Episode 8 of One Piece season 2 starts with Dalton brought before Wapol. He gleefully sits on his throne of lies, claiming Drum Island is his birth right and he's about to take over with force.
Unfortunately, King Wapol has the powers of the Munch Munch Devil Fruit now, and that means he's become a sort of human factory, able to consume, transform and combine anything he eats. However, Dalton has a secret of his own. He actually transforms into a beast and pounces at Wapol.
Wapol bites back (no pun intended!) though and reveals that he's turned his entire army into a mindless horde of monsters that are marching right at the city. That means Usopp, Zoro and Vivi need to keep it safe no matter what.
While this is going on, Miss All Sunday catches up to Vivi but she refuses to go down without a fight. Sunday decides to stir things up, explaining that Wapol has powers now and she should get involved and blame herself when the Straw Hats fall and die.
What happens during the fight with Wapol?
When Luffy catches wind of what's happened, courtesy of Vivi getting to the top of the mountain with Usopp's makeshift grappling hook, he's confident they can just swoop in and kick Wapol's ass. Kureha though is not so sure. She thinks going into hiding is better.
Chopper refuses to go with her though and decides to help out the Straw Hats instead.
Unfortunately, Wapol heads into the witch's castle and returns to claim the castle himself. Luffy is up for a big fight but Vivi steps up first and promises that he won't break her.
Vivi strikes him across the jaw, before Luffy jumps in. The fight goes back and forth although in truth, it's not much of a contest for Luffy. Vivi then eventually jumps in to land a killer strike too.
Does Chopper fight?
When Wapol's henchman show up, Chopper transforms and gets involved to keep them at bay with Sanji. The pair work really well together and subdue them.
In the midst of all this, Luffy even manages to protect Chopper's flag from Wapol's direct hit.
Do the Straw Hats come out on top?
Down in the city, Zoro leads the group in a fight against Wapol's monster army. Swords clash, while Kureha finds an injured Dalton who's prepared to do whatever he can to fight back and prevent Wapol from dropping the kingdom into misery.
Kureha helps patch him up and Dalton returns just in time to help the townsfolk. Kureha shows too, armed with a shotgun rather than magic powers. They continue to fight until Wapol is properly destroyed, which in turn also eliminates the army too.
With Drum Kingdom saved, the group reunite and Kureha sets to work organizing traffic and getting the place cleaned up. Dalton also reunites with Chopper too, shocked over what's happened and thanking the group for helping to save the Kingdom from this tyrant.
Luffy decides Chopper should come with them and become a Straw Hat. During Chopper's protests, Luffy shuts him up and Chopper eventually agrees to come with them. Before he goes, Chopper lets Kureha know what decision he's made.
The group eventually hit the High Seas again, leaving Drum Kingdom behind. Chopper finds solace with Usopp, who empathizes with him over leaving home.
What final gift does the doctor leave?
On Drum Island, Kureha fires the doctor's concoction into the air via cannon, which illuminates the sky in a beautiful flurry of makeshift snow. Only, it's not snow. It's actually cherry blossom petals, designed to help give the people hope as the sky is illuminated in a brilliant shade of pink.
When Chopper sees this, he can't help but sob as they sail away from the island. As they do, Kureha and Dalton speak. Interestingly, it turns out Gold Rogers' name is actually Gol D. Rogers, which leads us into the mythos surrounding the names which we learn later on in the manga/anime.
How does One Piece season 2 end?
For now, it's onto Alabasta to help Vivi reclaim her Kingdom. This is something that Captain Smoker finds out too, courtesy of the marine outpost. Now, Garp doesn't want Mr Zero's identity known until he has proof.
For now, all roads lead to Alabasta – which is where Captain Smoker is heading too.
As the episode closes out, Miss All Sunday briefs what's happened to Mr Zero, Sir Crocodile. They're gathering all the agents into Alabasta, where we also learn that Miss Sunday is actually Nico Robin.
Sir Crocodile is confident he'll get the One Piece… but we'll have to wait for season 3 before we find out what happens next!
The Episode Review
So One Piece comes to a suitably dramatic end, with the start of the Alabasta arc about to get underway after Drum Island concludes the Baroque Works' first chapter.
This season has been pretty faithful to the source material, all things considered, with the highlight being Chopper's backstory which is brought to life really well.
The show has done a decent job of trying to cram in as much from the manga as possible, and the fighting has been pretty good at capturing the craziness of the story.
The only problem is the lack of challenge for Luffy, which could well change in season 3 when he faces Crocodile (no spoilers don't worry!)
On the whole though this has been a solid season with some definite stand-out moments. We'll have to wait for season 3 before we find out what wonders await Luffy and his crew.
Episode Rating
3.5
Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!
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