After three long years of fighting, the One Piece has finally finished the epic battle of the Wano arc in episode 1076. A long battle of blood, sweat, and loss that can’t yet be mourned has led to this moment of victory for the Straw Hats and Wano alliance. So, does Episode 1076 bring the great win that fans have been waiting all this time for?
Spoilers for One Piece episode 1076 follow, so catch up before reading on. The newest episode is available to stream on Crunchyroll in the United States!
What Happens in One Piece Episode 1076?
Episode 1076 picks up where the previous left off as Luffy brings the Gum-Gum Bajrang Gun down on Kaido. It’s not enough to stop the Emperor firing back with his own move. It comes to gridlock against each other, Conqueror Haki surging as Luffy fights to maintain the form. He keeps hanging on, meanwhile, around the island of Onigashima, everyone awaits the climax of the battle to see whether they will live or die.
The life of Kaido flashes across as their hits collide, with the Emperor finally being shown as a child in the Vodka Kingdom. He’s completely unruly, starting fights with anyone he can before they give him up to the Navy as a trade. Now, the Vodka Kingdom can take part in the Reverie while Kaido becomes a World Government fugitive after constant escapes. Meanwhile, in the present, Momo renews his mission to create Flame Clouds and starts to lift Onigashima like the ruler he was meant to be.
Gum-Gum Bajrang Gun
The Gum-Gum Bajrang Gun is the very definition of “size doesn’t matter” as it manages to still hit Kaido at a gridlock. Their Conqueror Haki collides next and leads to a massive crack of lightning as they each struggle for supremacy. They battle back and forth, flashbacks to Kaido’s past going by quickly. It’s ann abridged version of everything from his joining the Rocks Pirates to their eventual dissolution. It even shows the start of the God Valley incident, with Big Mom super pissed off for some reason. Hopefully, more of the Rocks Pirates and their fallout gets a spotlight later in the series.
Extinguishing the Fire
Damn, the waters of Zou really aren’t messing around when it comes to putting out the fires around Onigashima. Raizo unleashes the stored water he has from the great elephant Zunesha, and Jimbei directs it with his Fishman Karate. It’s insane how much water Raizo had in those scrolls too. His Scroll-Scroll Fruit powers weren’t really explained well in the first place, but damn they’re powerful. Carrying that much in just a couple of scrolls is wild.
It works though, and knocks plenty of the fighters off their feet in the process. Usopp has to struggle to hang on to Kiku and Kin’emon, while Franky thankfully saves Zoro since he’s unconscious. It’s a wild fight for survival, but somehow everyone manages to stick it out through the massive flood as Momo gets his strength together for one last, desperate push to create the Flame Clouds.
Momo Saves the Flower Capital
That final scene of Momo really going all out, determined to save everyone is amazing. The poor kid has gone through so much and it’s easy to forget that he’s still just that, a kid. He really pulls it together though, and manages to make enough Flame Clouds. He lands Onigashima just outside the Flower Capital as Luffy finally overcomes Kaido’s power with his own Conqueror Haki. The impact frames of Luffy landing that final blow, and the final one of Kozuki Oden are pure art. Finishing things off with Kaido’s first true killing as a show of power coming back in spirit to defeat him was a great way to close out the battle.
The small moment of Luffy smiling as he floats over Onigashima, lanterns with wishes scrawled on floating by, is going to be historic. It’s the moment Wano is finally free after twenty years of fervent hoping, and all those wishes floating around Luffy are for what he just did. He’s freed Wano from their tyranny in the form of Kaido and Orochi, and now Luffy’s battle is over. The Straw Hat Captain loses consciousness and begins to fall to the ground, a smile on his face.
What a great show of animation, voice acting, and great sound design to finish out the Wano arc. One Piece has had some struggles throughout the entirety of Wano, particularly in the Raid on Onigashima thanks to pacing issues. The animation in these past few episodes made everything worth it though. One Piece finishes Episode 1076 as a new day dawns on Wano, where Luffy’s friends can eat as much as they want, whenever they want!
