After years of only hearing about the legendary island, One Piece‘s Elbaph Arc is finally in full swing in the manga and the anime alike, and it’s already more than living up to expectations. In a recent trailer that’s already amassed tens of millions of views, One Piece’s anime is building up to the Holy Knights’ big debut.
The Elbaph Arc holds plenty more exciting moments, even in the first half of the arc alone. That said, as far as emotional beats go, One Piece’s Elbaph Arc may have already found its biggest tearjerker, and the anime only made it all the more impossible to move on from.
One Piece’s Elbaph Arc Has Already Crowned Its Most Emotional Episode
Nearly twenty years after her tragic past was first revealed, Episode #1163 of One Piece recently finally saw Robin reunited with Saul on Elbaph. This reunion felt like the last bit of closure to Robin’s story, and served as yet another reminder that her choosing to live was not in vain after all.
One Piece’s Next Big Break Is Almost Here, And It’s Hinting At A Truly Massive Cliffhanger
As One Piece prepares for a long break, the series is nearing an epic moment that would make for an excellent season finale for Elbaph’s first cour.
As One Piece’s anime has done before with the Egghead Arc and specifically Kuma’s flashback, the series went above and beyond yet again to make this reunion a memorable highlight. Episode #1163 truly elevated this moment beyond the manga with original sequences and added snippets of Robin’s old flashback that were perfectly timed to break viewers down. And, perhaps the crowning jewel of this episode was its special credits sequence, featuring a new song from Maki Otsuki, titled “Never Was Alone in This World.”
While the Elbaph Arc has many highly awaited moments such as the God Valley flashback, Loki’s flashback, Harald’s death, and more in store, it’s hard to think of a single moment that could possibly eclipse Robin and Saul’s big reunion, at least as far as emotional weight goes. That said, One Piece’s manga has been exploring Brook’s past lately, though even if this flashback culminates in another comparable tearjerker, the anime likely won’t get to adapting it until 2028 under the new production schedule.
One Piece Already Has the Winning Formula For Its Finale
That said, Episode #1163 of One Piece has proved that the series may have already found the secret to nailing its grand finale when that time inevitably comes. Episode #1163 curiously has one thing in common with another one of One Piece’s best episodes so far, Episode #968, which sees Roger arrive at Laugh Tale. In a scene that is burned into fans’ minds to this day, Roger laughs after finding the vast, mysterious treasure left behind by Joyboy, all as “Memories,” One Piece’s first-ever ending theme by Maki Otsuki, plays in the background.
Now, this wouldn’t be the first time someone has suggested “Memories” should make a comeback for One Piece’s grand finale. However, Episode #1163 proves that maybe even a new song with the same spirit could do the job, of course, with Maki Otsuki’s instant, nostalgia-evoking vocals. All that said, One Piece’s big finale is still quite a long ways away, though with the recent innovations in Toei’s production, direction, and animation, fans surely have nothing to worry about.
- Release Date
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October 20, 1999
- Network
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Fuji TV
- Directors
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Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
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Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
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Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)