One Piece’s anime comes in with episode 1091 on a packed day for the series, with a new chapter and the first episode of Monsters. How does it hold up though, and is the series still suffering from pacing issues in the Egghead Island arc? This episode feels a little bit like a slow-down in terms of story and pacing but offers some good comedy to offset the seriousness of the last episode.
This article contains spoilers for One Piece! Catch up on Viz or Crunchyroll before reading any further!
What Happens in Episode 1091?
When the episode begins, the Straw Hats back on Thousand Sunny are still facing down Lilith and her Vegaforce. Things don’t look pretty either, as she initially reveals herself to be Vegapunk. Despite that, Robin realizes and calls her out, about to go into battle with her before Shaka phones in to make her stop. Turns out, there’s more than one Vegapunk, and we have quite a few in-store to meet with.
Meanwhile, on Egghead Island, Luffy, Chopper, Jimbei, and Bonney are emerging from the tunnels beneath. The intro to the actual island is awesome, showing a giant robot and giant monster fighting high above the city as fish swim through the air. There’s quite a bit of great comedy involved too, as Luffy, Chopper, and Bonney are all just the same when it comes to stuff like food and gullibility. Plenty of laughs come from the characters just being themselves, meanwhile, Jimbei supervises like an exasperated dad at an amusement park.
Vegapunks
Finally, the world’s greatest scientist has revealed herself to the Straw Hat Pirates. Or… maybe it’s herself. Actually, it’s themselves, as the infamous Doctor Vegapunk has split himself among different synthetic bodies! Through the course of this episode three come into play, each with a different focus on what they’re made for. Lilith, the first of the bunch that’s holding up the crew on Thousand Sunny, is Vegapunk’s evil side. She shows it too, willing to absolutely waste the Straw Hat Pirates before taking their valuables for ‘research funding’.
Meanwhile somewhere back on the island is Shaka, who is the Good side of Vegapunk. He’s the one who keeps most of the others in check because they get a little more neurotic as the arc goes on.
Lastly, Atlas shows up to bring in Luffy’s group. She’s the violent tendencies of Vegapunk put into one being, and she’s also stupidly large. Like at least the size of Bartholomew Kuma, because she towers over even Jimbei. The manga didn’t give nearly the sense of scale for her that the anime has in one episode.
Luffy’s Group
Luffy’s group picks up with the four struggling through the long sewer tunnels under Egghead. They’re starving, even Jimbei, and when they finally emerge on Egghead, they’re amazed to see the sights before them. The comedy of the episode primarily comes through their interactions with their surroundings here, and it’s honestly the funniest One Piece has been in a while. Seeing Luffy, Bonney, and Chopper run at a hologram parfait and fall through it not once, but twice, is comedy gold. Those three only have two brain cells between them.
The little moment of Luffy getting angry about the food not being real, then suddenly turning into an angry Gear Fifth for comedic effect, was amazing. Seeing fun little gags like this from the show is always a small advantage over the manga, and the comedy aspect shone brightly in this episode.
When they finally find food, it’s in the form of a vending machine that can make anything. Naturally, they go wild, and even Jimbei is hiding food when Atlas shows up after saying he wasn’t hungry before. Atlas isn’t upset about that though, and invites them along to go meet Vegapunk.
The Sunny Group
Meanwhile, the Thousand Sunny crew is being held up by the Vegaforce, a giant robot created by Lilith. Franky and Usopp are both freaking out about how awesome the giant robot is, but the others are a little more concerned. After Lilith initially introduces herself as Vegapunk, Robin is the one to call it and expose her. When Shaka radios in, it’s just in time, as Lilith is about to throw them all into the sea to die while taking their valuables for herself. Shaka tells her just how bad of an idea that would be for her though, noting just how calm all the Straw Hat Pirates are at the moment.
Lilith noticing their calm and that both Zoro and Robin are ready to kill if need be was an awesome moment. It’s one of the reminders that the Straw Hat Pirates are officially considered an Emperor level crew now, and as such have emperor-level strength. Just Lilith wouldn’t be nearly enough to take them out, even if it were a fair one one-on-one fight between her and Usopp. Thankfully, Shaka tells her to bring them in, saying he has some things to speak to them about in the lab.
Next Episode
This episode was a little slower on the pacing side, focusing much more on the back-and-forth between characters. The comedy was on point though, and it did a great job of introducing the first three Vegapunk Satellites. Egghead Island is going to need this little comedic episode too, because things are only going to get much, much darker as we go along in this arc. Within twenty-four hours of the Straw Hats landing on Egghead Island, an incident will rock the entire world, with them right at the center.
Even manga readers still don’t know what that incident is though! Still, there are going to be some wild fights coming up, and the next few episodes are going to be a pretty wild exposition dump with a crazy fight packed in. Things are going to heat up and some old enemies are going to re-emerge, with Luffy pitting his newfound Zoan Awakening against another’s fierce Zoan Awakening. The Straw Hats are about to have a lot of trouble on their hands, and episode 1091 is the calm before the storm.
