Review One Piece Episode 1015

Words are clumsy tools.

I write for a living. I write for joy. I write because there is power in words.

But at times like these, they fail me.

One Piece episode 1015 is every cliché phrase of praise I can muster. A tour de force. A visual spectacle. A delight for the senses.

Every cell is bursting with fluid color and vivid expression. Every line is delivered with conviction and care. I've watched the episode twice and cried both times, searching for the words to put in this funny little box to tell you how it makes me feel. But what can I say that can add to what we are seeing here? This is a weekly production, but no mere twenty-four-minute content churn slopped in front of your eyeballs. This is all killer no filler. The kind of episode that makes you want to stand and shout and strive for greatness.

Every time Megumi ISHITANI has the wheel I know we're in for greatness, but my GOD what an episode. Can she do any wrong? I doubt it. There's a masterstroke in every frame – from the Yamato POV shots of Ace sailing into the heavenly distance match-cutting with the burning vivre card, to the running screen wipes as Luffy flashes through every prior moment of Wano, to the deep wellspring of emotions that flows from Momo's rising determination, to Kinemon's misplaced sense of failure. Manga panels leap to vivid life alongside anime-original scenes that add to the rich texture of one of the great works of our lifetimes.

One Piece is one of the grandest stories being told today, and what Megumi ISHITANI and the entire Toei team have done in this episode is truly amazing. They have crystallized its grandiosity and yet amplified it at the same time. But really I can't tell you how good it is. Words are clumsy, they do not convey what the visuals can. Words can only sit upon the shore at speak of the sea – if you want to see what the world has to offer, then cast off and find it.

See the story that spans decades.

See the work that holds the hearts of millions.

See the boy who will be king.

I know I'll be watching.