Episode 1109 of One Piece saw the plot thicken around all the mysterious occurrences on Egghead Island, as the Straw Hat Pirates and Vegapunk's satellites attempt to uncover the truth behind them. After splitting into three groups, the crew find themselves at a major disadvantage when confronted by rogue Seraphim clones, commencing a series of battles across the island's levels.

In the middle of this, the fight between Luffy, Zoro, Lucci, Kaku, and the Seraphim S-Hawk stands out in particular, due to its stylized aesthetic and blend of art styles, which is something that has grown more common throughout the One Piece anime's Egghead Arc. Needless to say, the staff at Toei Animation have really outdone themselves with this episode, and it could be a sign of even better things to come for the One Piece anime.

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As one of the most awaited battles in the Egghead Arc, this skirmish along the coast of Elbaf is a turning point in the Final Saga.

S-Hawk's Staccato Assault

Cornered by S-Hawk and S-Bear — the Seraphim clones of Dracule Mihawk and Bartholomew Kuma respectively — Luffy and Zoro find themselves in a pickle when they are forced to defend the handcuffed CP0 agents in their custody. To make matters worse, neither of them can really go all out within the confines of Egghead's Labophase, as they risk collapsing the entire facility on their own crew mates.

S-Hawk is the one who takes the initiative to kick off the fight, charging towards the group while unleashing Mihawk's signature flying slashes that wreak havoc and destroy large sections of the chamber they are battling within. This Seraphim is also equipped with the Supa Supa no Mi — the Devil Fruit of Daz Bonez (also known as Mr. 1 of Baroque Works) — which allows him to manifest steel blades from any part of his body.

A key feature of the ensuing exchanges, is the stop-start rhythm they follow, which is quite common in One Pieceas well as most shonen anime, where the actual fighting is often interjected by flashbacks of segments of exposition. In a way, some of these segments serve to distinguish between the various art styles which illustrate different phases of the fight, and also give characters time to recover and converse between exchanges. However, there are moments where the blending of aesthetic choices is almost seamless.

Shifting Perspectives To Convey Chaos

Aside from the art itself, this episode featured some impressive dynamic camera work, where perspectives were constantly moving and warping to keep up with the frenetic pace at which the action was taking place. This approach is quite common in most contemporary action anime, with series such as Attack on Titan, Demon Slayer, and Jujutsu Kaisen having harnessed it superbly in the past to create jaw-dropping action sequences which redefined standards for the entire medium.

From tracking S-Hawk's charges, to following the panicked Luffy and Zoro as they evaded the onslaught while protecting Lucci and Kaku, the use of shifting perspective in this episode added a lot to the tumultuous feel of each exchange, without ever making them seem convoluted beyond comprehension. Beyond camera movement, the animators used other tricks to elevate the experience of the fight, which was extended to a fair degree beyond its depiction in the manga, much like other battles in One Piece's Egghead Arc.

Mixing Stylized Flourishes And Impact Frames

The most noticeable feature of this entire fight is the abundance of different art styles used to illustrate it, with shifts between them used to convey momentum, danger, or sheer impact. At its foundation, the fight retains the primary art style that was introduced at the start of the Egghead Arc in the One Piece anime, and the fluctuations in the production's visual language are only observable in flashes.

Each time S-Hawk charged toward Luffy and Zoro, there was a noticeable exaggeration of proportions and line work, evoking what was seen in the fight between Luffy and Rob Lucci back in One Piece episode 1100. In fact, there are a lot of common elements in the production of both episodes. This includes elements such as the stylized, almost demonic-looking silhouettes of Luffy and S-Hawk reflected in the eyes of their opponents, to the use of layering in certain frames.

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One notable thread running through this fight, involves Zoro's flashbacks to his fight against Daz Bonez back in Arabasta. Perhaps the most remarkable example of this parallel narrative, comes when S-Hawk uses Daz's Spiral Hollow attack, and the frame momentarily switches to Zoro's memories of facing the same technique years earlier. The art style used here is a stark contrast to One Piece's current visual aesthetic, rendered in a manner that resembles the impressions created by oil pastels.

Even though it was for a very short duration, this shift did wonders in depicting the interplay between Zoro's memories of the past, and his present-day battle with S-Hawk. A similar case could be made for a brief sequence that followed, where Zoro evaded S-Hawk's assault by leaping around the room while holding Kaku.

A lot of the finer details in these frames were eliminated, and they were rendered in a blotchy style that showed hints of impasto and Expressionism, with a sharp reduction in the line work for silhouettes. The use of impact frames here also helped convey the scale of destruction caused by S-Hawk, as well as the danger the Seraphim pose to everyone on Egghead Island.

Why This Is Great For The Future Of One Piece

Throughout the Egghead Arc, the production quality of the One Piece anime has only gone from strength to strength, which is a commendable feat, given that it had to follow the climax of the Wano Country Arc. All over the industry, new innovation in the realm of fight animation has been a major topic in the discourse surrounding contemporary anime. Without a doubt, the Egghead Arc has cemented Toei Animation's work on One Piece as a key player in this domain, which bodes very well for the future of this long-running project, as a hopeful sign of more exciting things to come in the Final Saga.

One Piece is available to stream on Crunchyroll.

One Piece (1999)

Action

Adventure

Comedy

Fantasy

Release Date

October 20, 1999

Studio

Toei Animation

Creator

Eiichiro Oda

Number of Episodes

1082+

Streaming Service(s)

Crunchyroll , Netflix , Hulu

See at Hulu