arrive in the city and proceed to meet up with some old friends.

Much like The Battle on Rakuyo's opening chapter, this week's installment is essentially an episode-length info dump, albeit a consistently fascinating one. With so many game-changing revelations packed into a single episode, it's sometimes difficult to keep all the pertinent details together. Viewers are given virtually no time to process each new development before several more pop up, which has been a problem at various points throughout the show's endgame stage. Since the edge-of-your-seat battle against Utsuro was billed as a “series climax,” it's strange to see the show's original Big Bads reemerge as a legitimate threat, but their grand plan is interesting enough to justify further examination, and this storyline may provide Utsuro/Shoyo with a chance at redemption. Also, this appears to be opening the door for at least a cour's worth of new material, though it's unlikely to be produced in the near future in light of the manga's run being extended.

Episode 365 is also a prime example of Gintama's propensity for switching gears at the drop of a hat. As recently as last week, it felt like we were watching the Gintama of old, but this latest offering is a somber affair from beginning to end. (There were only two jokes.) Although there are likely many more laughs on the horizon, episodes like this are a stark reminder of the effects the events of the past few arcs have had on the show's world and its inhabitants. Losing Shoyo and growing apart from Takasugi have always factored heavily into Gintoki's character arc, and the fact that he's on the verge of losing them both for good has got be weighing on him. Although Gin has always been rather sullen and deadpan (usually for comedic purposes), he wrestles with a wave of conflicting emotions while traveling with Kid Shoyo. Shortly after being entrusted with the child, he strongly considers killing him—and comes perilously close to doing so. Behind all the wackiness, Gintoki has always been at war with himself for killing Shoyo, and the emergence of Utsuro compounded those feelings exponentially. Gin and Takasugi embarking on another quest to rescue their adoptive father is a great way to bring the overarching plot full-circle and possibly assuage Gintoki's deep-seated guilt. Shinpachi hits the nail on the head when he opines that he doesn't know what he'd do if someone he loved became the entire world's enemy—but he knows he'd want to see him again.

A reflective, emotional, somewhat overcrowded installment, episode 365 sets the stage for Gintama's true climax. Although our heroes put everything on the line to defeat Utsuro and the Altana Liberation Army, another battle with galactic implications is right around the corner. Once again, the time has come for the Kabuki District's finest to suit up and defend their home planet.

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One Piece - Episode 854 [Review]

When Luffy first pulled Katakuri into the mirror world, it was done with the implication that neither of them would have an easy way back to the Sunny. Luffy was willfully facing a challenge where he'd not only have to beat Katakuri in a one-on-one fight, but he'd have to beat any other Charlotte siblings who might get in his way once it's time to find a new mirror elsewhere in Totto Land and find the way back to his crew. The hiccup is that there's more than one mirror on the Sunny, and the Big Mom family has easier access to them than he does, so using a loose shard from the original mirror like a phone, Luffy has to command his crew to destroy any extraneous exits from the outside, thus helping him double down on his crazy gamble.

After surviving Big Mom's tidal wave, the Sunny crew is momentarily in the clear. The enemy assumes that the Straw Hats are dead, and Big Mom gets distracted on her rampage and steers herself towards the delicious-looking Nuts Island. There's a significant release in tension that leaves the Thousand Sunny side of the chase a little limp, since they're basically free to sail off and hide until Sanji has the cake ready, though the shift comes with Luffy's fight becoming even more dire. He lies to his crew and tells them everything's going to be okay before their communication gets cut-off, when in reality he's getting his ass kicked by an opponent who he'll have to deal with for the ten-plus hours it takes to bake a giant cake.

So since we're going to be spending a lot of time with Charlotte Katakuri, let's get to know him, shall we? Brulee is very quick to brag about his outrageously silly backstory this week—not only has he never lost a fight, he's never once laid on his back! He came out of the womb standing up, and this obviously true legend (no need to look it up, there are no lies here) is supposed to be evidence of true nobility, coolness, and masculinity. Katakuri doesn't seem like to type to brag on his own behalf, but he is demonstrably much stronger than Luffy, so much so that it barely feels like he's trying in this fight until he gets mad at Luffy for trying to strike his siblings.

We get a brief return of the Germa 66 subplot this week, though I had forgotten they were even still in this story and not a lot has changed in their ongoing skirmish with the Big Mom pirates, but there was an interesting anime-only detail where Charlotte Bassquarte (one of the nobody Charlottes whose name you wouldn't even know if you didn't follow supplemental materials) pulls down the covering on his face to breathe fire and you get to see he's got a jagged monster mouth. It was interesting to see the anime add some flourish to the arc's motif of Charlotte children hiding a part of their true appearance, though it's a little redundant if you have even an inkling about what's going on under Katakuri's big scarf.

This is a decent episode for the Katakuri fight, but you don't reach the end feeling like a whole lot of progress is made. The biggest issue with this battle is that it gets repetitive by following the same basic beats: Luffy attacks, Katakuri dodges. Luffy attacks again, Katakuri copies his move but bigger. Rinse and repeat. This week introduces Katakuri's trident into the mix, but now is about the time we'd want to see a shift in the power dynamic between the two. Thankfully, the moment-to-moment pacing is much more exciting than last week, so as bare bones as this episode is, it still manages to be enjoyable enough.

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